Mated To Magic (Stark Creek Shifters Book 1) by Barb Shuler (free ereaders .TXT) 📕

but something was off with him. I’d figure out what. If not, the boys and I would have to have a little chat with him.

The scent of a deer caught my nose and I sprang forward, my paws pounding into the earth. My muscles bunched as I leapt a felled tree, dropping back to the earth on the other side. I followed the scent until the river came into view. A quick leap and I was over it. My jaws clamped around the neck as we slammed into the ground. The deer never had a chance. Its blood filled my mouth and I swallowed it down before taking a big chunk of its hide into my teeth. With each chew I felt the anger in me start to simmer. After I’d pulled every piece of meat from the carcass that now lay at my feet, my belly full, I dragged it up to the lookout point. The ravine below was deep enough that no one would just stumble across the bones if they were out here.

Listening to the bones fall along the ravine, I sat down on my haunches and let the sorrow of my fight with Mia soak in and release. My head went back and a howl rolled through me. The animals that had been scurrying through the woods quieted. My lone howl was all that rang out through the night air.

Pawing at the ground, I growled out the last of my frustrations. With a huff, I got up and shook off the dirt I’d thrown on myself. The breeze sent new scents across my nose. My head lifted and I took off toward the smell of death. A mile up the path, leading to the hillside, I found the carcass. It was an old one, only half of its meat was gone. This had to be an animal attack, but I couldn’t smell what kind over the decay. I paced around the area, but there were no more scents that I could register.

Frustrated, I loped back down the hillside, scenting the air as I went. There was no way something big enough to take down deer wouldn’t leave a damn scent trail. No fucking way. I’d deal with that another day. Right now I needed to run off the angry feelings I was having toward that shithead, Sy, and then head home. Hopefully Mia would be there. If not… I wasn’t going to think about that. I could only hope I hadn’t screwed up that bad. No. She said she came here because of me. She loved me. It was time that I told her how I felt. Everything. I’d leave nothing out.

By the time we went to bed, she would know I wanted more. I wanted all of her, forever. My wolf needed her as much as I did.

Pushing myself faster through the underbrush that surrounded the trail, I caught another scent. This one was something smaller, a rabbit or a coon maybe. I wouldn’t eat it, but I would chase it down. My wolf and I loved to chase things.

I spotted it. A brown and white rabbit was hightailing it up the path. I darted after it, snapping my teeth at it. The rabbit scurried through the underbrush and I followed. That was my mistake. I snarled when the briars that were tangled in with the underbrush tugged at my hide. I slashed at the bushes with my paws, tearing down the stupid bastard of a plant.

A thorn embedded itself in my paw and I yipped with pain. I hunched down on the ground, biting at my paw until the stupid thing was out. I growled at the underbrush for good measure. Rabbit - one, wolf - zero. That was the way my night was going. I gave myself a full body shake, tossing leaves and debris, before I started walking back down the hill. I was done.

I needed to go home, find Mia, apologize and try to get her to talk to me again. I had been an idiot, maybe. There was something up with that Sy asshole and I would figure it out. Just not now. I wouldn’t keep her from having a friendship with him, especially since he was still in Wyoming where he belonged. When and if he made it out here, I would worry about that when the time came.

With my mind finally clear, I shifted between steps and made my way to my truck, picking up the shredded clothing I had hurried away from. I opened the back door, pulled out my duffel bag, pulled on a pair of sweats and tossed on a T-shirt. I gave the area one last look before climbing in and starting her up. In about forty minutes I’d be on my knees begging for my girl’s forgiveness. If she didn’t want to deal with me, I would be crawling my ass onto the couch at Ty’s and staying there until I could make her see I was hers.

I would work on my attitude and apparent jealousy, but I wouldn’t change overnight. Not when it came to her.

I’d always be overprotective. Growly and a little insane sometimes. It was just how I was.

6

Mia

Everything stopped. A look of pain spread on Angus’s face as he stood and watched, not being able to move toward me. I could see Jay inching closer to us, though. She was the only one in this bar who could get to me before he reacted. If I walked out of here with a scratch on me, Dalton was going to lose his fucking mind. Just as Jay pounced on him, I grabbed his wrist and spun away. Angus and Josh pushed forward to help her out. I let out a breath and stepped back.

“Mia, are you okay?” The girls rushed to me.

“I’m fine, girls.”

“Then why are you bleeding?” Jayden rushed to me to press a clean towel against my shoulder.

“Fuck, I didn’t even feel that.”

“Come on,