Page 106 of Pack Captive

The burning claws that had sunk into my skull slowly retracted. I tightened my arms around her, holding her against me with my eyes closed, letting her power wash away the pain and the voices from the past.

Ayla slowly relaxed when she realized I really wasn’t going to hurt her.

“What does it feel like?” she whispered.

I opened my eyes, and found her staring back at me, examining my face.

“Like claws in my mind,” I whispered back. “Burning and tearing apart my brain. When you touch me, it all goes away.”

Her lips were turned in a frown, but she reached out hesitantly and touched the reddened runes on my face. “Merikh, you can’t keep doing this. The Alpha will hunt you down and kill you if he finds you in here. They’re already planning on putting a hunting party together.”

“Where else can I go?” I asked bitterly. “You’re the only one who can uncorrupt these runes. If I leave, I’ll just become Fenris’s errand boy again.”

She blanched a little, which was the right response. Fenris’s ‘errands’ typically involved dragging Callers back to him by the hair or gutting entire packs overnight.

I couldn’t help myself. I leaned in and kissed her, enjoying the way I felt her heartbeat speed up, echoing in my own chest.

Like we were linked. Like she was the pack I was meant to have had.

Her lips opened for me, and I felt her clawless fingertips run through my hair, moving slowly, as though she were afraid she’d scare me off.

As if she could. I would chase her down again, all the way to the ends of the earth.

More of that power flooded my veins. Funny how only Ayla’s power didn’t hurt or blind me.

She made a little sound, and I pulled her closer, my cock throbbing.

If just holding her did this much, what would happen when I deep inside her, touching all of her?

Her hands moved down my neck to my shoulders. I smelled her desire coming off her in waves, but she bit her kiss-swollen lower lip and turned her face aside. “You should be fine now, and you really should go. If you weren’t responsible for killing those wolves, even under Fenris’s control, then I don’t want to be the reason Ryden hunts you down again.”

“Maybe I don’t want to go yet.” I kissed her again, and let my fingers run down her chest, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind. I found one of her nipples, already hard, and grazed it with my thumb until she arched against me. “Maybe I want you to come with me.”

Ayla let out a soft exhalation. “I can’t. These are my people.”

“I could be your people, too.” This time I tilted her head back, running my tongue down the line of her throat.

My cock twitched again, and it would be so easy to just tear this flimsy dress off her...she gripped my wrist, forcing me to stop.

Then I saw it. The mark of fangs, glowing blue on her shoulder.

I drew back, letting out a harsh laugh. It felt like someone—probably the dark hunter—had tossed a bucket of ice water all over my desire.

“What?” Ayla snapped. She shoved my hand off her, sitting up and pulling away.

“You’re mated to a man who lies to you.” I laughed again, although it wasn’t very funny to me. “ButI’mnot good enough?”

She stared at me, her arms wrapped around her knees, rubbing the fang marks left on her shoulder.

“Explain.” Her tone was sharp as broken glass.

I laid back on the bed, my arms crossed behind my head, enjoying both the comfort and lack of pain, even though I missed her softness and warmth. “They never told you about the Void?”

“You mentioned it once,” she said warily, chewing her lip again. “You swore by the Void not to harm me.”

I looked up at the ceiling, remembering the first time I’d seen the Void.

A chill went through me.

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