Chapter 3
Revyn
Pain snaps across my jaw, and I’m left grinning like an idiot as Sienna follows up her first punch with a mean left hook.
I taught her that.
My heart sings as she breaks into my personal space, crossing the distance she’s put between us with her body, if not her heart.
I know I fucked up our relationship. It’ll take time for her to forgive me—for her to understand why I kept so much of the truth a secret—but shouldn’t loving every fucking inch of her be enough?
Shouldn’t claiming her as my mate mean everything?
The scars on her neck are as smooth as the one on my thigh, both of us having healed during our time apart. Pride blossoms in my chest until she catches me staring. A flicker of pain in her eyes, so sharp that it takes her breath away, makes me ache in ways I deserve for hurting her.
Not only did I keep her identity as a hybrid a secret from her, but I also attempted to mate with her the second she tried to leave me . . . and failed miserably. The mating bond didn’t stick, and we both walked away with fresh scars.
Either the bond didn’t take because she doesn’t want me, or the state of the world’s magic is more fucked than I realized.
I reach for her hand. There’s so much I need to tell her. About me, about us, about everything. “Sienna—”
She pulls away and clenches her fists, the tips of her nails puncturing her palms. “No.” Shaking her head, she denies me the chance to speak. “You don’t get to lie to me again.”
I open my mouth and she growls, every bit as wild as I am, no matter how much she denies it. Her eyes glow brighter as she strikes again, hitting my chest with three successive jabs.
If she needs to beat me up to get rid of all that anger, so be it. I’ll be her punching bag for the rest of our lives.
A challenging one.
“Use your claws, gorgeous.” I flex my fingers, and my nails sharpen to deadly points, with my teeth following immediately after.
Partial shifts aren’t as effective in combat, but tussling with Sienna in wolf form is a surefire way for me to lose what little restraint I have after so many moons apart.
I want her more than life itself. I want to proudly show off her mating marks on my skin and preen like a goddamn cat strutting before a crowd.
I need everyone in the realm to understand that she is mine and I am hers.
Even if I can’t officially mate with her—if the magic binding us together as mates fails—she will always be mine.
She is mine. We’ve been together for ten years; surely she won’t throw that away once she understands that everything I did was for her happiness.
She may not believe that we’re mates without a completed bond, but she’s the closest thing I’ve ever had and the only one I’ve ever wanted.
I feel freer with her than I ever have in a lifetime spent wandering the wilds.
Holding back a whimper, she fights her own transformation.
Her body quivers as her eyes turn, their pupils narrowing to perfect diamonds.
Her fingers snap and lengthen, strengthening her bones and extending her nails.
That’s all she’ll allow ever since she learned that she’s not just a wolf, but a hybrid, and it breaks my fucking heart.
If she’d never found out, she wouldn’t be in pain like this.
Everything is my fault.
The truth stings like a thousand poison barbs embedding into my skin.
I roll my shoulders back to dislodge them, but the acid remains, burrowing into my body and making my skin tight.
The pulse of a shift lingers just beneath the surface, the itch to transform like a drug.
But if I do that—if I shift this close to her—she’ll never forgive me if it drags her body into one, too.
I saw how much she struggled when I first leapt into the meadow as a wolf. It was a calculated risk to fend off a predator, but if I do it again, she won’t forgive me . . .
She’ll never forgive me at this rate.
Anguish churns in my gut, but I hide it with a practiced smile. “Atta girl. Doesn’t that feel better?”
Sienna huffs, scowling like she’s eaten something disgusting. “Don’t talk to me.” She watches closely, her eyes flicking from one body part to the next. Being naked is a distraction, especially with her heightened senses, and I intend to use it to my full advantage.
I flex my thighs and her eyes dip, sliding across my skin until her gaze catches on my cock.
She swallows, the curve of her neck turning rosy, and I preen like a goddamn cat, flexing my lower abdominal muscles to make my dick jump.
Her nostrils flare and her gaze snaps up to mine, the fire burning within making me hot all over.
I don’t even try to hide the way my body reacts as my pulse jumps and my temperature spikes, blood flowing between my thighs as my dick swells to an even bigger size.
Fuck, she’s going to kill me with those eyes alone.
“Revyn,” she snaps, baring her teeth. “You fucking dick!” Then she charges, slamming into me with enough force to topple lesser shifters—but not me.
I let myself fall and greedily take her with me, wrapping my arms around her waist and hauling her against my chest. The scent of her skin, her hair, the—what is that putrid stench?
My nose crinkles as I fight to keep from gagging.
She takes advantage and rakes her claws down my sides, drawing the barest bit of blood. “If I kill you,” she huffs, “they’ll let me in.” The tips bite into my flesh. A threat. A warning.
Indecision.
“You won’t kill me.”
She avoids my gaze.
I drag the back of my knuckles up her spine, annoyed at the clothing between us. Using the tip of my claws, I slice through the fabric and greedily palm each vertebra on my way up to her shoulders. “Sienna—”
“Shut up!” Her claws sink deeper, the flare of pain as hot as my blood. Neither of us moves, but I can feel the tick of her heartbeat against my chest, its rhythm erratic. She doesn’t want to kill me, but she might. The temptation is there, urging her to consider it as a viable option.
I hardly think a few little—medium-sized—lies between us is enough to warrant death.
The longer we lie on the ground, the deeper I sink into the mud.
The stench of it wafts around us, and if it weren’t for the hint of Sienna’s scent mixing in the air, I’d hold my breath.
But scenting her sparks more than arousal in my heart—and I won’t be denied what’s mine.
Taking her hand, I pluck her claws from my side and reposition her entry point.
