Page 91 of Rogue Games

I feel like shit. I don’t know what to say.

Jamie blinks up at me, expression dazed and dreamy.

I must look as guilty as I feel because she reaches up and cups my cheek before pressing a quick kiss to the corner of my mouth.

It would be so easy to turn my head, to take her lips with mine, to kiss her gently like I want to. To drive my aching cock into her and claim her as mine forever. To stretch her around me and come as she screams my name to the stars…

But I can’t.

“Don’t overthink it, Dean. It’s the bond. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

Except deep down, I want it to.

She pushes away from the tree, away from me, and I let her. Her thighs glisten with her arousal, and my fingers are coated in her delicious honey. She grabs my hand with both of her and lifts it, slowly sucking her juices off one finger, swirling her tongue around before releasing it with a loud pop.

She pushes my hand to my face and encourages me to lick off the rest.

“Go. Do your alpha thing.”

My head is a mess as I emerge from the trees near the already burning log fire to greet the wolves coming back from the run.

Without a word, I leave her there to join them, my mind a chaotic jumble of conflicting wants and needs. But my pack needs me to be strong, so I put on a brave face and join the gathering. It seems like they’ve enjoyed running through our expansive land, getting the rare opportunity to stretch their legs somewhere completely new.

The full moon pack run is a core tradition for shifters, where we gather and shift, chasing and playing beneath the moon’s bright rays, cementing the tight family bonds we share. It re-energises us, reinvigorates our animals, and reminds us of what a precious gift it is to have this other side of ourselves.

Our wolves make us who we are, and even when we don’t see eye to eye, we’re two halves of the whole. Until we meet our fated mate. Normally, we’re then united, completely dedicated to cherishing the new part of our soul.

Our mate. Jamie.

As I stand here, my back to the flames, smiling as the youngsters in my pack who can’t yet shift mingle with the giant wolves, my gaze goes to the treeline. Jamie stands there watching me, looking fierce and beautiful as ever, her dark hair cascading around her shoulders in soft waves. The amber light gives it a warm sheen, and her tanned skin glows.

Her full lips are still red and swollen from our kiss. I can still taste her on my lips.

My gaze falls on Joel, sitting on a thick tree trunk, turned on its side to make a bench. He stares adoringly into the eyes of his fated mate. Despite his actions, my pack congratulates them, knowing that when in the throes of finding your true mate, it tends to be your wolf, and your hormones running the show, rather than your brain.

Like even now, I’m convinced I can scent her heightened arousal, just from watching me. Not fear.

I want to drag her home to my cabin and stake my claim before one of these other alpha’s realises what I know—that she’s special. One in a million. And she’s supposed to be mine.

As I stare longingly at her, a small group of new arrivals comes to stand by my side, following my gaze to the edge of the forest, where my mate stands.

I bite back a growl. It’s not their fault she’s gorgeous and clearly proving a point. She’s showing me exactly what I’m turning down to make me jealous.

And it’s working.

“Wow. Who’s that?” one of the new wolves asks, standing at my side and staring at my mate.

The muscles in my arms tremble as I fight every primitive desire inside me. Her nakedness isn’t an issue, wolves are used to nudity, but her neck is bare, no mark to show any male that she’s spoken for.

That’s what’s causing a dark, ugly feeling to bubble up inside me. My wolf is possessive. He wants her to wear our brand, so everyone knows exactly who she belongs to, so they know to avert their eyes if they want to keep them.

“A rogue. Don’t waste your time,” someone mutters. “Your dad would kill you if he thought you were chasing that tail instead of saving your charm for one of the alpha females.”

The crackling fire smothers the quiet growl rumbling in my chest. Jamie is an alpha female. Her mother was the luna of this pack. They’re too stupid to recognise it, just like I was.

“She’s out of your league,” I say with a vicious glare in his direction. “Why don’t you focus on the competition instead?”

The wolf laughs and rubs his hands together. I saw him arrive earlier with his brother, the current alpha of the Silver Moon pack. Timothy’s the second son in the family, equally formidable, but just slightly lower in the pecking order. He’s a powerful wolf from a powerful pack, and he knows it.

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