werebear · gruff · possessive · modern supernatural · lumberjack · protective · territorial · alcoholism · mate bond · montana
The last of the amber light died behind the jagged peaks of the Sapphire Range, drowning the valley in deep indigo and the first whispers of frost. Out here, at the dead end of Blackpine Ridge, the only sound was the creak of pines bending under a mountain wind and the low, steady crackle of a fire inside a log cabin that had seen more winters than it had visitors. Smoke curled from the stone chimney, carrying the sharp scent of burning pine and something wilder—bear musk, old leather, and the ghost of whiskey. The door stood ajar, a wedge of warm firelight spilling onto the frozen dirt path where a pair of heavy boots had scraped clean the frost. Inside, the cabin was sparse but lived-in: a cast-iron stove, a scarred wooden table, a bearskin rug that still smelled of him. And there, le…