My Perfect Mate (10 page)

She reached for him through the mating
bond. It blew open. Jean-Paul’s thoughts and desire swamped her.
She felt the pain it caused and tried to shut it down. She didn’t
mean to hurt him. It had been instinctual to reach for
him.

“NO! Leave it. Feel how
much I want you.”

“But the pain…”

“Open your eyes, look at
me. Watch while I take you.”

Susan obediently opened her eyes and
looked at the man who was her mate. Little sparkles of light
surrounded him. His look of possession fierce. The muscles of his
body hard. She felt the nudge of his member as it searched for
entry. He pushed through her body’s resistance. Plunging deep, he
filled her. Her whole body tightened. He pulled back and plunged
again. Her heart raced. She could hardly draw enough breath. Their
minds merged. Fire, passion, desire flooded her. Susan exploded.
Her body jerking, her mind took flight. JP held her, his fingers
digging deep as he continued to fill her. Again and
again.

He shouted and joined her in the
ether. His pleasure hers, her ecstasy his.

§

Ujarak called the shift and felt his
body grow in size. He lowered his head and waited, letting the
agony of change flow over him. Moments later, he lifted his bear
head and lumbered to the igloo. The dogs on their lines barked at
him, but he ignored them. He searched around the ground. Somewhere
there had to be a sign of where his uncle went.

Did Itigaituk use something to mask
his scent? Why else couldn’t Ujarak find it? Finally, on the west
side of the building made of ice, he saw a paw print. West of here
was one of the small islands that dotted the Arctic Circle above
Canada. He moved forward and found a scrape in the ice. He
continued. Polar bears were known for their patient hunting skills.
He’d find his uncle.

The wind began to pick up. Ujarak
smelled the air. A storm was coming. He quickened his stride. He
didn’t want to lose the few signs left of his uncle’s passing. He
kept going, his nose to the ground. The Gryphon’s Eye was too
dangerous to remain in the Arctic. His uncle needed to understand
that.

He heard the sound of a bird and
looked up. On the horizon a large white shape rose from the ground.
Ujarak smiled. He’d found the island. Now where was his
uncle?

The wind whistled along the ground.
The stars began to disappear as clouds filled the sky. Miniscule
ice crystals stung his face. He lowered his head and kept
going.

Watching for signs of his uncle’s
movements, he almost missed the small wolf print the wind tried to
erase. He paused and looked around. Was it an amarok or a regular
wolf? Not knowing when the print was actually left, he shrugged and
moved forward. A few feet ahead, he found a scrape in the ice left
by a bear claw. On he went, following the small signs.

A sudden yip on the wind caught his
attention. He froze. Listening, he heard another. He rose to his
full height and searched the landscape. His nose sought a scent. He
turned, facing slightly south. There. The smell of canines. Another
dog sled team? He lowered down to all fours and lumbered
forward.

The wind increased and even for a
polar bear, it was hard to see. He needed to find his uncle. Now.
Before the storm covered the top of the world in white.

He hurried forward. The sounds of
yipping got louder. Finally, the shape of an igloo cut through the
wind and blowing snow. Ujarak couldn’t pick up any smells. The wind
blowing obscured everything. He didn’t see anyone around. If his
uncle or one of the other nanuk were here, they would be releasing
the dogs and moving them inside the shelter.

He ran over and began to yank the
lines from the ice, freeing the dogs. Several headed inside the
igloo, while he released the others. Finally, the last dog was
free. He made his way to the igloo and called the shift. It was
time to get out of the wind. He kneeled down to crawl inside when
something flickered out of the corner of his eye. His first thought
was one of the dogs was still outside. He paused and began to turn.
Something hard crashed down on his head. Everything went
black.

§

Jean-Paul held Susan tight. His
feelings swamped him. She was his Destined One. His. He almost lost
her when the ice crumbled under her feet. She was precious to him.
His arms tightened and she snuggled closer. Her blond ringlets
tickled his nose. He smiled.

