I test the words carefully. "That's what you said before. That I'm your mate."
"Yes."
"And that means what, exactly?" I need to understand. Need facts I can hold onto. "Is it like marriage? Dating? A mystical contract I didn't sign?"
He's quiet for a long moment, choosing his words carefully. "It means you're the other half of my soul. The person the bear in me recognizes as perfect. As necessary." His jaw tightens. "It doesn't mean you're obligated to feel the same. The bond exists whether you accept it or not. But you get to choose what happens next. Always."
The truck hits a pothole and I focus on the road. Easier than looking at him. Easier than processing that a man I just met has called me the other half of his soul.
"I've been renting a cabin," I hear myself say. Normal facts about my normal life feel like a lifeline right now. "I have a grant to photograph old-growth forests in Northern California for a documentary project. Redwood Rise was supposed to be a two-week stop eight months ago." The words tumble out faster. "But the shimmer. The way the light moves here. The feeling like the forest was trying to tell me something. I kept extending my stay. Kept finding reasons not to leave. My grant supervisor thinks I'm obsessed."
"The ley lines called you." His voice is rough with certainty. "Same as they called the other mates when they arrived. Quinn, Cilla, Anabeth. The land recognizes who belongs here before we do."
Other mates. Other women who came to this town and found out magic is real and shifters exist and fate has plans.
"Are they. Do they know? About all this?"
"They're living it. Quinn just bonded with Eli a few weeks ago. Cilla with Calder before that. Anabeth's been with Beau the longest." He moves again, and pain flashes across his features. "I could sense things through the ley lines while I was trapped. Feelthe bonds forming. The energy shifts. They'll help you. If you let them."
The road widens ahead. Buildings appear through the trees. The morning sun is painting everything in shades of gold and grey.
"The compound is just ahead," Jonah says.
The compound appears around a bend. Multiple buildings scattered across a clearing like they grew there naturally. A stone cottage with smoke curling from the chimney. An A-frame with huge windows that catch the rising sun. What looks like a converted railway car painted forest green. A barn with weathered red siding. And in the center, a larger cabin with trucks parked haphazardly outside like people abandoned them mid-stride.
Every light is on. Every window glowing.
My fingers tighten on the wheel. This is his home. His family. The people I’ve seen or known during my time here. The people who've been searching for him, grieving for him, refusing to give up hope for six months.
And I'm about to deliver their miracle. The weight of that responsibility makes it hard to breathe.
As I pull into the clearing, the cabin door flies open before I've even stopped. His brothers pour out onto the porch, moving with the same athletic grace Jonah has. The same build. The same intensity. Like watching four versions of the same dangerous creature.
His brothers.
I barely get the truck in park before Jonah is out, stumbling slightly. The corruption must be worse than he's letting on. His legs don't want to hold him properly. But he's moving toward his family with single-minded focus, drawn to them like they're his own personal north star.
Sawyer reaches him first. "Jonah." Just his name, choked. Then they're embracing, fierce and desperate. "We looked everywhere. We thought. God, we thought you were dead."
"Sawyer." Jonah's voice cracks. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
The others close in. Calder grips Jonah's shoulder, studies his face with laser focus. Even from here, I can feel the alpha power rolling off him.
"You're hurt." Not a question. "I can feel the corruption from here."
Eli's face is streaked with tears. "Where have you been? What happened?"
"Shadow realm." Jonah sways. Beau catches him, holds him steady. "Pulled through a convergence point six months ago. Been fighting my way back ever since."
Beau goes pale. "Shadow realm. Jesus, Jonah. That's impossible to escape."
"Apparently not. Just costs." Jonah gestures to the black veins crawling up his neck. "The corruption is spreading. I need help."
Calder is already moving toward him, hands outstretched. "Let me see."
That's when they all notice me. Still in the truck, gripping the steering wheel like it's the only real thing in a world gone mad.
Jonah turns. "Maren found me when I came through. Defended me from the shadow creatures. Saved my life." He hesitates, and I watch him trying to downplay what comes next. Trying to give me space. "She's. I think she's my mate."
