Chapter 2

Ethan slumped on the bench in the change room, ignoring the ribald behavior around him after yet another foregone win. A hard slap on the rear of his head roused him and he whirled, his lip curled back as he growled menacingly.

"Don't you dare show me your teeth," Javier warned with a dark look. He ran his hand through hair, already tousled and sweaty from the match. "What the fuck happened out there? I passed you the perfect shot, and instead of grabbing it and scoring, you crashed into the goddamn arena glass. What are you, a rookie? Been watching too many Bugs Bunny cartoons?"

Heat burned Ethan's cheeks in remembrance of his mishap before dejection-along with a large dose of disbelief-quickly set back in. "I missed. It happens and besides, it's not like we needed the point to win."

"Of course we didn't," Javier replied with a scoffing snort. "But it's the point of it. What the hell distracted you so much? And, why do you look like your best friend died, which, I might add, is an impossibility given I'm standing right beside you." Javier grinned.

"I think I found my mate," Ethan muttered. A true beauty with light skin, a perfect oval face framed by long, brown hair and the most perfect set of rosebud lips.

Javier's face expressed shock, then glee. "Congrats, dude." Javier slapped him hard on the back, and while the blow might have killed a human or a smaller species, it didn't even budge Ethan. "I know you've been pining to settle down with someone of the fairer sex. You must be ecstatic."

"Not really." Although he should have been. Finding one's mate was a one in a zillion chance given how shifters were scattered across the globe. Most never even came close to finding the one fate deemed their perfect match.

His friend's jovial grin subsided. "What's wrong? Was she, like, butt ugly? Humongous? Old? Surely she can't be that bad?"

"No, she appears perfect. Or did." Ethan groaned as banged his head off the locker door. "I am so screwed."

A frown creased Javier's face. "I don't get it. I thought you wanted to find the one, you sick bastard. Settle down and pop out cubs." Ethan looked up in time to see Javier's mock shudder. "Me, I prefer to share my love among as many women as possible." Javier mimed slapping an ass then humping it with a leering grin.

Ethan didn't smile at Javier's attempt at humor even if it happened to be the truth. Javier certainly enjoyed variety where the other sex was concerned. Heck, on many an occasion he'd shared with Ethan. Tag team sessions where they both scored. Best friends who did just about everything together.

Blowing out a long sigh, Ethan answered him. "I do want to find my mate, actually, I'm pretty sure I already have, but I don't think I made a great impression. She's the one they took out on the stretcher after the ball I missed hit her in the face."

Javier winced. "Ouch. Sucks to be you, my friend. Don't worry, though. I'm sure she'll forgive you in, like, fifty years."

Ethan groaned and dropped his head back into his hands. Now that I've found her, how do I discover who she is so I can beg her forgiveness?

And even worse, how the hell do I act the part of suitor?

Raised in the Alaskan wilds by a father who wasn't all there after the death of Ethan's mother, his education in social niceties was sadly lacking. He tended to speak with his fists more often than not. Lucky for him, when it came to women, he didn't usually have to do a thing. Females tended to approach him for sex so they could brag afterward that they'd ridden the Kodiak and survived. Not that Ethan would ever hurt a female, even if his idea of flirty conversation usually consisted of "Suck me harder" and "Bend over." If I add "darling" on the end, will she count it as sweet talk?

Actually, he should probably preface anything he said with a humungous sorry. Make that a few thousand apologies given the hit she'd suffered proved spectacular enough to make the crowd "Ooh" in harmony.

Perhaps he panicked over nothing. After all, the woman his inner bear chuffed was his mate had attended a lacrosse game. Shouldn't that imply she knew the risks? That she didn't mind a bit of blood and violence? Besides, as a shifter, she'd heal quickly. He could only pray and hope his pragmatism ended up as reality.

As for the whole courting thing, if fate deemed the woman his perfect match, then surely his intended wouldn't let something like his lack of manners deter her from giving in to the inevitable. Then again, I could always resort to my dad's tactics which involve throwing her over my shoulder and dragging her back to the woods for some loving, mountain man style.

He was getting ahead of himself though, because for all he knew he worried over nothing. Chances were she couldn't wait to meet him as well. Most female shifters-or so he'd heard-lived for the day they encountered their mate. And lucky her, she's found me.

His inner pep talk didn't entirely banish his unease as he stripped out of the rest of his equipment. The after game ritual, though, calmed him and a plan formed in his mind.

"I need to find out who she is," he told Javier as he entered the shower room with the rest of the team. "If they had to take her out on a stretcher, then chances are someone knows her name."

"Good for you, my friend, for not giving up in the face of obvious adversity. And because I am such a good friend, I shall come with you when you visit her so I might laugh when the female retaliates against you for messing up her face."

Javier flew backward with the force of the punch Ethan laid on him. Rubbing his jaw, his friend glared up at him. "That wasn't very nice."

Ethan snarled. "Maybe if you hadn't thrown the ball so damned hard, I wouldn't be in this position in the first place. I'm glad you find my situation so goddamned funny."

Jumping to his feet, Javier raised his fists. "Alright, my friend. Let's go. You obviously need to work off some tension, might as well do it now. Think of your coming beating as a courting favor because I'm going to give you some black eyes to match those of your mate."

"I'd like to see you try." With a feral grin, Ethan lumbered at his friend, paws swinging as the other players in the shower room scattered.

Old habits died hard, and when it came to working out frustration, the easiest route still involved violence. Ethan refused to view it as stalling out of fear. Kodiak bears feared nothing, especially not one fated female. But just in case, perhaps once he de-stressed, he would pick up flowers, or buy a whole damned floral shop for her.