Free Winter Craving by Marisa Chenery Page A

she no
longer could smell Cyrus’ scent, the affect it had over her faded little by
little. By the time she’d reached the door, she heard the sound of the
crossover backing out of the driveway. She didn’t turn to look. And at the
moment, she had no idea if she could bring herself to see him again.
     
    * * * *
     
    Cyrus drove to
his cabin basically on autopilot. He hadn’t a fricking clue how things were
going to turn out with Shyla. He couldn’t lose her. She meant the world to him,
and no other woman would take her place. How was he supposed to have known a
sleep condition he’d had since childhood would be his downfall? He’d thought
he’d gotten over shifting between his two forms while sleeping a long time ago.
Maybe it’d started again because the need to claim his mate rode him. Shyla
being human had added a different stress level to it all.
    He’d done all he
could. Now it was up to Shyla. Even though he had a time limit before he had to
claim her as his mate or lose his humanity, he’d never force her to accept him.
He wanted her to want him for him.

Chapter Seven
     
    Two days turned
into a week and then another and still Shyla hadn’t come to Cyrus’ cabin. His
deadline loomed. He tried to go about his day like normal. He got up in the
morning and ate breakfast, then spent the rest of the day running his trapline.
In the evenings he worked on skinning and stretching the pelts from his catch.
    As the days
ticked by and the three-week mark came even closer, Cyrus had to admit
everything wasn’t right with him. By increments, he felt his humanity slipping.
The animal part of him didn’t understand why he didn’t go to Shyla and claim
her as his, to take her choice away. It reasoned she was meant to be his mate,
therefore, she’d be happy in the end.
    He ignored that
part of him as best he could. And he avoided shifting to his wolf form. It was
getting harder and harder to return to his human one. Even his way of thinking
while a wolf would slip. He didn’t think like a man. He hunted like his wild
cousins, consuming whatever prey he could catch. Then there was the fact he
kept lifting his leg and pissing on trees to mark his territory. It was
degrading to his human side.
    It was now five
days before he’d reach the end of his humanity. The need to shift and run free
rode him harder than the one to claim Shyla as his mate. He knew he was doomed.
There was no question about it.
    Cyrus sat inside
his cabin, not wanting to go out in case he couldn’t stop himself from
shifting. He hadn’t slept, and thinking of eating cooked food made his stomach
roll. He wanted to hunt down his meal and tear into it where it dropped,
consuming it raw. The thought of finding a rabbit made his mouth water.
    The cabin door
opened and his entire family filed inside. His father came to stand in front of
him where he sat on the couch. Cyrus looked up and met his dad’s assessing
gaze. A quick glance showed everyone else wore concerned expressions.
    “Well, my boy,”
his father said. “I think it’s time you fixed this.”
    “What do you
mean?”
    “No more waiting
for your mate to come to you. You go to her.”
    Cyrus shook his
head. “I promised Shyla she could decide when she’d be ready to see me again.”
    “At this rate,
you’ll have lost your humanity when she finally comes to you. And then it’ll be
too late.” His dad took a deep breath. “Does she even know that’s what the
consequence is of you not claiming her?”
    “No. I didn’t
tell her that part. She was already having a hard enough time dealing with me
being a wolf shifter and the whole mate business. She was convinced my scent
made her have feelings that might not be true. If I told her about losing my
humanity, she’d have felt pressured. I want her to come to me because it’s me
she wants.”
    His mother came
and sat beside Cyrus. “That’s what you want, but I don’t want to lose you to
your wolf.”
    Kiel’s mate,
Neha,