Her Primal Mate: A Bear Shifter’s Claim
Ruby, twenty-five, watched her carefully built world shatter. First, a cheating ex-boyfriend reduced it to rubble. Then, the sudden, cold news of her grandmother Ava’s death destroyed what little remained. Ava, the steadfast woman who’d raised Ruby, left her more than memories in Blue Ridge Falls. She left her the cabin, now Ruby’s reluctant refuge. It was meant to be a fresh start, a balm for a raw soul. Yet, the moment Ruby’s tires crunched onto the gravel drive, an ancient, undeniable destiny began to stir.
The world had always whispered of those who shifted forms. Shifters, they were called—creatures of primal instinct and fierce power, living hidden for centuries. Only in the last hundred years had the veil between worlds thinned, revealing their existence. What started as glimpses in remote towns now spilled into major cities. These beings, fierce and territorial, held one truth above all others: the sacred, unbreakable bond of a mate. For a shifter, a mate was destiny made real, a lifelong anchor. For generations, human women had been drawn into their powerful embrace, bearing children who carried wild magic in their veins.
It was into this unfolding reality that Ruby stumbled, meeting Logan MacCuirc on her first day back. A Kodiak bear shifter, Logan was a force of nature barely contained in human skin, a simmering strength just beneath the surface. The moment his gaze locked onto Ruby, something ancient and undeniable ignited within him. His bear, a creature of immense power and possessiveness, recognized her instantly. *Mate*. The word resonated through his bones, a primal declaration that shook his core. He would claim her, possess her, and make her irrevocably his. The instinct was stronger than any human rule, older than time itself. And Ruby, surprisingly, found herself drawn into his intense orbit, a strange, potent curiosity eclipsing any fear of the magnificent, untamed creature lurking within him. His bear form, far from terrifying, held a magnetic pull she couldn't explain, a sense of belonging she hadn’t known she craved.