Chapter One

Six years later…

Alton Tarben lifted his snout to the air and took a long whiff. Yep. She was nearby. Somewhere on the mountain. No denying it. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was a good idea to chase her down today. He shouldn’t. He should turn around, tromp back down the mountain, and get as far away from her as possible.

Confronting her was never a good plan. Not six years ago or ten years ago or anytime in between. But damn if he could stop himself. And besides, what was she doing on his family’s property? Curiosity got the better of him.

Had she scented him yet?

He blocked himself, hoping to catch her off guard, and turned to head her direction. Loping between the trees on the side of the mountain, he remained in his grizzly form. His paws crunched in the thin layer of frozen snow, broken branches, and fallen leaves.

He hadn’t seen her in months. Four to be precise. His body came to life as he tracked her, awakening from the permanent state of discomfort he lived in without her in his life. It pissed him off.

Joselyn Arthur.

His mate.

A fact they both denied, though Joselyn did so with an intensity that far surpassed his ability to shut her out.

He’d known she was his since third grade. Originally, he’d ignored the pull toward her with as much vehemence as she did him. And, truth be told, he should continue to do so until death.

She wasn’t right for him. Nor was he right for her. Their families had a history that wasn’t pleasant. Insurmountable history that made it impossible for them ever to be together. And who was to say she was truly his anyway? So what if he’d had a weird vibe indicating so for most of his life?

He didn’t put much merit in Fate. Neither of them did. Grizzly shifters, in general, didn’t. It happened. Sometimes Fate seemed to have a hand in who bound with whom. It had happened more lately than reasonable. But it was rare.

He told himself for the millionth time that Joselyn Arthur was nothing more than a sexy woman whose body called to him with enough force to make his dick stiffen just thinking about her. Didn’t mean he had to bind to her for God’s sake. But he sure would like to fuck her at some point just to see what would happen. Maybe work her out of his system so he could move on with his life.

He shuddered. The idea was preposterous. What he needed to do was find a lovely woman in town who wasn’t a member of the Arthur pack and bind himself to her, essentially cutting off all possibility of ever knowing what could have been.

But he was a fool.

He inhaled deeply over and over as her scent grew stronger. His paws covered a lot of ground in a short time. She was alone. He hated the idea of her running alone in bear form in the mountains. It wasn’t safe, but he had no say in her life—a fact she reminded him of every time he saw her.

For five minutes he knew she was in her grizzly form, but when he finally popped out of a copse of evergreens, yards away from her, he came to a grinding halt.

Joselyn was leaning against a tree, human, arms crossed, dark brown eyes narrowed, glaring at him. A light breeze blew her thick brown hair around her face. Her serious expression always made his heart ache. So rarely had he seen her smile that he couldn’t remember the last time.

He slowly approached, still in his bear form, knowing it was easier to hide his reaction to seeing her if he did so. Damn, she was gorgeous. Every time he saw her, she was prettier than the last. Even angry, she made his heart race.

Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail—as it nearly always was. He’d seen it down only a handful of times in recent years, and it made him salivate with the desire to run his hands through it. He couldn’t decide if she didn’t care much about her appearance, if she intentionally chose to hide her beauty, or if she did it to keep him at bay in particular.

No matter which of those theories was correct, she failed miserably. She would look fantastic even in a sack. Pulling her hair back wet in a ponytail—as he knew she did most mornings—did nothing to hide her inner or her outer beauty, no matter what her intentions were.

Her eyes were melted chocolate that reached into his soul. Her round face was always a gorgeous tan color even in winter. Thick lashes that didn’t need mascara were the envy of many women.

She rolled her eyes as he approached. “How long have you been tracking me?”

He chuckled into her head. “How long have I failed to block you?”

“You gonna circle me all day like I’m some sort of prey, or do you have the balls to shift and face me as a man?”

He stopped two feet in front of her and cocked his head to one side. She was feisty. He wanted to laugh, but he feared it would piss her off further. Instead, he summoned the change, closed his eyes, and allowed his body to make the shift from bear form to human.

As his fur receded and his bones reconfigured, he lifted up onto his hind legs. Fifteen seconds later he stood before her, fully human. Thank God he’d worn a winter coat and boots. It was damn cold out to be shifting into human form this high in the mountains.

Luckily, Joselyn had also ventured out prepared for the possibility of shifting. She wore fucking sexy tight jeans, boots, and a thick, navy down coat with her brewery’s logo on the breast—a depiction of a glacier next to a lake. Apropos, since her pack owned Glacial Brewing Company.

As he met her gaze head on, he watched her breath, smoky in the air around her. Every exhale was closer together. He affected her as much as she affected him.

“How have you been?” he asked.

