Chapter 9 Rhys
RHYS
Iwas losing my damn mind.
Her breaths came fast beneath me, the sound filling the small space between us. Her chest rose and fell against mine, her breasts pushing against me as every exhale brushed warm against my throat.
Her hair spread around her in wild, sandy tangles with brown streaks through it, catching the glow of dawn. It framed her face like a crown, and the sight of her so unguarded made my stomach lurch.
My fingers twitched, aching to touch her face, her hair, to bury themselves in the silk of it. I didn’t move. Couldn’t. Because if I did, I wasn’t going to stop.
We stayed like that for longer than was sane. My arms trembled, elbows locked on either side of her head, but every part of me was pressing into her just as every part of her was pressed into me.
I closed my eyes for half a second, trying to return to the real world, but all I got was her. Her scent was everywhere, sliding over my skin, drowning me.
I’d been in the middle of a meeting, for Goddess’s sake.
A meeting before sunrise with the inner circle, in a stuffy room with Logan and the others, going over plans to handle everything going on with Eve and the curse, trying to piece together the mess and the plan and the next steps.
This curse was hitting our very ability to procreate, to continue our lineage, and we had to find an answer.
Fast. My contribution was going to be that I would find Sable and bring her in for questioning. I didn’t even get the chance to say it.
I’d been listening to Kenza grill Raina about tracking ancient bloodlines, then Logan recounting our family’s history, and then suddenly, her. The scent of summer rain and honey hit me and annihilated any other thought. Everything faded—Logan’s voice, Kenza’s questions, the curse, the pack.
I didn’t think. I ran. Then I shifted and ran harder.
It wasn’t just instinct—it was need. I had a focus I’d never felt before, sharper than any hunter’s, stronger than any command.
My wolf tore through the forest. The man in me tried to tell me this was an opportunity to get more information, but I was being driven by something that went way deeper than thought.
Sure, I could convince myself I was running after her because Sable had information that would help us unravel the noose around our pack. The truth was, I couldn’t have stayed away if I’d wanted to.
I’d had no choice but to find her.
And now here she was, pinned beneath me, skin hot against mine, her eyes wide and wild. I was on top, but the strength in her body pushed against me, lifting me slightly with each breath she took. She was as strong as most males I knew.
That only made my wolf want her more. Her scent was driving me insane, the way it wrapped around my senses and burrowed under my skin.
Her breath hitched beneath me, as though she was trying to draw air into a chest too tight to hold it. Slowly, she turned her face away from mine, her head tilting just enough to bare the graceful line of her neck.
Bitch. She must know what she’s doing to me.
The curve of her neck was a study in contrasts—softness and strength woven together in a way that made my breath catch.
The dawn spilled over her skin like liquid gold, tracing every hollow and ridge, from the delicate dip beneath her ear to the gentle slope of her collarbone.
It was maddeningly perfect, that stretch of exposed vulnerability, a canvas waiting for a mark.
Why would she show me her neck? She’s strong enough to knock me off her if she wanted to.
My wolf stirred, his need to claim her swelling as I watched the faint pulse beneath her skin, a rhythm that matched the pounding in my chest. It would take nothing to lean in, to close the space and sink my teeth into that tender skin. To make her mine.
What the actual fuck?
I froze.
Her lips parted, and she caught the lower one between her teeth, biting down softly. The movement was subtle, but it sent a wave of heat crashing through me, settling low and insistent all the way to my cock. My wolf stirred, pushing against me, his frustration curling hot beneath my skin.
You’re holding her like prey, he growled. She’s not prey. She’s ours.
Not a chance in fucking Hades.
She’s ours, he insisted, the force of him sending a shudder through me.
Everything about her in this moment—her exposed throat, her trembling breaths, the way her lashes brushed against her cheek as she refused to look at me—was driving me up the fucking wall.
She was vulnerability wrapped in strength, a wolf whose power I could sense in every line of her body, holding herself small beneath me.
I couldn’t stop staring. I didn’t want this.
And yet, I did.
She had to be some kind of witch. That was the only logical conclusion.
Just like how she’d pushed images of my brothers into my head, and the way she’d frozen me on the spot, now she had spoken to my wolf through some kind of telepathy to bring him on side.
Because there was no way—no way—she could be what he thought she was.
Get ahold of yourself. I took in a deep, refreshing breath and let the air cleanse me. I was the beta of Orion now, and I had a hunter’s heart.
It was time to use it.
“Look at me,” I commanded. We remained in that same position, me on top of her. Her skin wasn’t heating the way I’d expect it to. The longer we stayed like this, the more I could swear she cooled.
She rolled her head to look at me again, slivers of dry leaves caught in her hair. Her lips parted, glistening in the light and I scented…
Oh Goddess, that can’t be it.
It was. Arousal.
My head immediately began to pound, my peripheral vision blurring. Her smell was driving me up the fucking wall. She wanted me?
No, I realized through my wolf. She needs us.
Once the thought entered my mind, it took over everything. Something in her was latched onto something in me, and wouldn’t let go.
“You hate me for having shown you the truth about your brothers,” she whispered. “I hadn’t even wanted to reveal it to you.”
I couldn’t take it for another second. Her lips were too full, too luscious, wordlessly demanding I claim her. My head lowered, the space between us vanishing until—
A blur of black fur slammed into my side, the impact like a freight train knocking me clean off her. I hit the ground hard, the breath ripped from my lungs as my body rolled through dirt and leaves.
Pain radiated through my ribs, but it was nothing compared to the surge of fury that ignited in my wolf. I scrambled to my feet, already growling as I turned to face the attacker.
And even through the rage, I realized I couldn’t tell if the pounding in my ears was my heartbeat or hers.