Page 7 of Mated

I want to go to her, lap the tears she does not want to cry from her cheeks. I also want to pick her up, strip her, and fuck her—but if I do that, I change her life forever. She could go for the rest of her days never knowing what this encounter meant. She could be happy. Goddamnit, she could be normal.

I have a reputation for firing people on short notice, but that’s because I have exacting standards. This young woman lives up to all of them and more. She’s beautiful, and I know she’s smart and accomplished, because there is no way she would have been hired if she were not.

I can see the little beast inside her. I know it probably makes her restless. I know it makes her feel different from other people. If she’s like most women of our kind, she probably thinks there’s something deeply wrong with her. She hides it well, but I can see it now, that doubt in her eyes brought out by my cruelty.

It is physically painful to not fuck her. Not to pick her up, throw her on my desk, and ravage her until we are both entirely animal. But I promised myself I would not take a mate.

“I am doing this for your own good.”

“No, you’re not. I need this job,” she sobs.

“There are many jobs.”

“Not like this one.” Her shoulders are shaking as she cries, covering her face with her hands. “It took me months to find this one. And I don’t have any money left for another month’s rent, and…”

I usually don’t care when people cry. It’s a completely neutral experience for me, typically. On this occasion, I feel as though my insides are being carved out.

Before I know what I am doing, I have crossed the room and engulfed her in a hug. She feels perfect in my arms, even shuddering with tears. Her body feels correct pressed against mine, her soft curves melting against my merciless frame.

“I’ll give you money. You’re not going to go hungry, or without a roof over your head.”

She looks up at me, tilting her head back in a watery, suspicious gaze. “Why would you do that?”

The question stumps me. The honest answer is because I feel guilty, but I can’t say that to her.

“I want you to be taken care of.”

That’s another honest answer, and I immediately know that it is even more confusing.

“Why?”

She steps back, wiping her eyes on the back of her sleeve in a motion that is endearing. “What is wrong with me?”

“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you.”

God. Her scent is clinging to me now. I don’t think I am going to be able to get it off without a shower, and I don’t think I’m going to be able to take a shower soon enough. My cock is rock fucking hard, and she will know that the second her eyes dip down…

She looks down. Her eyes widen. She covers her mouth with her hand as her lips form a perfect ‘o’ of surprise.

Suddenly, her scent is even more intense.

Suddenly, I can’t help myself.

Instincts are made to be followed.

I’ve encountered plenty of females in heat before, and yes, there’s always a pull to them. But not like this. This woman is demanding I fuck her. It is a biological imperative.

I draw in a breath, trying to clear my head, but all it does is draw her scent in deeper. I have always had almost complete control over my impulses and instincts. An alpha has to. If I fucked every female who came into heat around me, I’d have pups up and down the state, and a pack mired in scandal.

The reason the Lupin pack functions so well is because I can control myself.Couldcontrol myself.

I’m losing control completely now.

This woman is a stranger to me. A nubile, soft, curvy stranger with a scent that maddens me and eyes that make me melt. She represents a whole new world. A series of firsts that threatens the very core of who I thought I was. I am always in control, of myself first, and everybody else second.

I kiss her, and that carefully curated control crumbles even further. I feel my inner animal taking over as my tongue enters her mouth. She tastes like mine. She gives herself to me with such sweet surrender.

“I’ve never…” She practically whispers the words when I break the kiss. “… been with anybody before.” She finishes the sentence after a brief hesitation.

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