Page 32 of Crescent Warrior

Xander’s eyebrows dropped low and he looked behind her, glaring at Cole, who was regaining consciousness. “What a fucking asshole.”

She chuckled, reaching up to pat his cheek. “And he will kick your ass when he wakes up for seeing me naked. So go.”

“Worth it.” He grinned at her, leaning down to pop a kiss on her head.

The feral growl behind her made her push Xander outside, slamming the door in his face. She spun to look at the wolf on her bed, fully transformed.

“Cole,” she warned, shaking her head. “Don’t.”

The growl stopped now that Xander was walking away and his eyes slowly cleared, the killing fury no longer at the forefront.

He jumped off the bed, mid-transformation. Cole met her at the door, pushing her against it, gripping her ass and lifting, spreading her legs wide to accommodate him.

Her heat was still in full force and she whimpered as he bit her mark again, hard.

“Mine,” he growled, yanking her robe off.

She was left naked and vulnerable, his hands roaming freely over her skin.

“Say it.”

The demand shouldn’t have been hot. She should be angry. Pissed that he hadn’t wanted to claim her before but he wanted to now. He never followed her, didn’t even try. Clearly, she wasn’t worth it back then, but now that she was in heat, his wolf wanted hers so much he could lower his standards.

“No,” she moaned, and he growled, throwing her over his shoulder and smacking her hard across her ass.

“You will,” he promised.

She shivered, struggling half-heartedly in his arms, wiggling her hips, silently begging for more. He dropped her to the bed on her stomach, yanking her legs toward him, rubbing his face against her back, spreading his scent. Her hands were pinned behind her again.

“Did you protect another male from me?” he growled, his voice furious.

“Yes,” she growled right back, “and I would do it again.”

He froze, flipping her to her back. She grunted, her legs spreading wide for him. He settled there, so naturally it made a spark of worry flash through her.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. She was supposed to push him away, not yank him closer with her thighs, yet there they were, traitorously tightening around him. He cupped her cheek, burying his fingers in her hair, searching her face.

“Who the fuck is he to you?”

Her breathing was erratic, wild panting as she struggled to control her reactions to him. He was so angry. She had never seen him like this before. She didn’t know how to react, but her wolf did.

She was fighting her, harder than ever before, to appease her mate. She wanted to let him know that he was the only male in her life. She wanted him to claim her so she could prove that he was the one she wanted, no one else.

Hippolyta moaned as she fought her, closing her eyes and turning away from him. He gripped her face tightly, right on the cusp of pain. His chest was abrading her sensitive nipples. He twisted her face back to his and she was forced to look at him again, but this time, she was as angry as he was.

“Who,” he growled, “the fuck”, he gave her a little shake, “is he to you?”

“My best friend,” she growled.

His grip slackened as his eyes widened with shock and pain. She used her strength to push him off her. Struggling to her feet, her wolf fighting her tooth and nail, her knees buckled. Her wolf was stronger than she was and she wanted to be released now.

Sobbing, fighting her, she watched the fur sprout across her skin, her claws curling.

“Lyta,” he reached out to her, pulling her into his arms.

She slumped against him, tired to the bone. “Fine,” she gasped, tears leaking down her face unchecked. “I’m yours. Go ahead. Mark me, fuck me, do whatever. You win.”

Those words from his mate shouldn’t hurt him so deeply. She was telling him to mark her again, to make her his, but she sounded so defeated. She looked wrecked. She didn’t want this. She didn’t want him.

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