She knows how to pierce my heart, and yet she doesn’t aim for it.
While she contemplates her desire, I grab her hips and reposition her weight, causing her knees to sink around my waist and pinning my cock between her perfect thighs.
I roll my hips and ignore the tidal wave of need burning through my veins so that I can taste hers.
Eyes flared, lips parted, shivers coursing down her spine—
I lick my lips and scent her arousal through her clothes. Fucking delicious.
The tips of her claws burrow into my skin, setting my body alight with a heady mix of pain and pleasure.
I could die like this and happily wait for her in the afterlife .
. . except for one very important detail.
Leaving her now means that she’ll continue to be hunted—and I won’t let those bastards touch what’s mine.
Rolling our bodies, I flip our position until I have her pinned in the mud.
Ebony strands whip across her face as mud clings to her skin, sticky wet globs of it rolling off my back and sliding down my thighs.
Her chest heaves with every breath she takes, the torn blouse across her shoulders slipping to expose the dip of her collarbone.
Skin-tight leather hugs her thighs, slotting around mine from muscle-memory or want or—fuck, I don’t care so long as she doesn’t stop.
Longing stirs inside my chest. I’ve missed more than her body. I’ve missed her.
She snarls at me as I pin her wrists over her head.
I drop my chest onto hers and breathe into the delicate curve of her neck, forcing her head aside when she tries to deny me access.
Tasting her pulse point, I groan as it jumps beneath my tongue.
The scrape of my teeth is anything but delicate, and the iron of her blood is nearly as intoxicating as the honey of her cunt.
I’ve imagined sinking my teeth into this very spot a thousand times. After years of restraint, of making love to this woman over and over again, of giving her every single beat of my heart, finally sinking my teeth into her flesh was the most intoxicating rush.
Mine.
She was mine and everything was right in the world—until it all collapsed in a pool of blood and petrifying disappointment. I drag in a breath and cup her jaw, carefully avoiding nicking her with my claws. Her name is a scratch in my throat, rumbling through my chest and wrapping around my heart.
Sienna.
How much I’ve fucking needed you in my life.
I haven’t even begun touching her in all the ways I’ve dreamed since we’ve been apart, and precum seeps from my cock, dirtying her thigh as I grind into the warmth of her flesh.
A huff of air passes my lips as she trembles, sinking those claws deeper and knocking them against my ribs.
I clench my jaw against the throbbing pain, but adrenaline is one hell of a drug, because that doesn’t matter nearly as much as having Sienna beneath me.
I drag my lips down the column of her throat and groan.
I’d rut her into the fucking dirt if she wouldn’t hate me for it.
Make her come all over my cock as I burst inside of her tight hole, proving just how much she craves me—the same way I crave her.
Two twisted souls fighting for every breath in our lungs, every ounce of life we squeeze from the other. Wolves are stronger together, and I won’t survive without her. Not anymore. Not since I’ve tasted her sweet nectar—the only thing in the wilds worth devouring whole.
Our eyes meet, and I see the shadows within hers. Feel the scratch of her claws over my bones. Taste the conflict on her breath.
“You don’t need a pack,” I remind her, using the same logic I always have. The other half remains unspoken, but we both know how it goes. I’ve said it often enough that she’s perfected my intonation, too, when she opens her pretty mouth to mock me.
She doesn’t need a pack . . . because she has me.
The only other packless wolf she’s ever known, and if I have my way, the only one she will ever meet.
A growl rumbles in the distance, and I sigh into Sienna’s neck.
The hair on the back of my neck rises, and I feel the threat before I see it.
Not the vampire—although I’m pretty sure he’s lingering in the shadows nearby—but another wolf.
An alpha, or alpha-to-be if the power surging off him is anything to go by.
His gaze prickles like needles, and I angle my body so that he can’t see Sienna the way I can.
Face flushed, heart pounding, her body torn between arousal and aggression.
Pinning her with my eyes, I drag my body off hers and lift onto my knees, dislodging her claws so that I can start the healing process. “Stay here.”
No, that won’t work if the vampire is waiting to strike. Fuck.
“Stay behind me,” I amend, pushing onto my feet and tearing my gaze from hers. “Don’t let anyone touch you.”
She scoffs and sits up, turning in the direction of our uninvited guest. “Don’t tell me what to—” Her breath catches suddenly, and my nostrils flare as the alpha’s eyes flash gold.
He’s caught sight of her, but hopefully the mud keeps her scent at bay.
Sienna and I both smell like wild wolves, but if he’s as brainwashed as the other alphas, he’ll think that I’m the wild wolf attacking a defenseless shifter female bound to someone else’s pack—a no no within pack law.
As if I give a damn about laws that don’t govern me.
Malice radiates off him in waves. Even from across the vast expanse of lake between us, I can see the tension in his shoulders and the bulging vein in his neck, telltale signs that he’s avoiding a shift.
Copper locks cling to his forehead, damn near shining in the false sunlight, and I know exactly which pack he’s from without having to scent him.
He looks exactly like his overbearing asshole of a father.
“Change of plans,” I tell Sienna, licking a stripe across my canines.
I don’t want her anywhere near him, but if she wants to get into this academy, we still need to pick a fight with someone big enough to earn us both entry.
Beating an alpha in training will push us to the top of the leaderboards without question. “You see that shifter?”
I glance at Sienna to ensure she’s watching, and my heart stops.
Her eyes glow the exact same shade of gold as his.
Liquid fire pulses through my veins, and a growl tears past my lips. I’m not only going to beat him in a fight—I’m going to rip him apart until Daddy Alpha can’t recognize his own fucking son.
No one is taking Sienna from me.
Not even her true fucking mate.