Chapter 5
THE THRILL OF THE CHASE
LUKE
Nia’s breathing far too fast and her heart is pounding so goddamn hard I can feel it hammering against my ribcage. She’s terrified but the girl is showing me barely any signs of fear at all. There isn’t even a hint of it in her scent, which is irritatingly as ambiguous as it was yesterday.
Lawson doesn’t like it.
He’s absolutely fucking furious.
He doesn't know why, but he's livid, as much with me as much as with the girl who’s refusing to cower before him.
“She deserved to know, Lawson.”
“You didn’t have to do this. She might have responded to flowers or shit like that. Girls like that kind of crap. It could have made things better for us.”
We’ve had this discussion several times over and it always ends in disagreement.
Lawson wants to lie to Nia, and for all my flaws I simply can’t bring myself to fool the girl into believing she has a chance with me.
It would have softened the blow and made my life easier in the short term, but I refuse to lie to her about this.
It's a truth I won’t hide from her. It’s one less thing I have to remember to conceal.
“The priest might be right, Luke.”
He isn’t. There’s not a chance that the useless, feeble thing standing in front of me is my mate.
She hasn’t caught my attention in that way and I’m not overwhelmed with anything other than contempt for her failings.
I haven't had that indescribable experience that other wolves say happens when they find their mate, and the girl who's trying to ignore me can't be the one who's destined to complete my soul.
She’s pretty but not so devastatingly attractive that I can’t take my eyes off her.
I’ve known and fucked stunning women, and she doesn’t come close to being among them.
I might be interested in some parts of her figure, but that interest will be fleeting, and it's only enough to let me get through what needs to be done with her.
She doesn’t connect with me and she isn’t even making an effort to reach me. Nia finds me repulsive, and my physical appearance has no effect on her whatsoever. It certainly didn’t move her yesterday and my proximity today is putting her on edge in a way that I don’t like.
Even my scent seems to meet with her disapproval. The girl’s nose twitches uncomfortably every time she catches it as if it offends her goddamn nostrils. As if I offend her.
And her wolf is still missing in action.
Lawson’s certain she can’t be his mate because he’s sure she would have rolled over for him.
He hasn’t even been able to get Nia to reveal her wolf, and that means she’s not interested in meeting him.
More than that, it suggests she’s afraid of his strength and prowess, and mates simply don’t behave like that.
If Nia’s wolf was Lawson’s mate, they’d be equals.
They’d respect and protect each other. Instead, there we haven’t even been shown a hint of a suggestion that she has a wolf.
Cole was sure he caught a glimpse of it when he fought her, but the she-wolf has been reluctant as shit to show herself ever since. Even now. Even when she’s threatened with this, the bitch refuses to come out. She should be snapping and snarling, raging against the horror of what I’m suggesting.
“Her wolf should have reacted by now.”
It’s frankly disappointing that she didn’t even attempt to transform.
If Nia has her wolf under control, then it’s a level of restraint that is unheard of. More likely, the damn thing is fucking with me, or her, or both of us. It’s even possible that she’s abandoned Nia to her fate, giving up on the pitiful and tragic girl to save herself some misery.
“Try provoking her again, then.” Lawson isn’t impressed.
I don’t like one thing about this, but Lawson’s right. I need to know what her goddamn wolf is like and what the damn thing is capable of doing. She’s a contradiction, sometimes wild and willful but usually far too placid to be a threat.
To me or the pack.
But I won’t make the same mistake my father made. Even if that means doing something vile. The girl is the definition of a pain in my ass. Her silence makes this hard, and she’s either stupid as fuck or far too fucking brave to make this easy for me.
“Did you make your choice?” I ask.
Nia doesn’t flinch. I almost admire her courage, and then decide it’s much more likely that she’s frozen stiff in fear.
“I’m not unsympathetic, Nia.” My hand moves lower and she tenses.
“You’re not unattractive and I can make this reasonably pleasant for you.
I’m skilled enough to let you enjoy it, provided you behave for me.
” My hand slides over her ass and she jumps.
