“I don’t know why I can’t stop doing this.” I rub my hand along Ruby’s pregnant belly. “Does it drive you nuts?” One of the babies kicks, making me jerk my hand back for a second, my eyes going wide. Wow, they’re so strong already. I wonder what it will be like when I have my own pups in my belly.

“Meh.” She just shrugs and goes back to devouring a caramel-covered apple. I don’t think anything would bother her right now while she has her mouth full of food. Her being human and carrying three shifter babies has her in what seems to be a constant state of hunger.

Her mate, and Gray Ridge’s sheriff, Dominic, tucks a strand of her wild red hair behind her ear before it can blow in the wind and get trapped in the caramel mess she’s making. His finger goes to her chin, running it down her neck and tracing a bite mark on her shoulder. The look in his eyes as he stares at his mate hits me hard. Suddenly, I feel a longing I’ve been trying to put aside for months now. People have gone way longer than I have without finding their mates, but for some reason it’s eating at me. I’m only twenty-one and finally just got out from under my brother’s controlling ways. I shouldn’t want to be locked down to a mate now, but I do.

“Do I smell donuts?” Ruby asks, breaking my moment of yearning.

“I swear you smell better than I do now, sweets.” Dominic grabs Ruby, pulling her closer and tucking her under his arm in a possessive gesture. I thought that after their mating, his possessiveness might cool a little, but it seems to be as strong as ever. Every male who passes us on the street in the middle of the fair makes sure to stay about eight feet back from Ruby.

“Well, don’t just stand there. Donuts!” she says after taking the last bite of her caramel apple. Ruby hands Dom the now-bare stick with a huge smile. Dominic swoops down, taking her lips and licking the caramel from the corners of her mouth before dragging her away.

“Doesn’t that count as public indecency?” Winnie asks from beside me.

“He’s not going to arrest himself.” We both giggle while making our way further down the street. It’s hard to get far in a town like Gray Ridge without running into someone you know. Everyone knows everyone unless you’re a tourist here visiting the National Forest. The town's fair seems to have pulled them off the camp grounds and into our streets to join in the festivities.

“He’s cute.” I nod to a boy who looks to be about Winnie’s age, maybe a few years older. He’s standing a few feet from us as we watch some of the street performers. He’s tall and lean with short brown hair, but everyone is tall compared to Winnie. “Why don’t you go talk to him?” I nudge her, but I know she won’t do it. She’s so freaking shy. I’ve spent the last few months trying to pull her out of her shell, but it doesn’t seem to be working.

Winnie looks over at the same time the boy’s eyes land on us, and he takes it as an invitation to talk to us. He zeroes right in on Winnie, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. She goes to take a step back, but I lock my arm with one of hers, halting her in a friendly movement.

“You ladies from around here?” His long drawl lets me know that he’s not, and so does his very human scent.

When Winnie doesn’t answer him even though his eyes are on her, I do it for her. “Born and raised.” I nudge Winnie again. “Winnie has lived here a few years now.”

“Winnie. I like that name. It’s cute.” He gives her a wink, but I feel her stiffen at his words, and my shifter hearing picks up her mumbling, “Cute.” She doesn’t like the word. Reading too much into it, I’m sure. From our conversation earlier, I’m thinking she wants to be called something more along the lines of ‘pretty’ or maybe ‘beautiful.’

“Thanks,” she finally says. This might not be her mate, but maybe she can push some of her shyness back. He’s clearly interested. Maybe a few stolen kisses will do Winnie some good. Boost the confidence she shouldn’t be lacking in.

“Winnie could show you around. Tell you which vendors have the best food and make sure you stay away from Old Man Gibbs.”

“Old Man Gibbs?”

“Yeah, he spits and likes to whack tourists with his cane,” I confirm. I used to think it was gross, but now it seems like a staple of the town.

“He’s not very fast so he’s easy to avoid,” Winnie finally chimes in.

“I’m sure you’ll keep me safe.” He reaches out to take her hand in his, but a low growl from behind us makes the boy jump. I turn to see my brother, Stone, with a look of rage on his face. He’s our alpha, and this isn’t good.

“What’s your problem?” I glare back at him, wondering what crawled up his ass. When I glance back behind me, the boy is long gone.

“Winnie is too young to be wandering off with random boys.”

“She’s almost eighteen,” I say in her defense. “You need to cool it with that shit. You did that crap to me, and you’re not going to do it with Winnie, too.”

Winnie takes a step back, probably not liking being the center of our conversation and not liking attention on her. Also because it’s not often people talk back to Stone, but he’s my brother and I’ve been doing it since I could talk. He can be overbearing at times, and I’m not even sure that word is strong enough to describe him.

“She’s not like the rest of us, Gwen.” His words piss me off further because I know they hurt Winnie without even having to hear the gasp she releases.

