Page 107 of The Alpha’s Unclaimed Mate

“Get out of here!” I roar at her, and Jessa backs away. The bear charges them, not wanting to let her prey go.

The change rips through me faster than it ever has, and I hit the bear from the side and take her off her feet. I hear Jessa’s startled scream, but I keep my attention on the bear. In my wolf form, the animal stands no chance. I close my jaws on her throat and rip off her head, tossing it twenty feet into the ferns.

I take the carcass by the shoulder, haul it into the trees for the scavengers, then come back on four legs without changing.

Mia’s eyes are gold when I reach her, her lip pulled off her teeth, her wolf riding at the surface of her and hunting for something else to fight. I put my muzzle to her neck, breathing myself over her, laying my scent across her collarbone and her hair. She sags against my shoulder. The gold drains out of her eyes, her wolf sinks back down where it belongs, and the relief nearly puts me down.

Then something smacks me across the muzzle. “You’re covered in blood!” Jessa glares up at me with her hand still raised, and her eyes shoot sparks. “Get away from them, you idiot!”

I sit back on my haunches and stare at her. She isn’t afraid of me. Her knees are shaking under her, yet she’s standing in front of a wolf twice her weight with a head covered in bear blood, scolding me about her daughter’s shirt. I lean forward. I can smell her fear, but she refuses to show it. Interesting.

“Your breath stinks,” she mutters, and I lean closer. Her heart is beating so fast that it might just jump out of her chest.

I open my muzzle and lick her face, chin to eyebrow in one long stripe, and she rears back, spluttering.

Bella has both arms locked around Jessa’s waist, and she whispers, “Don’t be afraid. It’s still Uncle Marcus.”

I reach out with my paw and knock Bella’s legs out from under her with my nose. She falls down hard in the leaves, and then I start grooming her, jaw to ear to hairline, ignoring every sound she makes about it.

“Uncle Marcus!” Bella shrieks, kicking. “Stop it, no!”

“You’re scaring her!” Jessa shoves at my shoulder with both hands. “Would you stop, you’re terrifying her!”

“I’m not scared.” Bella comes up spitting hair out of her mouth, cheeks wet, laughing while she tries to shove me off. “He’s covered in drool!”

I let the change come back. I’m on both knees in the leaf litter, naked, my mouth still red, so I reach out to tug the hem of Jessa’s shirt.

She looks down at my hand, then at the rest of me and goes red. Quickly, she drags the shirt over her head and throws it at my face. There’s a thin white tank underneath it, so she’s not naked.

“Thank you.” I knot the sleeves around my waist, covering myself.

“You’re welcome,” she starts, strangled, then her eyes drop to my side and stay there. Blood runs down my hip, my wound still exposed. “Marcus, we need to go to the hospital.”

I press my hand over it. “It looks worse than it is.”

She doesn’t believe me, but I can see her deciding not to fight me about it in front of the girls.

I crouch in front of Bella and take her by both shoulders. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

She shakes her head, and Jessa lowers herself onto the leaves beside her, her legs giving out halfway down. Mia is against her before she’s landed, both arms around her mother’s neck.

“What are you?” Jessa asks me, her voice quivering.

“I’m a shifter.”

“That’s not a word.”

“It’s what I am: a wolf shifter.” I don’t blink. “Bella’s one too. Mia as well.”

Jessa’s arms tighten around our daughter. “You mean half. She’s half human, half whatever you are.”

“She’s half wolf.”

“And what does that mean for her?” Her voice shakes. “What does it actually mean, Marcus?”

Mia hasn’t uttered a word, her face still but her eyes watchful.

“Nothing bad.” I keep my voice calm. “She’ll shift when she’s older.”