“Any news about that wolf yet?” Darrell asked into the phone.

“Nothing.” Chris sounded tired.

For how long had they searched for tracks and further clues last night?

“There’s someone in the lab who owes me a favor,” Chris continued. “He promised me details on the car tomorrow.”

Annoyed, Darrell frowned at the window in front of him. Just how long did these things take?

“Forget the car,” Chris said, as if he’d read his thoughts. “Concentrate on the wolf. We’re shifters. There are things we don’t need a lab for. Let me do the police part—and you and the rest of the clan all keep an eye open for that werewolf.”

“Sure thing,” Darrell said. It wasn’t like he’d let his mate out of his sight anyway. Not now, not when he’d just found her, and when someone had nearly killed her. “What about her boss? And that case she mentioned?”

“Now that’s promising.” Chris sounded a little distracted, and there was the faint sound of typing. “Nothing in the official files, of course, but there’s someone I know—a shifter. She’s got friends in that department and promised me to ask around for anything unusual.”

“Like werewolves.”

“Like werewolves,” Chris replied seriously. “What about Carrie, did she remember any further details? Any trouble with shifters in her own past?”

Darrell made an annoyed sound. “She didn’t even know she was a shifter. Can you believe that? And she forgot most things about the accident. She just remembers the oncoming lights—and then running through the forest as a cat. She thought it was all a nightmare.”

“She didn’t know?” Even through the phone, Darrell could hear Chris’s shock. “Is she okay now?”

“I think so.” Heat rose in Darrell once more when he thought of the way they’d run through the forest together, playfully chasing each other—until they’d found that secluded clearing, and he’d finally found out what it was to make love to his mate.

“We talked. I taught her how to shift. She’s taking it well now, after the shock wore off. At first, I think she thought I was insane—some sort of weirdo living in the forest who believes in monsters and fairy tales.”

Chris’s amused snort came loud and clear through the phone. “You, of all people! I think she came to just the right person. You’re a good worker, Darrell. Good with wood. And good with the cubs. The clan’s proud to have you. I couldn’t think of a better teacher for her.”

Darrell hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke the words he’d been wanting to say. “Also, she’s my mate.”

For a moment, there was stunned silence.

“Seriously? Congratulations!” Chris said, excitement in his voice. “And it’s about time you found someone!”

“Now we just need to figure out what the hell was going on with that wolf and the accident,” Darrell said, satisfaction flooding through him at Chris’s praise.

The sheriff was a good alpha, and a good husband and father, from what Darrell had seen. And if Chris could help an entire clan of bear shifters to settle peacefully in the small town of Linden Creek, then surely the least Darrell could do was to properly woo his mate.

“Keep an eye out when you’re out in the forest,” Chris repeated. “And keep an eye on her. It’s too much of a coincidence.”

“And the werewolf came after us,” Darrell agreed. “He has to be connected to the accident.”

“If we could only find that car,” Chris murmured. Once more there was the faint sound of clicking. “Hold on, Darrell—I just got a lead. Lab results aren’t here yet, but a few counties over, they just found an abandoned truck in a forest, close to the road. And it’s all banged up in a conspicuous way—as though it rammed someone head-on. I’m going to head out there right away. Forget the lab, I want to take a sniff around that car. And if I smell wolf—”

“Then we know we’ve got him,” Darrell muttered. “Take care, boss.”

“Will do. And you keep her out of trouble, understood? At the first sign of danger, you get the clan. And don’t let her move into that cabin by the lake, at least not without setting a watch over it.”

Again heat pooled in Darrell’s belly. “I think I can make her stay where it’s safe,” he said.

There was nothing and no one that could tear him away from his mate, werewolf or no.

Chris laughed. “Good. I’ll call you as soon as I know more.”

Darrell stretched when Chris ended the call. He was sitting in the lounge of the bed and breakfast once more.

Carrie had gone to shower and change after their wild run. He’d promised to take her to the sheriff’s office again, and then explore the town some more—but with Chris on his way to the suspicious wreck in the forest, that left them all day to spend however they liked.

“Everything okay?” Carrie asked when she finally came down the stairs. Angela was off in the kitchen, after having supplied them with sandwiches and a pitcher of lemonade.

Darrell smiled at her, appreciating the way her curves filled her shirt as she moved closer. “The sheriff thinks he got a lead on the car that might have hit you. He’s out of town to check up on it. Apparently waiting for lab results would take a few more days.”

“It’s kind of him to do that,” Carrie said. “I’m really not used to people being so generous. Everyone here has been so lovely. Angela’s delicious food, the clothes from the sheriff’s wife, and... well. And you, of course.”

Darrell laughed, his voice low as he pulled her into his arms. “I promise you, what I feel for you isn’t kindness,” he murmured.

