“Only ours,” Kenai echoed, his hands looping around my stomach and finding their way under the waistband of my pants.
“Guys, what’s wrong? Why are you?—”
The door of the chalet shook as if it had been hit by a battering ram. Then the scent hit me—leather, pine pitch, and something contrastingly sweet laced with ginger.
“Open this door!” The voice was deep, accented, and absolutely furious. “I know she’s in there. I can smell her.”
Kenai and Taimyr went rigid, their bodies forming a barrier between me and the entrance. Through our bonds I felt their protective instincts flare, their scents sharpening as they released alpha pheromones. But beneath that was something else—something that felt almost like…resignation.
“Aleksi,” Kenai said quietly, his hand still possessively on my hip. “Don’t do this.”
The door exploded inward in a shower of splinters. Aleksi filled the doorway—chest heaving, still in his human form, but his green eyes were nearly black, his massive frame filling the entrance as snow swirled in around him. He looked wild, dangerous, every inch the alpha who’d been fighting a losing battle for far too long.
And those dark eyes locked on me with an intensity that stole my breath.
“Mine,” he growled.
Kenai threw himself between us. “She’s mated to us.” He lowered his head, antlers catching the firelight as he thrashed them in warning.
Aleksi chuckled. “You think you can keep her from me, pieni valkoinen?”
Kenai snorted. “From you? Absolutely.”
His protectiveness definitely did something for me—but this man had at least one hundred pounds on him.
Aleksi ducked through the doorway, twisting his massive antlers to fit. “Then try and stop me.”
Kenai charged forward, and antlers clashed against antlers as the two men locked together.
The sound was like nails on a chalkboard as tines scraped and caught. I could see the strain in Kenai’s smaller frame as he tried to match the stranger’s raw power.
“Aleksi, stop!” Taimyr shouted, moving toward them.
But he didn’t stop. The same aggression I’d seen at the logistics center was now turned on my mate.
Kenai groaned, sinking to his knees as Aleksi twisted sharply, throwing him to the floor. A ragged cry tore from Kenai’s throat, and red welled on his cheek where a tine had slashed through skin.
“STOP IT!” I ran forward and shoved Aleksi. I knew I was too small to make any real difference, but the instant I touched him, his nostrils flared—and he stepped back.
Taimyr rushed to Kenai’s side, checking his wound, while I stayed between them and Aleksi, my hands still pressed to his chest.
“Oh, this kisu has claws.” His voice was low, amused. He stared at me, pupils blown wide, and my breath caught. “Hitto, sä oot kaunis—damn, you’re beautiful.” He inhaled deeply, his expression darkening. “But you reek of them. Their scent is all over you.”
“How did you find us?” Taimyr growled, his voice rough as he cradled Kenai’s injured cheek.
Aleksi didn’t take his eyes off me. “There was a hole in the barrier.”
Kenai and Taimyr exchanged a sharp look.
“No way,” Taimyr countered. “I double-checked everything. There was no hole?—”
“Doesn’t matter.” Aleksi’s tone was final. “I am here now, and my mate is coming with me.”
He placed his hand over mine on his chest, and my heart stuttered like a trapped bird.
Mine.
But I stepped back, resisting the pull, even as part of me wanted to breathe him in.
