Page 24

VIOLET

I cuddled closer to the silky fur rubbing against my cheek. Warmth seeped into my bones and curled around them, giving me the toastiest, most comfortable sleep I’d ever experienced.

A rumble shook the mattress, and I popped up in bed. My elbow smacked into something hard. No way he’d snuck into my bed. The black wolf lay on his belly, his side pressed against mine and head over my thigh. I’d been cuddling into his hip. His sides rose and fell rhythmically. I rolled away and off the bed, my hair whipping around my shoulders with how fast I moved.

He grumbled, eyes still closed, but he wasn’t fooling me.

“Get out,” I said through gritted teeth, pulling his paw. It stretched out, but that was all I was able to move. He rolled onto his back, his tail wagging. The two back paws were white like he had socks on.

“Stop it,” I huffed and stomped my foot. Taking a few steps back, I glared at him. “Alpha Beaumont, get out.” I said it as professionally as I could.

He rolled to his front and clicked his teeth at me.

His body contorted and bones popped as fur receded. He sprawled across the bed. Such a large, muscled body—I yanked my eyes away from him.

“Cover yourself up,” I snapped and grabbed a pillow to toss at him. More because I didn’t want the temptation. He had such a nice body, it was criminal.

He caught the pillow before it thumped him on the face. I turned my back waiting for him to get out. Any second now. The hair lifted on the back of my neck and my wolf pushed forward, reacting. I whirled and gasped. Graham stood so close my nose grazed his chest.

“I’m your mate, there is no need for titles.”

I blinked up at him. His lips were twisted and if a thundercloud had an expression, it was the one on his face.

“We are nothing.”

He narrowed his eyes at me, curling a lip.

He moved so fast I couldn’t avoid him. His large hand engulfed my elbow. I gasped at the touch that sent tingles throughout my body. I bit the inside of my lip to keep my moan in.

“We are everything.” Contrary to the look on his face, his words reached inside me, and butterflies bloomed in my stomach. His golden eyes seemed so sincere. It was like they looked inside my soul. With a single glance he had me weak. I needed to remind him of why we wouldn’t work . . . I needed to remind myself .

“You expected me to watch you be mated,” I spat out, so utterly wrecked by the memory.

“You’re not understanding?—”

“I understand perfectly well,” I gritted out, yanking against his steel-like grip. “You don’t think you’ve done anything wrong. You said you would take a chosen mate but still keep me on the side.” Emotion made my voice crack. “Do you think I don’t know what you planned?” I paused only long enough to take a breath. “You were about to fuck her in front of the pack.”

He opened his mouth, but I interrupted. “Silk robes and everything.” I poked his chest harder than I meant, but all it did was hurt my finger. Hissing, I flexed my hand. His eyes widened and he reached for me. I stumbled back before he touched me. But with all his movement he dropped the pillow. My eyes had a mind of their own. I hadn’t had a chance to admire his cock. My lips parted. The shaft was red and straining, the tip leaking cum.

“Cover yourself up,” I muttered. His eyebrow raised.

My face burned with a blush.

“I was doing it for my pack,” he said gently. “And I didn’t know you were my true mate, Violet.” I really understood that, but I wasn’t okay with it. My feelings were valid too.

“You had your duty, which you followed, but I can’t forget what you told me.” I shook my head. “You were going to take her and keep me as your side piece.”

“Yes, but I di?—”

“I heard you,” I snapped. “ You didn’t know. ” My tone teetered on mockery. He speared his hands through his hair, shoving the chunk falling in front of his forehead back from his face. “I’m not going to argue about this. Nothing will change my mind or convince me to accept you.”

He blustered, utter shock on his face.

“You’re taking things too far.”

I threw my hands up. I didn’t like confrontation in general, but this anger inside me wouldn’t stop festering. I needed to be out with it. They needed to understand how much I wanted to crawl into my skin from seeing them near another female.

I let out a slow breath. I blinked away the sheen to my eyes.

“You made me feel dirty,” I whispered.

