Chapter 2
RILEY.
What would you do if the only female you’ve ever cared about chose someone else over you? How would you react if you saw her being marked and claimed right in front of you?
Nothing. There was nothing I could do but swallow the pain.
I averted my gaze away from them the moment Caspian, the Alpha of the neighboring pack, dipped his mouth into Andrea’s neck.
I didn’t need to see more. I knew he was about to mark her.
Her—Andrea.
She was the only female I had ever taken notice of, and for a period in my life, I thought we would end up together. But she chose him.
Yet here I was, doing my best to fight off my own men, blocking and shoving them away from Andrea—still protecting her with all my heart.
She went into heat the moment her eyes locked with Caspian’s, and the mate bond between them bound them together. Her heat smell affected every unmated male around her, including me. But I’m Alpha. I could control my urges.
The pain in my chest was enough to keep my senses to fight off my own desire to take her away from Caspian. I tried to block off any emotions as I kept doing what I needed to do: steer away the unmated males around us so that Caspian could fully mark and claim her.
I thought I was okay with letting her go. I didn’t know it would still hurt. A part of me was dying.
Andrea being marked was a reminder that I no longer had a hold on her, that I would be treading this world on my own. Alone. Without a mate.
I watched as my men slowly woke up from their trance and ended up in a bewildered state. I took a whiff of the air and no longer smelled Andrea’s alluring heat scent. She was marked. The air was already swirling with the mixed scent of her and Caspian—the fated mate scent.
I didn’t need to look back at them or anyone else. My work was done.
I gathered myself and turned on my heel while holding my breath, not making a single noise. Then I shifted into my wolf, Hunter, and blocked off everything from my mind.
Hunter ran in the opposite direction while howling at the full moon, letting the Goddess know of our agony. And instead of running back to our territory, he headed off to the wilderness of the neutral forest.
I didn’t stop him.
I always let myself control us, but tonight, I didn’t feel empowered to take over. So I let my wolf lead me to where he wanted to be while I wallowed in my own pain.
Hunter kept running, and I didn’t care where he was going. I wasn’t scared at all. Meeting rogues or hunters was nothing new. If I meet any of them tonight, they should be the ones scared because I didn’t think I would let them die without torturing them.
The love I felt for Andrea wasn’t as strong as before. I knew this for sure because I tried, but even after seeing her with almost nothing on, I didn’t find myself having any desire to touch her or even kiss her.
Nothing. It felt like, in an instant, everything I felt for her had just vanished into the air. All because of one scent—my mate’s scent.
I scented my mate almost three weeks ago, and everything changed. Andrea didn’t seem interesting anymore. If anything, she felt like a trophy I wanted to have to prove to anyone that I had someone with me.
But I knew I would be letting her go. I only needed time to be sure I was handing her to the right person and that Caspian was a good man.
But why did I feel pain when she ran to him? Was it because I was never good enough for her? Or for anyone? Because despite being a strong Alpha, I was never anyone’s first choice?
My pack was the only one that wanted me. Maybe it was meant to be that way. Damn everyone else, and just focus on being an Alpha.
I made up my mind—I would leave Andrea and everything I felt for her in the past. From now on, my pack comes first.
I snapped myself back to the present as Hunter continued to pad his way through the forest. We were too far from our territory.
‘Enough, let’s head back!’ I told Hunter, but it seemed like he wasn’t listening.
I tried to take over, but he wasn’t letting me.
‘What the heck?’ I growled at him.
He growled back and sped up his pace. This had never happened before. My wolf, Hunter, had a wild side, and I let him get away with it once in a while, but he never defied me. He would always give the reins back to me whenever I wanted to.
But he wasn’t doing it this time. Something was off.
I tried to connect once more with my wolf, but he was blocking his mind from me. I fought hard to take control of our body, but before I could do more, an intoxicating scent reached my nose.
Mate. We found her.
Her scent tonight was more potent than the first time I smelled her. She smelled of freshly baked pastries and vanilla. I wanted to fucking eat her!
My wolf finally connected with my mind. He could sense her and wanted to claim her by any means necessary.
‘Give me back control!’ I snapped at him, but he wasn’t surrendering control.
