Feral glanced around at the pile of wood and took deep breaths. Sage had been right. He did like chopping wood. It helped him think. It helped his tiger calm down. Not today. Today, the animal wanted him to go back to Reysha and Hawk’s and take his mate home. His mate. There was no question about it now. She was the one.

He’d woken early to solve a pride problem, only to return and find her gone. Hawk had asked one of the pride members to take her back to her hotel. Now, it was Feral’s turn to figure out how to get Sage to willingly come back to him. To be his.

He wiped his brow with the back of his hand. His cell phone chirped, pulling his attention. He picked it up and saw Slate’s name on it.

“We have a problem,” Slate started.

“What’s going on?” He slammed the axe on the trunk he used to chop wood. It was a cold day, but being a shifter meant he was always warmer than a human. His internal temperature allowed him to be naked and not feel the bite in the air. The first sprinkles of snow had fallen that morning.

It was only a matter of time before they had a blizzard and the ski resort would be packed with people looking to hit the slopes. During the summer months, the water park they had on the property kept the families pouring in, but the moment they had snow, the place was jammed with skiers.

“I’m down by Lionel’s cabin. He’s gone for the winter, visiting his daughter. Someone lit his cabin on fire. Get down here.”

Rushing inside, he grabbed the keys to his SUV and hopped in. The drive to the pride member’s cabin would normally be ten minutes down the rugged mountain road, but he made it in five.

Several in the pride had an assembly line from the river next to Lionel’s place and passed back buckets of water. The firefighters would be there soon, but it would help save Lionel’s place if they could get the fire under control or stopped altogether.

He hopped to the front of the line, tossing bucket after bucket of water, until they were able to slow the flames from taking over the rest of the cabin. The firefighters arrived and put the rest of the blaze out. Lionel had lost the living room, but the rest of the place had survived.

As soon as the fire was out, he went inside, sniffing to see if he could catch someone’s scent. Nothing. The only thing he could scent was gasoline. Slate had been right. Someone had purposely lit the place on fire.

Slate and Gunner came in behind him.

“One of the kids said they were playing not far when the cabin first caught fire,” Slate started. “They said they saw some of the Behar pride leaving the area.”

Feral growled, curling his arms into fists. “They shouldn’t be here. This is our land.”

“They’re trying hard to push you,” Gunner sighed. “What do you want us to do?”

“There are a few other cabins close to the division line,” Feral said. “Let’s check on them.”

The three shifted into their tigers and rushed farther downriver toward the hill that divided Terai land from the Behar area.

Something was off. The scent of danger made his tiger roar. They were surrounded. Six of the Behar pride members attacked. There was no time to think. Action was swift and ruthless. Four of the tigers targeted Feral, while both Gunner and Slate were fighting one-on-one with the other two.

He bit and clawed, taking two down before the other two attacked him at once.

Claws scraped across his side, leaving burns with each scratch. He bit one guy, shoved another, but a third jumped on his back, his claws deep in Feral’s side.

He roared again, fury surging through him. He shook the guy off his back, but the fourth bit on his hind leg, the sound of bone breaking angering his tiger even more.

Two of the Behar clawed at him incessantly. Blood poured from wounds all over his body. His hind leg was useless, but he fought. Feral would never back down. Even outnumbered. He shoved one of the tigers hard enough that he was able to grab him by the neck and break it.

One down, three to go. More scrapes on his back made him howl in pain. These motherfuckers were trying hard to get rid of him. Shoving the tiger with his claws digging into Feral’s back was his next move. He slammed his side into a tree, making the other tiger fall from the hit. Fuck, that shit hurt.

Another tiger by the throat, he wasn’t letting go even though the other two were attacking his side and other hind leg.

Gunner shoved one guy off and then Slate got the other. At that point, the one he had his jaws locked on lay lifeless.

A massive, angry roar tore from his chest, before he turned to watch his men kill the last two attackers. He dropped to the ground, his breathing ragged and his vision spotty. He’d need to sleep a while to heal. The only person on his mind was Sage as his mind shut down and his healing began. He had to see her again. And he had to make it special.