Page 52 of Owning His Mate

I feel it so intensely through our bond; there is no denying it. He’s in my head, in my thoughts. He’s everywhere.

And you’re mine,I respond.

The mating bondbecomes louder in my head, my connection to him deepening as it fully slides into place.

My back arches as he drives into me over and over, his breath becoming ragged too. My nails embed in his skin as I anchor myself to him, my thighs widening with his every thrust. Perspiration beads on his forehead and on his naked chest, which is still stained with the blood of those he killed to protect me.

His body shakes as he spills inside me, his hot cum filling me, and my body tenses, blinding lights appearing in my vision as I come harder than I ever have.

His eyes flash wolf, and I feel mine surge to the surface too—both animals recognizing each other.

I’m too hot, yet my skin is chilled as his thrusts slow before they stop completely. He collapses onto his hands, though he’s careful not to crush me as his soft eyes gaze down at me.

“My mate,” he murmurs with such adoration that tears burn my eyes, and I can’t stop them from rolling down my cheeks.

Kye pulls back, a hint of alarm in his face. “Did I hurt you?”

I can’t articulate what I’m feeling without bursting into tears, so I just shake my head.

“Apryle? I can feel you’re happy through our bond, but you’re crying.”

“I know. It doesn’t make any sense. I just feel so overwhelmed.”

He climbs off me, his cock slipping free of my body, making me whimper. I don’t want to lose his touch, so I reach for him before I realize he’s only moving far enough to grab a blanket off the back of the couch. I don’t care about being half naked. I feel safe with Kye, and I’m not ashamed or embarrassed to share my body with him.

Even so, I let him wrap me in it, sensing he wants to take care of me. He uses the other half to cover himself before he positions us on the couch so we’re sitting side by side. I sink against him, loving how his arm drapes around my shoulders and the way his fingers sift through my hair in a relaxing motion that calms the emotions rolling through me.

“I’ve got you,” he soothes. “I’m never letting you go, Apryle.”

“I’m never letting you go either,” I tell him, snuggling into his side, my arm wrapped around his middle.

“I was so terrified when we were captured. I thought I was going to lose you. You can’t do that again.”

Oh, boy. I don’t want to have this conversation when I feel happy and sated, but it needs to happen.

I pull back and slowly sit up. Kye doesn’t like this, but he doesn’t stop me either.

“I’m sorry that you were worried, and I’m sorry that you feel like I put us in a dangerous position, but that’s going to happen again. This war against the Order involves me too, Kye. I’m not going to sit by and let others fight it for me.”

“I won’t let you die in this crusade.”

“That’s not your choice to make,” I snap at him. “I’m not some damsel you need to protect. I want to make things better for the generation coming after us. I want to make things better forus. You need to handle your feelings on that.”

He considers my words, but I can feel his mixed emotions through the bond. “I’d never want you to be someone you’re not,” he says, mimicking my own words from before.

“If you ask me to step aside and let others fight this battle, that’s exactly what you will be doing.” I take his hands. Like everything about Kye, they are so much bigger than mine. “I promise you I won’t be reckless or do anything to intentionally put myself at risk, but if you want me to stay here behind the high walls Callum built, I can’t do that.”

He squeezes my hands, so I keep going. “These people have to be stopped. They plucked us off the street in front of witnesses without giving a shit if they got caught. Look what they did to Savannah. That little girl is skin and bones, Kye. I don’t even want to think about how long they had her before we got there. It can’t be allowed to continue, and I won’t be left out of that fight. I have my own scars from things that have been done to me because of what I am, because of the hate perpetuated by assholes like the Order.”

He strokes my hair back from my face, and the gesture is so soft that I lean instinctively into his touch.

“Nothing will scar you again. And I will kill anyone who’s done so in the past.”

I place a hand on his chest, feeling the rapid pounding of his pulse against me. “Easy, tiger. I don’t need you to go on a murdering spree for me. They’re all dead anyway.”

His brows come together. “You? Or someone else?”

I’m not sure I want to admit to being a murderer, but since we share a headspace, I doubt I’ll be able to keep much from him. “Me.” The thread of sadness in my voice for the lives I took seems to annoy Kye.

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