He jerked back as if I’d shot him. He looked utterly stricken.

He reached for me and dropped his hands again, shaking his head. Various emotions flitted over his face too fast to keep track of.

“You can’t do this.” He scowled. “You can’t take yourself away from me.” He reached for me again and I avoided his grip. “I can’t breathe right without you. Yet you allowed his filthy hands all over you.” He stopped, shoving his fingers into his hair.

“You’re just pissed that I didn’t fuck you?” The crude word fell from my lips, and I shoved at his chest. He was already shaking his head, confused.

“That wasn’t what I meant,” he growled, but the jealousy in his eyes was clear to see. He grabbed for me again and this time, I didn’t avoid him in time, and I didn’t care.

My hands landed on his chest. His body shuddered like my touch had electrocuted him. Lust exploded through me and I met his frantic kiss, gliding my tongue against him. My sex pulsated, needing pressure.

I jumped up, wrapping my arms around his shoulders, and squeezed my legs around his waist.

His palm settled on my butt, and he hoisted me higher, keeping me propped against him. Sliding my hands behind his head, I yanked him down and pressed my lips to his. I swallowed his moan.

My wolf surged forward, and a whine spilled free. He felt so good against me. So strong and needy and mine .

Mine for this moment.

I wanted to feel him inside me like I’d felt Whitlock. I shoved my fingers into his hair, and he groaned, his arms banding around me. He staggered to the bed.

“I’ll fuck you so good that you wouldn’t bear leaving me, Sweetheart,” he said, a growl underlying his words. His hands squeezed my ass and slid up to my waist. Stiffening his grip, he pulled me off and tossed me on the bed. I bounced a few times, trying to catch my breath from the shock of being thrown.

Pushing to my elbows, I licked my damp lips. He grabbed my ankle and pulled me toward him. I fell flat with a grunt. With a quick yank, he dragged my pants and undies off, baring me.

I gasped more from the shock. He fell to his knees and spread my thighs to bury his face between them. His wet tongue slid up my sex and curved around my clit. My toes curled and my body arched. The sensitivity down there was mind blowing.

Graham repeated the movement.

“More,” I pleaded. I pushed to my elbows to watch him. His eyes met mine over the neat strip of hair between my legs. He worked his finger inside me.

Ohhhh .

He fit another one next to it.

“Moan for me, Sweetheart.” He repeated the thrust with his fingers. My slick made it easier for his digits to glide in and out of me.

I panted, writhing against his touch.

“Yes, just like that,” he crooned. “Come for me.” His order was seeped with pleasure.

My body did as he said. Electrical pulses worked up my legs until they took over my body. I hiked my hips harder against his mouth, grinding up with as much force as I could. He met every single movement. My sex throbbed around his fingers, but I needed more.

“Alpha,” I moaned.

His other hand squeezed my thigh, and he swirled his tongue again. My hips hiked off the bed to get closer to his mouth.

“Graham,” he said against my sex. His finger speared inside me, wringing more slick from me.

“Oh my Goddess,” I moaned.

“Say my fucking name,” he snarled.

The order reached through the haze. He sounded so angry. A laugh bubbled and escaped. His fingers dug into my thighs. He dragged me by the hips until I hovered off the bed. If he let me go, I would slip off the mattress. He poised at my entrance.

“You’ll turn—” My warning cut off with him sliding inside me until he was seated deep in my channel. I arched off the bed with a scream.

Silence.

My channel stretched to accommodate him, feeling every inch. My wide eyes remained fixed on him. His body jolted and he groaned with his head bowed forward so his hair fell across his eyes.

The fit became tighter and tighter as his body trembled. He whined and jerked his hips so hard he moved me higher on the bed. I grabbed onto his wrists at my hips to brace myself as he repeated the motion. He kept growing like Whitlock had. Fur sprouted under my fingers, and he continued to enlarge. Bones popped and snapped. Oh my Goddess, this felt simultaneously excruciating and delicious. My sex throbbed, gripping him. I cried out as the knot at the base of his cock expanded.

