Page 86 of Rebel Fates

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WILLING

ZEEK

Her flesh is now just like ours. Gold-hued. I smell her heat rising.

The intoxicating scent triggers my animal. I don’t know how much longer I can restrain myself. The thin ties on my wrists are cutting into my flesh because I’m fiercely straining against them. I can tell from the tension in Serrat’s and Rok’s shoulders that they are doing the same thing.

Right now, I’m willing to crawl on my belly to get to her. I’ll walk through the fiery coals of Hel to get to her. I would die just for another touch.

When she walks up to us and asks if we still want her, I want to scream yes. But I allow Serrat to answer first. It’s his authority she will assume if we go through with this.

She looks into his eyes, asking the alpha of our group if he’s willing to take a step down for her authority. But as I see her shoulders curl inward. I wonder if she worries if we want her at all. Or if this is just some mindless heat and rut for us.

I will have to remind her she is the most precious thing to me in the universe.

Her scent fills my snout. With my senses overwhelmed, I purr. She clenches her thighs together, trying to hold on to the slick I just created at her core.

Serrat gulps, glancing at us before returning her searching gaze. “I want you. I needyou.”

“Me too,” Rok says.

“I’ve wanted you from the first moment,” I add.

She raises an eyebrow, apparently remembering her ass in the air for my perusal. “Hmm.”

“We desired you, but you were in a vulnerable situation.” Serrat explains finally, “And we were about to go into our rut. I thought we might kill you when our animals were set free. Sometimes, our females don’t survive the process of claiming. And with our attraction to you… I thought we might…take,without your permission.”

She finishes his thought, “That was why you said I wasn’t safe, you thought you would accidentally hurt me? Rape me?”

We all lower our eyes in shame. We would like to believe we would have stopped, and we probably would have before we did anything we regretted. But we did not want to go out of our minds and test our morals.

“But now, if you don’t claim them, you mightallbe harmed,” Crax adds.

“We don’t know if that will happen,” Rok quickly explains. “Please, don’t make your decision based on us, only on what you want.”

“But youcouldbe in danger?” Gemma spins to look at Crax. “How?”

“Your bodies have realigned to each other, the bond needs consummation. The completion of the psychic and physical connection.”

“And if I don’t want to mate them?” she asks, and my heart is torn from my chest at the words.

“Then I will mate you and hope that I am enough to save you,” Crax says.

I lunge forward to attack Crax, but since I’m tied up, I don’t make it far. All he has to do is step away from my pathetic attempt.

Gemma cries out, falls to her knees, and helps me up. I rub my cheek against her neck and purr. In response to my mating purr, she leans into me and wraps her arms around my shoulders. Her nipples graze my bare chest. I half-suspect the reason Crax had us strip down was to lure Gemma to our scent. Tempt her with the sight of us.

I’m not protesting. But I worry about the aftermath. What will he really do with us? What will he do with the information he gains if we mate? Would she want us if not for her heat?

“Gemma…” I groan as she rubs against me. “Please. I promise to give you everything you need to be happy.”

She stops and looks at me as if I shattered her trance. “But—”

“But what, my queen?” I ask softly, begging her to let us satisfy her.

“I don’t think I can ever be happy.” Her eyes tear up.

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