“That’s not behaving, little girl. Now, be good for me and this won’t be unpleasant. ”
Her wolf should be incandescent and uncontainable.
“I don’t want this, Luke.”
She finally turns around and the fire in her eyes is dazzling. Their aquamarine sparkles with defiance and rage as her eyebrow arches, daring me to make the next moves. Her muscles tense, bracing for violence and she’s ready to experience pain as I lash out.
Nia’s used to physical pain.
More than that, she’s conditioned to it.
She’s so used to the anger of men that she doesn’t even expect anything else.
She isn’t prepared to believe that anything else is possible.
To her, this is the way the world works and my aggression is just part of the course, a predictable consequence of how things have turned out.
Violence isn’t the right lever to pull, and I’m going to have to resort to other tactics to get what I want. I also didn’t know just how accustomed the girl is to the threat of violence, and perhaps that explains some of her responses.
It almost makes me pity her.
Almost, but not quite.
I’m a callous bastard and my wolf’s the same.
Lawson is as infuriated by her as I am and every second I spend with her only enrages him more. He’s maddened by her wolf’s refusal to show herself and he’s exasperated, ready to show himself in a final attempt to force her wolf to surface.
“You don’t want the alternative, Nia.”
My head drops and she lifts hers to meet mine, and the anger in her eyes burns even hotter. She’s giving me not one inch of ground and her defiance is unexpected. It’s as striking as her eyes. It’s enough to make me think twice and even Lawson is riled, suddenly wary.
Nia’s lips part and their pink flushes a deeper shade.
The little girl who’s barely half my size stares up at me as if I’m pathetic, daring me to do the thing she’s praying I don’t have it in me to do.
She’s a complete mess, too damn breathless for me to even contemplate kissing and yet the only thing running through my mind is what those annoyingly pouty lips would feel like beneath mine.
“Fucking kiss her.”
She’s completely beaten me and whatever happens from here on out means I’ve lost. If I walk away, Nia’s proved she can call my bluff and if I take this further then she’s proved I’m the monster she’s right to despise.
Every split second only makes this worse and my indecision is a goddamn weakness I can’t afford. Not when around my pack. Not around Lawson. Not around her.
My hands drop to her ass and I grab her, lifting her as I slam her into the glass.
She gasps as I crash my mouth onto hers, devouring every fucking millimeter of them as if I’ve been starved for weeks.
They’re soft and more velvety than I’d imagined and the girl shrieks, pounding her hands against my chest as I force my tongue into her mouth.
She moans again and her tongue fights mine as her chest presses against me.
I move my weight forward and she arches her back. Nia’s still fighting me and it’s a battle that she’s going to lose. She’s already beginning to give in as her movements soften and her struggle becomes less frantic.
The girl moans and my tongue plays with hers, finally able to lead now she’s stopped being a brat.
She’s confused and uncertain, but her movements mirror mine and her hands stop pommeling me and start doing something else.
It isn’t kneading, and it isn’t entirely pleasant.
It’s as erratic and tentative as she is, but it isn’t resistance and it’s a sign she’s accepting her role.
It’s good enough for now, and we will work on doing things the way I like them later.
My cock’s rock hard and her protests have done nothing to dampen down my excitement. If anything, I’m more aroused, more determined to prove to her how glorious I am. I’ll have her begging for my cock before she’s got the goddamn sense to realize what’s happening and then Nia will be mine.
I’ll do exactly what I want, when I want. How I fucking want. I’ll make the girl so fucking submissive that the sound of my footsteps makes her start dripping for my cock. She’ll beg and crawl and do whatever I ask her to and she’ll be happy being my goddamn fuck toy.
I’ll keep her filled with my come and breed her regularly.
Fuck, the thought alone makes me want to flood her cunt with my come. She’ll give me the pups I want and the pleasure I crave, and I don’t give a shit whether she’ll enjoy this as much as I will.
I press her into the glass, holding her hips in place with mine. She moans softly and there’s not a chance it’s anything other than a sound of pleasure. My cock has caught her clit and she bucks, grinding into me as if she wants more.
