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  She let out a sharp growl underneath me, and I froze for a second. It sounded very…wolflike. Rune didn’t seem to know what she’d done as she was still begging and pleading under me. I put her growl as yet another thing we’d need to be discussing after this.

  I licked and sucked at every inch of her stomach, memorizing the curves I’d hopefully get to spend the rest of my life worshipping. Her hips rolled rhythmically under me, and I was finding it harder and harder to hold out. I didn’t know who this was teasing more—me or her. I thrust my hips once, sliding through her slick folds and stroking her clit with the head of my cock.

  “Wilder,” she cried, digging into my back and leaving marks that I wished my supernatural healing would leave.

  “Shhh. Not yet, sweetheart. You don’t want it enough yet.”

  She screamed something unintelligible under me that I swallowed with another kiss to her lips.

  I stroked her clit with my thumb, and she cried out again. Her hips lifted, and her begging only increased as she tried to drop over the edge. I pet her in small circles before finally taking pity on her and giving her the exact pressure she needed to come apart again. Her head thrashed as she came, her body stiffening under me.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful, Rune,” I growled out.

  She gazed at me with wild, frantic eyes, and I had to be in her. Rune consumed me. She was all I could see…all I could feel. I lined up my cock at her entrance and took a deep breath before driving forward in one powerful thrust and seating myself to the hilt.

  She cried out and immediately came again. I gritted my teeth and stiffened, trying to stop myself from falling after her.

  Mate, my wolf and I once again agreed.

  That unease flickered inside of me again, the one that had hated the thought of a mate and felt it akin to a jail sentence. But I pushed it aside and tried to focus on what she felt like at that moment. Like the best fucking thing I’d ever experienced. She was so fucking tight…and so wet. My dick was in heaven…as was the rest of me. Balancing myself on my forearms, I locked every muscle in my body to keep control, fighting the urge to go fast as I slowly reared back and slid in again.

  “You good, baby?” I purred as sweat beaded on my skin from the effort.

  “So good,” she moaned, thrashing her head once again as we both fell under a wave of sensations. She cupped the back of my neck with one hand, skimming her fingers down the side of my face with the other. I thrust again, my stomach tightening with each curl of my body as I clung to the tiny scraps of reason that reminded me I couldn’t lose myself. I couldn’t just bite her.

  I set the pace with deep, hard, slow strokes that sent exquisite pleasure spiraling through my body. Our breaths grew unsteady as sweat slicked our skin. I didn’t know how this was better than the last time, but it somehow was. Every thrust was better. Every time I filled her, it felt insanely hotter.

  I would never get enough of this…of her. Fuck, imagine how good it would be once we had a lot of practice. I grinned at the thought before I pressed another fierce kiss against her lips. I felt her began to grow tight beneath me.

  “That’s it, baby,” I murmured. Her eyes fluttered shut, and I memorized her every feature while I had the chance to look uninterrupted.

  “You’re mine,” I couldn’t help but growl again, my voice like shattered glass.

  She opened her eyes, and I saw something defiant in her gaze, like she’d decided no matter what, I’d never own every part of her.

  That wouldn’t do.

  My self-control snapped, and I drove into her again and again until she came yet again, her body convulsing around mine. She pulled me over that edge with her, pleasure charging down my spine until I exploded, my vision going black only to erupt in a kaleidoscope of colors. I bit into her shoulder mindlessly before getting ahold of myself and quickly releasing her.

  She stiffened beneath me as I horrifyingly watched a few pinpricks of blood fall down her shoulder.

  “What did you just do?” she asked hoarsely, her voice gone from all the screaming I’d made her do over the last hour or so we’d been in here.

  “Just got a little excited,” I quickly said, even as nerves settled into my gut. I hadn’t initiated the mating bond, I knew that. But what I’d done… Fuck.

  “Okayyyy,” she said tiredly. Rune slowly relaxed beneath me, her breath steadying, even as I tried to resist my wolf’s order to bite her again.

