Phoenix (Bears of Kodiak Book 3) Read Online Free

dreamed that it’d been so much more than just a hatching ceremony.
    That dragons, the moment they opened their eyes and latched onto the face of someone, bonded for life. That when he’d seen that dark haired child come out of her shell, standing tall and proud and lovely and for just a split second—a fucking split second—he’d leaned too far over the cliff to look at her he’d lose himself that day.
    That ever since then Madison would have no choice but to follow him around, to seek out her mate and be bound to him for all time... Fuck man.
    He closed his eyes, memories scrolling automatically through all the times he’d watched her watching him with her heart in her throat and her face that’d gone from prettily young to something heart achingly gorgeous as she grew. The bite of rage (at himself) sat heavy like a sack of stone in his gut.
    But her life hadn’t been the only one to get screwed up. His had too. Dragons would kill anything that smelled too strongly of their mate. Meaning, Phoenix was as good a virgin now. And had been ever since that damned morning on the cliff. He might be a heartless bastard, but he’d never willingly screw someone knowing that would be the last thing they’d ever do again.
    Well, that wasn’t entirely true. There’d been an incident between him and Madi last year. He’d been drunk. She’d been drunk. He was pretty sure he hadn’t breached her, surely he’d remember something like that. But her hatred of him had no doubt sprung from that fateful night when he’d gotten just drunk enough to forget his rule about not touching her. All he knew was August had flipped his shit after that and told him that if he ever, ever laid a hand on Madi again it had better be to mate for life, or not at all.
    Wasn’t often that his brother threatened him with bodily harm, but August had been deadly serious that day.
    And now his own mating ritual was upon him. August was sure that Madison was his one true mate, but Phoenix wasn’t so sure. Because though he could admit that there wasn’t anything hotter on two legs than that woman, all he felt when he looked at her was guilt, shame, and regret.
    Phoenix didn’t want to go through with this shit. In fact, he was half tempted to become a eunuch, but then he’d wake up with morning wood and rocking into his hand for any kind of relief from the constant ache of blue balls and he knew there was no damn way he could never not have sex again.
    Only problem was, unless he did it with Madison, he’d never actually get to do it with another person again.
    And Madison wasn’t that keen on him anyway, not after that night. He only fucking wished he could remember what exactly he’d said or done to make her go from looking at him like he was her hero, to the male she wished to obliterate.
    Yeah, she practically lived with him and his brothers now. Her cabin was only a few hundred meters from theirs, she worked as a waitress in August’s bar full time, and even showed up to every family function they had.
    But Phoenix was pretty sure they’d not said more than a handful of words to each other in all those years. He knew she resented him. And deep down, he hated himself for what he’d done to her too.
    A dragon stuck with a fucking bear, life wasn’t fair sometimes.
    In the end, the undine had definitely gotten the last laugh.
    “Fuck man,” he squeezed out, rubbing his brow and growling, “what if it’s not her? What if I screw her over again and fall in love with someone else? What then, August? You know what her family will do to me.”
    Phoenix had gone through the pros and cons of this ceremony ad nauseam at this point. There was really nothing more to say that was going to make any of this all right. The only possible pro was that maybe, just maybe August was right and by some fluke of fate Madi really was his mate. Way he figured, that would probably be the only way he’d ever be able to let go of the guilt he shouldered from