Page 18 of The Wolf Prince’s Mate (Marked Beneath the Moon #2)

eighteen

CLAY

I paced the parking lot while I watched my female’s phone move closer to me. She was only a few minutes away, but it felt like a fucking lifetime.

My wolf was snarling and snapping his teeth at me, like he had been since I found out she was gone. I didn’t know why he was so furious about her absence, but the fucker was even more feral than usual.

“Is she back yet?” Hunter asked, his mind brushing mine.

My wolf snarled at him, but he ignored the beast.

He was aware that I didn’t know why the bastard was such a mess.

“Five minutes,” I gritted out.

It was 3 AM, and the only other person outside was Fletcher. He sat in the back of his pickup truck, his arms folded and his hair freshly washed. Though he wasn’t thrilled about his girlfriend’s absence, he wasn’t losing his shit the way I was.

“Your wolf is clearly claiming her,” Hunter said flatly.

“I won’t let him.”

“You can’t stop him.”

I hated that he was right.

And I wanted Nova back by my side, where she was safe.

“If he claims her, he can’t hurt her,” Hunter finally said.

It wasn’t the first time he and Enzo had brought that up since Nova took off with Sydney.

“We have no idea if that’s true or not.”

“Your wolf isn’t actually rogue, and even a rogue wolf wouldn’t hurt a woman he claimed. Sydney’s father protected her all the way up until he went rabid.”

“He wasn’t as fucked-up as my wolf is. You know I can’t mate with her.”

“I’m just saying, it would be worth trying a careful meeting between her and your wolf.”

“Nova will never meet that fucker,” I snarled back.

“Then don’t lead her along, or you’re just as bad as I am,” Hunter snapped.

The words stung, but he wasn’t wrong.

The sound of tires had me jerking my head away from my phone. Relief lowered my shoulders when I saw Nova behind the wheel of the Jeep I’d bought her.

She was okay.

My wolf was still pissed, though.

I strode up to her door as she parked, and opened it as soon as she shut off the vehicle. She made a noise of protest when I unbuckled her seat belt and plucked her out of the seat, pulling her roughly into my arms.

“I’m fine, Savage,” she mumbled against my chest, and my wolf rumbled as I held her tightly. He rammed the bars of his cage, but couldn’t get through.

He wasn’t going to get the chance to hurt her.

I buried my nose in her hair, inhaling deeply. “You smell like death, Gorgeous.”

“That would be me,” a voice that was only slightly different from Nova’s said weakly from the back seat.

I didn’t lift my nose from my mate’s throat.

Her sister could wait.

When Olive started coughing violently, Nova wrestled her way free of my grip and stepped over to the door behind hers. She opened it, and leaned into the vehicle to unbuckle her sister.

“I’ve got it,” Olive protested weakly.

My nostrils flared at the lie in her voice.

How bad of shape was the woman in?

“You don’t have it. We need to get you inside so I can bite you,” Nova shot back.

Olive sighed.

My wolf snarled.

“You’re not biting anyone ,” I countered, stepping up behind my female and grabbing her hips to steady her when she wobbled.

“Like hell I’m not.”

“You nearly died the last time you changed someone, Nova. It barely affects Aspen. She’ll handle it.”

Nova flashed me a glare over her shoulder. “Olive is my sister. I’m the one who’s going to bite her. End of the fucking discussion.”

“Easy,” Olive croaked, and I finally looked at her.

She looked like a softer version of my mate, with less tattoos—but she also looked like she was in the process of dying.

“Hi. I’m Oli.” She lifted a hand toward me weakly.

“I’m Clay. Nova’s?—”

“Friend,” Nova snapped.

“Boyfriend,” I growled back.

“Fuck buddy,” she tossed over her shoulder.

“Fiancé.”

“Wow. Big variation in labels there,” Olive said, coughing a few more times. “Time to DTR.”

“Time to what ?” I demanded

Nova elbowed me in the abdomen, hard, and I grunted. “Define the relationship. Now back off—I need to get Olive out.”

“I’ll get her out.”

There was murder in the woman’s eyes when she looked over her shoulder at me again.

Fletcher’s hand landed on my shoulder, and his mind met mine. “Tension’s high right now. Might be better to take a breath and give her space for a minute.”

My wolf slammed into the cage again, snarling viciously.

I forced a slow, harsh breath through my nose, and finally let go. Taking a step back, I clenched my fists and tried to steady my breathing.

Enzo came striding out of the Lodge in a pair of sweats. Hunter must’ve woken him up. Aspen held his hand loosely, and their arms brushed as they walked.

They stopped beside me, watching with me silently as Nova eased Olive out of the Jeep.

“If your wolf hasn’t claimed her, you need to put space between you before he becomes a threat to her,” Enzo finally said.

“I won’t let him threaten her.”

“You couldn’t control him when she was in trouble. He either wants her to be his, or he wants her dead. Eventually, he’ll overpower you. If not during waking hours then in the middle of the night, when you’re in bed together. If he’s not claiming her, he’s a threat to her safety.”

I gritted my teeth.

My wolf rammed his cage again. And again.

“He’s not claiming her, and I won’t let him hurt her.”

“You’re usually more realistic than this, Clay.” Enzo didn’t budge, or glance at me.

“I’ve never cared about anyone the way I care about her. I can’t walk away. I have to control him, because there’s no alternative,” I finally said.

