Garner had been on his way out of town for work when we arrived. His car had already been packed, so he said hello and offered his congratulations on our mating before he hit the road. Although he left his litter to join Keane’s pack a few years ago—which was a surprise since cougar shifters tended to be solitary animals with the exception of mated pairs and their offspring—he still worked for his parents’ construction company. They let him pick the jobs he took, and he was paid very well for the three-to-six-month stints he did out of town.
That only left Artemis, the sole dragon shifter in our pack who was a recluse. He rarely left the cave he’d claimed, and the news that I’d found my mate and brought her up here hadn’t been enough to lure him out. His cabin, which was directly to the right of mine, had remained empty since we arrived two and a half days ago.
I was kicked back on one of the chairs on my back deck, enjoying the sunrise and a cup of coffee, when Thora stumbled out of the cabin. My pretty little mate was not a morning person unless food was involved, but she loved to cuddle when she woke up. Since she was probably still full from the snack we’d had in the middle of the night, I figured it would take her longer than usual to wake up.
Setting my mug on the table next to me, I stretched out my arms so she could climb on my lap. Then I brushed a kiss against the top of her head and murmured, “Good morning, baby.”
“Morning,” she grunted as she leaned over to snag my coffee and take a sip. “Mmm, good.”
I normally took mine black, but this was my second cup, and I’d added some cream and sugar since I figured she’d be up soon. “Glad you like it.”
“Of course, I do. You made it perfect for me.”
She wiggled to get more comfortable, but I gripped her hips to hold her still. Although I’d just had her beneath me four hours ago, my cock was already hard again and having her body pressed against mine was too much temptation. “Careful, pretty baby, before you start something you’re not ready for yet this morning.”
My mate grinned at me over her shoulder, and I was so damn mesmerized by how pretty she was that I almost missed the scent of two human males creeping closer to our position. I hadn’t heard anyone drive up, which meant they were coming from the forest. None of the members of my pack had ever invited a human friend to camp on our lands, and they sure as fuck wouldn’t have decided to do so during my mate’s first visit here.
I didn’t know who the hell was trying to sneak up on us, but no way in hell was I going to let them get close to my woman. Jumping to my feet, I tossed Thora across the deck toward the door. “Get inside the cabin and barricade yourself in the bathroom, baby.”
“What?”
I hated hearing the fear and confusion in her voice, but I couldn’t have her out here if we were about to be attacked. “Now!”
She must have realized something was very wrong because she nodded and whispered, “Be safe,” before she yanked the door open and disappeared inside the cabin.
The men realized they’d been discovered, but they didn’t do the smart thing and head back into the forest. If they’d retreated, they might have had the chance of surviving our encounter. But probably not.
We’d never know, though, because they decided to charge forward when they realized they’d lost the advantage of surprise. The one on the right drew a gun from his shoulder holster while the other yanked a wicked-looking knife from a sheath on his thigh.
Unlike my mate, Keane was a morning person. His grizzly liked to roam our territory before the sun came up each day. A habit that I’d teased him about a bunch of times since I’d joined the pack. But I was damn happy for it when he came stomping out of the woods behind the men. I was confident enough in my fighting abilities to know that I could’ve handled their attack on my own but having a six-hundred-pound grizzly as backup meant I didn’t have to kill them both right away and would hopefully be able to get some answers out of one of them.
He attacked the guy with the gun, mauling him from behind, and I rushed forward to wrestle the knife away from the other man. Since I was trying my best not to kill the fucker, it took me longer to finish with him.
“About damn time,” Keane muttered, having shifted to his human form after his prey had taken his last breath. “I thought I was going to have to kill that one for you too.”