Excerpt of Fire in the Smokies by Becca Jameson

Locking his gaze and attention on the opening between the rocks, Jaxon jumped over a few downed trees and bounded into the first cave.

Darkness consumed him, but it would be momentary. His eyes would adjust to the lack of light. In no time he’d see almost as well as outside. One of the perks of being lupine. He saw fantastically in the night.

Dropping the pouch from his mouth, Jaxon lifted his head and took a deep breath. Immediately he dropped his gaze and blinked. His eyes burned from the smoke he’d run through. His vision had not yet cleared.

He panted, letting his tongue hang out. One thing was clear. There was most assuredly a human in this cave.

And…that human was his mate.

Jaxon couldn’t move. He couldn’t see yet either. And that aggravated him more than anything. His ears were ringing, keeping him from concentrating.

Was his mate the missing firefighter? A man?

He backed up a step. Took several short breaths. His head twitched back and forth as though in denial. He couldn’t stop it. He’d never once considered himself attracted to men. Maybe there was a woman in the cave also? Another deep inhale.

Nope, one scent. Faint, but just the one. Not particularly identifiable. God, let there be someone else hiding in a cave today besides a fireman. A missing hiker? What were the chances?

His vision began to clear. He blinked back the smoky film causing him to squint and stepped farther into the cave.

Do I have some latent subconscious tendencies toward men I was unaware of? Why on earth would my mate be a man?

A gasp made him jerk his gaze to the left. Movement. Shuffling. Deep wheezing breaths. A flash of yellow. More movement. Scampering. Jaxon approached gingerly. His paws made almost no sound as he inched forward. He stopped.

The fireman sat, hunkered really, against the wall. His boots scraped the hard-packed ground in front of him in desperation as if he could perhaps push himself through the solid rock behind his back if he could get enough purchase.

Jaxon tipped his head to one side. His brain scrambled. The fireman was covered from head to toe with flame-retardant clothing. Soot covered the yellow, almost completely obscuring any evidence of color. Even his face was covered—goggles, a mask, helmet.

No wonder Jaxon could barely scent the man.

He hesitated. Considered running from his destiny. What the hell was he going to tell his brothers? His mate was a fireman? Could he be mistaken? Crap. Jaxon suddenly focused on his error. He was in wolf form. The guy was freaking petrified because a wolf had entered his hideout. Jaxon had been so focused on finding evidence of a human in the area, he hadn’t thought further. Adrenaline pumping, he’d concentrated only on the remote hope someone was alive in this cave.

And here he was, standing on four paws, staring down a fireman as though he intended to eat him.

Jaxon shivered, shook his entire body as he would after being caught in the rain.

He had to shift before the man had a heart attack. This wasn’t the way he ever planned to reveal himself to anyone. Hell, he’d never shifted in front of another human in his life, with the exception of Sergius’s mate, Juliana.

It couldn’t be helped. And besides, whatever weirdness fate had in store for him right now, he might as well get the whole I’m-a-wolf-shifter-and-you’ll- have-to-get-over-it thing out of the way now.

Jaxon didn’t take his eyes off the frightened firefighter. Bones popped, limbs lengthened, hair receded. In moments Jaxon stood before the man, naked… and human.

The fireman didn’t move a muscle. He appeared to not even be breathing. Jaxon cleared his throat. “Sorry. There was no other way.” He knelt in front of the man and held his hands out, palms up. What difference did it make that he was naked? It wasn’t as though the guy hadn’t seen a c*ck before…

“I think you can breathe in here right now. The air isn’t too bad.” Jaxon reached for the man’s protective helmet with slow calculated movements. He didn’t want to scare the guy to death, but he did want to see what was under the hardhat.

Jaxon’s hand shook more than he would have liked as he tugged the helmet off. “I didn’t mean to…reveal myself like that. I wasn’t thinking when I came barreling in here looking for you. I—”

Jaxon froze with the helmet held in midair. Holy mother of God. Suddenly the firefighter wasn’t the only one not breathing. Jaxon could feel his heart beating, but he didn’t think he’d ever be able to inhale again in this lifetime.

Long blond curls fell from the helmet seemingly in slow motion. They cascaded down until they sprang back, bouncing as though they belonged in a photo shoot for some feminine shampoo. Emphasis on the word feminine.

The helmet slipped from Jaxon’s fingers and landed on the hard ground with a loud clatter. He swallowed. His mouth opened and closed, but no words came out.

Synapses fired from one side of his head to the other as he made sense of the picture in front of him.

This was no fireman. This was a woman.

And she still wasn’t breathing. And his d*ck thanked God she was a she and sprang to life. And, oh…he was naked.

Jaxon licked his lips and reached for her protective goggles. His hands shook considerably more than they had moments ago as he lifted the eyewear off her face and stared into her deep blue eyes. Huge eyes. Frightened eyes.

“Oh, God. I thought…” Jaxon let the goggles fall from his hand. A lock of silky hair caught in his fingers and he let the tresses dangle between them as they cascaded to her shoulders.

He let go with a start, as though she’d shocked him. “Wow, umm…” He abruptly stood and turned away.

Hastily he retraced his steps back to the entrance to the cave. Hands trembling, he grabbed his pack and yanked it open. His fingers quickly found his jeans. He shook the denim free of the pouch and stepped into them with more haste than he’d ever donned clothing in his life. In fact, he hobbled a bit on each leg as he tried to maintain his balance on one foot and then the other. His c*ck grew larger by the second, knowing his mate sat behind him. Jaxon didn’t bother with the button. The partially raised zipper would have to suffice for now.

When he turned back around he found his mate still sitting in the same spot. He doubted she’d even blinked yet.

Soot covered her face, having found its way in between the edges of her helmet and mask. The only clean area was the figure-eight space where the goggles had rested.

Jaxon approached slower this time. “Sorry for the…” God, what was he supposed to say? Sorry to shift in front of you? Sorry I was naked? Sorry to inform you we are destined to spend our lives together?