Mated to the Wilde Bear

He scanned faces, feeling like he’d been thrust on a stage. Nerves pulled at him as he watched them pointing at him, whispering amongst themselves. He hated the spotlight. Dreaded what the townspeople said about him, the bear shifter Blue Bear Search and Rescue boss who’d partied so hard he’d killed his father.

But this crowd wasn’t carrying pitchforks. Mostly, they all looked curious. Impressed, even.

All except for Laurel.

She glared at him, not backing down even when he passed right by her and continued over to where the stretcher lay waiting just outside the ambulance doors. He leaned over slowly, careful with his human passenger as he lay the man out on the thin mattress.

The medics followed close, hovering. “We’ve got the gurney all set up,” one of them said for the third time. A younger guy, probably newer, scared to break protocol. His partner didn’t look thrilled, but at least she didn’t argue. Margie had been at this a while. Probably knew better than to argue with him about it.

Xavier waved them both off and walked around them. “I’ve got him,” he said. “I’ve carried him this far, and those wheels aren’t going to roll properly on this terrain. You’ll just jostle his injuries further.”

The man muttered something about procedure, but otherwise fell back and let Xavier do it his way. He felt someone standing over his right shoulder. Another medic, probably. He ignored them.

But then he laid his patient down, and the wind caught a scent, and he knew who it was. He could smell her perfume, mixed with a hot temper, bearing down on him.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Laurel hissed at his back.

their once-over. Blood pressure cuffs,

or just ignore me all day?” Laurel was close enough he could feel

stable?” Xavier

waited until the young one closest to him nodded curtly. Then and only then did he exhale the breath he’d been holding and turn back to the woman

was drawn to the hardness in her blue eyes. The challenge of breaking down the uptight wall she’d put up against him. To top it off, her damned

invading her personal space. She stiffened, and he hid a smug smile, pretending not to notice the way her mouth fell slightly open at the sight of him so

there a

choosing instead

a question in there

huffed. “Why did you ignore

it going sideways on the gravel

“You don’t know that—”

eyes narrow and then widen as the medics gave the wheel a shove. With a wobble, the leg collapsed, and they slid the stretcher into the ambulance. But he knew she’d seen what he

back to her and