Rafe stared at her in wide-eyed wonder as she slept. Zoey. His mate. God, fate had such a sick and twisted sense of humor and yet… in the end, it always, always got it right.

Zoey. His Zoey. He had to resist the urge to reach out and touch her, to stroke her and hug her and keep her close. To protect her. It had been a long time since he’d given a thought to protecting anyone, even himself. But he would protect Zoey.

She was more than just his mate. She was his other half, the one person that could make him whole. She was his salvation.

The fire he’d built flickered over Zoey’s beautiful face. Her hair glittered coppery in the firelight and he wondered if he would ever find the right name for the color, ever get tired of looking at it, feeling the soft strands slip through his fingers. Her skin was soft, creamy perfection and though her face didn’t have a single flaw, a single freckle, he hadn’t missed the trail of them over her shoulders and down her chest, wanted to kiss each one, trace them with his tongue, map every inch of her, because she was his.

After she’d fallen asleep in the woods, he’d carefully carried her the rest of the way to the cabin. He knew that it was more than just sleep keeping her sedated. What they’d done in the woods had been so much more than sex. They’d mated and that meant her body and mind were in the midst of some major changes. She was still human, for now, so he’d built the fire even though he wasn’t chilly because he wouldn’t let anything touch her, anything hurt her, not even a cold.

While she slept, he’d looked around the cabin and silently cursed his brother yet again. This cabin had been his. His and Gabe’s. Not Michael’s. But like everything else Rafe had left behind, it seemed his little brother had attempted to claim this too.

He grit his teeth until his jaw hurt as he noticed all the improvements. All the proof that this cabin had been used in his absence. Not just because he could scent his brother. Not just because it was fully furnished, if a tad bit dusty. But because his mate’s scent had been here even before he brought her inside.

She’d come here with Michael and that grated on his already frayed nerves.

It made his head hurt. Made his subconscious ask questions he wasn’t sure he would like the answers to. Because he wanted the best for Zoey, for his mate, and at every turn he seemed to run into proof Michael would have been the better choice for her.

Michael was the one who had stayed. He’d taken over the pack. He’d taken care of everyone. He had the history with Zoey. Decades of friendship and love and devotion. He’d given her a place in the pack and a home. He was the one she’d turned to whenever she had problems and all of her best memories must have been with Michael.

Even in this cabin, there were hints of their time together. Fishing poles tucked in the corner, one of them with a pink lure. The cabinets were full of food he had a vague memory of her eating as a kid. Fruit Loops and Cheetos and other junk food Michael must have bought for her even though he didn’t eat it. There were clothes tucked into the drawers of the chest in the bedroom. Tank tops and shorts and a tiny little string bikini that had made Rafe’s wolf growl at the very thought of his mate wearing so little in front of another. She had things here, scattered all around, as if fate had been preparing this place to become her home.

Only, instead of him, it had been Michael coming here with her.

Rafe shook his head to clear the fog of jealousy that nearly overcame him. No. No. Fate hadn’t gotten it wrong. Zoey was his. She was perfect for him. She was a link to his past, to his brother, perhaps to help him mend what he’d broken. She was his and if she deserved the best then that’s just what he would have to become for her.

She deserved a good man, a good wolf, someone that put others first, had friends, and helped them when he could.

Now that he’d had her, mated her, sealed the first half of the bond, his mind was clearer than it had been since the moment he walked into Noir and scented her. He hadn’t come back here for her. He hadn’t known she was here. She had been a surprise.

He’d come back because he needed to talk to Michael but instead of talking, they’d gotten into an argument, then an all-out brawl. His brother had tranqued him and thrown him in a jail cell. His brother had tried to keep his mate from him and if it had been anyone else he would have ripped him to pieces. He certainly didn’t want to talk to him now but a good man would, and he knew he would have to.

Rafe’s friend was in trouble. He’d asked for help. Leo, an alpha in his own right, had asked Rafe for help and he knew that couldn’t have been easy. Leo was the only friend who’d managed to keep track of him while he was running around feral and wild. He was a good man, a good wolf, and his pack was in trouble. He’d asked Rafe for the aid of the Moirae pack but that wasn’t his to give. Not since he’d given Michael the position of Pack Alpha. But he couldn’t just tell his only friend no either, so he would talk to Michael.

He figured it was only a matter of time until his brother tracked him down anyway.

Michael must know he’d escaped by now, and how. He would start by looking in all of the obvious places. Zoey’s home. Her bakery, which Rafe had stumbled upon while searching her out earlier. He’d check the house and then the woods but he was a smart kid. He’d put it together and know where to find him. In the only place Rafe could still consider home. He was honestly surprised his brother wasn’t beating down the door already.

He could only assume Michael or one of his wolves had found their spot in the woods, or would shortly. They’d scent him and Zoey. They’d scent what they’d done, scent the bond that had been forged, the magic of it. He’d thought that Michael might rush here in a fury over it but of course, that would have been Rafe’s reaction, not his little brothers.

Michael was smart but calm and collected. He would know there was no use barging in tonight. That he couldn’t stop it, stop them, anymore. That he’d failed. He would give them tonight, Rafe knew. He wouldn’t interrupt. They’d be reprieved from his wrath until tomorrow.

Tomorrow. Which only brought the reality of his new situation to the front of his mind. Tomorrow was the full moon. He would shift tomorrow. His wolf would force him to now that he knew his mate needed claiming. And then there would be no holding him back. He would bite Zoey, mark her as his, and seal their fate forever.

