Page 27 of Possessive Mate

Just kill me already! she thought, snapping her jaws at them even as the fourth wolf managed to return to his feet.

She had nothing left to live for. Her mate was gone, every connection to him gone with him. Eddie had his own pack now, and Hanson…

Oh, Hanson, she thought, whimpering. Why couldn’t she have just told him the truth?

It was too late now. There was no opportunity to turn back and run right to him like her wolf always wanted her to.

The wolves zeroed in on her again, and though she lashed out with her claws and snapped at them with her fangs, they did not back off.

She was cornered against the tree, fighting desperately once more.

Even as the huge black paw came dangerously close to her face, she knew what was coming. It would all be over soon. And as the paw hit the side of her face, causing her head to spin, pain lanced through her skull. She hit the ground hard once more, and a sharp pain stabbed at her temple in the seconds before everything went black.

Chapter 13 - Hanson

For the first time in weeks, Hanson didn't have a patrol to go on or some other pack chore to do, and somehow, he couldn't bring himself to leave the library.

It was the last place he had been close to Elena. Her scent still lingered in the air even hours after she had stormed out. And so, he remained there, hiding. A part of him even hoped she might come back to find him, but he was certain that was merely wishful thinking.

And by the time that evening came around, he had taken more books than he could count off the shelves, flicking through them with no real interest whatsoever. It was merely an excuse in case someone caught him brooding.

His mind was truly on what Elena had said. Surely, if she had a mate, he couldn't possibly feel the way he was feeling about her. Sure, he might find her attractive, and hell, he might want to fuck her, but he so goddamn protective. He felt the urge to know where she was every second of every day, to know she was safe and happy and healthy. Just seeing her cry that night had made him want to tear heads off. He would have done anything just to make her smile.

And hell, the way he had felt inside her…

It had never felt like that before. Sure, sex had always felt good, but this was an entirely new level of good. Good didn't even come close to what this had been. It left him totally uninterested in sticking his dick anywhere else ever again, and for a werewolf, that was a huge damn thing indeed.

It was so huge he couldn't even believe it. But it was like a gnawing, uncontrollable sensation in his stomach that repulsed him any time he even tried to think of another she-wolf.

Slamming his latest book down on the desk in front of him, he leaned back in his chair and dragged his fingers through his hair. Fuck!

He should have gone after her. He had known that from the second she left, and yet, he hadn't been able to bring himself to move. Her words had been like a slap in the face and a punch to the gut in the same instant.

They couldn't be true, yet she had spoken them all the same, and the effect was so painful that Hanson felt forever changed.

There was a growing pit of pain and emptiness in his stomach, one that he feared would never stop growing.

And when he heard voices in the hallway, it only opened up further.

“Eddie, calm down. What's the matter?” Jack demanded, and Hanson was immediately on high alert.

“Have you seen Elena?” Eddie asked, and Hanson was on his feet. The concern in his packmate's tone made his skin crawl.

“Not since this morning,” Jack responded. “Have you tried her room?”

Hanson crept to the library doorway and peered through where it had been left open a crack. He was just in time to see Eddie's hands tighten to fists.

“I've checked her room three times today,” Eddie snapped at the alpha, making Hanson’s hackles rise. “She isn't there.”

“Maybe she went for a shift?” Jack suggested, but his own tone was growing concerned now.

“I've checked the woods,” Eddie said. His jaw visibly clenched before he spoke through gritted teeth, “I can barely smell her scent within the borders.”

Hanson's throat constricted.

“Elena has always enjoyed her alone time,” Jack pointed out. “I'm sure she'll be back any minute.”

Hanson wanted to believe his alpha, but the sensation in his gut was growing stronger. Elena was in trouble. He knew it right down to his soul.

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