  Rune was reducing me to truly nothing but an animal, a reason that I’d always dreaded the mating bond to begin with.

  I rolled to the side, taking her with me as I pulled her against my chest. The room was silent but for our soft breaths and the pounding of both of our hearts. I swallowed, anticipation and dread coursing through me as I prepared to broach the subject of what I thought was happening. Of what I knew was happening.

  She’d want to be mine. I knew she would. What we’d just experienced…it was nothing short of magical. Fated. Written in the stars and all that other bullshit people always said when they were talking about their mates.

  Rune lazily traced nonsensical shapes on my chest. “Why are you so tense?” she whispered softly. “I thought orgasms were supposed to relax you.”

  “I just need to talk to you about something,” I said against her hair as I inhaled its scent like a lovestruck fool.

  She stiffened against me. “Please don’t tell me you’re about to give me a ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ kind of talk. Because that would really suck.”

  I snorted, thinking how off the mark she was.

  “I’m beginning to feel the mating bond,” I finally reluctantly told her.

  She was completely still for what felt like an hour until she scrambled away from me like I was a snake about to strike.

  “You’re starting the mating bond with another girl and you’re here with me?” she growled hoarsely, disgust written all over her pretty features.

  “What? No!” I told her indignantly as I reached for her. This was not how I envisioned this going.

  “Then what are you talking about? What mating bond?”

  “A mating bond with you!” I snapped.

  If anything, the disgust on her face only deepened. Her disgust…and her fear.

  “That’s not possible,” she said as she jumped from the bed frantically and began to throw her clothes on.

  “Rune—” I murmured, getting off the bed and walking toward her beseechingly.

  She held up her hands to stop me, her eyes wild and out of control. “I have a mate,” she told me, the reminder a brutal blow.

  “You told me you didn’t belong to him. You know we belong together. Tell me you feel it,” I said beseechingly, grabbing at my hair as I stood there butt naked.

  “I had a mate, and he rejected me. I don’t get another chance,” she said coldly.

  And admittedly, I hadn’t heard of this happening…but the more time that passed, the more I knew. The mating bond was happening.

  “Rune, baby. Just relax. We’ll figure this all out, but it’s happening. And I’m going to make sure you never regret it.”

  She looked utterly destroyed standing there, a beautiful, heartbreaking figure with her sex blown hair and her red, swollen lips. “I can’t belong to you when I still belong to him,” she said sadly.

  It felt like she’d stabbed me right in the heart as I soaked in the reality of what she was saying.

  “Then I guess I’ll have to make sure I change that,” I finally answered before grabbing my clothes and stalking out of the room.

  I slammed the door behind me and slipped on my clothes before anyone saw, although obviously, nudity was nothing in a place like this filled with shifters.

  I made a vow as I went down the stairs and slipped outside. Rune was going to be mine. No matter what. Even if I had to kill her bastard of a mate to ensure that.

  4

  Rune

  I inhaled sharply as anxiety burned through me.

 
I remained frozen in my bedroom, staring out the window at nothing, yet at the same time, my mind buzzed about everything that had happened lately.

  A mating bond with you.

  Wilder’s words spiraled in my mind.

  I’d already found my mate, he knew this already. He’d been a monster, but he was my soulmate. The moon goddess only gave you one. My wolf had already made her choice to the point that even now when I thought of Alistair, a painfully dark loneliness tore through me. It was a strange thing to miss someone to the point that it felt like I might die from the agony, yet detest him with every fiber of my being.

  The way Wilder had looked at me as he left had me shivering. He was determined to prove me wrong, to push ahead with this crazy idea he’d come up with. What did it say about me that I only ever ended up with crazy people? The reality of that was like a sledgehammer to my chest.

  I closed my eyes and held onto the window frame. Tears squeezed out of the corners of my eyes. Alistair had left me so broken that when a gorgeous man wanted to claim me, I panicked instead of embracing it.

  For a second, I allowed myself to dream of a world where I’d met Wilder first, where he had been my true mate.