She sighed. “Small talk? Really, Alton?”

He shrugged. “It’s the usual way people start a conversation when they greet each other after several months.”

“I’m all right,” she shot back. “The usual. Busy with work. Yourself?”

“The same.” He hated this thing they did. This game they played. The same game they’d played for years.

Today things were markedly more strained between them. The lure to pull her into his arms was stronger than ever. Though he shouldn’t be shocked. It had grown incrementally over the years.

He’d known for certain the pull would be stronger now than the last time he’d seen her several months ago. He should have turned around and fled instead of approaching. But she was like a giant magnet. He couldn’t seem to stop himself.

For long moments, they stared at each other, neither blinking.

“You’re on my parents’ land.” He tried to sound irritated.

She looked past him and shrugged, her gaze turning to take in the spectacular view of the distant, snow-covered mountains, the valleys between, and the perfect blue skyline. He didn’t need to glance that way to know what she saw.

When she reached up to tuck an escaped curl behind her ear, he lifted his hand automatically. He needed to touch it, feel the strands between his fingers.

She jumped to the side to avoid his touch. “Don’t,” she mumbled.

He dropped his hand. “Sorry.” It was a permanent rule of hers. No touching.

She lowered her gaze, toeing the thin layer of snow under her boot absentmindedly. “You shouldn’t have followed me. It only makes things worse.”

Is that what she believed? If she didn’t want him to find her, why was she standing on his property?

He ignored the obvious. “What are you afraid of?” He stepped closer, goading her. And himself. “Perhaps, you should give in.” How many times had they had this discussion? It was cryptic, but she knew what he meant. On occasion, over the years, he had forced her to discuss the attraction between them. Test it. Feel it out. Purge it. As if that were possible.

He watched her trembling, knowing he was getting to her. Again.

She lifted her head slowly. “There’s no such thing as Fate. Stop acting like we’re destined or something. It’s nothing but a physical draw. It happens all the time. Even to humans. I’m sure if we threw in the towel and fucked, we’d realize all this posturing had been for nothing.”

He flinched at the flippant way she used the word fuck when he knew full well it wasn’t an everyday vocabulary word in her repertoire. He stared at her for several seconds, trying to decide how to respond to her absurd statement. After licking his lips, he spoke again. “First of all, you know that’s crap. Even though not every single grizzly shifter is easily aware of their mate—and certainly not at such a young age—it does happen.”

She pursed her lips.

He continued, leaning closer to her. “And don’t even try to make light of the passion between us as if a one-night stand would put an end to the curiosity and mystery. If you truly believe we could walk away after having sex, then let’s put it to the test.” He lifted a brow, challenging her.

What the hell was wrong with him? Why was he pushing her to do something he agreed wasn’t in their best interest?

She flinched. “Not a chance in hell, Alton. You’ve lost your mind.”

“Afraid you might be wrong?” he continued to prod.

“What difference would it make? Our families would both flip their lids and explode if they ever caught wind of the fact that we’d been in communication at all, let alone slept together.”

She wasn’t wrong. And there was a good chance he had lost his mind. But some days he simply didn’t care anymore.

At least she didn’t refer to their joining as fucking again. That got on his nerves. He stepped closer, closing the gap between them to inches.

She retreated, shuffling backward farther than he’d approached. She held out a hand. “Stop. You promised.”

He nodded. “I did. And I’ll keep that promise for as long as you insist, but I’m growing weary, Jos.”

“Then you shouldn’t track me. You’re the one who made things worse today by hunting me down.”

He nodded again, slowly. “Perhaps you wanted to be found. After all, as I pointed out, you’re on my land. I could turn you in for breaking the treaty,” he added as if he would ever do such a thing.

She shot him a glare and pursed her lips for a moment before speaking again. “Accident. My bad. Wasn’t paying attention. Don’t read anything into it.”

She was lying. He could sense it. “Fine. But come on. We used to at least be friends, civil toward each other. Now you won’t even take my calls.”

He’d stopped trying months ago when she stopped responding to even his texts. A man could only endure so much rejection.

She lowered her gaze again, her fingers reaching to tuck that same errant lock of hair behind her ear. It immediately bounced free again.

“Jos, it’s simple. We have no choice but to explore this thing. You know it as well as I do.” He’d never been this blunt with her before, and he had no idea why he was doing so now. It was a horrible idea. He knew it. She knew it.

She didn’t acknowledge him.

“Been dating a lot lately?” he asked, knowing the answer. Silvertip, Alberta, wasn’t large enough for anyone to keep their dating habits a secret.

She flinched. “Of course not,” she told the ground. And then, as if realizing how odd she’d worded that statement, she rushed to cover it up, “I’ve been busy at work. A lot is going on.”

