Page 48 of Reign of the Beast

Her being kept from me by the winged bastard I now knew was her old man after all the shit I’d managed to piece together.

Her taking off.

Having her ex in the picture, a guy she'd clearly believed for a long time was her mate rather than me.

Me taking a real strong liking to that ex.

And the hardest thing of all being the whole Covenant thing where I’d have to share her not only with her ex, but with a bloodsucker I’d hated for so long.

She’d never be just mine once that happened. I’d have to share her. And wolves didn’t share. How the hell was I going to do that, be okay with it?

One step at a time.

That was the only thing keeping me going right now. Thinking about it all at once was fucking painful.

“Hey.”

I jumped, caught off guard.

Turning down my senses had worked too well.

Shooting from my chair and spinning around, I was surprised to see Mia leaning against the door frame.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said, all sheepish about it.

“Didn’t scare me, babe,” I lied.

She pushed off the door and strolled on in.

My dick jerked as her walking in had a flash of thigh catching my eye. She was just wearing a black silky robe. It didn’t look like she had anything on underneath it either, because I could make out her nipples pushing against the thin material. She was barefoot and way smaller without those heels she always wore. Her eyes were a little glazed and her hair was fuzzy, like she’d been tossing and turning in bed.

She looked real cute and it hit me in the gut. I’d never seen her this way, just her sexy and abrasive, no-nonsense side.

It had the protective nature of the wolf going crazy.

“You all right?”

She smiled. “Yeah. I just couldn’t sleep.”

Well, I knew there was no way Ry and Lucian were keeping her up, because she didn’t have the hearing range for it to reach her. “A lot on your mind, huh?”

She wrapped her arms around herself, this strong wave of vulnerability coming off her that made me want to throw my arms around her and hide her away from the world. “No—I mean, yes. But that’s not why I can’t sleep.”

I frowned.

She couldn’t look me in the eye as she said, “It’s you.”

“Me?”

“There’s this… pull to you. It’s been there the moment that cloaking veil dropped and it’s been getting stronger ever since. It’s… intense.”

I smiled. “It’s the mate thing. When mates find each other, it kicks in, pulling them closer, urging them to complete the mating bond. It won’t stop until I claim you and you accept that claim.”

She lifted her head. “I see.”

Her eyes roamed over my face, my tattoo sleeves, my naked chest, dipping down to my boxers and the tent there. I heard her gulp, then in the next second, her eyes were back on mine. “So, the whole claiming thing means we, uh—”

“It means,” I said, stepping up close to her. “I’ll fuck you like the animal I am, making you come all over my cock again and again until you’re out of your mind with pleasure.ThenI’ll sink my teeth into your shoulder and taste you.”

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