Page 20 of The Silent Mate

“Malik,” she whispered, her gait faltering as she turned to look over her shoulder.

I paused, claws curling into the dirt and eyes hard. Another breeze ruffled her blonde strands, and honeysuckle, pear, and Roman swept inside my nostrils. Anger simmered in my center.

“I-I’m so sorry,” she began, shaking her head. “Alpha Roman told me… He said I was in danger. I didn’twanthim to mark me like that.”

Don’t apologize. You did nothing wrong,I wanted to say. But I couldn’t.

And, even if I could’ve spoken those words aloud, I wasn’t sure if I would. Deep down, I knew Aria was not at fault, but the territorial, primal parts of myself felt betrayed. My traitorous mind replayed the sight of her slender neck on display, offered to my brother. Pliant and willing for another male. And I wondered if she wished that fate had bound her to him instead.

I huffed a sharp exhale, the only semblance of a response I could manage, and nudged her forward again. I wanted to escort her to my cottage, where she’d be safe and hidden within its walls.

Her throat bobbed once, but she turned her head and continued plodding toward the forest, where the private residences waited.

When we arrived at the cottage, a quaint stone structure with ivy adorning the facade, several minutes later, I directed Aria to the front door and waited until she entered before digging deep into myself and searching for the kernel of humanity. I internally tugged on it, immersing myself in it until the shift began. My limbs stretched, bones popping and cracking as fur turned into skin, and the beast morphed into an entirely different kind of monster.

I hadn’t wasted time retrieving my clothing from the pack’s designated out-building, so I had nothing to cover myself with. I stood, utterly naked, just beyond my home’s front door.

Nudity never bothered me. Growing up amongst shifters, I grew accustomed to baring myself to others and having others bare themselves to me. And I never hated my naked body as much as I hated my face. Scars littered my chest and limbs. Wounds collected from nasty brawls and momentous victories, but none so ugly as the jagged deformity on my face.

And yet, as I waited at the threshold, my stomach twisted at the thought of Aria seeing me this way.

Inside the wide-open door, Aria blinked at her surroundings, her doe eyes taking in the little kitchen and breakfast nook that greeted her. Then, she slowly spun, and her eyes expanded like saucers when she beheld my body.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, immediately averting her eyes to my feet, but not before they snagged on my cock, still semi-erect from my body’s natural need to claim her for myself.

Pink blush dusted her milky cheeks, and my cock twitched at the innocence of her reaction, the blood rushing to my groin anew.

Fuck.I shifted on my feet, hyper-aware of my member growing, my balls firming with a tantalizing ache. My body had never reacted like this to the gaze of a female, and heat flushed up my neck in embarrassment.

Females had stared at me before, I knew. I possessed the body of a warrior—analpha.Broad shoulders and an expansive chest, covered in a thin layer of dark hair that disappeared and reappeared again below my navel. Long legs and thick, muscled thighs. The…endowmentsof an alpha, too.

I’d never paid much attention to them. Never allowed the scent of their lust to distract me from my duty to Roman. I was certain I’d disappoint them, anyway.

And yet, watching Aria blush did things to my body that I couldn’t explain.

Aria clamped her teeth down on her bottom lip, eyes still downcast, and her voice was a bit hoarse as she stepped aside. “Sorry, I’m blocking the entrance, aren’t I?”

Half of my mind wanted to leave. Wanted to shift back into my wolf form until the pulsing need that stretched and tormented my cock subsided. The other half demanded that I enter the kitchen, yank Aria’s jeans to her thighs, and plunge into her.

Goddess,a glistening drop leaked from the head of my arousal at the mere thought.

My cheeks flamed now. Somehow, I managed to listen to the sliver of reason in my head and entered my cottage, heavy balls swinging with every step.

I didn’t stop walking, spearing directly toward the door that led to my bedroom. I felt Aria’s gaze follow me the entire way,and, by the time the door closed behind me, my breaths came ragged and quick.

I ground my teeth and immediately wrapped my palm around the base of my cock. My hips jerked forward at the tight grasp, even as my body protested the roughness of my own skin. Just beyond the door, Aria would be soft. Her hands. Her mouth. Hercunt.

Clamping my eyes shut, I leaned my shoulders back against the door and resisted the urge to fist my member and imagine that it was her. I didn’t have time for this.

There was only one thing that would calm the roar between my ears and the flaming in my blood. One thing that I would allow myself, because I knew I could not claim her, not truly—notfully—in this unraveled, dangerous state of mind.

So, with rigid, stiff movements, I scrounged through my dresser and pulled on the first pair of sweats I could find, ensnaring my painfully-hard cock within.

Then, I flung open the bedroom door to mark my mate.

9

ARIA

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