The wind outside rose in volume. It
whipped around the tent lowering the temperature even more. JP
frowned. The dogs could freeze to death in a storm like this. They
should be moved inside the igloo. He slowly loosened his arms,
hating to move. He’d have to get dressed before he went out into
the cold. He pulled one leg off Susan’s. She stirred.

“What is it?” she mumbled.

“Sounds like a storm.”

“The dogs!” Susan bolted up. The
sleeping bag fell to their waists. JP enjoyed the view.

“Easy, sweetheart. I’ll go. I’ve got
to get dressed first.”

“That’s silly. I’ll go.” White lights
swirled around her and suddenly a wolf stood before him. He petted
her silky fur and she licked his face. He chuckled.

“Okay, I’ll get dressed and come help
you.”

She yipped and pawed at the door. He
crawled over and unzipped the entrance for her. She scrambled
outside. He zipped the door closed and reached for his clothes.
They’d need the warmth in the tent when they came back inside. He
pulled on his pants and sweater, before reaching for his boots.
He’d just gotten them tied when there was a shuffling at the
door.

The polar bear must be back. JP
wondered if he’d found his uncle’s trail in this wind. He reached
for his parka and unzipped the door. Once in the jacket, he stepped
outside. A huge polar bear stood before him raised on his hind
legs. A golden ring lay fastened around the bear’s neck on a piece
of rope. Something told JP this wasn’t Ujarak back with the ring.
He went to move sideways when another polar bear appeared, a growl
in his throat.

He held up his hands. “I just want to
talk to you.”

A huge bear paw swiped him in the
head.

§

Susan hurried around the
tent to the dogs. The scent of a nanuk stopped her in her tracks.
Was it Ujarak? She crept forward. Luckily, the wind blew toward
her. She could smell the polar bear shifter, but he couldn’t smell
her. She peeked around the side of the igloo and watched as the
nanuk swiped the lines free from the ice. The dogs ran over to her
near the entrance of the ice building. Licking her face and rubbing
against her.
“Go inside and get
warm,”
she sent to the pack. The lead dog
barked and then crawled inside the igloo.

A growl and huffing noise by the tent
froze her in place. These nanuk must be Ujarak’s uncle and his men.
What should she do? They hated lycans. They might not talk to JP if
she was there. She followed the sled dogs into the igloo. When she
heard the sound of a man swearing, she moved as far back in the
pack as she could. Two of the dogs moved to shield her. A man
crawled inside the igloo. He carried a large piece of raw meat and
threw it into the pack. The dogs quickly fell onto their meal.
Susan lay down and watched.

The man turned and crawled outside
again. Susan heaved a sigh. That was close. She crept around the
growling dogs. Since she wasn’t making a move toward the food they
ignored her. She peered out the tunnel entrance. The wind picked up
and it got harder to see, even with her heightened lycan
senses.

She crawled on her belly into the
tunnel. If the man came back, he would be in his human form. A
sudden pain in her head made her whimper and stop. She clenched her
jaw. Black spots appeared before her eyes. She blinked and moaned.
As quickly as the pain came, it was suddenly gone. Breathing
deeply, she continued forward.

She stopped inside the entrance. A
polar bear came from the side of the tent dragging something in his
mouth. She froze. It was a sleeping bag. One of their sleeping
bags. From the way it bumped against the ground. It had something
in it. She reached for JP through the mating bond. Nothing. Her
breath stuck in her throat. The smell of blood filled her
nostrils.

She grabbed the golden cord
in her mind and yanked it open.
“Jean-Paul!”
Darkness. Wait. There
was a small flickering. He was alive.

She opened her eyes. Another polar
bear followed the first. This one had a piece of rope around his
neck. Something golden swung from it. The ring? Another nanuk
followed. Three polar bear shifters were more than she could hope
to go against. Even one would probably kill her. She waited,
listening as they made their way around the igloo and into the
wind.

There was a sudden blaze of light and
the smell of burning filled her nostrils. She ran outside. The
tent! The bastards started a fire. Flames leapt high as the whole
structure caught fire. Shifting back to human form was impossible
without clothes. She couldn’t keep warm with magic like the Fae.
She couldn’t even call for help since the satellite phone was
inside the inferno. At least the snowmobiles sat far enough away
that they wouldn’t become fuel for the fire.