He had no control over his wolf when he broke the skin. He hadn’t since that day in the woods when the hunters had destroyed his world. He’d been scarred that day, physically and emotionally, but his wolf had been irreparably damaged.

If Rafe, the man, was half feral, then his wolf was that feral half of him. He was savage and uncontrollable. He saw nothing but threats, everywhere. He was scared and he was dangerous.

Never, not once, had Rafe shifted in the presence of another since that day. It was too risky. He couldn’t put anyone else in danger like that. But he wouldn’t leave Zoey, he couldn’t. She was his mate. Even if he started running now and got as far away as he could, when the moon rose tomorrow night his wolf would head straight for her anyway and when he found her, he’d be in a state of panic, fearful of losing what he knew was his to take, and he’d ravage her if Rafe couldn’t get him under control.

If he couldn’t give him a reason to believe Zoey was already theirs.

Fuck, he cursed under his breath and scrubbed a hand over his face. It was too fast. It was all happening too fast.

He’d only just found her. The heat had forced them both into the human claiming as quickly as possible. But the wolf, the bite, he needed more time. He needed to give the wolf time with her, to learn to trust her, to earn her trust in return. He needed more time but they didn’t have any.

Tomorrow was the full moon and he would shift. The only question was whether or not Zoey would shift with him. It would be safer if she did. If they’d already bonded and she had a wolf of her own to protect her from him if it came to that. But damn it, how could he ask her to give him that, give him everything she was, when he’d left once before already?

Damn it, he didn’t know whether to cry or scream, to hug her close or to run in the other direction.

“Rafe?”

He jerked his head up at the sound of his name. Her voice was rough from sleep, raspy and sexy as hell. He’d wrapped her in a blanket but hadn’t redressed her and she was naked under that quilt. His heart twisted in his chest. He thought anything and everything she ever did or said would be sexy to him. Not just because she was his mate but because she was her.

Zoey.

He’d been of age before he left Noir. He’d felt the pull towards her. He couldn’t deny it, wouldn’t, not anymore.

It had made him feel guilty. Lusting after his brother’s girlfriend. Everyone had known, known, that Zoey and Michael would mate when they came of age.

So he’d tried to ignore the pull he felt towards her. He’d kept his distance from her, and from Michael when he could, because he couldn’t wrap his head around how or why he was so fascinated by her. By her beauty. By her sense of humor. By her intelligence and wit. So when he’d been forced to interact with her he’d hidden it under derision.

She must’ve hated him back then.

He smiled at the thought of telling her about it now. Now, since she was looking at him with that soft, sleepy, look of affection. What he’d have given for her to look at him like that all those years ago. If she had, maybe he would have stayed. But she couldn’t have known, just as he hadn’t, that this was what awaited them.

“Rafe?” Her smile faded and her brows furrowed, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He caught her hand when she reached for him and pressed a kiss to each of her fingers. “Nothing at all.”

Her lips flickered but she shook her head as she sat upright, holding the blanket over her chest, so they were face to face where he sat on the coffee table, “I wish I believed that.”

Rafe was captivated by the electricity that jolted through him at her touch. He nuzzled her hand. Moved it so he could stroke her soft skin against his cheek. He wanted his stubble to leave a mark, to mark her in every way that he could. He wanted her scent all over him and his all over her. Rafe found her pulse at her wrist, felt it speed, and couldn’t stop himself from licking over it, lapping at her and taking her scent inside of him.

“Rafe…” His name was almost a moan this time when she said it and he growled, low in his throat, because that was a sound he wanted to hear for the rest of his life. “Rafe, wait…”

He growled when she jerked her hand away from him and she giggled slightly. He met her gaze but despite the sound there wasn’t humor there. She was watching him with those intelligent multi-colored eyes and he sighed, knowing that she wasn’t going to let him ignore her question.

“What’s wrong?” She tilted her head slightly and raised her hand of her own accord to stroke his cheek this time.

He shook his head and raised his palm to cover hers, to keep her touch there, “It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing.” She scooted closer to him, “I can feel it, Rafe. I can feel you. It’s the bond. It’s still forming, it’s not complete, but I can feel you already, sense your emotions. Something is wrong and you’re worried.”

“Zo, I don’t want to scare you. Let it be. For now…”

“No.” She stated sharply and firmly, “You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to shut me out and claim it’s for my own good. Not now.” She cupped his face with both hands and forced him to meet her steady gaze, “You claimed me. You said I’m yours. You said you’re mine. That means you have to talk to me. You have to tell me what’s got you so scared.”

Rafe winced, wanting to pull back. He wanted to run. He wanted to turn his back so she couldn’t see it but that was the thing. She wasn’t just seeing it. She could feel it. And no denying it would convince her even if he hated that word because he was scared.

“Rafe, please, you’re not going to scare me away. I promise. Nothing can do that. I feel you, here.” She moved one of her hands to take his and press it to her chest so he could feel her heart beating in time with his, syncing with his as the bond worked between them, “I’m not naïve enough to believe this is love. Not yet. But I care about you and I want you, all of you. You’re already in my heart so don’t break it. Tell me what’s wrong.”

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was right of course. She deserved to know what she was getting herself into. She deserved to know everything, especially the parts that scared him because they were what would hurt her the worst. The bond was there but to seal it, she had to trust him and to do that, she had to know the truth.

“The bond isn’t fully formed because I didn’t bite you when we mated. I held back.”