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Chapter One
Simone glanced at the red light that started to blink on the dashboard several miles back. She had no idea what it meant, but she didn’t think it was good.
She was on her way to meet her friends Brenna and Nicole, and she didn’t think she was more than ten miles from the town she was looking for. The scenery was beautiful, but it was unlike anything she’d ever seen. She was born and raised in the city and couldn’t remember if she’d ever touched a tree. She knew there wasn’t any grass around where she lived except next to some sidewalks.
The car sputtered, bringing her attention back to the present. “Oh, no, no, please don’t do this to me!” Simone cried. “Just go a little bit farther.”
The car decelerated, and then a puff of smoke came from under the hood. She pulled over to the side of the road, and it was barely crawling when it sounded like it coughed, and then nothing.
She put the car in “park” and turned the key before pressing her forehead to the steering wheel. After several calming breaths, she pulled her phone out to call and found she had no reception. Hell, what did she think? She was in the middle of nowhere. She hadn’t seen a car since she left the last big town, which was an hour ago.
God, nothing had gone right for her lately. She’d been fired after working at her job for six years, and the CEO had given his niece her position. Her boss called it downsizing. She called it bullshit.
One of her best friends was being stalked, and she was terrified for her. The guy was certifiably crazy and unpredictable, which made him even scarier.
Then the apartment building where she lived had a bedbug infestation, so they were told they had to move out until it was taken care of. She shivered in revulsion. God, she hated bugs, and the thought of a swarm of them taking over and crawling in all her things made her want to scream.
So, a decision was made between the three friends. They chose to leave the city together. They’d talked about it for years, but it had never been the right time. They needed this push to move forward, but Simone had to admit she was terrified to be away from the city. The country towns didn’t have anything she was used to. She doubted wherever the hell she’d been going—some town named Wolf something or other—would have a Starbucks, or plays, or nice five-star restaurants. But she’d adapt because she would rather be with her friends in the country than in the city alone and without them. All of them had shitty upbringings and very little family left. When they met in high school, they gravitated toward each other and had never left each other’s side.
Simone tried to calculate how many miles she’d have to walk to the town, and she knew she’d never make it by the time it got dark because the light was already dimming. Plus, she would bet her savings there were some dangerous animals in the forest around her. Didn’t all forests have meat-eating animals? Something had to eat the rabbits and squirrels, or they’d take over, right?
Something thumped against her trunk. Her head snapped up, and her stomach twisted with anxiety. The first thing she did was make sure her doors were locked. She turned and glanced out her back window before looking in her rearview mirrors, and nothing.
She lowered the driver’s side window an inch so she could listen for anything.
Nothing was there. The relief was enough to relax her abdomen, reminding her of her most pressing problem. Right at the moment, her biggest issue was that she needed to go to the bathroom, and there wasn’t one for miles. She had no idea how to do it outside, but she couldn’t wait any longer. It felt like her bladder was going to pop.
She had nothing to pee in the car and refused to pee in her pants, so she looked around for a Kleenex and opened her driver’s-side door. She carefully looked around before making her way to the back of the car. She scanned the area before she pulled down her pants and leaned her lower back against the fender, and God, the relief was worth the humiliation of peeing against her car. It helped that no one would ever know about it except the birds and squirrels.
Simone wiped herself, pulled up her jeans, and got a bottle of water out of the car to wash her hands. When that was done, she felt almost human and more optimistic about her situation.
She stretched her shoulders and looked around the area. If she weren’t terrified, she’d think the place was really beautiful. Maybe later, when she got settled and learned more about it, she’d appreciate it more.
A soft scuffing sound behind her made her turn. The sight before her was something she couldn’t comprehend. It was huge and hairy but wore jeans, a flannel shirt, and boots. The fact that the thing had snuck up on her without her hearing was something she couldn’t understand. Her head was tilted all the way back so she could see its face. Jesus, the thing was a giant.
“A-are you a bigfoot?”
The thing smiled and then shook its head. “No, I’m your mate.”
Simone couldn’t seem to grasp anything at the moment. She thought she should be terrified, but that wasn’t what she was feeling. Something about the thing calmed the alarm she would have normally felt, which was crazy.
“Are you one of those mountain men that take women and make them their bride, and no one ever sees them again?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I’m just a man.”
She snorted. “Pull my other leg.”
He tilted his head to the side. “What does that mean? Why would I do that?” he asked.
“It means I think you’re lying.” God, couldn’t she just keep her mouth shut and maybe rush to the car and lock herself in? That would be a normal human reaction, right?
“I’m not. I’ve waited for you a long time.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Wait. We’ve never met, right?”
“No. But we don’t have to, to know we’re mated.”
She looked behind her at the open car door and then back at him.