A snarl echoed in my ear. I gasped, reveling in the sounds of his pants. He stilled inside me, his hard body trembling over me. My arms were stretched above my head and holding onto tufts of fur at his shoulders. Each of my breaths fluttered fur at his chest.

I experimentally wiggled and he snarled, his hips pulling back his thick, wet length and he slammed into me, fitting the bulge of his knot into my sex. A breath burst from my mouth, turning to a moan on its way out. I writhed, gripping onto his fur and yanking, using my hold on him to grind harder on his knot.

A guttural sound left his large maw and he lifted on his bulging arms, propping himself up. The movement yanked my grip from his fur, causing my hands to slide down his chest. I rubbed my hands into the divots of muscle there. He bowed his head, and his cold nose nuzzled my temple. He exhaled harshly and it sent my hair fluttering around my face.

Another wave of lust flushed over my limbs. I couldn’t stop moving under him, trying to grind on his knot. He pumped out, and the glide of his wet shaft caused sweet bliss to travel throughout my veins.

His pace picked up and each time he withdrew his shaft, the dip of his knot popped in and out of me. I whimpered, meeting his passion as best I could with the mind-numbing pleasure causing my limbs to seize up. Electricity spiked through me, and my entire body stiffened. Sex was life changing.

He rammed into me, jostling my entire frame. His cock hit so deep inside me, it was like I could feel it in my throat. An orgasm swallowed my body, and I screamed. My core squeezed his shaft with repeated pulses. All I consisted of was pleasure and need, and I couldn’t control myself. He leaned over me, the wide torso inches from my nose as he rammed inside me without reservation. Grunts exploded from his elongated, monstrous maw.

He snarled and his thrusting suddenly ceased, his knot ballooning to a visceral level. A scream ripped from my throat. Another orgasm slapped into my body and my back arched, my hips writhing to grind on him. His teeth suddenly sank into my neck.

No! I do not accept his claim . . . that was all I could think before blinding pleasure made my vision go fuzzy. My cries sounded far away, and I writhed on his dick with needy whimpers.

He tossed his large head back, the magnificent beast commanding my attention. A howl ripped from him.

Warmth bloomed in my stomach and the sensation of fullness coated my insides—a feeling I could become used to. The bed shuddered and it suddenly cracked. The mattress shuddered and dropped about two feet. As he landed on me, the movement made his cock jerk inside me again, wrenching a groan free. We’d broken the bed.

His cock seized once more, spreading warmth inside me, and I exhaled with a groan. That was amazing. His panting rustled the loose hair around my temples. The pressure of his knot stretched my aching sex. His weight settled on me and exploded all the breath from my lungs.

I yanked at his chest fur.

Graham rolled, taking me with him until I lay on him, spent and breathless. Being with him was just as amazing as I thought. I rubbed my cheek against the fur on his chest. His cock was deep inside me, his knot keeping our release inside me. My channel remained warm and snug. I could stay here forever and that was the problem. He felt too good, too tempting for someone I wasn’t keeping.

But if I did . . .

I clenched his fur. He hadn’t known we were mates. But at the same time, he’d felt the pull toward me too. He’d been as attracted to me as I was to him, and he’d still chosen to go through with a chosen mate.

I had to stick to my guns. This wouldn’t work and if I kept getting comfortable; I’d never rip myself away from them.

Decision made; I hoisted myself until I sat upright on top of him. He groaned, his hips pumping up. The move caused my sex to clench around him, like it would never let go. I groaned, shivering.

His body remained morphed into his beastly third form. His chest heaved under my palms. I couldn’t help scratching his chest with my nails.

He rumbled under me . . . a purr? My lamp’s light caught on the flash of his sharp, dangerous teeth. Where it touched his fur, there was almost a blue hue to it. The only bit that would make this better if Whitlock was here. His golden fur would serve as a beautiful contrast against Graham’s darkness.

