Chapter One

Kian

The wind whipped across the bay, the breeze crisp but not cold enough yet. I liked the freezing arctic gales of deep winter better. The way my lungs would burn when I first started out in the morning, the crunch of snow under my feet, the feel of the sea ice under my paws. I was made for sub-zero temperatures, which is why the warmer weather wasn’t as comfortable for my kind.

I sat on a slight hill overlooking the water, wallowing in my melancholy the season change seemed to exacerbate. The ice was gone, melted as the warmer days of summer hung over us. With no ice, there were no seals to eat. With no seals to eat, our little town grew crowded with the return of the polar bears who spent months on the ice. We’d have to wait for the ice to return, for the chance to walk back out over the temporary hunting grounds Mother Nature provided.

The sound of splashing called my attention to the rocky water’s edge. A polar bear, giant and cream-colored against the gray water, walked out of the surf and onto the shore. I didn’t move, didn’t need to. I sat as still as before, waiting and watching while the animal lumbered up the hill, shaking off the excess water as he headed directly for me. A mere ten feet away, the bear dissolved, quickly morphing into the human form of my brother.

“Man, that water is empty,” Whit said, reaching for the blanket he’d left in a pile next to me before his swim. “What I wouldn’t do for the sea ice to come back for another week.”

“Eh, season’s over.” I sniffed the air, missing the smell of seals on the breeze. Eating fish and other game just wasn’t the same. “Back to inland living for us. Or me at least. I’m pretty sure you spent half the hunting season on land with your mate.”

“Hell yeah, I did. Gotta keep her satisfied.” Whit grinned as I scowled, wrapping his blanket around his naked body and plopping beside me with a grunt. “What’s got you all broody?”

“I’m not broody.”

“Please. You’ve been staring out to sea with that puss-face for the last hour. What’s up?”

What was up? Everything…and nothing.

I shrugged. “Not really sure.”

Which wasn’t a lie. Not quite. I didn’t know how to explain what was bothering me. I wasn’t even sure if I should try.

“Maybe you need to get out of here,” Whit said, leaning back on his arms. “Have Boomer take you down to Fairbanks for a couple of days.”

I shook my head, catching my mistake too late to stop myself. Ever since we’d become adults, we’d enjoyed the few times of the year when the men of our small shifter community would head down to Fairbanks. A few nights in a big city with fun stuff to do, things to buy, and women to take back to the hotel combatted the long, cold months spent in the wild and reenergized all the shifters. But suddenly, the idea of being wrapped up in the soft, smooth warmth of some random woman didn’t sit well with me, and my bear absolutely refused to consider the invitation. Even if it did feel as if I’d been hard for weeks.

Now if it were her…

I shoved that thought aside, trying to look casual as my brother frowned with his brow drawn and eyes slightly squinted. Thinking…investigating…looking for the truth.

“Let the younger ones go this time,” I replied, dodging his inquiry.

Whit stared, his face serious. “That’s it. What’s going on?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about you turning down a chance to get laid.”

I scoffed, shrugging a single shoulder for good measure. “It’s not like I’ve never turned down a trip to Fairbanks before.”

“True. But usually there’s a solid reason behind the refusal.” He leaned forward, forcing me to look at him. “So?”

“So what?”

He rolled his eyes, looking much like he had when he was fifteen and trying to get me to do something I didn’t want to. His methods hadn’t changed, though his age certainly had.

“What’s the reason?”

I looked away again, uncomfortable admitting my secret. But I was beginning to think I’d lost my mind, which meant I needed help. And there was no one in the world I trusted more than my brothers, especially Whit.

“I keep having these dreams,” I said, keeping my voice on the quiet side even though we were alone.

“Wet dreams?”

Yeah, that earned a glare for my little brother. “Fuck, no, man. I’m not twelve.”

“Too bad. Last time I had one, Audrey was—”

“Can I finish?” I interrupted, waiting for Whit to nod before sighing. “Every night for the past week, this…woman…appears in my dreams.”

“Is she hot?”

