Page 25 of Possessive Mate

She reached up and pushed hair back behind her ear, lowering her gaze as she said, “There is nothing to talk about.”

Hanson's stomach twisted. Clearly, she was as determined as he was to deny what had happened between them, yet it still hurt like hell.

“Don't fuck with me, Elena,” he growled, and her gaze darted to his again, eyes widening. “I need to know, do you feel the same way I do?”

Against his better judgment, he drew closer. He didn't blink and neither did she. They stared into each other's eyes, locked in place.

Do you need me with every fiber of your being? he thought, not daring to ask the words for fear he would never be able to deny it to himself once the words were out.

“Yes,” Elena breathed through parted lips, drawing so close he thought she might push up on her tiptoes and kiss him. Her next words made his insides ache. “What happened between us never should have happened. We should just forget it ever did.”

Through gritted teeth, he said, “Agreed,” but his eyes lowered to her lips, lingering there as the urge to kiss her only grew.

The book dropped, forgotten, from Elena's fingers once more. Her hands dropped to her sides as her chest brushed his.

Torturously slowly, Hanson’s fingertips brushed hers, their hands interlocking. Her lips were so close to his now, leaning down even as she pushed herself up.

Time seemed to slow and then stop. Her breath tickled his lips, and he groaned deep in his throat, closing his eyes as he fought the urge to embrace her.

Then, suddenly, she screamed, “No! This can't happen again. I already have a mate!”

Her words were like a knife to his heart. It wouldn't be the first time he had been stabbed, but this was even more painful than being pierced by a silver blade.

His eyes burst open, and he moved to grab her, to shake her and demand if she was lying, but before he could do so she slipped past him.

Heart breaking into a million pieces, Hanson turned and watched her go, feeling as if the only good thing in his life had been dashed to the seven winds forever.

Her words rang in his ears, but how could they possibly be true? If she had a mate, how could he possibly feel this kind of connection with her?

His urge to protect, to possess, to fuck her was so uncontrollable that it was a fight simply to breathe in her presence. Every time Eddie glowered at him, he was ready to tear his head clean off his shoulders just to get nearer to her. If another member of the pack so much as sniffed in her direction, he had to fight the urge to throw them through the nearest window.

Never in all the years since his first shift at eighteen had he felt this strongly about another wolf. It was driving him insane.

But what she had just told him made him feel dead inside. It was like a cold shard of ice had been plunged into his heart and was slowly freezing him from the inside out, turning him cold and hard and unfeeling. Only he felt all too much, his world collapsing around him.

More fool me, he thought, disappointed with himself more than anything. If he had just stuck to his guns and stayed the hell away from her, he never would have had to feel this unbearable pain.

Long after she was gone, he remained frozen to the spot, unsure what to do or where to go or how even to begin moving again.

The emotional battering she had just given him was far worse than any physical injury he had ever received. In fact, it was one he wasn't sure he would ever recover from.

Chapter 12 - Elena

Unsure what was more distressing—Hanson’s confrontation or the lie she had just told him—Elena ran from the manor without so much as a glance behind her.

What the hell was she thinking? She had no mate. Jason was gone. He wasn't ever coming back. She had nothing. She was alone. And Hanson couldn't change that. No matter how she might feel about him, fated mates were a once in a lifetime thing. She had already had her chance, and she had snuffed it.

No, she was destined to be alone. And maybe that was exactly what she really needed. She had come to Nightstar hoping not to be alone, hoping that her brother might help to ease all that was going on, but at every turn she felt herself pushing him and everyone else away.

Maybe her being alone would be better for everybody involved. She was sure that Hanson was done with all her bullshit, and how could she blame him after the way she had treated him? Sleeping with him only to avoid him for two weeks was bad enough, but when she closed her eyes, she could still see the pain in his gaze caused by her words when she had told him she had a mate.

How could he be that hurt by the words if he wasn't…

Elena couldn’t bear to think about it, and so the second she reached the tree line, she started to strip off her clothes, shifting as she went.

She needed to run. She needed, now more than ever, to be alone. Maybe she ought to remain in wolf form forever and roam the hillside alone. It would be a damn sight simpler than her life so far. And the only time she felt any relief from her heartache was when she let her wolf out to run.

It was more than a little tempting just to shift and get lost in the woods, never to be seen again. At least then she wouldn't have to deal with whatever the hell was going on between her and Hanson.

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