Chapter Five

Four months later…

“Mom, have you seen my blue sweater?” Joselyn raced into the kitchen as she did nearly every morning. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail as she looked every direction for the stupid sweater that wasn’t where she’d left it.

Rosanne Arthur glanced over her shoulder from where she was loading the dishwasher. “Seriously, Jos, you’re a grown woman. Almost twenty-four years old. A professional with marketing talents I can’t even wrap my mind around. And yet you can’t seem to get out the door on time or find your shoes. Sometimes I think you’re more like a toddler than an adult.”

Joselyn rolled her eyes as she lifted a foot. “I have my shoes on, Mom.”

Rosanne glared at her.

Joselyn shot her a mischievous grin, closed the few feet between her and her mother, and kissed her on the cheek. “You coming in today?”

“Yep. I’ll be there by noon. Would you take that stack of papers on the table to your father? He’s as forgetful as you most days.”

“Sure.” Joselyn raced toward the kitchen table, scooped up the pile of paper, and spotted her sweater balled up in the chair. “Ah ha.” She lifted it victoriously and dashed from the house while she managed to shrug into it. If she was lucky and traffic was light, she would be in her office sitting at her desk by nine. Eight thirty was her goal, but she never met that goal and long ago gave it up.

It wasn’t as though anyone would fire her. After all, her family owned Glacial Brewing Company. Nearly every employee was a brother or cousin or aunt or uncle. The Arthur pack was strong and united.

She slid into the front seat of her adored silver Honda Accord and started the engine just as her phone rang. A smile split her face, and her heart raced as she connected the call through her Bluetooth. “Hey,” she casually stated in total contrast to how she felt inside.

“Hey, yourself.” Alton’s voice was low and sultry.

“Are you already at work?” He usually beat her since mornings didn’t seem to pose nearly as much drama in his world. He’d always been a morning person.

Alton answered her question, shaking her out of her thoughts. “Been at my desk an hour, babe.” He chuckled. “Did you comb your hair before you left the house this morning, or is it pulled back in that silly ponytail?”

She smiled in spite of how frustrating it was that he knew her so well. “Ran out of time. It’s clean, though. Do I get credit for that?”

“Ah. So in addition to pulling it back, it’s wet.” He laughed.

It wasn’t as though she’d changed. All through high school and then university she’d found it difficult to be bothered with fixing her hair. And the truth was she had been blessed with thick, perfect, wavy, light brown locks that fell around her face in a way most women would kill for.

Alton loved her hair. The few times they managed to see each other in the last several months, he ran his fingers through it for hours, from her scalp to the ends. Over and over. Staring at it. Mesmerized. He also teased her about how late she was for everything. Mercilessly.

“Yeah. It’s wet. It’s not like I had an extra twenty minutes to dry it. I meant to wash it last night, but… I do not want to talk about my damn hair this morning, Alton.” She took the next right turn, driving slower than necessary to drag out the conversation. “When am I going to see you?”

It had been a week since the last time she saw him, and that had been a fleeting fifteen minutes stolen late in the evening. Arranging to meet was difficult. And then doing so without getting caught was worse.

“Friday? I have a meeting that might run late, but I’ll try to get there by seven?”

She sighed. “Okay. The cave? It’s going to be so cold.” The biggest problem was the weather. Alberta in the evening was cold nearly every day of the year. It was February, which meant the temperature could be in the low teens at seven in the evening. And dark.

The only way to avoid detection and keep from outing themselves as a couple was to shift into their grizzly forms and head for their favorite meeting spot in the mountains. The trouble with that was when they shifted to human form—they were left standing in the cold, chatting for as long as they could tolerate. At least he held her. But it had been more than a month since they’d had sex.

“I can’t fix the cold. But I’ll wear my thickest coat, and you can get inside it with me. I don’t trust that little cabin anymore. Ever since Nuria was held hostage there, the place gives me the creeps. Besides, half the damn family knows where it is now. Yours too.”

She shuddered. Truth be told, the tiny, run-down cabin had made her skin crawl a bit in the first place. And ever since Alton’s brother Austin rescued his mate from there, she feared it was no longer a safe place to hide. She blew out a breath. “I guess we don’t have a choice.”

“Oh, we have choices, baby.” His voice held an edge to it that made her stiffen. He was right. He was also wrong.

In recent months some members of their families had reconciled. In fact, their two sets of parents were even bumping heads for the first time in decades. But that was the extent of the reuniting families. She wasn’t sure what her parents would say if she told them she had secretly been in love with Alton for her entire life and planned to bind herself to him.

“I need another night with you. It’s been weeks.”

“Thirty-two days,” he deadpanned. “But who’s counting?” His voice wasn’t filled with laughter. He was a little pissed. Even without the mental connection they lacked, she could read him well most of the time.

If—when—they bound together, they would be able to communicate telepathically for the rest of their lives, even at a distance. Until then, as regular shifters, the only time they could delve into each other’s minds was when they were nearby. Which wasn’t often enough.

“I know. I’m sorry. Let’s figure it out. I’m going through batteries like they’re beer,” she teased, trying to lighten the mood.

