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MALIK

I saw red.

Crimson blood edged my vision, every instinct urging me to tear into the male in front of me, brother and alpha. To clamp my jaws around his jugular and thrash until his tongue—the same tongue that lapped at my little mate’s neck—hung from my jowls.

The male, still in his human form, had the sense to step away from what was mine. She— Aria, mine —scurried backward, clutching at her throat as if he’d branded her with fire.

A new savage snarl ripped from my chest. My wolf’s vocal cords weren’t similarly ruined beyond repair.

I prowled forward, paws heavy against the soft dirt of the training grounds, and strategically positioned myself between the alpha and my female. My movements were pure animal, the human parts of my mind hidden beneath the fog of rage.

The male— no, my kin— still did not shift into his own beast. I’d kill him anyway.

Nearby, several lesser wolves snarled and growled warnings at me, but they didn’t attack. Not yet. They would wait for his signal. I didn’t care. I’d kill him first then happily kill the rest of them. I knew that I could. For her, I would…

A familiar voice streamed into my head, piercing through the savage veil. Brother, what are you doing here? You’ve abandoned your training duties?

I snapped my jaws at him, inching closer to the ground to prepare to strike. I couldn’t think of a sensible response. That part of my mind had gone dormant the moment I felt my little dove’s fear spike through our bond.

I’d been overseeing a patrol of young warriors when it happened. A spindling of ice shot straight into my heart, turning the rest of my body cold. I abandoned my post in an instant, but I was too far away. There was too much distance…

I felt her revulsion. Experienced her dread as if it was my own.

And, when I crested the hill, flanks heaving and blood pumping, I saw it. My Aria held against her will in front of a host of Intonat Nocte. My brother’s mouth at her neck, latched onto her sensitive skin. Marking her with his scent.

My control snapped.

Roman took the smallest step backward, but his lips pulled back in an easy smirk.

Malik. He used my name, calling to the man within the monster. You didn’t need to come.

Another growl rumbled from the pits of my beast. I stepped closer, and my brother had the sense to look wary.

Behind me, one of his betas shifted, and the sound of ripping fabric filled the clearing. A low, warning snarl rattled from the male’s jaws, and I recognized the animalistic sound as belonging to Anders. If I took another step toward our alpha, he’d attack.

Let him attack, I thought .

You are angry with me for protecting your mate? For giving her my scent—the pack’s scent—when you would not? He laughed through our mind-link, and his outward expression matched. Arrogant eyes. A wicked smirk. If you’d done your job and fucked her, we wouldn’t be in this mess.

Red flared at the edges of my vision again at the mere fact that another male used that word in connection to Aria, and my claws sank into the damp earth, muscles bunching together to launch…

And yet, in the same instance, something like shame squeezed at my chest, grounding me. One second passed, then another, and my anger dwindled alongside my pride.

Was Roman right? Had I failed Aria by refusing to mark her? At the time, I’d thought I was doing her a service. I wanted to spare her.

And now, my brother had stepped in to fulfill where I had failed. Just as he always did.

My hackles fell, and I took a small step backward.

“That’s right,” Roman soothed, speaking as though he’d just tamed a terrible creature.

I hated it. The condescension. The superiority. The fact that he spoke out loud for all to hear.

“You know better than to raise a hand to me,” he continued, smug.

But I did know better. He’d hounded the truth into me more times than I could count. Before our father died, he’d warned Roman against letting me live.

I was twenty two. Roman was eighteen. Since the attack, it had been ingrained in me that I was unworthy to lead the pack.

I knew where I belonged, but our father wanted me dead nonetheless.

Father offered to kill me himself, if it meant securing Roman’s rule of the Intonat Nocte Pack, but my brother refused .

Roman saved me. He gave me purpose. Molded me into a weapon where the rest of the world saw me as a monster.

I owed him my life. But I did not owe him Aria.

She is mine, I warned, finding my words at last.

He cocked a brow and nodded to a spot over my shoulder, where I knew Aria stood. “Then claim her, brother.”

The hair lining my wolf’s spine bristled, but I managed to spin away from my brother. With the brash movement, I glared at the onlookers with bared teeth, and most of my pack members took a handful of steps backward and averted their eyes. To them, I was the monster my brother painted me as.

When my gaze landed on Aria, my anger sparked anew.

She stared at my wolf with wide eyes, her alarm evident in the way she retreated a small step as I neared.

From the time I reached maturity, my gray and brindle-coated wolf towered above other males in the pack.

Even Roman could not match my size and mass.

I was accustomed to the fear, but I detested seeing it in her brilliant blues.

I inhaled deeply, catching notes of her honeysuckle and pear scent that aroused every nerve-ending in my body. My blood warmed, but it started to boil when I smelt it.

Him.

Roman’s mark. His saliva slathered overtop her pulse point, coating the spot where the blood pumped so close to the surface of her skin.

A dangerous cocktail of adrenaline and rage simmered in my veins, pumping to parts of my lupine body that wanted— needed —to rectify this situation.

Every primal urge demanded that I claim my mate, regardless of the audience or her needs.

Sink my canines into her neck and wash over any trace of Roman on her skin, then fill her to the brim with my seed. It would be rough. Dominating .

If she was in her wolf form, I didn’t know if I would’ve been able to resist it.