Then I saw her. I forgot all about my wolf as my eyes soaked in the beauty in front of me. She had her back on us, and amidst the darkness, I could see her body perfectly. Even without seeing her face, I knew I wanted her.
Finally, I found her.
‘I found her!’ Hunter snarled at me, but I ignored him.
I continued to watch her through my wolf’s eyes in full awe. I held my breath the moment she slowly turned around to face us. My heart leaped from my chest as I took in all of her and watched as a smile slowly curled into her lips.
Beautiful.
She was so fucking beautiful. The way her black wavy hair cascaded over her small face, her perfect little nose, and her plump lips parted like she was summoning me to kiss her.
I couldn’t help myself from smiling. I was so focused on her face that it was too late when I realized something was happening.
She was running away from us. What on earth just happened?
And everything came flashing in my head. Hunter was mad at her because he thought she was avoiding us and that she didn’t want us. He wanted to stake his claim on her.
‘Hunter!’ I bellowed at my wolf, watching as our mate ran away from us.
Before I could stop my crazy wolf, he leaped in the air and landed exactly where our mate was, and it was too late for me to take control.
Hunter marked her in his own way, sinking his fangs into the side of her hips.
The fear of her being hurt was enough for me to let out all the strength I needed to finally take control away from my wolf.
I shifted into my human form and my body began shaking in fear. For the first time, I was terrified—she was squirming in pain, and even though I wanted to kill my fucking wolf, I couldn’t focus on him.
I need to save her.
I did what I needed to do. I licked her wound, and her body stopped trembling as she started moaning under my touch. Slowly, fear slipped away, and my arousal took over as I continued to lap around her soft skin.
She was in heat. Her sweet smell filled my nostrils and made my cock harden. Her heat scent was so potent and addicting. I found myself panting while I gripped her body tighter, pulling her closer to mine.
“Mate…” She moaned sexily as she arched her back with her eyes closed, and the sight of her face was making me lose all my control. She was a seductress in her own way.
Yes, mate. Mine.
A low growl rumbled in my chest, and it made her open her eyes.
Her lips parted as she stared at me, lust swirling in her hazel brown eyes, and before I could make my move, she leaned forward abruptly and crushed her lips against mine, wrapping her arms around my neck.
Her soft chest collided with mine in full force, knocking us backward, and I instinctively wrapped my arms around her body as I let us fall to the forest ground.
Sparks.
And tingles shot all over my body. This was something new.
Sebastian, my Gamma, had told me about this, but I always laughed it off. I thought it was amusing that a tough man like him could describe the connection between mates with sparks and tingles. But I would like to take that back because this spark was explosive, and I craved more of it.
She whimpered as her lips parted, and I took advantage of it. I plunged my tongue into her mouth and kissed her bruisingly hard, pouring out all the desire I had kept hidden for her all these weeks since I first scented her.
And the kiss wasn’t enough. I wanted all of her.
My mate was lying on top of me, moaning between our kisses. She was driving me wild with the way she was grinding her front onto mine.
I tightened my hold on her and got us up on our feet, yanking her legs and wrapping them around my hips as I moved toward the small cave that I had seen earlier.
I wanted her, and I wanted her tonight—but not out in the open. Wolves could be roaming around on a full moon and her body was only for me to see.
She pulled away from kissing me and her eyes wandered around us.
“Where are you taking me?” She asked in a soft voice, making my heart somersault in my chest. She sounded like a siren. I wanted her to talk more, but my lips were aching from being away from hers.
I cupped her nape and pushed her head back onto mine, capturing her lips once more as we entered the cave. She didn’t struggle away from my grip and instead began kissing me back passionately.
After taking her bag from her back, I laid her on the cave’s ground and let my eyes feast on her, raking her body up and down. She had a mischievous grin on her face as she moved her hands down to slowly unbutton her jeans, without taking her gaze away from me.
“Fuck me, mate...” She said in a low voice, biting her lower lip. Her eyes darted to my front, and they dilated into full black. She wriggled her jeans down her thighs, arching her hips up.
I swallowed hard as the string of her thong came into view and the scent of her arousal got stronger.