He knew that was true. She worked hard. Always had. Even when they’d been away at the University of Calgary, she’d been a workaholic. He wasn’t entirely sure her work ethic back then and still to this day had anything to do with an actual desire to be an overachiever so much as a deep-seated need to avoid the truth. About him. About them. About their future.

In all honesty, he too had ignored that truth for many years, and if he had any sense, he would continue to do so, but he was tired of fighting the pull. Fighting with her. He needed to know for sure. In his heart, he’d known she was his for many years, but was it only lust? Could it possibly be abated? And, more importantly, what would that entail? He knew the answer to that question without voicing it out loud.

Nothing could happen between them. He reminded himself of that often. And yet… He was hardheaded when it came to Joselyn. His loyalty lay with his pack, his family, his ancestors. The ties that bound him to his family were tight. As were the same ropes that tethered her to her pack. Strangling them.

The Arthurs did not mix with the Tarbens. Ever. It had been that way for over a century, and it would continue to be that way forever. Any attempt to defy that truth would only end in heartbreak for both of them. The attempt alone could alienate them from their town, their parents, their siblings, everyone.

And yet…

“I’m never going to give up, Jos,” he whispered. “I can’t. We’ve been back in Silvertip over a year. I miss seeing you. Talking to you.”

“I know,” she conceded. She licked her lips, staring intently at his before jerking her gaze back to his eyes. “It’s hard.”

“What’s hard? Life in general, or denying your mate?”

She winced. “You can’t know for sure we’re meant to bind together.”

He didn’t answer. The only way he could respond would have been to contradict her, and doing so would infuriate her. Instead, he tried another tactic. “I miss you, Jos. We used to be friends at least. Please, take my calls. Answer my texts.”

She swallowed hard. “Okay.”

Finally. Headway.

He lifted a brow. Would she? Or was she simply saying what she knew he wanted to hear?

All through university, they’d been in contact. Like a forbidden fruit, they’d skirted the truth. Ignored the facts. Intentionally.

When they’d been younger, he’d agreed with her. His family would have wigged out if he’d made any overtures of intending to bind to a member of the Arthur pack. The feud between their families was over a century in the making and ran so deep that many of the older generation harbored a grudge so absurd it made Alton’s skin crawl.

When they’d gotten away from Silvertip, they’d at least started speaking. Of course, this was due in large part to his bargaining skills—or what she preferred to refer to as blackmail.

Alton took things incredibly slow with her. For one thing, in theory, he agreed. They couldn’t possibly end up together. However, he’d been drawn enough to ensure they saw each other often. He’d been a sophomore when she started at U of C. He’d moved into an apartment. Alone. Intentionally? Perhaps deep inside he’d always wanted the door to be open to the possibility she would one day be his. And he certainly didn’t want to have to contend with a roommate if and when that day came.

But it didn’t. Joselyn was serious about her convictions from the beginning. She insisted he never touch her, and she held on to that persistence the entire five years. Nothing about their relationship had ever been conventional.

He sighed. “Okay?” Hope.

She nodded. “I don’t have many friends. I could use one. No one has to know.” She narrowed her gaze. “But that’s it, Alton. Friends. Stop badgering me for more. I won’t give in. Besides, it would ruin our friendship.”

Such as it was.

He missed her laughter. The way her hair fell around her face the few times she wore it down. The way she tucked her feet under her when she concentrated on her homework. He’d never had more than a strict friendship with her, taking what she would offer and not complaining. At least not often.

He hated that she didn’t have friends, but who was he kidding? He didn’t have many close relationships, either. His sibling and parents, but not many outside friends.

He knew the reason why too. His world was consumed with Joselyn. He had few other thoughts. If he couldn’t share this thing with her, what else was there to discuss? Besides, any close friend would wonder why he chose not to date or turned down offers to go out for a beer.

Alton Tarben spent his days in his own family’s rival brewery, Mountain Peak Brewery. He worked long hours, and when he wasn’t at the office, he filled his time running in the mountains in bear form or working out in human form. He did anything and everything to avoid thinking about Joselyn.

Her life mirrored his. He was sure of it. And she’d just admitted she didn’t have close friends either.

“I’ll call. You’ll answer. We’ll talk.”

She nodded. Was she merely humoring him?

He fought the urge to reach out and touch her. It was stronger than ever. This futile attempt to deny him by avoiding skin-on-skin contact was driving him mad.

She stepped back, her hands shaking with nervousness. “I gotta go.” Without another word, she shifted into her grizzly form and dashed off into the trees, leaving him standing there unable to move.

Hope. Was this a good thing? Or would renewed contact with her only drive him more insane than he already was?