“Sweetheart,” he said, the word guttural. His muzzle stretched with difficulty in saying the word. My channel clenched and lust flared to life. I gasped, grinding down. The fur against my inner thighs felt so comfortable.

The thrall he had me in shattered, clarity flooding back in an instant. As I moved to push off, his knot kept me in place, leaving me stuck to him. A half-pained, half-needy groan slipped free.

“Stay,” he grunted. The order fueled me with determination. No way, I wouldn’t stay . Gritting my teeth, I hoisted myself up with more effort. His knot popped out of me and with it, a rush of liquid. Like I peed myself. I gasped, staring at the sticky mess dripping down my thighs and his still stiff cock.

Graham groaned, his large palm wrapping around his shaft, highlighting the contrast of his dark fur against the pink of his cock. He took care with his sharp, elongated claws.

There was something so hypnotic about our need mingling like that.

I snapped myself out of it. Swinging my leg over him, I scooted to the edge of the bed, grabbing the thin sheet to wrap it around me. All I wanted was to reach the bathroom door, but the warmth between my legs made it almost impossible to resist the urge to slide back onto him.

“Violet.” He grabbed my arm. I studied the elongated fingers with fur covering them. I’d caused this change in him just because of what I was. The fur began to recede, like the strands were being sucked right back into his skin. Bones in his finger popped and straightened. All I could do was gawk in awe.

“It’s difficult to talk or think clearly in that form.” He stretched his jaw from side to side, not letting me go. I gave an experimental tug, and his grip became even stiffer.

I glared at him. Pressure was already beginning to build at the bridge of my nose. The familiar sensation before I burst into tears. I wouldn’t be with my true mate. The reality of that settled over my soul.

“Alpha, please, release my arm,” I said, a little hoarse sounding.

His lips thinned and a muscle in his cheek jumped.

He really didn’t like it when I didn’t call him by his name.

“Get back in bed.”

I blinked once, then again, trying to make sense of him. He was mercurial and grumpy and that tenderness in his eyes could undo me.

“No.” I yanked at my arm. I managed to slip free and put my hand up, taking a step back.

“Sweetheart—”

“I’m not your Sweetheart. I’m not your anything,” I bit out. He snarled and came at me so abruptly that I had to stumble back until I hit the wall. I panted, looking up at his furious glare.

“You. Are. Mine .” His body rippled and grew, turning back into his beastly form. I huddled against the wall, hugging myself. He loomed above my head, his body shaking. I remained absolutely still. He wouldn’t physically hurt me. Being true mates prevented that, but he was so incredibly large. He could kill me with his pinky.

The shaking finally subsided, and he opened his eyes, slitting them down at me.

“My actions were to protect my pack. There was no harm done. I did not go through with fucking the other woman.”

No harm done. The words rolled through my head and with each pass, unadulterated fury pumped through my veins.

“You don’t think you did anything wrong?” Alphas were notoriously stubborn. All that dominance that made them an Alpha wouldn’t allow anything else.

“Infidelity will never cross my mind. You are what I need.”

It wasn’t about that; it was the principle of it. He’d offered for me to be his mistress while he became mated. He planned to fuck her. And now that I’d been close to him like that, I understood what that meant and how devastating it would have been to me.

But I could no longer verbalize it as I wanted, emotions crowded my esophagus, and I couldn’t speak anymore.

Tears began to seep from my eyes. I blinked quickly but they just kept coming. He reached for me with a rumble. I eyed the approaching monstrous hand like a cornered deer.

I smacked his arm away, coming away with a bit of fur. His coat was slightly shaggier than Whitlock’s.

I lifted my chin, tears and all, to meet his stricken eyes.

“This is my official request to leave the pack,” I announced. He stiffened to a frightening level. “Alpha?” He was so still.

A low, vibrating growl grew in sound with each beat of my heart. His hands slapped against the wall, corralling my head. I gasped, cringing.

His top lip peeled back from the sharp canines.

Such rage reflected in those golden eyes.