Page 42 of His Mate

He took my arm and I tried to pull it away, but he didn’t relent. Instead, he jerked me toward the same fallen log he’d carved the switch on and bent me over it. Placing the thin branch to the side, he pressed one hand onto my lower back and snaked his other hand beneath me to unbutton my jeans.

Without any pomp or circumstance, he yanked them down to my knees, baring my ass in one swift motion and I yelped out loud as the cool mountain air caressed my naked cheeks.

My stomach dropped.

He’d spanked me once before with just his hand.

I had no doubt that it would be ten times worse when he had a switch in that same hand.

“Please! I won’t run again!” I cried out.

“I’m going to make sure of that,” he growled, and my stomach dropped to the pit of my toes. I struggled for a moment, but nomatter how hard I tried, I couldn’t break free. He had me pinned and my mind reeled as I realized that I was about to get my ass switched for the first time in my life.

“I just wanted to warn my friends! They’re going to take them. They’re talking about taking girls when they’re eighteen and I just wanted to get to them before it’s too late,” I tried.

“I would have helped you, little mate, but instead you ran off without me and put yourself in danger, all while knowing the wolves were still tracking us,” he scolded.

“I—” I tried, but there was really nothing to say. He was right.

“You should have trusted me, my sweet mate,” he said softly, and the guilt ratcheted through me despite everything I tried to do to fight against it.

It was true. I hadn’t even given him a chance. He hadn’t given me any reasonnotto trust him. He’d saved me, carried me through the woods when I could barely keep my eyes open, and yet I’d slipped away the first moment I could, thinking that I had to do this alone. That I had to be the one to save Mariah and Lia, without asking for his help.

I’d been so afraid of him trying to stop me, so afraid of the possibility that he might think my friends didn’t matter, that I’d convinced myself running off was the only option. But deep down, I knew that wasn’t true. He would have understood. He would have helped me. And instead, I’d just made everything worse, put myself right back into danger.

“I’m sorry, Rowan,” I whispered, my voice catching in my throat, the words swallowed up by the darkness. “I should’ve trusted you. I should’ve let you help.”

“That’s right. You should have, bad girl,” he scolded, and I bit my lip, tensing nervously as his fingers grazed against my bare ass. “You put yourself in danger, Kendra.”

“I know,” I agreed, tears welling up in my eyes, spilling over despite my best efforts to hold them back. “I didn’t think?—”

“No,” he cut me off, his voice ominous. “You didn’t think. And now, you’re going to have to face the consequences of that. You ran from me, Kendra. You didn’t trust me, and that… that’s something I can’t just let slide.”

My breath hitched, and I felt a strange mix of fear and longing twist inside me, a heat pooling low in my belly.

“I… I know,” I stammered, my voice barely more than a breath, and his eyes darkened, flashing with something that made my heart skip a beat.

“You deserve to be punished,” he said, his voice a low growl, and I shivered, the words sending a jolt of electricity through me.

I swallowed hard, my pulse racing, and I nodded, unable to tear my gaze away from the forest floor. “I’m sorry,” I whispered again, my voice shaking.

“You will be,” he murmured, his voice softer now, but no less intense. “Because you’re mine, Kendra. And I’ll make damn sure you never forget that.”

I swallowed hard, looking over my shoulder and meeting his eyes as he cupped my bottom cheek with one big hand.

“I’m going to start with my hand, but I’m going to finish with the switch, my naughty mate. You should know, though, that it’s going to hurt and you’re going to be one very,verysorry girl by the time I finish welting this bare little ass.”

A soft whimper slipped free from my lips at his words.

My body trembled, and I tried to pull away, but Rowan kept a firm hold on me. His fingers grazed against my skin, tracing over the curve of my bottom, and then, without warning, he brought his hand down with a loud crack.

The sound of it smacking my naked flesh was deafening, almost like a gunshot in the center of the woods. My entire body jolted forward from the impact, and I sucked in a breath, trying to quiet a cry before it emerged from my throat.

His hand came down again, hard and fast, the heat from the contact stinging and radiating out in the shape of his palm. I sucked in a breath, but his palm rained down on my ass again and again in a flurry and there was nothing I could do other than just lie there over that fallen log and take it as gracefully as I could.

It didn’t take long for the pain to start creeping through, spreading out over my entire backside, a deep, throbbing ache that only got worse with every slap. My breathing quickened and I closed my eyes, trying to keep myself calm even though his hand felt like burning fire striking my ass.

He was merciless, his fingers digging into my flesh as he spanked me, the heat of his palm searing into my skin. I gasped and wriggled, but his grip only tightened, keeping me in place despite everything I did to try to fight him.

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