Alton groaned. “Baby, don’t say things like that.”

“What? You don’t like my simile?”

“I don’t like the visual of you doing to yourself what I should be doing to you with my mouth.” His voice dipped lower, the sexy growl reaching through the connection.

Shit. She should never have mentioned her vibrator. Now she was wet and squirming in her seat. She gripped the steering wheel harder and forced herself to pay attention to the road.

“I gotta go, baby. Someone’s waiting outside my office. Friday, okay? And please be careful. I don’t like you alone in the mountains, especially at night.”

“I’ll be fine, Alton.”

“Seven.”

“I’ll be there.” She drove the rest of the way in silence, a tear sliding down her face. She swiped at it several times, not wanting to arrive at the brewery with bloodshot puffy eyes, but it persisted. Dammit.

When she pulled into her usual parking spot, she took deep breaths and composed herself before exiting the car. A gust of wind hit her as she reached behind the front seat to grab her bag. It was fucking cold. Even in the middle of the morning with the sun out. There was every possibility it would be too cold to keep their teeth from chattering Friday night higher up in the mountains.

This shit had to change.

It was time to figure things out and come up with a game plan.

»»•««

Alton Tarben leaned back in his chair and tapped his desk absentmindedly with a pen. Luckily his cousin Vinson had only stuck his head in the door to ask a quick question and then left.

Four months.

A damn long time to maintain a long-distance relationship with a woman who lived four miles away. And that was just counting the time since they’d first had sex. If he was honest, he’d maintained this secret relationship with her for most of his life. He was frustrated to the point of breaking, and he knew she was no better off. He forced himself not to snap at her over their predicament, particularly as it wasn’t her fault. But he knew his aggravation leaked out more often than he would like.

He also was unfairly placing too much of the blame on her shoulders, as if he were willing to tell everyone they knew and loved to go to hell and complete the binding as soon as she agreed. The truth was much more complicated. There were details he needed to iron out before they could mate, details he kept from Joselyn to avoid conflict.

Alton managed to speak to her by phone at least every other day. And they tried to meet in the mountains once a week. But it was no way to maintain a relationship. And it was pure torture on his cock.

The reality was that Jos was his mate. He knew in his soul they belonged together. Destiny or some shit had put them on the same path. It wasn’t a concept most shifters believed in, but they apparently hadn’t walked in his shoes because he’d known that cute, brown-haired girl with the lopsided ponytail was his since grade school.

The years had taken their toll. The past four months had been brutal. He was totally done with this farce. Too bad the pile of shit he needed to deal with first was growing instead of shrinking. The end was in sight, but would she still be as eager to bind to him after she found out what company secrets he was hiding?

And then there was the issue of their damn family feud. Some days he considered skipping town and taking her to the other side of the country. To hell with family loyalty.

He’d done some digging lately into the history of the feud, and what he found out didn’t make him feel warm and fuzzy. If there was any merit to the lore, no way in hell would the two families reconcile in the near future. Even though recent incidents had brought at least a temporary truce to his immediate family and hers, he doubted it was enough to sustain lasting peace.

His mind wandered back to Joselyn. He blew out a long breath and adjusted his cock. The sound of her voice alone had made him hard. He was going to get carpal tunnel from masturbating.

It was so hard to find the time and place to spend the night. He wasn’t kidding about the thirty-two days. That shit was no joke. They had gone to great lengths to lie to everyone they knew and meet up two hours away for a stolen night at a hotel on the outskirts of Calgary.

Not wanting to waste a moment of their time, they’d practically slammed each other into the back of the door to get their clothes off while keeping their lips pressed together. The first fuck had been just that—a fuck. Pent-up need forced them to get the first one out of the way because neither of them could think straight until they’d had at least one orgasm.

Thirty-two days ago… Seemed like longer. After fucking her probably too hard against the door—which she never complained about and even appeared to crave—he’d lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed. Their second round was slower than the first. Slower being six minutes instead of sixty seconds with a sixteen-second rest in between.

It wasn’t until they’d come together three times that they finally spoke out loud. Not that it was necessary. They were so in tune with each other that every thought leaked into the other’s head as they made love. As Nature intended. He shuddered, considering how much more powerful that connection would be after they bound themselves together.

Alton smiled, leaning his forehead against the palm of his hand.

Damn, she was hot. He knew she worked out several times a week. And it showed. She had the finest body he’d ever set eyes on. All lean muscles, long legs, and strong biceps.

His mouth watered. He gripped the pen so hard it snapped out of his hand and went flying across his office.

Of course, when he wasn’t at work, he also spent most of his time working out. What else was there to do when the person you wanted to be with was off limits?

And the number of hours the two of them worked was equally ridiculous. Jos was totally not a morning person, but he knew she stayed later than nearly everyone. She accomplished more in the dark. Always had. Even at U of C, she would stay up late doing homework or a project.

The desire to bind together was constantly at the surface. It was an inexplicable pull that no shifter could deny. And yet, they had. For far too long.

And it was time to figure out his shit and claim his woman before they both needed to be institutionalized for insanity.