Finding Snow (Fairytale Shifter Book 4) Read Free Page A

is so much panic in her voice that I nearly stop and go back, not wanting to upset her.
    “I will treat you kindly and no harm will ever come to you as long as I live.” I take a breath and keep walking. “It’s more than your kind ever gave me.”

Chapter 3
Snow
    M y hood falls over my face, blocking everything out. I try to move it out of the way, but it only falls back again, showing me nothing but the snow-covered ground rushing by while the man who has me over his shoulder runs through the woods.
    Each step bounces me. One even makes me grunt. The sound makes him slow his strides in an effort not to jostle me again. I try to find words to plead with him, but nothing comes now that I’m over his shoulder and he is taking me farther and farther away from my brothers’ cabin.
    I try to shift to see if maybe I can catch him off guard and break free, but his hold only tightens on me.
    “Still or you’ll hurt yourself.”
    I do as his deep voice commands. It would be a fruitless effort. I’d probably break something if I fell from this height. The man is ginormous, even compared to my brothers.
    “You’re hurting me,” I lie, finally finding my voice again.
    “Am I holding you too tight? If you stop struggling, I can loosen my grip. I don’t want to drop you.”
    I huff, not answering his ostensibly generous question. He kidnaps me but wants to make sure I’m unharmed.
    When I opened my eyes and stared into the deepest brown eyes I’d ever seen, I was shocked. That shock only grew when a honey color started to blend into them. They were beautiful. I also knew instantly he was a shifter. Human eyes could never do that. I wasn’t scared until he jumped away from me and started to growl.
    When he lunged for me, I felt a moment of panic, unsure of what he was doing.
    “Mine ,” he’d growled. At the time I was in fight or flight mode, but now thinking back on it, I know what’s happened. I’ve seen it before. Mates. I’d seen my brothers, one after another, find their mates. I’d witnessed the instant attraction they had. The need they had for them so strong and unstoppable.
    It’s what’s gripping the man carrying me over his shoulder. I’m his mate, and he doesn’t seem all too happy about the idea. In fact, he seemed enraged for a moment. I try to think back to what he’d said
    “I will treat you kindly, and no harm will ever come to you as long as I live. It’s more than your kind ever gave me.”
    That sealed it. He was mad that I was human. I could do absolutely nothing about it. Something even I wished I wasn’t. The humans I’d been brought up around were evil, vile people. Not like the shifters in my life who’d taken care of me and shown me more love than my father ever did.
    My body jerks a little when he takes three stairs at a time, then I hear the sound of locks clicking before a door opens and slams shut. I hear the sound of locks clicking into place once again. Then I’m on my feet, staring up at one angry-looking man.
    “What are you?” The honey color is back in his eyes, pushing all that dark brown away.
    “A shifter.”
    “I know that.” I put my hand on my hips. I’m used to having to look up at my brothers, but this is just crazy. I’m going to get a crick in my neck.
    His eyes narrow on me.
    “Yes, I know all about shifters,” I inform him. There’s no beating around the bush or pretending I don’t know. Besides, it’s more than obvious he is with all this grunting and growling he’s doing.
    “A bear. How do you know about my kind?”
    I just shrug, not feeling scared of him anymore. Shifters don’t hurt their mates. Most even die if the other does. But those are true love cases. It’s clear my big bear isn’t happy with his choice of mate. “I grew up with shifters, you could say. In fact, they’ll be looking for me.”
    “They can look all they want. They won’t come on my land,” he says with utter certainty. It makes me wonder what they will do.