Kiera Wilson left her recent memory at the bottom of a cliff where she barely escaped death. She remembers her long-time friends but not the man who claims to be her fiancé. She doesn’t have anything against getting to know him again, but her friends aren’t so sure she was happy with him. He’s big and burly and kind of scary, but also hot in a growly way.

Lev Pierce, alpha bear shifter, is not only alpha but CEO of a massive hotel chain where suddenly shifters are attacking others in broad daylight. On top of that his mate is almost killed and no longer remembers who he is, not to mention his mother hates her. Everything around him is falling apart.

Somehow Lev has to fix everything while convincing the love of his life that she truly loved him. As he delves into finding solutions, he discovers that someone is sabotaging his pack. If he can’t figure out who the culprit is in time, he is going to lose all that he loves, including his mate.

Chapter 1

Lev Pierce sat at his office desk, staring incessantly at his dark phone screen. No text messages, no calls, nothing from Kiera. The last time he saw her was twenty-four hours ago. After that, the contact between them went stagnant.

Since she was his mate, that simply wouldn’t do.

The night prior, he barely slept. Thoughts of what happened to Kiera plagued his mind and made him toss in his bed the entire time.

Even though he really didn’t want to show up to work that morning, he was the CEO of the company and the alpha leader of the Pierce Bear Clan. His people counted on him, and he would be a fool to let them down.

Still, Kiera never left his mind.

As a way to take control of the situation, Lev recalled their interactions the day she went missing. They woke up in bed together, as they usually did, and she made them breakfast. Then, she kissed him goodbye before departing for work.

After that, she disappeared. And he hadn’t heard from her since.

“Shit,” he mumbled, violently rising from his chair and pacing the expanse of his office. “Shit, shit, shit.”

A knock came at his door. Despite the overwhelming urge to yell at whoever it was to fuck off and leave him alone, he bit down the words and forced himself to stop.

“Come in.”

One of his interns poked her head in. Her name evaded him, lost in the haze of his mind. “You have a meeting in fifteen minutes, sir.”

“Tell them I can’t make it. I’m sick. I feel a tickle in my throat coming on.”

“Sick?” She furrowed her brows. “Then, why did you come in today?”

Shut the hell up, he nearly said. Yet, he forced a smile that disappeared as quickly as it came. “There’s too much work to be done. I promise I’ll stay put in my office.”

With a hesitant nod, the intern retreated and gently shut the door. The building energy in his body … his bear begging for a chance to come … wanted a quick release, so he contemplated throwing a vase or flipping over his desk.

Yet, he held himself back. Those weren’t rational responses. He had a reputation to maintain and a title to live up to. What were people going to say when they found his office reduced to shreds?

Sighing, Lev leaned on the edge of his desk and closed his eyes. Every time his phone pinged, he jolted upright and raced to see what was going on. He desperately wanted to hear something from the police, enforcers, or anyone who was willing to give him an update on Kiera’s whereabouts.

If not, he was bound to lose his mind sooner than later.

Eventually, he received a call from his brother, Nate. Certainly not the person he hoped for, but it was better than nothing.

“Hello?” Lev greeted flatly, ready to fling insults Nate’s way if this conversation proved useless.

“They found her, Lev.”

His mouth fell open.

“Dude, I …” A commotion rumbled in the background of the phone call, all while Lev fished for his blazer and car keys. “They found her, but she’s not in the best shape. I-I don’t know. I tried to ask questions, I did, but they aren’t talking to anyone right now. Their priority is to stabilize Kiera.”

Stabilize her? Lev paled. What happened to Kiera? What happened to his mate?

“Give me the address of the hospital,” he whispered, storming through the halls as if the devil himself chased after him. “Now, Nate.”

With a tremor to his words, Nate spit out the words. Thankfully, Lev knew the roads of their small town like the back of his hand, so he knew exactly where to go as he hopped into his Lexus and zoomed to the hospital.

Outside, the skies were gloomy, and the wind blew a harsh breeze. He hoped that wasn’t a bad omen.

When he arrived at the hospital, he nearly left the car running in his haste to enter the emergency room and ask for his fiancé. His growing frustration with the front desk receptionist, who typed too slowly for his liking, dissipated quickly once Nate found him.

His younger brother wrapped his arms around him tightly, a glossiness to his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Lev. I’m so sorry.”

“What happened?” Lev grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to look at him directly. By then, Nate was on the brink of dissolving into a mess of tears. “What happened to her?”

“She’s in a coma,” he squeaked, bottom lip quivering. “I … I talked with the doctors a little. They’re coming in and out of her room and ...”

“Take me there. Take me to where they have her.”

“I-I don’t know, Lev. They might not let us go in.”

“Fuck them. I’m her mate. I’ll burn this hospital to the ground if they don’t let me see her.”

“Wait!”

Nate snatched him by the wrist, tugging him close.

“Don’t do anything that’ll make them send you to a psych ward, you idiot.” Nate sniffled, leading the way to Kiera’s room. On the way there, Lev picked at his hands and nearly tore off a painful hangnail by accident. “They told me they think it was an accident.”

“What the fuck happened? Why the hell is she in a coma?”

“She was in a car accident. It was raining, so they think she hydroplaned, and the car veered off the side of a cliff and ...”