But, as I prowled closer to her and she blinked up at me with her human smallness, I held onto my control with a vice-like grip.

When I reached her, I huffed and nudged at her shoulder with my snout, a silent command for her to turn and follow me. I wanted her away from the clearing. Away from Roman.

She obeyed immediately, speed-walking from the training ground as if she couldn’t move fast enough. I prowled a few paces behind, slinking at a slow pace so she always remained a step ahead of me, my body constantly between her and Roman. Shielding her.

Several minutes passed in silence, only the sounds of our footsteps and Aria’s heavy breathing surrounding us. Eventually, with a safe distance separating us from the training grounds, she slowed.

“Malik,” she whispered, her gait faltering as she turned to look over her shoulder.

I paused, claws curling into the dirt and eyes hard. Another breeze ruffled her blonde strands, and honeysuckle, pear, and Roman swept inside my nostrils. Anger simmered in my center.

“I-I’m so sorry,” she began, shaking her head. “Alpha Roman told me… He said I was in danger. I didn’t want him to mark me like that.”

Don’t apologize. You did nothing wrong, I wanted to say. But I couldn’t.

And, even if I could’ve spoken those words aloud, I wasn’t sure if I would.

Deep down, I knew Aria was not at fault, but the territorial, primal parts of myself felt betrayed.

My traitorous mind replayed the sight of her slender neck on display, offered to my brother.

Pliant and willing for another male. And I wondered if she wished that fate had bound her to him instead .

I huffed a sharp exhale, the only semblance of a response I could manage, and nudged her forward again. I wanted to escort her to my cottage, where she’d be safe and hidden within its walls.

Her throat bobbed once, but she turned her head and continued plodding toward the forest, where the private residences waited.

When we arrived at the cottage, a quaint stone structure with ivy adorning the facade, several minutes later, I directed Aria to the front door and waited until she entered before digging deep into myself and searching for the kernel of humanity.

I internally tugged on it, immersing myself in it until the shift began.

My limbs stretched, bones popping and cracking as fur turned into skin, and the beast morphed into an entirely different kind of monster.

I hadn’t wasted time retrieving my clothing from the pack’s designated out-building, so I had nothing to cover myself with. I stood, utterly naked, just beyond my home’s front door.

Nudity never bothered me. Growing up amongst shifters, I grew accustomed to baring myself to others and having others bare themselves to me.

And I never hated my naked body as much as I hated my face.

Scars littered my chest and limbs. Wounds collected from nasty brawls and momentous victories, but none so ugly as the jagged deformity on my face.

And yet, as I waited at the threshold, my stomach twisted at the thought of Aria seeing me this way.

Inside the wide-open door, Aria blinked at her surroundings, her doe eyes taking in the little kitchen and breakfast nook that greeted her. Then, she slowly spun, and her eyes expanded like saucers when she beheld my body.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, immediately averting her eyes to my feet, but not before they snagged on my cock, still semi-erect from my body’s natural need to claim her for myself .

Pink blush dusted her milky cheeks, and my cock twitched at the innocence of her reaction, the blood rushing to my groin anew.

Fuck. I shifted on my feet, hyper-aware of my member growing, my balls firming with a tantalizing ache. My body had never reacted like this to the gaze of a female, and heat flushed up my neck in embarrassment.

Females had stared at me before, I knew. I possessed the body of a warrior—an alpha. Broad shoulders and an expansive chest, covered in a thin layer of dark hair that disappeared and reappeared again below my navel. Long legs and thick, muscled thighs. The… endowments of an alpha, too.

I’d never paid much attention to them. Never allowed the scent of their lust to distract me from my duty to Roman. I was certain I’d disappoint them, anyway.

And yet, watching Aria blush did things to my body that I couldn’t explain.

Aria clamped her teeth down on her bottom lip, eyes still downcast, and her voice was a bit hoarse as she stepped aside. “Sorry, I’m blocking the entrance, aren’t I?”

Half of my mind wanted to leave. Wanted to shift back into my wolf form until the pulsing need that stretched and tormented my cock subsided. The other half demanded that I enter the kitchen, yank Aria’s jeans to her thighs, and plunge into her.

Goddess, a glistening drop leaked from the head of my arousal at the mere thought.

My cheeks flamed now. Somehow, I managed to listen to the sliver of reason in my head and entered my cottage, heavy balls swinging with every step.

I didn’t stop walking, spearing directly toward the door that led to my bedroom. I felt Aria’s gaze follow me the entire way, and, by the time the door closed behind me, my breaths came ragged and quick.

I ground my teeth and immediately wrapped my palm around the base of my cock. My hips jerked forward at the tight grasp, even as my body protested the roughness of my own skin. Just beyond the door, Aria would be soft. Her hands. Her mouth. Her cunt.

Clamping my eyes shut, I leaned my shoulders back against the door and resisted the urge to fist my member and imagine that it was her. I didn’t have time for this.

There was only one thing that would calm the roar between my ears and the flaming in my blood. One thing that I would allow myself, because I knew I could not claim her, not truly—not fully— in this unraveled, dangerous state of mind.

So, with rigid, stiff movements, I scrounged through my dresser and pulled on the first pair of sweats I could find, ensnaring my painfully-hard cock within.

Then, I flung open the bedroom door to mark my mate.