Elena POV:
Stupid, stupid wolf and her stupid, wolfish mate claim.
I wanted to scream. Zena’s uncontrollable emotions over her mate had gotten the best of , forcing to expose myself when I should’ve stayed hidden. My carefully laid plans to escape were now dangling by a thread, but even that wasn’t the current issue.
No, my real problem right now?
An alpha mate—who was very much on heat—had cornered , his towering form radiating power and raw, unfiltered desire.
My back was pressed against the bannister, nowhere else to go, and Kane was standing a breath away, his black, lust-fueled eyes pinning in place. He was practically vibrating with tension, the veins in his arms straining, his fists clenched at his sides like he was fighting every instinct to reach out and touch .
Zena was no help. None at all. She was practically prancing in my head, her smug little chant of mate, mate, mate echoing with no sign of stopping. I hate you, I snapped at her, but she just growled in satisfaction.
"I’m not going to hurt you, Elena," Kane rasped, his voice gravelly, thick with emotion. The way he said my na sent shivers down my spine, and I hated myself for the way my body reacted to it, for the way my knees wobbled just a bit.
Get it together, I scolded myself.
"Really? Because you don’t look like soone who’s not about to hurt ," I said, trying to sound defiant, though my voice betrayed my nerves.
His lips curved into a dark, humorless smirk. "Hurt you? No. Never."
He took a step closer, and I flinched despite myself. That seed to make him pause, a flicker of sothing—guilt? restraint?—crossing his features. But it was gone in a blink, replaced by the intense hunger that poured off him in waves.
"But," he added, his voice dropping lower, rougher, "I can’t promise I won’t make you mine."
That was it. The last straw.
"Goddess," I hissed, trying to force myself to sound braver than I felt, "you’re insufferable."
"I’m yours," he growled, his tone unapologetic, "so maybe you should get used to it."
My cheeks flushed, a combination of frustration, embarrassnt, and sothing far too dangerous to acknowledge.
"Back off," I snapped, even though my voice trembled. "You’re not thinking straight. Whatever she drugged you with—"
"Do you think that’s why I want you right now?" he interrupted, his voice dangerously soft, sending a thrill of both fear and sothing else skittering down my spine. "The drugs, Elena?"
My mouth opened, then closed, at a loss for words.
"It’s you," he said, taking another step forward. I had nowhere to go, the bannister digging into my back. "It’s always been you."
I swallowed hard, glaring up at him despite the way my heart was racing. "You don’t even know , Kane."
"I know enough," he said without hesitation. "I know you’re mine."
"Stop saying that!" I snapped, my frustration outweighing my fear for a mont.
"You can’t fight this, Elena," he said, his voice dropping so low it was almost a growl. His hand lifted, slowly, cautiously, like he didn’t want to scare , but the sheer intensity in his eyes was doing a damn good job of that anyway.
My breath hitched as his fingers brushed a strand of my hair, tucking it behind my ear. His touch was warm, almost gentle, but it sent a shiver through all the sa.
"I’m not running away because I’m scared of you," I said, my voice shaky but firm. "I’m running because I’m not yours. I don’t belong to you, Kane."
His jaw tightened, and for a mont, I thought I’d gotten through to him. But then his lips curled into a dark smile, one that sent a chill racing through .
"You can say that all you want," he murmured, his breath ghosting over my skin, "but your scent, your wolf, your soul—they all say otherwise." His voice was darker primal. Shit I’ve been talking to his wolf all this while. Hell....his wolf on heat not going to end well.
And just like that, I knew I was royally screwed.
And for a brief mont, his eyes cleared of the haze. The Kane I knew—well, the arrogant, self-absorbed one—surfaced, replacing the dangerous, primal predator from monts ago.
"Fuck, Elena," he rasped, his voice strained and almost... pleading? "You need to get away from . As fast as possible."
My breath caught in my throat as he continued, his fists clenched like he was barely holding himself together. "My wolf... he wants to mark you. The drug—it’s taken a toll on him."
For a second, I just stood there, stunned, unsure if I’d heard him right. Then, to my complete surprise, he shifted slightly, brushing aside just enough to create a narrow path for to slip past him.
I didn’t need to be told twice. I ducked under his arm, every muscle in my body coiled, ready to sprint the mont I got a chance. My heart was pounding so hard I could barely hear anything over the rush of blood in my ears.
But just as I thought I was in the clear—just as I slipped past him—a low, dangerous growl rumbled through the air.
"Mate," Kane growled, the word so guttural it sent a shiver down my spine.
"Mine."
I froze for half a second, glancing over my shoulder.
And there he was. His eyes were pitch black again, swirling with a feral, uncontrollable hunger. The Kane who had warned to run? Gone.
Instead, the predator—the one who claid , hunted , and wanted —was back.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Before I could even process it, my legs moved on instinct, bolting up the stairs like my life depended on it. Because maybe it did.
"Tsk tsk, little mate," his voice called after , low and dripping with amusent. It was laced with a desire so potent that it rolled off him in waves, crashing into like a tsunami.
The aura he exuded... Goddess, it was overwhelming. If there were any female wolves around, they’d already be on their knees, begging to please their Alpha. Hell, even I struggled to hold my footing, and I was supposed to hate him—or at least, I kept telling myself I did.
"What the hell was in that drug?" I whispered to myself, my hands gripping the banister as I bolted up the stairs.
It wasn’t just him who was losing control. Zena was practically clawing at my mind, screaming at to turn around, to go to our mate.
"Go back to him! Let him love us, claim us, mark us!" she howled, her voice filled with desperate longing.
She was relentless. Every instinct she had scread that Kane was ours, and we needed to submit to him, to let him do whatever he wanted to us. My skin felt like it was on fire, heated by his aura and Zena’s incessant chanting.
But no, no way in hell. I was the only sane one left here. I couldn’t give in, not like this.
"Zena, shut up!" I snapped internally, pushing her back as hard as I could. It wasn’t easy; she was strong, and her emotions were tied to his. Every growl, every wave of desire he sent out only made her stronger.
I took a sharp turn at the top of the stairs, my breath coming in quick, panicked gasps. I needed to hide, needed to get away before Zena won—or worse, before Kane caught up with . Because if he did...
If he did, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stop him.
Or myself.
The big bad wolf had co to play, and oh, did he want to play.
I reached the door of one of the guest bedrooms, my hand fumbling for the handle, but I wasn’t quick enough. Kane’s hand shot out, grabbing my arm.
The mate tingles I’d always heard about—the ones everyone always made such a big deal over? Yeah, they were nothing compared to the surge that rippled through from his current touch. It was like an electric shock, but instead of pain, it was pure, molten heat.
His touch wasn’t just on my arm; it was as if his heat poured into , spreading from that single point of contact and shooting straight to my core. My knees almost gave out under the force of it, and to make matters worse, Zena, my horny traitor of a wolf, was there to fan the flas.
"Imagine if his hand was sowhere else..." she purred suggestively.
Oh, Goddess, could soone exchange wolves? Because Zena was about two seconds away from handing over to Kane on a silver platter.
"Chicks before dicks, Zena!" I snapped at her, grasping for so form of sanity.
Her reply? A smug, "Sorry, hon, mate dick is calling ."
Seriously? This was my wolf? How did I end up with her?
But the worst part? I could feel the lust coursing through her, amplified by the bond and Kane’s drug-induced alpha aura. And if she was this insane now, I couldn’t help but dread the day I went into heat.
Because if this was what it felt like with just him being drugged, I wasn’t sure I’d survive the real thing.
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