I inched near her and helped her off with her jeans, ripping them in the process, which elicited a giggle from her. She then reached for the hem of her shirt and started ripping it off, leaving her naked with just her thong on.
Could this female be more perfect than she already was?
She slipped her hand inside her underwear and started rubbing herself, closing her eyes as she moaned while pleasuring herself, and I felt like a teenager who had no fucking idea what I needed to do next.
I parted her thighs, opening them wider as I kneeled in between her legs before I slapped her hand gently. “Take your hand off. Let me do that...” I was trying to control my voice because I didn’t want to scare her away.
She snapped her eyes open and giggled before withdrawing her hand from her underwear and pushing her three middle fingers into my mouth.
Fuck! She tasted more than I thought she would, and I couldn’t get enough of her.
I sucked her fingers hard and loud while my own hand ripped her underwear and cupped her wetness. She was so wet and ready.
She gasped and pulled her fingers away from my mouth before gripping my forearms.
I lowered my body and hovered over her, sliding an arm around her neck, making sure I didn’t put my whole weight into her as I captured her lips while she wrapped her legs around my waist and started grinding her hips.
Her hands were moving down my chest, fingers skimming against my skin and sending a rush of pleasure all over my body.
She kept moving down until her hand found what it was looking for. Her fingers wrapped around my erection, making my breathing hitch.
Time stood still. No one had touched me in this way, and the pleasure was too much for me.
She began jerking me off and quickly found her rhythm. I withdrew from kissing her and closed my eyes, trying to control the orgasm building up inside my body.
Fuck! Don’t fucking come yet! Don’t embarrass me. Not yet.
“Are you okay?” Her voice was so soft and laced with concern.
I snapped my eyes open and saw her gazing at me. Her eyes softened as she bit her lower lip, waiting for my response. nodded my head. I could feel the heat rising in my ears.
This is fucking embarrassing.
I had never had sex with anyone, and the pleasure she was giving me by just holding my shaft was too much.
She smiled lovingly at me before her hand touched my chest, pushing me away. “Get off me.”
My heart constricted as pain crossed it. She didn’t want me. I didn’t need a second warning. I moved my body away from her and sat down just beside her, closing my eyes as I controlled my breathing. I blew it, right?
She was breaking my heart. Will she go? Will she leave me?
I had to do something.
I opened my eyes, ready to plead for her to stay, only to see my beautiful mate kneeling in front of me. She lowered her head before she grabbed my shaft and started licking the slit oozing with pre-cum.
I wasn’t expecting this!
My hand flew to her hair, gripping it tightly as my muscles clenched. She was on all fours in the middle of a dirty and rough cave floor, but she didn’t mind it at all.
She pressed her lips against the head, sucking softly at first before quickening her pace.
“Am I doing it right?” She withdrew for a while and asked before she continued.
All the while, her gaze never left mine. I nodded and brushed my thumb against her cheek. She could just hold it, and it would still be perfect.
I saw a smile curving on her lips before she pushed her mouth forward, taking in all that she could take in. And I took all the pleasure that she was giving me, watching her in awe as she bobbed her head up and down while moaning sexily.
Drool was dripping at the corner of her mouth, and the more her head bobbed, the more the animal in me wanted to take over.
I gripped her hair tighter, letting out a low growl before moving my hand to guide her, pushing her hard and deep. And she was taking it all in.
Her eyes watered, and drool continued to leak from her mouth. I was concerned I might be too hard on her, but I couldn’t stop myself.
My orgasm was building up, and I knew I would come soon, but I was scared I was hurting her.
I let go of her hair, but instead of withdrawing her mouth from my manhood, she whimpered and began moving at the same pace that I guided her, and in no time, my muscles clenched, enveloped in the warmth and wetness of her mouth.
I molded a hand to her nape, just holding her in place, but she could easily let go if she wanted to.
I couldn’t hold it anymore.
I let out a growl as my body shuddered at the intensity of my orgasm. My load shot all over her mouth, straight down to her throat.
She gagged, but she didn’t pull away. Instead, she swallowed all of it. Once she was done, she closed her eyes and resumed sucking, allowing me to ride out my release. She was cleaning me up nice and slow, and I let myself indulge in the pleasure that only she was able to give me.