A knock sounded at Cyrus’s door and he grabbed his gun, the scent coming from the other side of the door sending his grizzly into a panic. He pushed open the door, his shotgun under the crook of his arm. What he found on the other side of the door made his inner grizzly rear on his hind legs. The smell of the little human standing in front of him with a tiny dog poking out of the neck of her coat almost made his knees buckle.

Mate.

He knew it beyond a shadow of a doubt. His mate had found him and come to his door.

“Mountain Bear?” she asked, looking up at him through thick lashes.

The little dog barked at him and jumped out of the neck of her jacket. The girl caught the dog before it dropped to the ground, but the little creature wiggled away and lunged at Cyrus, yapping and barking.

“She doesn’t like you,” his mate said, looking up at him from her knees. She grabbed at the dog and finally got it back under control, shoving it into a handbag.

“I don’t like her either,” Cyrus said.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, looking into his cabin.

“I should ask you the same question,” he said, crossing his arms.

She was clearly his mate. That much was certain. But he still didn’t understand how the little human and her silly little dog had gotten to his cabin.

“I can tell you the whole story if you let me inside,” she said, and he noticed her weary expression for the first time.

“Of course, come in,” he said, stepping aside to let her by.

She continued into the cabin and quickly found a place to sit by the fire.

“I can’t believe I found you,” she said. “I was worried I’d have to spend the night in the forest.”

“You were lost?” he asked, handing her a cup of water.

She took it, chugged it down, and asked for another. Cyrus poured it for her, and she drank that one more slowly.

“I was lost after running away from my stepdad and his drug deal gone bad,” she said flatly. “Just after I found out you were my fated mate on , Mountain Bear.”

“My name is Cyrus Kincaid,” he said.

“Daisy Danes,” she said standing to offer him her hand.

He shook it, looking her up and down. She was wearing form fitting blue jeans and a puffer parka. He could see her curves through her warm clothes and it made his grizzly growl with need.

“Your stepdad is a drug dealer?” he asked.

“He’s a criminal. I don’t think he narrows his business to drugs.”

“I see. You got lost after fleeing a drug deal. Why were you even there?”

“My stepdad wanted to sell me for a crate full of crystal. The hyenas tried to rip him off. There was a shootout and I ran.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“Well, none of that matters now. We’ve found each other and you can save me from my stepfather and his goons.”

“Are they still after you?” Cyrus asked.

He wanted to protect his mate more than anything in the world, but the thought of her stepfather and his criminal flunkies coming to his cabin made his skin crawl. Cyrus had left society to avoid exactly this kind of thing. Now he was embroiled right back in the middle of this insane drama.

“No. I saw his helicopter leave right after the Updikes left.”

“The Updikes were the hyenas your stepdad wanted to sell you to?” Cyrus said, growing angry. “I should have known.”

“Does that name mean anything to you?”

“It sure does. Those guys have been making trouble on Fate Mountain for decades. They’re almost as bad as…”

“Almost as bad as what?”

“Nothing. It doesn’t matter.”

Cyrus squeezed his eyes closed, trying to push aside the memories that jumped into the forefront of his mind. The betrayal he’d experienced during the war could never be healed.

This was a different matter entirely and he had to keep it separate. He’d never been friends with an Updike. But he knew how they operated. They reminded him of a very bad man he’d once known who had been his friend, or at least had pretended to be.

Cyrus had lost his faith in brotherhood after that. Coming home to find the ranch in bad shape, his brother as scattered and as broken as he was, he couldn’t face another day in civilization. He’d decided the only way to be happy was to live alone in the forest, away from the pressures that made men hate each other.

But it had all caught up with him and found its way to his doorstep in the form of his beautiful blonde, curvy mate named Daisy. Her little dog yipped at him from its bag, and he growled back at it. The dog cried and Daisy looked up at him like he was a monster.

“She started it,” Cyrus defended.

Daisy pulled the dog out of her purse and a stream of high-pitched baby talk flooded from her mouth. Cyrus stood there in shock, listening to her coo at her annoying little pet.

He couldn’t believe this was happening in his home. Usually, rodents that size were either dinner or quickly disposed of. He didn’t set them on his lap and baby them.

“I think she’s hungry,” Daisy said, offering her dog a handful of dog food from her palm. “I’m starving myself, come to think of it. What are you cooking?”

Cyrus looked over at his elk roast, cooking over the open flames in his fireplace. It was browning on the roasting spit. He walked over to his fireplace and cranked the metal bar to turn the roast to the other side.