  But even that was terrifying to think about with how damaged Alistair had left me.

  If I was being honest with myself, I didn’t know that I could ever be connected so closely to anyone again. I didn’t know that I could ever allow myself to lose my control. I didn’t know that I could ever let myself go enough to give Wilder…or Daxon the connection they seemed to be looking for.

  Of course I realized the hypocrisy of my vagina desperately wanting Wilder’s body, yet the mention of being bonded left me shaken.

  Every time I thought of Wilder, I melted. When he kissed me, I was ready to destroy the world to remain in his arms. But for our souls to be entwined, the very essence of who we were to merge, was a very different matter. One that I wasn’t sure was possible, or if I wanted to go through with again.

  I wiped my cheeks, more confused than ever. Maybe what I needed was fresh air, to get out of the room that felt like it suffocated me.

  As I grabbed fresh clothes from my dresser, my mind still replayed images of Wilder coming into my room and ravaging me. Why couldn’t he be like every other asshole out there and just be interested in great sex? That sounded much safer to me.

  I buttoned up my jeans and pulled on a faded blue blouse with long sleeves. The neckline was so loose, it hung over a shoulder. Luckily, I had recently bought a strapless bra from the local store in town and could pull it off. Taking another quick look at myself in the mirror, I decided I looked relatively normal and as non-threatening as I could make myself in preparation for crossing paths with locals.

  I pushed my white-blonde hair into a ponytail, with a few loose strands framing my face, then I stepped outside my room and headed downstairs. Night had crawled into the hallway, and it seemed especially quiet.

  Downstairs, the inn was empty. Not a soul in sight…well, except for Jim, who owned Lair Inn.

  “Evening, Rune,” he greeted me from behind the bar he was wiping down. “Are you hungry? There’s some of Carrie’s Irish lamb stew left.” His smile warmed me and had always made me feel safe from the first day I stumbled into his establishment.

  My stomach growled on cue, and I laughed at how loud it sounded. “Apparently, I’m very hungry.” Then I glanced to both ends of the bar. Chairs and tables were everywhere, the windows and door shut, but not a soul in sight. “I’m surprised it’s so quiet here,” I said, remembering how packed the inn got only a few nights ago, which also ended in a huge brawl between Daxon and Wilder.

  “Most are at the town hall tonight. Carrie’s down there too.”

  I met Jim’s green eyes, the light overhead brightening his short, silver hair, giving him a soft expression, but there was no denying the shadow behind his gaze.

  “Is there a convention in town?” I teased, but as the words left my mouth, I couldn’t help but wonder if it had everything to do with Eve’s death. Were they talking about me and how to kick me out of town? Were they going to send a mob after me?

  I obviously had a really active imagination.

  My heart lunged into my ribs, the earlier grief and worry colliding through me, and my fingers trembled as they caught the bottom of my shirt nervously.

  Jim’s brow narrowed. “Sit and I’ll bring you some food. It will do you good.”

  The thought of food made me sick suddenly. To know that so many people were together, likely talking about me, felt like a blade twisting in my gut. And why didn’t Wilder tell me about it earlier? I could only assume the meeting was a last-minute decision.

  “Thank you, but I don’t think I could eat a thing right now.” Maybe it was all in my head, a figment of my imagination, but as I lifted my gaze to Jim once more, the worry on his face confirmed my worst fears. “I need to go,” I said and turned away from him hastily, hurrying for the door. No matter what everyone thought, I had a right to defend myself.

  “Rune,” Jim called out behind me, and I looked over my shoulder at him. “I don’t believe you were responsible for Eve’s death. But sometimes, fear and panic make people desperate and jump to conclusions. Be careful out there, as not everyone is thinking straight right now.”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat and gave him a quick nod, unable to find my words. I slipped outside into the cool night that pressed in around me. For several long moments, I stood beneath the main inn lights, trying to catch my breath and calm my racing heart.