The girl moans into my mouth and my tongue claims it as mine. Nia’s confused but aroused and I’m not going to waste the opportunity. Not when she’s making it this easy to take exactly what I want.
Her back arches as I slide a hand up her body and pull her long blond hair, breaking our kiss and turning her head away from me.
My mouth drops onto her neck and I bite and suck as she writhes under me.
Nia’s enjoying this and the sounds she’s making grow more intense, more urgent.
Her hips work harder too and the girl who claimed she didn’t want this slides her hands over me and through my hair, encouraging me.
“Claim her.”
I almost freeze as Lawson growls a demand for something completely unexpected. My mouth moves over Nia’s neck and she whimpers, arching herself into me as if she wants this too.
“Mark her, Luke.”
“She’s not our mate, Lawson.”
My wolf laughs and I despise him for it. He’s vicious and enjoying the thrill of the chase as he hunts his prey.
“She’s fun to play with. She’ll give us strong pups. Mark her.” He roars as he roams the corridors of my mind, demanding to be unleashed. “Mark her or I will, Luke.”
Lawson’s right, if the priest is right. She’s mine and only a weak and foolish Alpha would risk someone else claiming her, leaving her unmarked and vulnerable. Nia might give them the heirs they want instead and a possessive, feral need to claim her cunt and fill her with my babies takes hold.
My teeth scrape along her sensitive skin and Nia gasps, throwing her head back and offering her neck to me.
The girl’s got to know what she’s doing and she might as well be begging me to mark her.
My cock hardens and the thought of sinking my teeth into her and as I make her mine has me aroused in a way I’ve never felt before and I almost lose myself in the madness sweeping over me.
Almost, but not quite.
An irritating and insistent emotion refuses to be quiet.
It won’t let me be and it refuses to stay silent.
It’s a pang that sounds louder than a cathedral bell and it’s never going to stop ringing.
Not until I heed its call. It’s an inconvenience I don’t like and don’t need, but it’s present and it’s pointless trying to pretend otherwise.
Because something in me feels the need to protect Nia from Lawson.
It’s the strangest, most inconsistent, and awkward emotion but I cannot shake it and I can’t ignore it. My cock begs me to keep going so it can sink into her cunt and I can’t.
I can’t.
Even though I want to.
I tear myself away and Lawson howls as I growl.
Nia’s barely standing, flushed and pouting as she rests against the giant window behind her.
Her lips are swollen, her chest is heaving and her tits are so pert that her hardened nipples stand out through her top, drawing my attention.
Her legs shake and she doesn’t know what to do, or what to feel, and she isn’t the only one.
Lawson claws at me and it takes almost every ounce of my control to keep him in check. He’s screaming at me that this is a mistake, despite his insistence a few moments ago that she was unworthy. He’s running wild and isn’t calming, growing more agitated with every second.
Nia stares at me, confused and wounded. She’s lost and looking to me to save her, and I can’t give her the reassurance she needs. Not in the way she needs it. Not if I want to keep her safe.
“Think about it, Nia.”
I step back and she presses into the glass, her fingers whitening as she forces herself to stay standing.
“I’ll give you a day to decide which one you want.”
My feet move back as my wolf demands I surge forward.
I retreat to the door, watching Nia as she tracks my movements.
She’ll probably hate me even more for what I’ve just done than for all the insults and injuries I’ve leveled at her before.
She’ll feel scorned and if she has it in her, her fury will be worse than any hell itself could level at me.
I slam the door shut and rest my hand against it, frantically trying to steady myself. Lawson knows it’s over and he’s sulked off in a goddamn tantrum, and we’ll be having some long and hard chats later about what the fuck we’re going to do next.
Nia’s gotten under my skin and I’ve got no clue how to get her out. I could claw and scratch until I bleed, but something tells me I won’t be able to delouse myself. Not now she’s in my blood and she’s in my veins, and if I’m not careful her poison will make its way to my heart and stop it dead.