“This elk roast is almost done,” he said.

“It smells amazing. My mouth is watering so much I have to keep swallowing it down,” she said with a giggle.

He chuckled and found his carving knife.

“Must have been hard on you out there,” he said, caving into the roast. “You don’t seem like the outdoorsy type.”

“I don’t?” she said, laughing as her dog ate out of her hand. She went back into a stream of baby talk that made Cyrus’s grizzly growl in confusion. “In fact, I spend most of my spare time shopping and clubbing. Who am I kidding? I don’t even have a job or go to school, so pretty much all my time is spare time.”

“Why don’t you do anything with your life?” Cyrus asked, too sharply.

He could see her face fall at his words. He didn’t want to hurt her. But he was beginning to think that fate was playing some kind of cruel joke on him. How was a man like him supposed to connect with a girl like Daisy?

She was clearly a princess. From her French tip manicure to the frosted highlights in her hair to the designer boots she worn on her feet. He didn’t believe he could ever make this woman happy, and that fear sank in his gut like a ton of bricks.

She cleared her throat, the gleam of unshed tears bright in her eyes. She smiled at him and put Fifi down on the ground. The dog ran over to him and began yipping. He glared at it and his grizzly growled.

“It wasn’t because I didn’t want to. My stepdad wouldn’t let me. I’ve wanted to be an interior designer since I was a little girl. I should have just left home. I guess I was lazy and scared. But what can I do? I didn’t realize my stepdad would try to sell me for drugs. He paid my credit card bills. What would you do?”

“I guess you have point. You’re just never going to have a life like that with me.”

“We just met. I don’t expect to have any kind of life with you at all,” she said defensively. “It’s just weird that you’re my mate, and I found you today, of all days. They say fate works in mysterious ways.”

“That they do, especially on Fate Mountain.”

“So you don’t have to worry about giving me anything, Cyrus. I just need to rest tonight. Tomorrow you can point me in the direction of civilization.”

“You can’t go.”

“What do you mean I can’t go?” she said, her voice growing an edge he hadn’t heard up until then. “I’m sick and tired of people telling me what I can and can’t do. That goes for you too.”

“I’d never presume to tell you what to do. You can stay in my cabin tonight and tomorrow I’ll take you back.”

“Good. I’m glad we have an understanding.”

“What are you going to do about your stepdad?” Cyrus asked, carving slices of meat from the roast and placing them on a plate for Daisy.

He handed her the food and she dug in hungrily. She didn’t look at him until she was done eating, and took a deep breath as she leaned back in her chair.

“I thought you would protect me, but you don’t want me,” she said bursting into tears.

She sobbed into her hands. The food had given her the strength she needed to cry. Cyrus was more confused than ever. This little creature’s behavior was totally irrational.

“I never said I didn’t want you, Daisy,” he said placing a hand on her shoulder.

“You don’t have to say it. It’s written all over you. We aren’t right for each other. Fate made a mistake. What are we going to do?”

Her crying began to take on a fevered pitch. That’s when he noticed how hot she felt.

“You’re burning up,” he grumbled.

“I’m fine,” she said, starting to shiver.

“You are not, You’re sick as a dog. You need to get into bed right now.”

“It’s okay,” she said, standing. “I’m strong.”

She started to walk toward the door, but her knees buckled under her weight. Cyrus was there just in time to scoop her up in his arms. She collapsed into his embrace and he lifted her from the ground, carrying her across the cabin to lay her on his bed.

“You don’t have to do this,” she said as he unzipped her boots and helped her into bed.

“Yes, I do.”

“Will you come back to the city with me and take me clubbing?” she asked, her words slurred as she fell further into the fever.

“Probably not,” he said.

“I knew you didn’t want me,” she sobbed, turning over on her side.

The little dog jumped on the bed and sat vigil over Daisy’s body, yapping at Cyrus in warning. He growled at the dog, but this time it didn’t back down. It only emboldened the little beast to bark louder.

“Quiet, Fifi,” Daisy demanded wearily.

Her eyes were pressed closed and her face was flushed. Sweat had formed on her brow as the fever burned her from within. The dog settled beside her, baring its teeth at Cyrus.

“Just rest,” Cyrus said, backing away from the strange scene on his bed.

The princess and her dog falling into his world was not something he’d expected. He’d had his life well in hand for quite a long time and he wasn’t prepared to let go of that control. That didn’t mean that Daisy didn’t pull at his heartstrings. He, however, had no idea what to do with her.