She shivered as he pressed a kiss to her throat. A new wave of desire hit him together with her scent wafting up—it smelled sweet and thick and utterly delicious, like wild honey hidden in the forest, or cool cream.

And deeper than the sharp, physical desire that made him harden with sudden need once more, something else called out for him. Something true and deep that seemed to vibrate between them, like an invisible field of energy. Like a bond that connected them, and which drew him towards her with a force that was impossible to resist.

“I’m going to keep watch over you, if that’s alright with you,” he murmured thickly, trying to think through the haze of desire. “Sheriff asked me to keep an eye on you while he’s gone. Just in case that werewolf shows his face again.”

“The sheriff trusts you a lot,” Carrie murmured, pressing her copious curves against him.

She was all soft and warm and so perfect that he wanted to never let go.

Darrell laughed softly, even as he drew his fingers through her hair, pulling her in for a gentle kiss. “You’re my mate. He knows that I’d gladly give my life for you, without a moment’s hesitation.”

“Your... what?” Carrie frowned at him. “Is that shifter for... girlfriend?”

The look she gave him was half teasing, half hopeful. Darrell felt another jolt of electricity surge through him.

He could feel it, the bond between them. What would it be like to spend the rest of his life so intimately connected to his beautiful, resourceful mate? The things he could teach her about shifter life... and the things she could teach him in return!

“More than that,” he said, his smile widening with pure joy. “Fated mates. I knew it right when I saw you for the first time. We were meant to be. I was drawn towards you. It’s like that for all shifters. We always know when we meet the one. There’s one person for us out there—our soulmate. Can you feel it? This bond between us? It’s meant to be.”

Even speaking the words set off new fireworks in his belly. For years, he’d listened with amusement when his friends found their mates. He’d been happy for them, but listening to their tales had always left him entertained. There was nothing more hilarious, after all, than hearing a taciturn, grumbly alpha suddenly start to wax poetic.

And now he’d probably annoy all of his friends as well by continuously talking about how he’d met Carrie, and how gorgeous and perfect she was.

He grinned. He really couldn’t wait to be teased by his clan. His time to settle down had at last arrived, and all of a sudden the thought of a home of his own filled with laughter and the sound of rambunctious cubs—or kittens—was all he wanted.

“Wait,” Carrie said slowly. That hopeful look in her eyes had vanished. Instead, there was a deep crease between her brows as she frowned at him. “You’re not joking right now?”

“I wasn’t joking about the werewolf, and I’m not joking now, either. I wouldn’t, not about this.” Slowly, Darrell reached out to take hold of her hand. Heat sizzled through him once more. And by the way Carrie gasped, her eyes widening, he knew that she could feel it too.

“There, can you feel it?” he asked hopefully. “Mates. That’s what it feels like to find your mate.”

Carrie stared at him from wide eyes. She didn’t speak. Darrell couldn't make out what she felt—nothing was coming through the new, fragile bond between them. It was as if shock had made her close a door in his face.

“Fated to be?” she asked. For some reason she sounded troubled. “I... Sorry, but that is a lot to take in all at once.”

Carrie pushed a hand into her hair in agitation. Then she took a resolute step backwards, her hand slipping from his. “Okay. I need some time to think. I’m sorry, Darrell, but there’s been so much happening today, and now you’re telling me that I’m not really in love with you, but that it’s—it’s some shifter thing?”

She’s in love with me, Darrell’s bear picked out, joy exploding inside him at the same time as her other words hit him like a punch to the gut.

“It’s both,” he said, suddenly afraid that he’d messed it all up when it had gone so well before. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have just sprung all these things on you. If you let me explain—”

Carrie held up her hand. “I need a few hours to myself first. I’m just—sorry, Darrell. Just a short time ago I was a cat. A cat! And now there are bear shifters, and werewolves, and I—I can’t think straight when I’m around you, and that frightens me. I just need a break to be by myself and come to terms with all of this.”

“Oh,” Darrell said, swallowing against his sudden terror and disappointment.

Of course she’s right. It was too much, and all at once. I should have waited, or made the sheriff talk to her. He wouldn’t have overwhelmed her with the sensation of the mate bond...

“Let’s meet again tomorrow,” Carrie said. She looked tired now, her brow still creased and her shoulders tense. “I promise, tomorrow we’ll talk.”

Darrell nodded, swallowing painfully against his disappointment. “That’s fair. You deserve some space. Those are a lot of changes for you. But there’s still the matter of the werewolf. Promise me you won’t go anywhere on your own? If it’s all right with you, I’ll send Glory to keep watch around the house. You met her at the summer camp, remember?”

Carrie nodded, and then, at least, gave him a faint smile. “Thanks,” she murmured. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Sorry.”

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” Darrell said gently.

Even so, his bear growled with sad disappointment when he turned away from his mate, pulling out his phone to call Glory.