The scent of honey invaded his nose and pulled his thoughts away instantly. It was like an electric shock to his core. His body wasn’t his own from that one scent alone.
He instantly became hard, and his bear rose up as if it hadn’t just beaten the shit out of a lion shifter and was bone-tired.
Inhaling again, he turned around until the scent was directly in front of him, surrounded him, consumed every single inch of his being. He didn’t miss the underlying aroma of a male panther mixed with the sweet scent, and that had a growl leaving him on instinct.
He’d never in his life had this kind of reaction to a scent, let alone the aroma of a female.
He scanned the bar until he spotted her, where the scent came from. And everything else faded in the distance. There she stood amongst trash and decay, like a cool, fresh breeze.
Mine.
That realization slammed into him so powerfully he stumbled back, gripping onto the bar behind him for support. He was unable to concentrate on anything other than the small doe shifter with the large gray eyes and innocent expression.
She is ours! his bear roared out, trying to come forth again and go after what it really wanted, but for the first time in Bram’s life, he held the beast back.
He felt feral, lost… needing only her.
Her long honey-colored hair looked so soft, and he imagined the strands tangled in his hands. She was perfect, with hips that flared out, thighs that beckoned him, and breasts that would be more than a handful.
Christ.
His dick throbbed behind his fly, and his blood roared in his ears. He took a step closer, and although she was several feet away, he could smell her so potently. It washed away the dirty sex that filled Slater’s, was stronger than the scent of the fucking panther that lingered on her. And all Bram wanted to do was take her, claim her… mark her.
His bear was a violent asshole on the best of days, and although it was pacing, it wasn’t the volatile energy that consumed it.
She soothed the beast.
This girl didn’t need to be in a filthy, violence-filled bar that would tear her apart without a care of her innocence.
He took another step.
She didn’t notice him right away, but her apprehension and fear were a thick cloak that had that calmness she created in him vanishing. His bear was on alert, ready to take down whatever or whoever had caused their female to feel this way. Shit, he was acting like a mated male, calling her his.
She scanned the interior, and he could tell she wanted to run, but from what? Did someone hurt her? Was she trying to escape from them? Those thoughts had an angry need traveling inside him, one that wanted flesh between his teeth and the metallic flavor of blood on his tongue. He’d always been intense, knew his bear could take control if he wasn’t careful, and right now, he was more than willing to let his animal out to do some real fucking damage to whoever harmed her.
She was his, and there was nothing that was going to take her away from him. Nothing.
He moved closer until he was standing nearly over her. And when her sorrow-filled eyes landed on him, they widened. He could only imagine what she thought of him. The wounds on his face were nasty as fuck, and those were only the ones that could be seen. He probably looked like he had just killed a man, nearly had too, but he didn’t want her to look at him as though he would hurt her.
I’ll never hurt her.
His tongue swelled to taste her, to see if she tasted as sweet as she smelled. He wanted to run his canines along her flesh just enough to open the skin and let his scent in, to mark her, to let everyone know whose mate she was.
His dick throbbed with the thought of having his mark on her, his sign of ownership. He sounded like a domineering womanizer, but he was a shifter, one who was more bear than human, and he had just found his mate.
That realization had a low grumble of pleasure leaving him. She was his.
Mine.
All he could think about was her, about keeping her safe, about taking her to his home and touching every part of her. He’d known if this moment ever came in his life it would be instantaneous, and right now, he was running on pure instinct. Those carnal desires were telling him to focus solely on her.
His need to take her, mark her, and let every fucking male on the planet know she was his slammed into him again, and again, and again.
Make sure every male knows that if they fuck with her, I’ll rip their balls off and snap their necks.