Chapter 1

EBONY 

I walk to the bar, holding my purse to my side. I could feel Cleo move in my head, but she never came close. She knew I needed to leave and fast—too many people for my liking. Many were hunters. I had to leave as soon as I realized I wasn’t safe.

I’m a shifter, a Panther shifter. I’m the only one in this town—it wasn’t a town, but a general store, motel, and bar were there. I arrived within an hour with clothes on my back and a small purse, nothing else.

The purse contained my bank card and phone. The motel was the first place I looked to when I realized I needed a place to stay. I placed the key in my purse and opened the bar door. There was music playing, but quietly in the background.

The scent of a wet dog hit me hard as I walked in, making the hairs on the back of my head stand up. Werewolf shifters were present here. A few people I have encountered along the way have been friendly, while others would have liked to see me hanged or even killed.

I gulped as I looked around. There were few people here, only a few men and one woman, who looked like she had too many. One man sat in the corner with two others on either side. The drunk woman felt a man up. Her hand was on his crotch as she leaned into his ear.

I couldn’t see who the man was, but judging by the bulge, he enjoyed it. I could feel eyes on me from the corner, but I ignored them. I walked toward the bar and pulled out a nearby stool. I sat on it, placing my purse on the bar. I look behind the bar and notice a hatch-up. I waited for whoever was there to get up.

A large glass of anything called me, and I needed it. A pair of green eyes stared directly at me as I glanced. They belonged to the man in the corner, middle. Initially, they were pure green, but there was a slight flicker, then they returned to green. He was clearly the wolf I smelled early, but I could be mistaken. Some roam around in groups. I wasn’t up to the whole wolf thing. I barely kept this cat in check. I moved my eyes from him, even though I initially found it hard.

Cleo stirred in my head, making me look back at her. She seemed on edge, and there was something wrong with her. “What’s up?” I asked.

Cleo placed her nose in the air and sniffed but glanced back at me. “I don’t know,” she muttered. I looked back, only to see a man standing before me. The man smelled human. He looked at me and smiled.

“What can I get you, pretty lady?” He asked.

I stared at him and smirked. “Hi,” I said. “Can I have whiskey on the rocks?”

The man c****d his eyebrows up and wasn’t expecting me to ask for a man’s drink. Asshole comes to mind. I will have any drink I want. The man looked to the side but nodded when he looked back at me. I looked at where he was looking before, and it was at the table where the three men were.

The man in the middle dipped his head and smiled. I looked away, trying to figure out if I should do something. However, the man behind the bar served my drink by placing it before me. I looked up at him and smiled.

As I grabbed my purse to open it, he spoke to me. “You don’t have to pay,” he said. “It’s on the boss.” I stared at him and c****d my head to the side, confused.

The man smiled and pointed toward the corner table. Somehow my insides twirled around as I turned to look and spot the man in the middle. I smiled. With my glass in hand, I raised it to him. The man nodded, turned to the man on the left, and spoke to him. I looked back at the bartender, who was now leaning on the counter, not too far from me. I sipped the whisky, which burned my throat, but I didn’t care.

“So, what brings you out here?” He asked as I placed my glass down and looked up at him. “I needed a change of scenery,” I said. “I pointed to a map to pick my next adventure, and here I am.”

Judging by his face, he didn’t believe me, but it was true. I left in a hurry and caught a train to another town. After finding a map, I did just that. I closed my eyes and swirled my finger around the area. It landed in the middle of nowhere, but I didn’t mind.

Cleo and I were used to living outdoors.

Hunters would do that to you. It would make you not trust people, especially humans. I stared at him and smiled.

The man c****d his head to the side with a strange expression on his face. “Really?” he said. I nodded.

The man stared at me for a moment, but I could hear him groaning at the far end of the bar where the man and woman were sitting.

I glance toward them, only to advert my eyes.

I didn’t need to see that.

The woman had the man’s c**k in her hand and stroked him.

I looked at the bartender, who was smirking. “Don’t like that,” he said, pushing off the counter and leaning on the bar. He placed his arms on the bar and leaned toward me.

I stared at him as he came closer to me.

I could hear Cleo move and growl. “He needs to back off,” she said.

I didn’t say anything.

Something clearly had her back up, but what?

The man stops in front of me and smiles. He opens his mouth to speak, but a loud growl ripples through the bar from the side.

I stare at the man as his eyes widen, and he moves back. “Sorry,” he muttered, walking toward the bar’s other side without looking back at me.

I looked over to where the growl came from but noticed no one was there.

Where the hell did the three men disappear?

I turned back to my drink and sighed.

I took another sip and placed my glass back on the bar.

A few moments go by as I watch the bartender, clearly trying to keep my eyes away from the couple, but I have to admit it did somehow excite me.

The man was groaning; to humans, they wouldn’t have hurt it, but with my cat hearing, I could, and he was enjoying it. “Like that,” he whispered, close to the woman’s ear. “Make me come right here in front of everyone.”

I started as a scent wafted from someone, the most intoxicating scent I have ever scented. The scent tightened my core, making me squeeze my legs together as I heard footsteps behind me. “Mate,” whispered Cleo, making my eyes widen.

I had been looking for my mate for nine years and never found him, and now he was right behind me. I sat up straight as the footsteps came to the side of me.

I was too nervous to look.

Who the hell was... but a familiar scent of him came. He was a wolf, which made me look at him, and I met with the green eyes from earlier.

I gulped.

The man who was in the corner with the other men was my mate.

The man pulled the stool next to me and sat down.

The warmth that radiated from him made me want to know more.

I stared at him, and his eyes met mine. I couldn’t help but look forward. I could feel movement; he was moving closer to me.

He leaned to my ear, close enough for me to feel his hot breath fan my neck and ear. I felt a rush of heat run over me as he spoke.

“Mate,” he whispered, making my eyes widen.