Page 106 of Wolf's Mark

I could break through a man’s defenses without blinking.

I enjoyed destroying deals that were shady or harmful to the environment.

But I’d never once lost my cool with a woman.

Until now.

Sedona was the single person who understood my push points and could get under my skin without trying. Even the smile crossing her face as if she’d won some battle was both irritating and arousing.

I took a single and what many enemies had called formidable step toward her, but the woman refused to budge. She was calling my bluff.

“You want to see the beast unfurled from his lair, Sedona? Do you really want me to show you what I and so many others consider a curse that we’ve been born into and forced to live with? Do you? Is that what you want, to have your tiny worldand all the beliefs about right versus wrong, good versus evil challenged? Do you truly desire me to shatter that glass house you have right after I smash the bubble you’re living in?”

My anger was far too intense, but she wasn’t the kind of woman to allow me to throw her determination. The hard crack she issued across my face was painful, but not physically. I’d always considered myself a ruthless man, yet I’d broken the small amount of trust that had built between us.

I looked away and rubbed my jaw, closing my eyes briefly. My entire body was shaking from tension and the rush of adrenaline.

As well as something else.

My wolf was determined to come out and play.

She was shaking more than I was, her nerves completely frayed. “Yes.”

Her hiss was full of anger.

And hatred.

At that moment, my emotions were driven all over the place. I craved the woman, my bone and muscles aching to be with her. I needed to touch her.

To taste her.

To fuck her…

She was mine. My mate. All mine. I couldn’t do without her. She was…

Control.

For all the years I’d been able to maintain it, the thought of her, of who she was to me allowed the chains to unravel around my wolf.

As he breached the surface, I slapped my hands across my face. There was no shame in who I was. But the terror I’d cause her would be too much to bear.

Yet there was no ignoring her request or my response.

As the shudders began within my body, the change in temperature the first aspect of the shift, I kept my eyes closed and lowered my hands. The moment I lifted my head, she sucked in her breath.

Predator.

An animal that naturally preys on others.

The definition was one I knew well, a brutal desire I’d felt my entire life, the kind of hunger that burned deep within my very soul. If it weren’t for centuries of evolved humanity, my kind would live on their primal needs alone.

All the hard work and all the generations passing by without a brutal battle would now be shoved aside.

Then I opened my eyes, my wolf breaching the surface.

She didn’t scream.

She stood where she was, cocking her head in utter fascination. Even when I opened my mouth, allowing my canines to become exposed, her fascination continued. She reached out, touching my face as if expecting my skin would sprout fur.

---