Page 117 of Mate to the Alpha Predator

A male like him does not deserve the happiness that comes with mating. Not after everything. Not after Nalaila.

Suddenly, he was exhausted. For the first time in a long time, he was tired in every single way. He cannot do this anymore, tonight.

So, he stepped away from the window and headed towards the big wardrobe that dominated one part of the huge bedroom. "Goodnight, Ismena. You cannot go back to Eline's this night, it is very late already. You can sleep in the bedroom next to mine."

But Ismena does not want to part from him. "Wait...!" The word tore from her throat before she could hold it in.

He stopped and turned.

A thought has taken root in her mind.

It was scary...it was a painful route that might only lead to disaster, but her mind was not letting go.

"We d-don't have to mate to...be intimate right?" Ismena cannot believe that the courage to ask that came from her.

But, in the darkness of this night; her walls of self-preservation crumbled, his past surrounding them and her feelings all over the place, she found herself whispering, "You don't have to mate with me if that is not what you want. But we can be intimate without becoming mates, right?"

"What are you saying, Ismena?" He was almost sure he isn't hearing her correctly.

Her cheeks warmed, but she whispered bravely. "I'm offering s-sex with no strings attached. We do not have to be mates. We do not have to do the m-mating ritual."

Yes, he'd heard her right, alright. The unexpected happened. His hunger for her roared back to life in seconds.

Wolfaraine would never think it was possible, but the hardening of his díck and the intense urge to grab hold of her, hold her up to the nearest wall, and fuck into her until she screams his name over and over and over again, cannot be mistaken.

"You do not know what you are asking for, Ismena." The hunger that never really abated...instead, was buried under tons of pains, guilt and agony were back with dominating force.

"But, I do. We don't have to be mates but we can feed this overriding hunger for each other. You can feel it too, can't you?" She asked, softly.

Of course, he can feel it. It does not help that his eyes lowered and for the first time, he noticed the towel that wrapped around her body.

It does not help that he knows that she is naked under that towel...

No. He looked away. "It is dangerous."

But Ismena had caught the flash of the raw hunger in his eyes before he looked away and it strengthened her resolve.

She does not want to go to bed alone tonight. She wants to be with him. On his bed. In his arms.

She'd felt her skin crawl when Donas kissed her, the realization came to her in that drunk state that he is the only man she wants. The only man her body will ever want so desperately. Even if the odds are not looking good at all, she cannot give up like that.

So, she started walking towards him. "I know. About getting pregnant, you can do whatever you can not to get me pregnant—"

"And what about killing you?" He inserted, arching his brows. "The cougar will kill you, Ismena."

"I'm already dying." She whispered softly, taking another step towards him, "If we do not...become intimate, I will die anyway. Yes, you have painful pasts that stay alive inside you. Yes, you are a very scary male that scares the very devil outta me half of the time. But you are the only male I want."

She admitted, her cheeks flushed, "I want you so much, Wolfaraine. No other male will do...not even if I happen to find another male I'm compatible with."

He gritted his teeth behind his mouth. The amount of rage he felt as his head conjuredup her being in the arms of another male surprised him.

But still...

"I can't sleep with you knowing that there is every possible chance that I will lose every control and the cougar will take over. I cannot sleep with you knowing that I can tear you to pieces at the slightest mistake." He stated, hoarsely.

"Then, don't." Another soft whisper. Walking into his personal space, she raised her hand and placed it on his chest. "Then, don't let yourself lose all control. I have never met a male more in control of himself than you."

He laughed mirthlessly. "Control is not easy to apply, Ismena. I know that more than anyone. I was unable to apply that control, eighteen years ago. Not for Nalaila and not for Pouty." He knew he'd made a mistake immediately after he completed that sentence.

---