Susan saw red. She wanted to howl, but
letting the nanuk know she was close wasn’t a good idea. The wind
whirled feeding the flames. Her eyes burned. All she wanted was to
crawl back into the igloo. But her mate was in trouble. Hiding
wasn’t an option. She reached for JP’s mind, calling to him. There
was no answer. Her heart ached. Panic threatened to overwhelm
her.

“Come on, Susan. There’s no
one left, but you,”
she told herself. She
turned to follow the three nanuk.

The wind howled. Ice crystals pelted
Susan’s face. She lowered her head and followed the golden thread
of light that was the lycan mating bond. Her vision hampered, she
squinted her eyes and focused on putting one paw in front of the
other. She’d follow wherever they took JP.

Luckily the trail of the dragged
sleeping bag was easy to follow even in the storm. Snowflakes
gathered in the sky, sticking to each other so when they hit the
Earth they were large enough to cover a muzzle or an eye. Susan
ducked her head and kept going.

“Jean-Paul. Please. Wake
up!”
No answer.

Susan trudged on. She could hardly
see. Only the mating bond led her forward with its soft golden
glow. The furrow where the sleeping bag dragged began to fill with
snow. She quickened her pace. She didn’t want to lose the trail.
The nanuk seemed in a hurry to get somewhere. Was their shelter up
ahead? Her limbs felt stiff with the cold. Susan didn’t know how
much longer she could go on.

“JP! Wake up. I need
you.”
Why wouldn’t he answer her? How
would she rescue him from three polar bear shifters?

§

“Qannik, stop!” Aisyt hurried
forward.

Qannik fingered the knife in her hand.
“He’s evil. He should die.” The young amarok leaned down and pulled
back Ujarak’s head and put the knife to his throat.

“No! If you have any love for me at
all you won’t hurt him.” Aisyt’s heart thudded in her chest. Her
throat constricted. “Please. I need him!”

“Why him? Why would you choose a nanuk
for a mate?” Qannik’s hand trembled.

“I didn’t choose him, Destiny did.”
Aisyt took a step forward. The wind rose. Her panic caused her
magic to feed the storm. “But even if Ujarak wasn’t my mate, he
doesn’t deserve your wrath. Qannik, don’t be like the nanuk that
hurt you. They didn’t care that you were an innocent child. All
they cared about was that you were amarok. Not all nanuk are evil.
I can sense Ujarak’s heart. He is good and kind. Please, don’t hurt
him.”

“There are so many amarok that love
you. I don’t understand. Why him?”

“Does it really matter? All that
matters is if you kill him, then you kill me as well. Is that what
you want? I saved you. I raised you. I think you owe me his
life.”

A sudden noise in the distance
heralded the return of the three nanuk that hunted the amarok. Both
Qannik and Aisyt turned to look.

“Those are the nanuk who deserve to
die.” Aisyt pointed. “Not this one. Please, Qannik. Go now, gather
the pack, these are the evil ones we hunt.”

Qannik looked back at the man on the
ground, then up at the woman she loved like a mother. She nodded
and sprang away, turning into a white wolf from one stride to
another. The knife in her hand fell to the ground and stuck, hilt
up in the snow.

Aisyt kneeled down beside Ujarak. His
skin was much too cold. She grabbed him under the arms and pulled
him into the igloo. “Hold on, Ujarak. I’ve got you.”

The dogs looked up expectantly. Aisyt
ignored them, hoping her lack of fear would make her appear an
alpha. She called her magic. The storm outside weakened. Thinking
quickly she focused on warming the air in the igloo around
Ujarak.

“Air so cold, slow and grow, heat now
hold, one who’s cold.” She forced the air to warm and sighed in
relief when the blue tinge of Ujarak’s skin receded. Now she needed
a healing spell. She placed her hands on his head and used her
magic to sense any damage. His skull wasn’t broken, but a large
bump appeared on the surface. Once more she called on her magic
abilities. “Head so bare, pain repair, lump so sore, inflammation
go. Life we love, return to us.”