Page 77 of Red's Beast

"Is it good, Kitten?" His thumb finds my lip, and he wipes away a little of the juice that fell from the steak as it went into my mouth.

It would be even better if you stop calling me kitten. I’m not a cat. I’m a wolf.

I nod and glance toward his mother. When my gaze shifts to him, he looks at his mother with a narrowed gaze. "Leave us. I believe you are making my kitten nervous."

Her eyes meet his, and she takes her plate as she rises from the table. When he turns his attention back to me, she gives me a wink and takes off into another room. I want to cry out not to leave me in here with him, but I won't out of fear of what Corbin would do.

"Now that we're alone, you can relax and enjoy this meal. Open up, here's another bite."

Corbin feeds me forkful after forkful until I'm sated. I'm astonished when the plate is clean, and he looks up at me with amusement.

"Are you full, my Kitten?"

"Yes. That was wonderful and one of the best meals I've ever had." His arm tightens around my waist as he readjusts me on his lap. I hadn't even realized that I had grown relaxed and was slipping.

But I really wish he would stop calling me that pet name. It’s driving me insane.

"There is plenty more from where that came from. Now it's your turn to feed me." His eyes light with his wolf's and grow brighter. I look at the fork laying on the table and shudder, which he mistakes with excitement. "Well, what are you waiting for? Feed your mate."

I reach over to where the fork lies and slowly pick it up. The knife is directly beside it, and I grab it with my other hand. Slowly, I cut the steak up into bite-sized pieces, feeling like I'm feeding a child more than a grown man, though he had just done the same for me.

With the meat on the fork, I slowly bring it to his open mouth. He bites down over the fork and pulls the steak off with a satisfied moan. "So delicious. Won't you wipe the juice off my mouth?"

I take my thumb and gently wipe his mouth just as he had mine moments ago. He captures it with his lips and sucks the juices off. I freeze at the sensation, unable to process why this man would torment me like this.

Months ago, he hated me and caused so much pain in my life. Now, to see him like this and vulnerable is shocking. I trace his face for a moment once my thumb is free from his mouth. He seems to revel in the sensation. "So beautiful."

He leans up and kisses me, the taste of steak still on his lips. I sit there for a moment, lost in it, as he shifts me onto his lap. My hand trails down his chest, feeling the hardness of his muscles. He shifts me again and tugs at his jeans as he settles me more over his other leg. He breaks the kiss abruptly and pauses for a moment, panting for breath.

"You are up to something."

I grab his face between my hands, hoping to distract him once again, but he pushes me back a little and looks at me with a confused expression.

"Why are you doing this? Just yesterday, you wouldn't look at me. Now you are kissing me as if you are in love."

"Corbin, I've accepted my fate. You and I will be mated in just two days' time. I have been childish by not accepting my duty as the Luna of the pack, so I'm trying to do better."

I'm more disgusted than you could ever know. How could you betray your true mate by sitting on his lap and devouring him as if he was the steak itself? I will never forgive you for betraying our mate.

My wolf slams the door shut between us and I feel cold, as if I had been standing in the snow outside. A shiver makes its way down my back and Corbin looks toward the steak still sitting on his plate. "Won't you feed me some more, then?"

With a trembling hand, I get him another bite and put it in his mouth. He chews and watches me as if to study me. It makes me nervous, but he seems content just like this. For once, he isn't pushing me into the mating mark before the full moon.

Lillian

Two days pass rather quickly after our awkward dinner. Corbin, for once, has been the perfect gentleman and as long as I fake obedience, he does nothing. He seems happy and is doing just as his mother said he would.

If he had acted like this for his entire life, I probably wouldn’t have protested mating him so much, only if he were the last option out there.

But faking obedience can only last so long and eventually, we’ll bump heads again.

You're killing me.

I let out a deep sigh. My wolf isn’t happy about this matter, either, and reminds me often of how unhappy she is with the situation. Otherwise, she stays buried and keeps to herself, robbing me of feeling like myself.

This is not where you belong, and you know it. You are supposed to mate with the beast in the woods. There is no way you can’t know and here you are, allowing that monster of a man to feed you and call you kitten. How can you just sit here and do nothing? It goes against the very being of who you are. Don’t you know that destiny is never wrong?

I try to close my eyes and drown her out, but today she is more insistent than normal. The internal struggle I feel is almost more than I can bear. Every time she surfaces this strongly, it brings up emotions I would rather not feel at all. There is nothing I can do to change my course, and she has to accept it.

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