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Shoving those thoughts aside, I flung my bedding over the lines strung in the sun, leaving them to dry. My mating gown flapped in the breeze, taunting me, but I turned away from it. I had time before I needed to work on letting out the seams to accommodate my enhanced curves, and I had no reason to spend it cooped up inside a home that wasn’t mine.
Facing the trees, I let the lure of the shady, green space pull me forward. I’d wander for a while and enjoy the quiet freedom before facing my coming heat and new reality.
Maybe then I’d find peace with betraying my first mate.
Chapter Two
Av’dag
Ididn’t like to travel so close to the human settlement, but I couldn’t let the bear get away again.
Checking the pile of dung, I judged I wasn’t too far behind him. He should want to avoid the village as much as I did, so hopefully it would be safe to continue hunting him. He was a danger that had to be dealt with, especially since the injured old bear had gone after a youngling of the clan.
Claws flexing against my thighs, I tipped my head back and scented the air. The stench of dried blood and disease lead me to him as surely as his tracks. Usually a situation like this would bring out a whole hunting party to find the animal, but with Mel’cam and Mel’ar both having mates now, a lot of the other alphas in the clan had gone in search of omegas of their own. I was one of the few who had stayed behind to protect the clan, and now, that meant following the bear and putting him out of his misery.
All I heard was the rustle of leaves and the small noises of birds and squirrels, so I moved on. It was easy to follow the paw prints and stench of decay. It was unfortunate to need to put the bear down, but since he’d lost a fight with a younger male his wounds had festered, and without a territory of his own, it was best for us all to end his suffering before he did something unfortunate.
I tracked him further down the mountain, the wandering trail a sign of his deteriorating state. He passed both food and shelter, moving ever closer to the human village.
Despite our clan leader and his brother both having human mates, we still kept our distance from their settlements, not wanting to incite panic. If the bear kept on his path, I might have to watch from a distance to see if the humans would handle him.
Growling under my breath, I increased my pace. This had been meant to be a quick trip to deal with a threat, and I didn’t want to linger in this area any longer than necessary. It would be better to catch him before he got any closer to the humans. I couldn’t trust them to beat the wily old beast.
I loped through the forest faster than a human could run, but it wasn’t long before a scream ripped through the air and told me I was too late. We were still a distance from the village, but someone must have been out wandering, and from the sound of it, it was a female.
Instincts had me sprinting, tree trunks blurring past, claws digging into the earth to propel me as fast as I could move. None of my kind were in the area but me, and no human stood a chance against the bear unprepared. Especially not a weak female without claws or fangs.
The next scream corrected my path, and in moments I was taking in the scene without slowing my momentum. A lone woman stood with her back pressed to a trunk, the old bear towering over her as he let loose a roar that drowned out her cries of fear. I spared a second to be thankful that she didn’t run and incite him further, before he raised a mighty paw as I barreled between them.
The bear hadn’t even registered my arrival before I’d caught his arm, grunting at the weight of it. I’d have preferred to deliver his death at a distance, but it was too late for preferences. I was in it now, and I wasn’t going to stop until I’d put an end to the threat.
The bear roared again, rearing higher as he fought to pull his limb from my grasp. I dug my claws in and held on, keeping him off-balance and distracted from his prey. As large as I was, he still had height and weight over me, and even with his injuries he was a ferocious opponent.
A tiny squeak behind me drew my attention to the human. I turned my head to find her still frozen against the trunk, her wide eyes locked on us. I’d lifted my lip to snarl at her to leave when her scent reached my nostrils.
Lavender and lust.
Slick, and sweet, feminine musk.
Omega.
My distraction earned me a terrible blow that sent me crashing to the ground, shoulder and chest burning from the rake of curved claws that rivaled my own. My fur had protected me from the worst of it, but even so, I felt the warm trickle of blood through the hair.
Shaking my head, I focused on the bear and pulled my legs beneath me, preparing for the next attack. I had his attention now, the human forgotten in the face of a threat, and I had to hope she was smart enough not to get in the way.
He dropped to all fours and lumbered toward me with another roar that had me flattening my ears to my skull. When he rose up on his hind legs again, I darted forward, slashing with my claws, but unfortunately missing anything vital. The blow enraged him further, and I barely escaped being mauled again.
I rolled away before lunging back toward his rear leg. I hated putting the bear through more pain, but he had left me no choice.
He turned just as I slashed, my claws catching in matted fur before sinking into muscle and tendons. If it had been later in the year and the old bear was healthier, his layer of fat would have saved him, but with his body skinny after a long winter, and then being forced from his territory, my claws did their job.
His leg gave out beneath him.
Before he could get up, I launched myself onto his back. Wrapping one arm around his thick neck, I wrenched his head to the side as my other hand drew the blade I’d strapped to my thigh. My claws weren’t enough to dispatch the great beast with the speed he deserved, but my knife could end his suffering.
Plunging downward behind his collarbone, the tip pierced his heart, and he collapsed beneath me.
“Rest now, brother. Your journey has ended, and you fought well.”
