Page 56 of Wolf's Endgame

“That’s what you think,” he barked back at me, his eyes changing to turquoise. “You are my mate. I am your alpha, and I swear to the Goddess, if I have to keep you contained every day from now on to know you’re safe, I will.”

“Shall I call you Bale?” Tossing my hair over my shoulder, I stood with my hands on my hips. “He liked to chain me to the wall to keep me contained.”

The anger dissolved from Cannon as he looked at me, stricken. “Kezia…”

I wasn’t having it; my temper was still high. “Kris is my brother. Severing the mate bond was so Bale could kill him and not kill Cass. I had a limited time to stop that. You, you pig-headed idiot, are my mate, and I knew if you were alive, she could save you.” Angrily, I wiped away a tear. “I will always fight for the ones I love. Always.”

Cannon and I stared at each other, emotions high, and I saw him struggle not to argue with me. He took a deep breath, and I could almost see him counting it out to calm his temper. “I know you will, and it is commendable, and it’s why you are you, but?—”

“There doesn’t need to be a but.”

He gave me a long-suffering look. “But we as a pack could have planned an attack much better than you rushing into capture.” When he saw me about to protest, he threw his hands in the air. “For Luna’s grace, Kezia! I saved Kris, not you! You did nothing by handing yourself over to them.”

“That’s so unfair,” I whispered.

“It is unfair.” Kris’s voice broke our stare off as we both swung to look at him. “You stood against Bale’s pack to fight for me and Cass, Cannon,” Kris spoke quietly from where he stood. “You and your pack, against how many?”

“I wasn’t counting,” Cannon answered gruffly.

“There were too many to count,” I demanded, outraged. “You’re a complete hypocrite sometimes, you know that, don’t you?”

“Okay. We can all admit we made mistakes, and lessons have been learned.” Royce stepped between us, ignoring the three answering grunts. “You two are giving me whiplash. Pick an emotion, will you, and go with it, at least until we’re back in the pack.” He turned to look at me. “What about your heat?”

He was right, but it wasn’t that easy. I wanted to lose myself in Cannon, but I also wanted to punch him for thinking I would betray him. I wanted to scream in frustration that he thought I’d given up fighting because I had surrendered to Moonstar. I wanted to bash his head off the nearest hard surface, that he thought I was to be controlled, and I wanted to tell him how much I loved him because he would do anything to keep me safe. My emotions were all over the place, and looking at Cannon, I could see he was struggling as much as I was.

“I went into heat,” I said. “I think. I remember being aware that I felt”—I glanced at my brother, my cheeks flushing—“that way. I think you were near.”

Cannon sniffed. “I caught your scent a week ago.” He was looking at the peak. “Been chasing it down for days.”

“Your heat and his scent would have pulled you forward,” Kris mused. “She is strong, but even she can’t fight the Goddess’s Will.”

“The sooner you two complete the bond, the better for everyone,” Royce grumbled. He looked at me with a speculative gleam in his eyes. “You feeling?—”

“If you’re about to ask me if I’m in the mood in front of my brother, I will cut your balls off.”

“Two visuals I don’t need,” Kris said with a grimace. “Have you both settled down?” When we both nodded, he smiled as he looked between us. “Royce is right, you need to complete the bond, but let’s get back to the pack. We’re still too exposed here.”

My gaze drifted to Cannon’s bare chest. He was exposed in more ways than one, and I wasn’t complaining. He caught my stare, and I saw the corner of his mouth lift in a knowing smirk.

He watched me as he spoke to the others. “Kris is right in that we need to return. The pack is vulnerable without us.”

As I followed them to the Jeep, Cannon wordlessly slipped into the back seat with me, and we both pretended we didn’t hear Kris’s muttering about the journey being awkward.

We drove in silence. Cannon’s hand rested lightly on my knee, and I was grateful for the barrier of the denim. If he’d been touching my skin, the car ride would have been a lot less comfortable for the two males in front. When Royce hit a bump in the road, causing all of us to lift off the seats at the impact, Cannon’s hand moved off my knee and landed further up my thigh, causing me to fight back the groan. I expected him to move it, but he merely slipped his hand further in between my thighs, and I wondered if this was his method of punishment. To touch me but not touch me.

I couldn’t concentrate. I was trying so hard to focus on anything but his hand. It was all I could think about. I felt his gaze shift from the front of the Jeep to mine, and his hand inched its way higher. Pressing my thighs together caused him to let out a small huff of amusement, and the bastard dug his fingers into my thigh.

“You two okay back there?” Royce broke the silence, and I nodded quickly, not trusting myself to speak. “We’re almost on packlands.”

“If you can resist for longer, we’d appreciate it,” Kris grumbled from the front, but he let out a sigh. “Though I know if it was Cass…”

I could feel Cannon’s heavy stare, and I knew if I looked his way, I’d be a goner. Still, when his fingers flexed on my inner thigh, I relaxed them slightly, and this time, he didn’t care who was in the car. His hand slid up and cupped me, and my cheeks burned when my scent flooded the confines of the car.

Royce cursed and slammed on the brakes, and I felt the cold air rush in when Cannon pulled me from the Jeep. I didn’t even look to see them drive off. The two of us stared at each other, suspended in stasis for a moment before we crashed together.

His lips claimed mine, his hands on my ass, lifting me, my legs wrapping around his waist before I was pushed against a tree. Cannon’s mouth was everywhere—his mouth sucked at my neck, then was back at my mouth, his tongue stroking mine, his hands already pushing my jeans off me.

“You need to be taken over my knee one of these days,” he scolded, pulling my sweater off. He kissed his way down my body, tongue laving over my nipple before biting the other one. I cried out when his fingers slid through my wetness, my fingers digging into his shoulders as he pushed inside me.

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