It doesn’t matter. She’s ours.
The calm certainty in Fenris’s voice is far too comforting, making me almost feel like he’s right. Like he’s brainwashing me with his determination.
“This obsession of yours is going too far.”
Is it?
“Yes.”
Then will you return her to the wolf who’s laid his claim all over her?
My fingers dig deeper into her thigh. It’s impossible to ignore the alien scent coating her body. She’s saturated in it. There’s a level of intimacy there… Red bleeds into my vision.
“Fuck.”
My tattoos burn as Fenris’s emotions crash against mine, amplifying the possessive fury until my hands shake.
“This isn’t-“
My jaw clenches as another wave of the other wolf’s scent hits me.
“We’re only here to investigate.”
Keep telling yourself that. Your grip says otherwise.
I force my fingers to loosen, but they tighten again of their own accord when she shifts against me. The soft curves of her body press closer, and my blood burns hotter.
“It’s your fault. You’re pushing these feelings through our bond.”
Am I? Then why does your skin crawl every time you catch his scent on her?
“Shut up.”
Why does your hand keep sliding higher up her thigh?
“I said, shut up.”
But he’s right. My palm has crept up, fingers spread possessively across her flesh, my fingers just inches from a warm and welcoming heat. I jerk my hand back down, cursing when she almost slides off my shoulder.
Face it. You feel it too.
“What I feel is irritation at being stuck with your new toy.”
She’s not a toy.
I scoff.
“Then what is she?”
You know what she is. You’ve known since you first caught her scent.
Denial courses through me, and I growl,
“Don’t even think it.”
Why not? Because she’s human? Or because you’re afraid?
My fingers flex against her thigh again.
“She’s human. It’s impossible.”
Then explain why every inch of you rebels against another wolf’s claim on her.
I can’t. I can’t explain why my skin feels too tight, why my blood burns, why I want to hunt down whoever touched her and tear out his throat. I can’t explain why her scent calls to me even as it repulses me, why my hands keep wandering, why everything in me screams mine.
She’s just a human.
My head throbs with each pulse of my heart and my stomach churns. A sharp ache shoots through my shoulders as consciousness creeps back. My wrists burn, bound tight behind my back, whatever’s holding me captive bites into my wrists. There’s a gag binding my mouth, and it takes everything in me not to panic and try to shove it out with my tongue, I can breathe, but it feels like I can’t.
Aside from some chirping from birds, there’s no other sound to be heard.
I open my eyes to look around.
Still in the forest-somewhere. Dawn’s covered the area in a soft haze, the grass misted over. I should be cold, but something warm is covering me.
A quick glance tells me it’s a giant black tail.
Heat radiates against my back, and the hint of ethereal light tells me exactly who the massive tail belongs to. Each breath he takes lifts my body slightly where I’m pressed against his side.
My furry captor sleeps curled around me like some kind of protective barrier. The irony would be funny if I wasn’t tied up.
Damn it. I thought he was my friend, and he betrayed me. This is why you don’t go around picking up strays.
The events of last night crash back in a flood, the serial killer/Lycan King/weird stranger with tattoos isn’t around, but he’s clearly not worried about me getting away.
Arms bound behind my back, gag in mouth, and giant wolf on guard, even if he’s asleep. Check, check, and check. There’s no escape in my future, but I test the ropes anyway, unsurprised when they don’t budge. The more I struggle, the tighter they become, cutting off circulation to my fingers.
The wolf’s twitches, and a soft whine escapes his throat. Whatever he’s dreaming about has his massive paws twitching against the ground.
My shoulders scream as I try to sit up, stiff and aching from my position on the ground. The movement pulls at muscles I didn’t know existed. The gag muffles my groan of pain.
?? Casual Date is just a click away!
The wolf’s tail tightens around my waist like a furry seat belt.
“Mmmph!”
The shocked sound I make is embarrassing, but the gag at least muffles it into something unrecognizable.
His ear flicks. One gray eye cracks open, fixing on my face.
I narrow my eyes at him, trying to radiate all my disapproval and betrayal in his direction.
The wolf lifts his head and yawns, displaying rows of teeth that could snap my bones like twigs. His tongue lolls out, and he has the audacity to look pleased with himself.
His tail wags once, thumping against my hip. He stretches, pressing closer against my back. His nose nudges my cheek, and his breath fans hot across my face.
Dew has soaked through my jeans where I lie on the ground, my fingers have gone numb from the ropes, and this oversized furball acts like we’re on some kind of camping trip.
The gag makes it impossible to tell him exactly what I think about this situation. About him. About everything. It’s going through my head with a lot of curse words, though. If I’m going to die anyway, I may as well tell him exactly what I think of his disloyalty.
The wolf stands, shaking out his coat. Sparks of light dance through his fur like fireflies. He circles me once, twice, sniffing at the ropes, and I’ll die before I admit the disappearance of his warmth sucks.
“Just untie me,”
I say through the gag, though it comes out as unintelligible mumbling.
He sits back on his haunches and cocks his head to one side. Those storm cloud eyes study me with far too much intelligence.
“Please?”
I try to make my eyes wide and innocent. It works in movies, though not usually on wolves.
His tail sweeps across the ground. Amusement radiates from every line of his massive body. I don’t know how, because nothing changes, but I can feel it in my bones. He’s laughing on the inside.
A branch snaps in the distance. The wolf’s head whips toward the sound, ears forward. A low growl rumbles from his chest.
My heart kicks into overdrive. Fight or flight instinct screams at me to run, but I can barely wiggle my toes, let alone stand.
The wolf’s fur bristles along his spine. The glow intensifies until it hurts to look at him directly. He positions himself between me and whatever approaches, muscles coiled tight beneath his shimmering coat.
“Oh, fuck off, Fenris. I’m not going to eat her.”
The voice makes every muscle in my body seize as the wolf growls in a grumbling sort of way before settling onto the ground, like a dog who’s been told to lay down.
The stranger steps into view, and my heart stops to see those dark tattoos on his neck. His gray eyes are disturbingly similar to the wolf’s-Fenris, this man calls him-so I assume they’re… brothers, or something?
“You survived the night,”
he says, as if he’s displeased.
My throat closes behind the gag. Fenris huffs and settles his massive head on his paws, but doesn’t look my way even once.
Disloyal as a damn dog, once anyone shows up with a milk bone. I knew it.
The stranger’s boots crush and destroy fallen leaves as he approaches, the sound far more intimidating than it would be under any other circumstance. My skin prickles as he crouches in front of me with a long sigh.
His fingers grip my chin, rough and calloused, sending goosebumps down my spine. He jerks my face to one side, then the other. The inspection makes me feel a bit like a budget cow at auction, and his touch burns against my skin.
At least I’m not thinking about him shirtless anymore.
Though, now that I think of it-
No. What the hell is wrong with my brain? He must have some insane power to take over a woman’s thoughts and throw them straight into the gutter. He’s my kidnapper, and kidnapping is literally zero percent sexy.
“Interesting.”
His thumb brushes my cheek, and I flinch.
“A human girl who reeks of shifter.”
His lip curls.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.