Page 26 of The Alpha's Forced Bride

“I don’t have one.”

“Wow, what a coincidence—me neither.”

My grip relaxed a bit. “That explains things.”

She gave a cry of frustration. She wiggled her shoulders and tried to kick away, but she was too short, and I was too strong. Though she gave quite a thrashing, she ultimately melted and snapped her head back to look up at me. The frustration was evident on her face. She seemed to give something of a grimace and clenched her teeth. Another frustrated growl surfaced.

“I hate that you won't let me leave.”

I squeezed her lightly. “I just can't let you go out there alone. Do you understand? I have to protect you now. You’re mine.”

“Why?”

“Because I want you to be mine, Kiara.”

One more agitated sound, and then she was a mess of broken syllables, clamoring to stand on her toes just to reach my face, just to kiss me. She wanted to wrestle, and she wanted to kiss passionately; I was more than glad to give her both of those things.

Just as long as she stayed mine.

Chapter 12 - Kiara

It just wasn't fair. I wanted to fight him and screw him at the same time. I just couldn't resist him, and I couldn't resist not resisting him. None of it made sense to me. Well, some of it made sense, but all of this was based on the fact that I had been wanting to mate for the longest time. I had thought about finding my match so many times throughout my life. It had been happening more often since Regina married my father. I hated it to admit it, but it was like they were rubbing it in my face. Disgust and contempt filled me up whenever I thought about my feelings about the situation.

How could I not have moved past that yet?

I knew they weren't doing it on purpose. The jealousy was strange enough on its own, but having it be over my best friend and my father, I felt like I was betraying my own family. Even though we talked it out, there were still feelings inside of me that I hadn't fully dealt with. Regardless, none of these things were going to be fixed overnight.

I kissed Harvey on the lips while standing on the tips of my toes, struggling against his biceps. I felt like everything in the world had culminated at this point. Every step I had taken had led to this moment when he was holding me tightly against his chest, a flat plane of muscle that I wanted so much to run my hands over. But I couldn't do what I wanted because my arms were pinned to my sides. There was some secret part of me that truly loved the way that he held me down. Being with Harvey specifically satisfied a deep need to connect with another wolf.

If I was being honest with myself, that was hard to come by these days. My platonic friendships were great and made me feel supported. I had plenty of friends back in the pack. I knew so many people, and I spoke to them every single day. Not a moment of my life had been spent without company where I had to read social cues, tell jokes, and behave. With Harvey, though, it was different. I didn't have to perform around him. I didn't have to feel like what I said didn't matter or that it was silly. He was someone I could make mistakes with, rather than someone who would chide my mistakes.

I knew this ritual was supposed to save his pack. I wasn't sure how it was supposed to do so or why we hadn't seen evidence of it yet, but I had hope in my heart that something was happening in the ether, that something was occurring in the background that would eventually let us know things would be okay.

The tip of his tongue slid over my bottom lip, prodding me to open my mouth. I welcomed him and suckled on his tongue for a moment, drawing a long groan from him that made my thighs twitch. We were both still naked from last night, yet the thought never occurred to me that we were exposed to each other. It just felt so natural. His warm body was against mine, and his arms tightened around me. The gesture told me that this was the exact spot I needed to be in. As much as I wanted to run, I wanted to stay, and that feeling never seemed to diminish.

He drifted back, just enough to give me room to breathe and just enough for me to want more of his lips pressed on mine. I tried to chase after his mouth, but he tilted away, snickering as if he were teasing me on purpose.

He squeezed me again. “You'll have to do better than that, darling.”

I dug my nails into my hips, trying to bend my elbows or wiggle some more, but I couldn't break out of his grip. It was like my body didn't want to, even as my mind tried to get it to do what it wanted. Goddess, that didn't make sense either, but I was enjoying the strict tautness of his grip, and that confused me as much as it aroused me. “You're being mean.”

He nuzzled my nose with the tip of his nose and exhaled softly. “I'll stop. If you want me to stop.”

“No.” The word burst from my lips with the ferocity of an untamed fire. “No, don't stop.” Softer this time, yet so much more urgent than the first. “Please, don't ever stop.”

When his mouth returned, it was like the edge of a puzzle finally connecting with the center. Not just two puzzle pieces fitting together but a whole collection of them dropping right down to the table one after the other, sliding into place like they'd never been parted. The satisfaction of seeing the full picture awakened something in me. My wolf began to dart around inside me, jumping from one thing to the next, almost like a cat that had gone right off the edge. Strange, all of it. Funny enough, the feeling was like being young again—young and adventurous—exploring secrets, dark caves, vast forests, and rich fields. All that from a kiss, and the promise of more sat behind his lips. It told me I would never have to do this alone.

Long before the kiss could end, shouts and screams broke through the air. He tensed and then released me as his head jolted up, sending me to grab my new clothes from the bed. I yanked the boots on without any socks and darted after him. He snatched a pair of jogging pants from the dresser, pulled them on, and snatched a pair of sneakers from the ground. We went through the small living room to the porch. I trailed after him to find a team of wolves outside facing down Clancy, Kirk, Demarcus, and Shiloh. A few members from the Grimpaw pack had gathered around the area to observe the strangers who had invaded their village.

I gasped. Those aren’t strangers. I covered my mouth while watching Harvey descend the stairs with a growl. That’s my family.

My father stood with a grim expression at the head of the group, with Jermaine, Fred, and Isaiah accompanying him. His brows were furrowed, and his jaw was set with a concerned frustration. He held up his big hands to Harvey, whose growls had intensified.

I raised my hands and waved. “Dad! Don't worry. I'm fine.”

At ground level, I tried to side-step Harvey when he caught my arm. The snarl that escaped him was nothing like anything I’d ever heard in my life. The darkness behind it, the threat, the horrible nature of what I knew was a demonic force taking him over. It was then that I realized the gravity of how horrifying it was to be possessed.

“Who are you?” he bellowed. “What do you want with my mate?”

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