“What?” Lev suddenly felt a horrible ache in his chest. His fiancé swerved off a damn cliff? “What … What the fuck …”

“Calm down, please,” Nate pleaded, cupping his face with his hands. “I-I kind of freaked out about you coming here, dude. I know how you get when something happens to Kiera … and the worst possible thing did happen to her.”

“H-How is she alive?” Lev managed out.

“She shouldn’t be. Most people don’t survive accidents like that, but … She’s strong. They found her, but she was barely breathing. And they airlifted her to the hospital.”

Once they found her hospital room, Lev held himself back at the door. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was afraid. The thought of finding his mate hooked up to a machine with tubes coming out of her nose and mouth terrified him to no end. In an instant, his knees buckled, and it took holding onto Nate’s shoulder to keep him upright.

You’re an alpha leader, Lev. As cynical as ever, the voice in his mind scolded him for the moment of vulnerability. In times of danger, you’re supposed to stand strong. Get yourself together.

Gradually, Nate opened the door to reveal the sight.

Kiera, pale and bruised, lay in the hospital bed with a heart rate machine beeping beside her. Balloons and flowers already trickled in, piling up on one of the bedside tables.

His heart seized in his chest, and there was no fight left in him to hold off the tears forming in his eyes. The love of his life nearly died, and he wasn’t able to do anything to save her.

Was this his fault? Could he have done something more?

“Please, don’t blame yourself,” Nate said as if sensing his thoughts. “This was a freak accident. It could’ve happened to anyone. Sit. It looks like you’re going to pass out.”

Nodding, Lev allowed his younger brother to guide him to the seat beside Kiera, where he carefully reached out for her hand. Cuts littered her delicate skin.

“Fuck,” Lev breathed out, taking shallow breaths as his glossy eyes trailed Kiera’s frail figure. “We could have lost her. She could have died.”

“But she didn’t,” Nate replied, crossing his arms over his chest. He refused to look at Kiera directly, perhaps in fear that he was going to burst into tears before long. “And that’s what matters.”

“I’m not leaving this room.”

“What?”

“I’m not going anywhere until she wakes up from the coma,” Lev explained. “I want to be the first one she sees when she comes to.”

“But …” Nate frowned. “What about the business? And the clan? Mom isn’t going to be happy about this, you know it.”

“I don’t give a fuck what Mom thinks about this,” Lev snapped, gritting his teeth. “I’ll work from this hospital room. When you have the time, drive back to my office and get me my laptop. Everyone will understand once the news gets out.”

“Of course.” Patting him on the back, Nate offered a small smile. “I’ll support you through anything. You know that. I don’t want you to lose yourself because of this. The doctors made it clear that she was going to recover. It might take a while until that happens, but they’re not ruling her out.”

“Why did this shit happen in the first place?”

Lev’s voice trembled. He lowered his head until it rested against Kiera’s hand.

“She and I were supposed to get married. We were planning our wedding.”

“It's still going to happen, Lev. Once she recovers.”

“Yeah,” he huffed, shaking his head. “How long is it going to take? Weeks? Months? Years?”

“I have faith in her. In a few weeks, she’ll be up and ready to take on the world like she always is. Don’t worry.”

“You’re going to have to act as a liaison between myself and the clan,” Lev deadpanned, which stole the smile from Nate’s face. “Kiera’s my number one priority right now, and I’m not leaving her side until she’s discharged, so you’re going to have to step up to the plate, bud.”

Nate wrinkled his nose. “Shit. I’ve never been one to lead.”

“Well, here’s your chance to prove your worth.”

His little brother averted his gaze. Instead, he glanced at the artwork on the walls that depicted a serene scene at the beach and another showing the canopies of an unknown forest. Calming images that contrasted with the brewing maelstroms in their hearts.

In the background, the beeping of the machine snapped Lev out of his thoughts.

“I told Mom already. And Josie. Mom … You know how she is,” Nate said.

“Yes, I do. I would have appreciated it if you hadn’t told her at all, but there’s nothing I can do about that now.”

“That’s not right. Kiera’s going to be her daughter-in-law.”

“Yes, but Mom acts like a raging bitch sometimes.”

The thoughts of his mother soiled his mood even further. She never liked Kiera since she believed that Lev could do so much better than a nurse. What she didn’t realize was that Lev didn’t give a damn about socioeconomic status or about the gossip of the other women in their clan.

For all he cared, they could burn in hell.

“She wants the best for us,” Nate offered. “Most of the time.”

“Yeah, well, what she wants isn’t the best for me. If it were up to her, I’d be engaged to the daughters of one of her close friends.” Lev chuckled dryly, shaking his head as he thought about the useless blind dates his mother used to set him up on before meeting Kiera. “I’d be miserable if I followed her orders.”

“I’ll get your stuff. I’ll let you know when I come back. And Lev?” Nate stopped, one hand on the doorknob. “Take it easy on yourself, okay? We don’t need another member of the family falling into a hospital bed anytime soon.”

“Got it, kid.”

Once his younger brother departed from the hospital room, Lev slumped in his chair. His eyes gazed across Kiera’s still body. She was breathing, albeit weakly, and her skin lacked its usual soft glow.

“Why didn’t I drive you to work yesterday?” Lev whispered as he rubbed circles into Kiera’s skin with his thumb. “Why wasn’t I with you?”

No response. Not even a stir.

Only the beeping of the machine.