Page 36 of Bred By the Beast

The bear and human fought in his mind to make sense of this. How did this stranger know his name? Why weren’t they running in fear?

He headed to the door, not wanting any more threats to enter the house. Everything he loved was in there. He walked out the broken doorframe and stepped onto the soft earth. There was a male near the tree line. Alone.

“I knew about your parents. A shame that was. But what you’re doing would have them rolling in their graves.”

His bear tested the air. The man talking wasn’t entirely human. He must be a shifter. He kept moving toward him, fully intent on ending his life.

“You know she’s human, yet you’ve claimed her. We’re a dying breed, but you’d willingly dilute our bloodline. Don’t you understand the importance of keeping our shifter blood pure and not diluting it with humans?”

This was confusing him. He was expecting poachers wanting to kill his mate because she’d taken photos of them. This shifter knew too much, and he needed to know what was going on. Wilder wasn’t fully healed yet, but he shifted back into his skin to communicate.

“You call it love. Every traitor calls it love. That’s the lie that always comes first. Then come the mixed litters, the forgotten traditions, the empty dens. I’ve seen it happen,” the man said.

“Who the hell are you?”

“My name’s Alder. Those men you killed were just humans on my payroll.”

“What payroll? Poaching bears?”

“This isn’t about poaching or vengeance. It isn’t hatred. It’s surgery. You cut away rot before it reaches the heart.”

“You’re fucking crazy. I saw that sow you killed. For what purpose?”

“That wasn’t me. My men were instructed to find the beasts of the forest. She was just collateral damage. What matters is that your ancestors bled to keep our kind hidden, to keep our blood our own. You throw all of that away because one human smiled at you?”

“She’s my mate.”

Alder laughed. “Don’t speak to me of the mate bond. Fate isn’t holy. It’s blind. Wolves have leapt off cliffs chasing instinct. A wise man knows when to deny the beast.”

“I’ll never give her up, and I suggest you don’t push me on it. Take one more step toward my mate, and you’ll learn exactly how far I’ll go to protect what’s mine.”

“You weren’t chosen to protect her. You were chosen to protect us. You forgot which oath mattered,” Alder said.

“I’ve been on my own since I was twelve years old. I never took a fucking pledge of allegiance. Leave. Right now. Because the next words out of your mouth are going to decide whether you walk away from this.”

He shrugged. “Fine. Have your fun. Play with your human toy. Make sure you don’t breed with her, or I’ll be back.”

Alder shifted into a bear and disappeared into the forest.

Wilder hadn’t seen any bear shifters since living here in the wilderness, just wild bear. Right now, he wished it had stayed that way. He waited, staying rooted in place until he was certain the shifter had left.

Then he remembered Poppy. She had to be terrified. He rushed back to the house, entering through the hole in the front. He was surprised to find her in the exact same spot.

“Poppy?” She must be in shock. He approached her and tilted her chin up.

It took a few moments before she said anything. “The room was for you. So you couldn’t escape and hurt anyone. Those claw marks and blood were yours.”

He nodded.

“Now I understand.”

“I should have told you sooner,” he said.

“Probably.” She almost smiled.

Silence settled between them.

“Say something,” he said.