“And what the fuck does that mean?” I let a growl come through in my words.

His eyes move to hers and soften a little. He reaches his hand up to touch her cheek, but she steps back from his touch. It makes Stone’s extended hand clench into a fist before he drops it back down to his side. “Your freckles are gone.”

I pull my eyes from him to look over at Winnie. Her cheeks are turning red and the freckles that normally cover her cheeks are indeed gone. Probably from a little make-up.

“I’m serious, Stone. What’s your deal?” I step in front of him, blocking his view of Winnie. “You’re acting like an alpha a-hole.”

He growls at me, drawing more attention to us. If he wasn’t my brother, I probably would’ve pissed myself. The urge to bare my neck to him is strong, but the urge to protect a fellow female of my pack is stronger. Alpha blood runs through my veins, too, and I feel it coursing strong in this moment.

Then suddenly, Stone is gone.

He hits the unforgiving concrete with a loud thud, rolling into one of the vendor tents beside us. He brings it, and whatever was on top of him, down around him. Instantly, Dominic is there, ripping the tent covering off Stone and an unknown male.

When freed, both Stone and the male spring to their feet ready to lunge at each other, but Dominic jumps between them.

“X! No!” Dominic shouts at the man.

Stone looks at the unknown male as if he knows him, then his eyes shoot to mine. I look at Stone before my eyes are pulled back to the male who tackled him. His back is to me, but I can see he’s a freaking giant. No, ‘giant’ isn’t even the right word. He has to be a shifter, but I haven’t caught his smell yet. No way is he that big and not one of us. I’ve meet a lot of shifters in my life, mainly wolves, but none have ever been as big as he is.

“I won’t let him take her,” Stone says, looking around. He’s probably realizing we’re in the middle of town during a fair and everyone is looking at us. And a lot of the eyes seeing this are human. This could get out of control.

“Mine,” the man growls, turning to meet my eyes. The one word takes the air right out of my lungs.

Mate. It rings loud in my ears, but I’m so stunned by his appearance I just stand there, his familiar eyes locked on mine. He looks savage. Like a wild beast. They say a wolf shifter would never hurt his mate, but this man-beast doesn’t look totally in control. Like the part of him that’s human is no longer with him.

“He’s not stable. I won’t let him take her,” my brother says, in a calm voice this time. Probably trying to get his own wolf in check so it doesn’t break free and send the tourists running and screaming. “I’ll put him down first.”

A loud growl fills the air, and it takes me a moment to realize it’s coming from me. Anger like I’ve never felt before pours through me at the idea of someone putting my mate down. I might be fucking terrified in this moment, but the idea of someone hurting him makes my eyes start to change. It takes everything in me to stop the shift and keep my skin.

“Everyone just calm down. Xavier, come over here to me.” Ruby’s soft voice penetrates my anger, bringing forth another feeling. Jealousy.

“Mine!” my wolf snaps, making Ruby raise her hands. I can’t seem to control myself.

“Goddamn it. All of you, knock it the fuck off,” Dominic yells. Everything has gone completely quiet. No one is moving or making a sound. “Let him take her. He won’t hurt her.”

“No.” Stone's answer is immediate and final.

“I’ll fight you and win.” The man everyone but me seems to know crouches lower to the ground, and my fear rises. He must smell it, because his eyes shoot back to mine. “You have nothing to fear from me. I’ll prove I’m strong and a good mate. You’ll see.”

“Don’t hurt my brother.” I need to stop him because I do, in fact, think he might win a fight against the alpha, given his size and the fact that he’s literally busting out of his clothes.

“I never wish to harm your family unless they keep you from me. It’s best they learn now that I’m strong. They’re no competition against me. I’ll always win.” He says it with such certainly that I want to believe him.

I can tell Stone’s fighting everything in him to keep his skin and not to lash out. I’m guessing the only thing holding him back is the importance of protecting this town's little growly secret. But I’m also guessing my mate doesn’t feel the same. I can tell he’ll do whatever it takes to have me, and he’s not leaving without me, no matter the price.

“I’ll have to get in the middle of you and him.”

He growls at my words, then moves faster than I thought was possible in human form. Before I can blink, I’m in his arms and over his shoulder. But just as he has me, he suddenly stops, falling to his knees and pulling me from his shoulder down to his chest.

“They can’t keep you from me.” He falls the rest of the way forward, softly pinning me to the ground. “My beauty.”

I grab his long-bearded face in my hands as his eyes start to roll back in his head. Fear shoots through my body like I’ve never felt before. “Someone help me! Something’s wrong with him!” I try to push him off me, but he’s pure solid muscle and a dead weight on top of me.

After just a second, I feel his weight ease, and I see Stone and Dominic are lifting him from me.

“What’s wrong with him?” I ask in panic as I reach for him.

“I tranqed him.”