Coveted By The Bear: When Worlds Collide, #1

Prologue

Thunderclouds gathered overhead, rolling across the sky and blacking out the sunshine faster than I could shrug on a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

Today was the day.

My life as I knew it was all about to go to shit.

I looked out the window of the busted down single wide where I parked my ass after every shift and tried to silence the monster inside me.

But it wasn’t working. Nothing would.

I thought after all these years of working sixteen, sometimes eighteen, hour days as a Soldier for the Clan, doing anything my Alpha fucking asked, would have paid some of the debt I owed to Niall Tiegs, the ruling Alpha of the Willow Creek Clan.

He was the only father I’d ever known. My parents died when I was a cub and Tiegs and his wife Michelle took me in, raised me until I was old enough to live in this old trailer alone.

Hell, I would have done anything for him.

Fight his wars. Plant his fields. We were an agricultural giant in these parts. What Shifters knew as the Willow Creek Clan, humans knew as the Willow Creek Agricultural Group.

But that old Grizzly had one more demand. One more impossible ask. Only, I didn’t think I was going to be able to do it this time. My Grizzly reared up inside me, the almost unmanageable beast snarled and clawed.

Tiegs wanted me to mate a Sow from the Shadow Legion Clan.

Zara Wells. Grizzly Shifter. Never before mated.

It should have been a no brainer. A contract between Clans. Something humans and supernaturals alike had done for thousands of years.

She was a good woman. I’d seen her a handful of times, but it was too much to ask the Fates that this female be the one meant for me.

Beautiful as she was, the only feelings that stirred within me when I looked at Zara were regret and shame. Shame that I was never going to love her. Regret that both our Clans were trying to force this pairing.

I knew it would be difficult. But I didn’t realize it would be impossible.

For my sake and for hers, I couldn’t go through with this. My animal was already tearing me apart just for considering it.

Fact was Zara Wells deserved more than a broken Bear who could never love her for a mate.

Maybe I did, too.

Something moved in the woods behind my house where my gaze was focused. I narrowed my eyes and gritted my teeth.

I’d sent a message to her, but I didn’t know when or if she’d even respond. Her brown hair was down, and she looked thoughtful as she waited for me in the copse of trees. I bolted outside.

Fuck. This was going to suck.

Zara, I murmured my greeting and offered a slight bow.

She gave a slight bow of her head, her lips trembling as she did. She tucked her hands behind her back and straightened her shoulders.

Thank you for meeting me. I think we should talk, I said.

Of course. I think that’s a good idea, given the circumstances we’ve been put in, she replied.

Look, I believe in plain speaking, I started, rubbing a hand over the back of my neck.

I was having a hard time getting a cue from her and appreciated her quiet strength and graceful stance.

I was a fucking monster. Not worthy of her to begin with.

I wasn’t raised to be anything but a weapon. But I’d listened to the elders tell tales of fated mates and their epic love stories the same as all the other cubs during Clan get-togethers.

What kind of mate could I possibly make this woman?

You deserve better than me, Zara. Tiegs, your Alpha, they’re wrong about us. They’ve got plans, motives, that have nothing to do with us. We’re just collateral damage to them, I said.

I don’t understand. What are you trying to say? she asked.

I believe the Fates have a plan. I don’t know if you or I will ever find the ones fated for us, but I think it’s wrong for our Alphas to use us as pawns. I’m a Soldier. All my Grizzly knows is how to kill. I am not mate material, I said.

Zara deserved to hear the truth from my lips. I didn’t know what Tiegs was thinking, offering me up like some sort of fucking sacrifice.

My beast cut his teeth on violence and gore. The idea of forcing a mating made the Bear fucking feral.

Everyone deserves a mate, Miles. We are both pawns in a messed up situation, I agree, but there’s more at stake than what we want. You see that don’t you? Neither of us are perfect, and we both deserve happiness. Her voice tapered off and her gaze shifted away to stare off into the trees. You won’t go through with it, will you?

Look, I’m going to tell Tiegs before the announcement that I am not going through with it. I am sorry, but my Bear just won’t allow it. He’s tearing me up, I growled, my voice losing its humanity.

She nodded and looked back at me. I get it. I don’t know what your plan is, but I’ll have to leave before you tell him. My father won’t stand for it. He’ll blame me and I can’t stay for that.

The blame is mine. I am so sorry I have failed you, but I won’t stay and destroy the both of us for their schemes. Here, I said, handing her a piece of paper with a number scrawled on it. I’m leaving right after I tell the Alpha. Text me when you get somewhere safe. And if you need anything, money or whatever, ask and I’ll do whatever I can. I only hope you can forgive me someday.

Zara’s big brown eyes met mine, and I saw a number of emotions flit across her face, the least of which was not relief. And maybe at the end, maybe I saw hope, or at least, that was what I told myself.

Yeah, I was a piece of shit.

But I would be an even bigger piece of shit if I stayed and forced my Bear to claim hers.

We only had this one life to live, and I knew the life Tiegs wanted for me wasn’t the one I wanted.

It wasn’t the one I needed.

We only got one chance at happiness.

One opportunity.

One truth.

And I was going to start living mine right now.

Chapter One-Miles

I’d been riding the old Harley I managed to fix up a couple of years ago for about four and a half hours when the damn thing just up and quit on me.

Good thing for Shifter reflexes or I’d look like roadkill. As it was, I had some nasty fucking road rash covering my entire left side.

Motherfucker, I growled and stood up once I’d stopped skidding across the broken up asphalt.

It was three o’clock in the morning. The Witching Hour. If I believed in anything anymore, I would have said the Fates had something in mind for me.

But I knew better.

I limped over to my bike and kicked it angrily. Then, I roared my frustration to the wind, cursing the damn thing for all it was worth.

The whole way to wherever the fuck I was stranded I’d been replaying my encounter with Tiegs.

The man had been like a father to me. Okay, maybe a fucked up uncle. But still, the Willow Creek Clan was all I knew.

I couldn’t believe he’d throw me away for failing to follow orders. But that was dumb.

I’d been a Soldier for the Clan since I was sixteen. Tiegs had no problem using my brawn for his own purposes. I wondered now why I