Page 80 of Craved By a Wolf

It felt monumental to him.

He hadn’t slept beside a female since becoming alpha of his pack. Before then, his relationships had been few and far between, and had never lasted long. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept with a female.

Kin rounded the bed to the other side and stripped off, tackling the easy part. Or what should have been easy.

The way Hella’s gaze tracked his hands, following their every move, and her little gasp when he shoved his trousers down his hips and his length sprang free, had his blood heating further, until his veins were an inferno and he couldn’t keep his mind off her curves and how she was almost bare beneath the covers.

He kicked off his boots and his jeans, and climbed into bed beside her, settling on his back.

Finding it strangely comforting to be beside her like this.

Hella made it even better by shuffling towards him and slinging her right leg over his, teasing him with the softness of her stockings. Her fingers traversed his chest and she angled her head back, her eyes coming up to lock on his face.

He slid his gaze to meet hers.

And gods, this was comfortable.

His wolf settled down, curling up in a contented way as she feathered her fingers across his flesh and gazed at him, a sparkle in her eyes that bewitched him. Her touch was like magic, calmed and eased the tension from him, until he felt more relaxed than he had ever been.

A moment had never been so perfect.

She proved him wrong about that by resting her cheek on his chest.

Now it was perfect.

He eased his arm around her and she didn’t protest. In fact, she snuggled closer as he stroked his fingers up and down her arm.

When she continued running her fingers over his chest, he looked down at it, curious about what she was doing. Her delicate fingertips stroked the line of a scar that cut from his left shoulder to where her chin rested on his right pectoral.

She tilted her head back again, her eyes soft but laced with curiosity, and a dash of hope.

Her finger unerringly followed the silvery streak across his chest again.

And her voice was softer, gentler than he had ever heard it, telling him how much she wanted to know the answer to her question and how she feared he would be upset about her asking it.

“How did you get these scars?”

Chapter 24

MacKinnon didn’t like to talk about his past, but as he gazed down into Hella’s beguiling green eyes, he knew it was something he had to do. His past felt like a barrier between them, one he needed to overcome if he was going to have the future he wanted with all his heart, and he didn’t like the thought of her coming up with her own answers about his scars and his time in captivity.

He would rather he put it all out there, as shameful as it was, and have her know the truth.

Even when it might mar her opinion of him.

He watched his fingers as he stroked her arm, relishing the fact she let him touch her like this, was in his arms and not fighting him for once. He shifted his gaze to hers and saw in it that she wanted to know about him, even the ugly parts. It was important to her. He felt that in his soul, and it made him think about the years that had come before his captivity, when he had been with his pack and his mother.

She had told him once that it was always better to speak the truth than tell a lie, even if the truth hurt.

It had taken him too long to understand what she had meant by that.

In fact, he had lost her before he had discovered the truth about her.

“The alpha of my pack gave me this one.” He stroked the start of the scar, remembering that day. “I returned to the pack having escaped my captivity thanks to a group who came to rescue someone else and discovered my mother had died. Mortal hunters had come and she had been left undefended in the cottage by the borders of the territory. She hadn’t stood a chance.”

Hella frowned but her voice was soft as she asked, “Why was she alone?”

He cleared his throat as it tightened and pushed the words out. “My mother was meant for the alpha of the MacKinnon pack, but she fell for his brother and gave herself to him. I was the result. When Ma told the alpha what had happened and confessed her love to the brother… it didn’t go the way she wished.”

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