  I’d only been in town for a few weeks, but I’d like to think I hadn’t come across as a major psycho. Despite that the locals were quick to believe I was capable of such a brutal attack. I shook my head in frustration.

  Several long breaths, and I turned toward the main road, where the lights were bright and chased away shadows.

  The town hall was located at the end of the main street, and as much as trepidation wormed its way through my gut, I never stopped heading in that direction. I practically ran there, my pulse on fire as anger brewed in my chest. Eve had meant something to me, I’d had no reason to kill her.

  I passed row after row of closed stores, and even the coffee shop and diner were shut, which meant a lot as that place never seemed to close. My strides lengthened the more my mind imagined what I was about to find. A voice in my head was screaming at me that I was giving them the chance they were looking for to come after me.

  I pushed the voice away.

  I wanted the shifters living in this town to understand I wasn’t guilty. I could barely bring myself to harm a bug, and seeing as I couldn’t even change into my wolf, I had yet to experience my primal killing instincts that usually came with a wolf’s first shift.

  Still, Jim’s warning swam in my head about people being irrational when they were upset.

  Up ahead, the town hall rose into view, a dark brick building with a pointy roof the color of midnight covered in a generous topping of green lichen. Long arched windows gave the place an appearance of a long forgotten church, and maybe it had once been a place of worship before the wolves moved into the town of Amarok.

  Bright light blazed from the windows, and I could see the shadows of all the people moving around inside. In the front yard, I froze, dragging my eyes over the front door that remained shut. Doubt crawled over me, telling me I should turn back. Before I could change my mind, I marched up the three stone steps to the grand double doors and placed my hand on the iron handle. I pressed my ear to the door. Voices escalated inside, but no particular one stood out for me to work out who exactly spoke.

  Licking my lips, I pushed down the handle slowly and eased the door ajar before I peered inside. The room was packed. Rows and rows of chairs lined the large assembly room, all facing the front stage, where a tall, blond man I didn’t recognize stood, talking to the crowd quite angrily by the look of his shaking fist in the air. Nearly every chair was taken right to the back of the room,
and I figured even if I tried to stealthy sneak inside now, I’d be spotted instantly.

  I scanned the faces, recognizing Carrie from the inn right away, sitting by the far corner, but from my angle, it was hard to see her expression. Miyu and her boyfriend, Rae, sat toward the back. She had her arms folded across her chest, looking perturbed. Most townsfolk I recognized were scattered among the others I haven’t yet had the chance to meet.

  “We vote on her guilt then,” the man on the stage announced, grabbing my attention.

  My stomach twisted, and my whole body shook. I had a feeling I knew who they were talking about.

  “That’s not going to happen,” a deeply gravelly voice spoke out, and everyone in the room fell silent.

  Wilder stepped into view as he approached the speaker. He stood tall, and fury thinned his lips. He wore faded jeans and a tucked in, buttoned-up dark shirt. Seeing him had my heart fluttering, every part of me craving him…even in the midst of all of this. I’d never been touched and adored and fucked the way he had done to me, and the memory of what he did to me in my bedroom would remain with me forever.

  “I’ve let you all have your say, but now this is ridiculous. We have no evidence Rune killed Eve, yet most of you are ready to hang her for the crime. She said she’d witnessed someone else at the crime scene, so that is the lead we will follow. We will set up hunting teams and go out searching the surrounding woods, along with questioning any local suspects.”

  The murmur of voices escalated quickly, most talking among themselves.

  “This is insane, Wilder. Are you now trying to say one of us killed our very own Eve?” a woman called out from the crowd, her voice shaking with anger.

  Eve’s mother howled with cries from the front row, while the woman next to her embraced her. That was when I realized I hadn’t yet seen Daniel in the crowd.

  Everyone broke into louder chatter, their accusations used as swords aimed at maiming me, some of them getting up, looking ready to challenge Wilder. Instead, they threw more questions and accusations at him. My heart beat faster, and I felt myself fall a little more at the way he was standing up for me. I certainly hadn’t had a lot of that in my life.