Olive stumbled, nearly taking Nova down too. I ducked under her free arm, helping keep her upright.

“Thanks,” Olive croaked.

Nova shot me a look that was somewhere between suspicious and grateful.

“How long did the doctor give you?” I asked her sister.

“I was supposed to die a couple of weeks ago.”

Nova’s wolf whined, and mine slammed into his cage again. Harder.

He snarled and snapped his teeth while he did, too.

“I’ll change you tonight,” Nova said.

Olive glanced at me, like she was waiting for me to argue.

I clenched my jaw.

Nova and I would talk about it in private, without her sister listening in.

“Thanks, Syd,” Nova called to Sydney as Fletcher carried her toward their room in the Lodge’s spare apartment building.

“It was fun! Good luck!” Sydney called back, laughing when Fletcher squeezed her ass and rumbled something in her ear.

“Let’s use the hospital room,” Aspen said, and Olive’s attention snapped toward her and Enzo.

She looked between my brother and I while we walked.

“That’s Enzo and Aspen,” Nova explained.

“The Alpha King and Queen?” Olive asked.

Enzo grunted.

“We don’t really use our titles. Our names are fine,” Aspen said lightly.

Olive nodded, and didn’t ask any more questions. She was so weak, we were carrying all of her slight weight.

“How was the drive?” I forced myself to sound civil, despite my wolf ramming his cage.

“Uneventful, thankfully. Did Hunter break into the phone yet?” Nova asked.

My wolf roared when my brother’s name left my female’s lips.

I gritted my teeth against his anger, bracing myself.

“They’re close. Him and his team will be in by the time the sun rises,” Enzo said. “They figured out how to get around the encryption a few hours ago.”

“Finally,” Nova murmured.

“When we understand what the threat is, we’ll handle it,” Enzo agreed.

“Maybe it’ll be done by the time I wake up after the change.”

I stumbled as my wolf broke through, hair covering my arms as I started shifting. Olive made a noise of surprise, and my brother scooped her up off her feet before she could collapse.

“Talk to his wolf, Nova. He’s losing his shit. We’ll get your sister to the hospital room,” Enzo barked out, dominance in his voice. He and Aspen jogged toward the Lodge’s doors as I fought my wolf.

Nova pressed her body against mine, taking my face between her hands and dragging it down to hers. Her lips met mine, and my fangs drew blood as she parted my lips with her tongue.

She didn’t seem to give a damn about the blood, kissing me brutally. I pulled her mouth harder against mine, fighting like hell to control my wolf as I kissed her back fiercely.

My fangs lengthened further and his fur spread. I had no choice but to rip my face back, gasping out a curse.

“Run, Gorgeous.”

“He’s not going to hurt me.” Her expression was firm, despite the exhaustion in her eyes.

I roared, fighting the beast with everything I had. He broke my hold anyway, and in the blink of an eye, took full control.

He was on his back paws a heartbeat later, snarling into Nova’s face.

His teeth were only a breath away from her eyes.

Terror had me trying desperately to rebuild the cage, to get my shit together and find my control again. I couldn’t let him hurt her. I had to break free. I had to?—

Nova laughed.

The sound caught me so off guard, I stopped fighting the beast.

He was sniffing her throat and her face demandingly. Licking her skin.

She was petting the vicious, insane fucker.

“You didn’t like the way I left without warning, huh?” she murmured, as he continued poking around her body like he was checking for wounds.

He snarled at her, shoving his face beneath her sweatshirt and nipping her skin.

“Sorry, bud.” She continued stroking his fur, absolutely unbothered by the fact that a monster was biting her.

He pulled his head out from beneath her top and finished sniffing the rest of her.

I was somewhere between wary and shocked as I watched, ready to start fighting like hell again at the first sign that he was going to hurt her.

Instead, he rested his gigantic head on her shoulder and inhaled. She wrapped her arms around him too, hugging him.

The woman was insane. Fucking insane.

But—

Before I could react, he lowered his teeth to the place her shoulder met her neck, and bit down.

She inhaled sharply as he pierced skin.

I roared at him again, trying to retake control before he could hurt her more, but he was in the driver’s seat. And after so much time spent in his cage, he was stronger than I was.

Rather than tearing or ripping through her skin, he released her carefully.

And licked the wound.

She laughed.

Laughed.

Again.

Nova had officially lost her mind.

“You want to claim me, big guy?” she teased.

He licked her wound emphatically, then bumped it, like she might have forgotten it was there in the two seconds since he pulled his teeth out of her skin.

“It’s a good mark,” she agreed. “Too bad the full moon isn’t up so we can’t make it official, huh?”

He growled his agreement, still licking the wound. It was already healing, like an Alpha’s claim always did.

And a mate’s claim, I supposed.

I could never truly make her mine, though. Not with my wolf the way he was. He wasn’t hurting her for the moment, but there was no guarantee that he never would. And her wolf was small, and fragile. She wouldn’t fight back if he attacked her.

Mating wasn’t an option.

Which left me with a real mess, because how could I ever let myself relax around her? With the threat of my wolf hanging over me, Enzo was right. Just sharing a bed at night was dangerous. What wasn’t dangerous?

I was going to have to let her go.

If the wolf had genuinely claimed her, it was going to be the end of my life as I knew it, because I was going to have to move to Stray.

Permanently.