Love at First Mate - Badlands Territory

My chest is tight as I drive and the closer I get to the shop where he’s waiting, it only gets worse.

A few minutes later I’m parked outside the empty store front and I can barely breathe. I grab the can of Monster from the cup holder and chug it down in one gulp. I’m so god damn thirsty lately as well, and I wonder if there’s something really wrong with me. Like most shifters, I’ve never been sick, but something’s got a hold of me and it’s pissing me off.

I jump out of the pickup and grab a toolbox from the bed before heading inside.

Only, as soon as I open the back door, two things happen.

One, I hear spraying water.

And two, my grizzly bear starts to growl.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

Shut the fuck up, I tell him, but my heart is pounding and there’s a pain in my gut that nearly doubles me over.

“Thank God.” Robert’s standing there in a beige suit, the top half of the jacket a darker brown now that it’s soaking wet. “I have a client here to look at the place, she’s waiting out in the front. I got here early, went to use the bathroom and…well, go fucking look. I can’t have the toilet exploding when I’m trying to lease the place.”

“Okay, okay,” I answer, but I can barely think straight. “I’ll figure it out.”

“Good. Hurry. I’ll go out front and stall things. She’s a fucking hot little piece of ass, so it’s not like I mind taking a little extra time…” He shoves an elbow into my side and gives me a wink and my bear nearly breaks free to get to him. “You know what I mean.”

I turn and head toward the sound of the water, trying to keep my grizzly under control as he roars and rages and generally acts like a lunatic.

Ten minutes later, I’ve got everything under control. It’s a simple loose fitting on the incoming water line, so there’s no sewage issue, Robert will just need a mop and a fan to clear up.

I gather my tools as I head toward the door that separates the front of the retail space and the back rooms. But when I push open the door, all I see is red.

It’s her.

Fucking hell, her scent hits me again like buckshot to all the places inside me I’ve kept hidden away.

But, that’s not the real problem.

It’s Robert.

His fucking hand is on her and he’s whispering in her ear with that damned grin plastered on his soon-to-be bloody face.

She’s in the back corner of the open space, her eyes flicker with discomfort, and before I can stop myself I stomp forward, my hand is on his arm, jerking him away nearly dislocating his shoulder. It’s all I can do to keep myself from shifting as I watch him stumble back, losing his balance.

I put myself between them and a rumble in my chest comes out as a growl that shakes the very walls, making them both look at me with startled confusion.

“What the hell?” Robert gives me a dirty look, steadying himself, but I only puff up my chest and lean into him on a snarl.

“You shouldn’t be touching her,” I manage, doing everything in my power to keep my grizzly from killing him.

“Really, I’m fine,” she says from behind me, but I can smell her fear and that’s unacceptable. She should never be afraid, not as long as I draw breath.

“So…” Robert gives me a look as if to say don’t blow this deal for me and I swallow hard, my head pounding and my dick a fucking steel rod behind my zipper, but I take one step sideways, keeping my body between them.

The thought occurs to me that I may be ruining something for her as well.

I turn to her, those blue eyes scoring into mine, and I’m dizzy with her scent.

“Sorry, I just…” I don’t know what I’m saying I just know I’m not leaving her alone in this room with him.

“It’s okay.” Robert’s chuckling, trying to save his own ass and this deal. “This is Ragnar, he’s a bit of a hothead sometimes.”

I move to the side, keeping a close eye on him, and try to remember to breathe.

Being this close to her, I can’t remember any woman either in the flesh, on paper or in the movies that could hold a candle to her.

She’s perfection in feminine form. I knew I was in trouble the first time I saw her, but now?

There’s no more denying she’s my one and true mate, but as much as that thought has me feeling a new purpose in my life, it also scares the shit out of me.

I listen as Robert finishes his shtick about the retail space, and every muscle in my body is rock hard. My grizzly is snorting and drooling, and I feel my fingers twitch, which is the first sign of his claws coming out and the shift beginning.