Page 19 of Forbid Me

This goddess among mortals thought any man would reject her. The blond suckface didn't count. He was not mortal, and much less than a man. A woman as beautiful as Stella, with curves that had my canines aching, my molars throbbing, and my tongue damn near lolling out of my mouth? Rejection?

If she were mine, I would have stripped her naked upon sight and given my tongue worship duties on that lush body of hers. Starting with removing those ridiculous spiked shoes which had to be murder on her legs. But she wasn't mine.

Liar, roared my panther, making me wince with the force of his certainty.

I shut out the sound of the beast and focused on the most important thing she just said.

"I can't shift."

The forest around us was a blur of green and brown, a wild tapestry that was both familiar and alien to me. Like the wilderness of Portland, the land looked as though it was trying to reclaim the space from the supernaturals that stubbornly clung to them when they were at the top of the food chain. They mistakenly thought they had a leg up on nature. But as the skyline was reminding them, there were far greater powers out there than them.

"You can't shift?"

Stella stood before me. Her eyes shimmered with vulnerability and fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of shame.

I couldn't fathom a life devoid of the freedom to shift, to feel the power and grace of my panther form. There was a time when I feared I might be trapped forever in that primal state, the wildness of the panther nearly consuming the boy I used to be whole. But to have never known the exhilaration of the run was unimaginable to me.

Without conscious thought, my hand reached out to her,intending only to coax her gaze upward, to remind her of her divine nobility. A goddess should never bow to any man, not even her king. But at the slightest contact, at the first brush of my fingertip on her soft flesh, she surged toward me, her body pressing against mine with a desperation that took my breath away.

My initial instinct was to retreat, to maintain the respectful distance her impending queenship demanded. Yet, as her warmth enveloped me, I found myself unable to resist the pull of her need. My arms wrapped around her as though she commanded it. It was of my own volition that I sniffed at her hair, gulping down the sweet vanilla scent of her and feeding it to my hungry beast.

"It's all right, princess."

She was not mine. She was destined to be my king's, to be my queen. But as of now, she was not. That's probably why I'd been calling her princess; she hadn't assumed the throne yet.

Despite everything I knew—that she wasn't my fated mate, that my ultimate loyalty was to my king—I found myself unable to push her away.

She calmed in my hold, and so did I. Even though I knew danger was gaining ground on us, I was loath to let go of this moment. It was like a dream. I hadn't dreamed since… I don't think I'd ever had a single dream in my life. Only waking nightmares.

The weight of my past, the guilt and regret, still shadowed me. It was a constant throb in my heart, a relentless reminder of the cub I had once been and the errors I’d committed. The loneliness that ensued had shaped me, transformed me into the leashed weapon I'd become. It also etched scars, deep and unforgiving, that ached sharply as Stella gazed up at me.

I gazed down at her and saw more than just the woman standing before me. I saw a kindred spirit, someone else touched by the stiff hand of rejection. My instincts as a protector roared to life. I couldn't let her experience that pain, that desolation. Never again.

A part of me wanted to wait for that suck hard vampire who hurther. I could almost taste his blood on my tongue. But duty overruled that.

"I need to get us out of here."

"There's a car about a mile away," she said.

"How do you know that?"

She tapped her temple. She possessed the sight, just like Dion. Yet another sign they were destined for each other.

It took us twenty painstaking minutes to reach the car. Her shoes were the culprit, slowing us down. Countless times I wanted to yank them off her feet, but then she'd be barefoot and entirely at the mercy of the wilderness. I also fought the urge to hoist her over my shoulder and carry her. That right wasn't mine.

The car roared to life, its rumble resonating with the panther within me. I scented the two teens a distance off. Heard a male grunt of pleasure. Heard a feminine gasp that was fake pleasure. Then a fruitless scramble of clothes and shoes as I steered through the dark, tree-lined path.

The night wrapped around us, a cool shroud of secrecy. The dashboard lights cast a soft glow on Stella's face, highlighting her features in a serene light. I held the steering wheel tightly, a battlefield within me where man and panther collide.

The beast within was agitated. Drawn to Stella, to her scent that filled the car — a blend of wildflowers and that sweet essence of vanilla. Vanilla was said to be calming. Instead, it called to my primal side, demanding I claim her as mine.

But my duty to Dion, my king and savior, acted as a shackle. The internal struggle was relentless, a war between what I desired and what I owed. The panther inside clawed at my confines, its longing clear. I had to quell its desires. I could not—would not—betray the one who gave my life meaning, who’d rescued me from a fate of isolation and sorrow.

The silence in the car was a third passenger between us. A quick glance at Stella showed tears shimmering in her eyes, a sight thatsliced through me sharply. She was still under the impression I'd reject her, resigning herself to a fate devoid of a true mate.

I yearned to unveil the truth, to confess that Dion, the best man I knew, was her destined mate. Well, he would be the best man. Now that he had a mate. He would give up all the women and whoring.

I was certain.

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