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A press of warmth explodes along my arm as Blake runs his hand along my wrist, and I watch in horror at the glimpse of fur poking out from the fabric. I snatch my hand away. My heart thundering in my ears as my entire body vibrates. My skin itches beneath my shirt as fur rises to the surface.

“I-I need to get more firewood.” I spin on my heel reaching the front door in only a few strides and throw myself into the fading light of the evening. I need to get away.

“ARDEN!” Blake’s panicked voice chases me as I turn to the forest, pulling my shirt over my head and unbuckling my jeans. I can’t ruin another pair of pants, and I definitely can’t come back naked with an armful of wood.

My shift takes over and there’s no stopping it, my beast breaks through the surface, sealing my human body away. The trees sweep past me as I slink into the shadows, groaning in despair as the distance grows between me and my mate.

My claws lengthen as I scratch at nearby trees, even snapping them in half with my bare hands as I fight with myself to not return.

“Stop!” I beg myself. “He doesn’t know. He can’t find out this way.”

I can feel it. In my bones. This shift was the final one for the season. I’ve held my beast down for far too long and now that I’ve gotten too close to making Blake mine, nothing seems to matter anymore.

I’ve heard horror stories of Sasquatches showing their human mates their true forms, with their protruding canines and pointed ears. With their fur-covered bodies and ten-foot-tall statures. We’ve been called monsters throughout history. To most, we’re hideous.

My mind runs wild with ideas of Blake’s terrified face. His horrified scream. He’d back away from me, he’d look for the gun. Hell, he might even call me a giant and try to kill me. I saw the look in his eyes that night I found him in the snow with my rifle. The look of terror mixed with pure determination. He was ready to do anything he could to save himself.

My hand wraps around the trunk of a nearby tree, my nails digging divots into the side as I squeeze. With a squeal, the tree snaps in half like a toothpick. Snow rains down on my shoulders as the tree falls with a bang, echoing through the quiet forest.

This is useless, I can’t stay away from Blake, my beast won’t let me even as I pace the line of trees beyond the cabin. Every instinct screams at me to turn back, to go inside and take Blake. To mark him, to mate with him and make him mine.

“I can’t,” I hiss, clutching another tree between my palms and bending it in half with a sickening crunch. “He doesn’t want to stay here.”

The lights of the cabin glow warmly towards me as my mate pokes his head out the front door, his face morphed into a puddle of worry. I freeze. Blake’s eyes dart in my direction and he calls for me again. His voice breaks my heart.

“Arden!?” Blake cries. “I’m sorry!”

Sorry? What could he ever be sorry for? I stormed out without a word. I left him in a cabin in the middle of the woods like a coward.

And now I watch the man fated to be my mate chew his bottom lip with tears in his eyes, and his shoulders shaking as he calls for me from the doorway.

“Please! I’m sorry! I don’t know what I did wrong!”

Oh, my baby boy.

I clutch at my furry chest, my fingers biting into my flesh. He’s so small compared to the world. His bright eyes and blond hair catching in the light of the cabin. His thin frame barely makes a shadow in the snow.

My chest is vibrating before I can bite back the growl. With my beast in control, there’s no stopping the way my body yearns for this man. Like a low simmer, my whine echoes through the air and shakes the trees around me.

Blake’s gaze snaps to mine, his spine straightens. I know he can’t see me, with my natural camouflage, but his inner mind knows he’s being watched. Being watched by a predator.

“Arden?” He calls out. This time his voice is filtered with a level of fear. A shiver screams over my skin. Every primal urge lights up at his tone. The look on my mate’s face, the way he clutches protectively at himself. Like true prey would.

“Daddy… Please come back,” Blake breathes into the darkening night.

My feet are moving before I can stop myself, the trees pass me before I can catch myself. The air breaks around me as the forest falls behind and tufts of snow land on my fur.

Blake’s head snaps in my direction. My mate’s eyes widen, his jaw drops, and an ear-splitting scream rings out around us.

“GIANT!” Blake cries, his hands clutching at the door as he swings it shut with a bang. His footsteps echo throughout the cabin as I watch from a distance. His shadow darts across the windows, his whimpers landing clear on my ears.

I can’t let him suffer any longer. I can’t see him terrified. And if he truly hates me then I need to get it over with.

My feet crunch into the snow. Each step is like walking on tiny shards of glass that cut into my skin. The cabin grows closer.

“Blake,” I gently call out, trying my best to keep the growl out of my voice. Even my canines warp my words slightly. “Blake, it’s me.”

The world is silent.