“Whit,” I said, growling the word. His unbridled enthusiasm was something I both hated and envied. As the youngest of my brothers, he tended to joke and laugh the most. The rest of us grew up with responsibilities; Whit grew up playing the clown and getting away with it because he was the last cub of the family. But at that moment, with my mood soured by the seasons and the mystery of the woman who’d been haunting my dreams, youthful zest was definitely not what I needed.

Whit didn’t seem to agree. He punched my shoulder and laughed. “Oh, quit being a whiner. Is she hot?”

Sighing, I gave in as I always did where Whit was concerned. I thought back over the last few dreams, pulling up every detail I could remember. Her long, dark hair reflecting the light from the fireplace, practically glowing in the night. Her soft, green eyes meeting mine. The way her lips called to me, begged me to kiss them. The delicious curve of her hips throwing shadows across the cabin floor.

“Yeah,” I said. “She’s really fucking hot. She’s also a dream.”

“If you believe she’s just a dream, then what’s the problem?”

“It doesn’t always feel like a dream.” I stood up, pacing, my inner bear itching to come out. Clawing at the edges of my mind to show his frustration. “There’s something about her. I go to bed early every night hoping she comes to me right away, and I’m pissed as hell when I wake up, because she’s gone. She never says anything, just stands there and smiles or follows my movements with her eyes. I try to talk to her, to touch her, but nothing. She’s just…there. And she’s driving me mad. I can’t stop thinking about her.”

Whit sat quietly for a moment, uncharacteristically so. But then…

“You’re longing for her.”

I froze, letting his words sink in, thinking about the possibility, but then I shook my head, refusing the idea. “No, that’s not it. How can I be longing for her if she’s not real? I know the mating legends as well as you do, and the longing comes on once we’ve actually met our mates. Not because of some strange woman interrupting our dreams.”

He stood, shrugging. “Maybe she’s your mate.”

“Oh, wonderful,” I spat. “I finally get my dream girl…literally.”

My frustration boiled over, my growl loud and long, but I held on to my temper as hard as I could. He didn’t get it. Whit had found his mate two years ago on a trip to Fairbanks. One day was all it took for him to meet Audrey, mate with her, claim her, and convince her not to kill him as he dragged her back to his den. And he did convince her because she came quite willingly. He was the luckiest bastard of us all. The shifters who knew the story joked about the golden horseshoe up his ass. And though I was happy for him, thrilled that the claiming of his mate had gone well for him, that happiness was tinged with jealousy. Two years was a long time to watch a couple much younger than you be blissfully happy while I sat and waited. And though it didn’t bother me most of the time, lately, that happiness grated.

Ever since she first appeared in my bedroom.

Whit didn’t comment, just stood and looked out over the bay, a contemplative look on his face.

“You know,” he finally said. “When I met Audrey, I wished on every star I could see that you would find your mate as well. I wanted you to feel the peace the mating bond brings our bears.” He turned, spearing me with a look as he dropped his blanket to the ground. “I’ve been wishing for you to find your mate every night for the past two years. Dream or no dream, maybe my wishes for you are finally coming true. You’re just too fucking stubborn to even consider it.”

Without another word, he shifted to his bear. I stared after him as he grabbed his blanket in his teeth and walked away, back toward town. My emotions a mess, I gave his words the respect of my full attention, working through them to look for truth. Shit, I wanted them to be true. Wanted it so badly, I could practically taste the honesty on the wind. If wishes were dreams…

“If only it were that easy,” I whispered to nothing and no one. Knowing an answer would never come, I surrendered to the beast within. His clawing at my mind had gotten annoying anyway. Without thought to my clothes, I shifted to my bear, letting out a roar as soon as I was on four feet. Whit growled back, the sound carrying across the marshy ground. The scents of the area filled my sensitive nose, making the world come alive in a single breath. But nothing held my attention, nothing called to me in the vast land around us. Only her, the siren in my dreams, the one I couldn’t stop seeing. The one I knew nothing about.

The one I couldn’t wait to fall asleep for.