Page 5 of The Ballerina

A short veil covers the front of her face so I take in what I can see. She has beautiful alabaster skin that will mark beautifully. Maybe being mated to her won’t be so much of an inconvenience after all. Fucking her definitely won’t be a chore. Where the hell did that thought come from? My heart belongs to Jana. I shouldn’t be thinking of losing myself in another woman no matter how fuckable she looks.

“Behave,” her father hisses in her ear.

She nods silently. Her father presses her hand into mine before taking a seat beside my father. I hope he knows he won’t be talking to her that way in the future. Strange, protective feelings for this unknown woman well up inside me, and I want to pummel her father when I see the red handprint on her arm. The only marks she should ever wear are mine. My mind is swirling with thoughts that make absolutely no fucking sense to me. I have never felt the urge to mark a woman before tonight, and now I want her to wear my bite marks all over her perfect skin for the world to see, like a brand of ownership.

I shake my head to clear the thoughts and hopefully bring my rampant erection under control before anyone can notice.

Clearing his throat, the pack elder beside us makes sure he has our attention before he starts to drone on about the importance of the pack and the community we have built. How a bonded, mated couple is the lifeblood of our entire way of being.

“Atlas, will you take care of this woman? Will you cherish her and her animal unlike any other? Will you put her life, safety, and happiness before your own?” the pack elder asks.

“Yes.” My reply is loud and clear, carrying through the clearing.

“Cathy, will you take…”

But the woman before me cuts off the pack elder, not needing to hear the rest.

“Yes.”

I stare at her covered face wishing she would remove the damn thing already. Her husky voice sounded familiar, niggling at my brain. I try to figure out where I would know her from, but I can’t grab hold of the memory.

Chuckles erupt around us at her hurried reply, people assuming we simply want the mating ceremony over so we can move on to more important business, like the actual mating.

Very few people are aware that we don’t know each other, much less that we are being forced to do this. My father wants this to seem like a perfect little love story, even though that couldn’t be further from the truth. But appearances and all that shit, you know.

“Well then,” the pack elder says with a chuckle of his own. “To seal this mating before your pack, friends, and family, you may now kiss your mate.”

Slowly, she lifts the veil to reveal her face for the first time. Shock courses through me as I take in every inch of her features, seeing a face I never thought I would see again.

The Ballerina.

“Kiss me, you idiot,” she hisses, grabbing me behind my head and sealing our lips and our fates together.

Chapter Five

Cathy

Being dragged into this ceremony by my father, I had no idea what I would find at the other end of the aisle. You can imagine my surprise at finding the sexy bachelor from last night, the same man that played the starring role in my erotic dreams.

The elder drones on and on about how important mates are and at one point I swear I want to scream. I’ve never been the most patient woman, but this is driving me insane.

Once we have verbally sworn to remain true to one another, I lift my veil to seal the binding with a kiss. The shock on his face is almost laughable but there isn’t any time for that now. Everyone is watching us.

“Kiss me, you idiot,” I hiss, circling my arms around his neck and drawing him down to fuse my lips with his.

Atlas, because I now know his name, doesn’t require any more encouragement from me. His hands grab my hips, the same as last night. But now he isn’t holding me at arm’s length. No. He drags me against his body, molding me against his hard chest as his lips devour mine, his tongue plunging, forcing its way inside my mouth and seeking out every corner. His erection presses against my stomach sending arousal thrumming through my entire body, and I know my panties are ruined.

A mewl escapes me and the gathered crowd erupts in raucous clapping and hollering.

Pulling away from me but keeping me against his side, Atlas stares at those gathered around us. “Thank you all for being here to celebrate this moment with us. Enjoy the festivities.”

He doesn’t lead me down the aisle but bends down before throwing me over his shoulder and striding away from the gathering. His hand is on my ass, keeping my dress fromflipping up and exposing my now soaked underwear to everyone gathered here. Loud whistles follow us and even some howls as the party starts without us. My hands are on his perfectly sculpted ass as he picks up the pace. It only takes a minute or two before we are inside a house, and he has me crowded against the entryway wall.

“What the fuck?” he demands angrily, glaring down at me.

“What?” I ask trying to take in the house around me even as his bulk cuts off most of the view.

“What are the chances that my friends requested you to be our dancer last night and now I’m mated to you?”

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