“You’re coming. I can already sniff out your scent. You’re close, aren’t you?” I ask.

I begin pacing my room with excitement. I close my eyes and take in all the scents around me. I can feel my senses going wild. “Dammit, Jackson. This is making me go crazy. Where are you?”

“You’re assuming things, Logan.” The tease. I know he’s here. He has to be. It can’t just be my imagination making all of this up.

“It’s not the coffee that I’m smelling. Trust me,” I say.

I hastily jerk open my window and nearly fall out, looking for him. “Shit!” I feel a strong palm tighten around my ankles.

“I got you, Logan. Don’t worry!”

“Jackson!”

We both fall onto the floor, exasperated. When I see him I pounce on top of him. Both of us roll over onto the dirty carpet, laughing.

“My alpha!” I yell, and slide my palms over his chest.

I look down and smirk when I notice the position that we’re in. His jeans are scrunched up in the middle, real tight. I feel the pressure build inside of me almost immediately. I just want to explode. I’ve waited so long for him. Six fucking years. And now he’s here with me.

“Aren’t you going to kiss me?” he asks.

I look down at his handsome face. His thick, pink lips part ways, revealing his perfect smile. “You really are cute. You know that?”

I lower my head down until I feel his lips crush against mine. I give him the biggest kiss in the world. He bites down against my lower lip playfully and pulls back. “Rawr.” He winks and flips me over.

“Oh, now you’re the alpha?” I run my hand underneath his shirt. I can feel my cock grow and swell. A knot forms in the back of my throat. I wish he’d get on his knees right now. But I want our first time to be special. I want it to be how we always planned it to be. It can’t happen in this hotel It needs to happen back in Frisky Pines.

“You smell like chocolate,” he whispers. “I always loved your scent.”

“And you, like oak and coffee grounds. Mmm… my favorite.”

As he sits on my lap, he just looks into my eyes. The connection is deep. I’ve known him since we were kids. He was a jaguar shifter. I was always with the bear shifters, acting tough as hell.

When I first saw him, I had these undeniable urges. It wasn’t enough just sleeping over at his house. There was so much more that I wanted to explore with him.

But then the fires happened, and we had to grow up. Our families moved apart. There was a rift in the world, the elders said. And we all had a destiny to fulfill. I always said it was bullshit. I couldn’t understand how the fires could tear our town apart. I was still acting tough. But we both knew the truth. We were going to lose each other.

As soon as the memory of the burned camps come into my mind, I have to slide away from him. “We can’t yet,” I say.

“Can’t what?” He smirks and pushes forward, shifting into his dazzling fur coat. He nuzzles his chin against my chest, before shifting back.

“I mean, I want it to be special. You know, after all we’ve been through. It needs to be special,” I say. “Have you told your dads yet?”

He scratches the back of his head and laughs awkwardly. “Well… no. Have you told yours?”

“You know that Genesis is being taken care of by my people right now,” I say. “I don’t know how I’d tell him, let alone face him right now. And Chip is beside himself with grief. Honestly, sometimes it feels like I’m just running away from my problems. I mean, look at this place. What am I doing here?”

“Stop that right now,” Jackson says, kissing my cheek. “I came here to have a good time with you. You know that I’ve always supported you. You’re going to find your destiny, Logan. I know it.”

The sound of loud footsteps can be heard on the stairs below the room. I haven’t been downstairs in a few days. I’ve been hibernating again, but in irregular intervals. Everything is starting to feel a lot stronger, like something is about to happen. Something big.

“The dream I keep having. Remember I told you about it?” Jackson nods. “It’s getting more and more vivid. I think that’s why I had to come here, kitten. I think this crappy place makes it easier for me to see things. Still, I don’t understand. What is the plan behind all of this? Who should I trust?”

Jackson’s eyes widen. Choking on his breath, he says, “Shit. So, I have to tell you something. My brother found a golden arrowhead in the middle of the pines. Think it means anything?”

I bite my lower lip, feeling my animal urges kick in again. “Don’t be so damn cute and excitable all of the time.”

“No, I’m serious, Logan. My twin, Jonas, found something in the woods the other day. It was a golden arrowhead. It nearly burned a hole through his hand,” he says.

“Seriously? That has to be it,” I say. “But what can I do? I can’t just waltz into your camp during a time of ceremony. It could set some bad mojo off. They haven’t been around us bears since the fires, and I know that some of them still blame us for what happened.”

“My dads know better. I’m going to have to tell them about us eventually. I am your fated mate, Logan. You can’t say no to fate,” he says.

I pat him on the ass excitedly. He hikes up his jeans and tucks in his shirt. The hard outline of his cock can be seen through the denim. I can barely take my eyes off it. His ass is round and firm, and it’s just waiting for me to dive into it. But there’s more that needs to happen. We have so much to do before we can mate.

His eyes tell the whole story. He’s ready for anything. “I know what you’re thinking. It’s going to be special. But first, you’re coming back home with me. You’re meeting the family again.”

I nod and feel the tight air push against my lungs. “I guess it’s time to go back to Frisky Pines. Let’s do this.”