Page 41 of The Silent Mate

Estelle sent me on an errand to the pack house to distribute one last batch of contraceptive tonic. I kept my head low, careful to avoid meeting the gazes of any of the shifters running amuck in the clearing. For the first time in my life, I truly understood why my father kept me hidden away during the full moons.

Males and females tangled together on the expansive lawn, bonfires illuminating the masses of skin and fur. Some ate and drank. Others had abandoned any attempt at civility and chose to embrace their wild, primal sides.

Grunts and gasps and shouts filled the air, a sinful cacophony that made me eager to return to the clinic. Or, better yet, Malik’s cottage. I’d been working all day, and the moon’s influence created a newfound desire to be with my mate tonight.

I wanted to clear away the shadow that had been hanging over us for the last few days. In fact, I had plans for us that involved a home-cooked dinner, a game of checkers that Emerson and I found in a forgotten cabinet of the pack house,and newly-acquired scissors for a haircut, if I could manage to convince Malik to let me trim his mane. For the first time in days, excitement fueled my steps as time ticked closer and closer to the moment when I could see Malik again.

I’d nearly reached the castle when the hair on the back of my neck stood tall, and instinct told me to look up. My gaze immediately landed on them.

Onhim.

I recognized Malik’s back in an instant. He stood taller than any other male in the pack, and my heart spiked at the sight of his bare backside.

A small frown etched across my features. He’d left me a note in the cottage that he’d been tasked with a patrol this evening and, upon returning, planned to seek refuge in the cottage for the remainder of the evening.

I narrowed my eyes, surprised to find him in the fray of the celebrations, and standing in front of Roman, no less. Perhaps Malik simply needed to report to his brother before he could retire for the night?

And yet, as I took another step closer, I realized that the two males were not alone.

A pair of feet stood inches away from my mate. Long, muscled legs bled into full, luscious hips. Not a strand of hair covered her pubic bone, though glistening wetness leaked from between her thighs. Her breasts, large and rounded, were topped with dark, pebbled nipples that strained toward Malik. And her hand…

My heart fell to the pit of my stomach.

This female reached for Malik. Her fingers closed in on his manhood. Hisarousedmanhood.

“M-Malik?” I whispered, his name a broken whisper on my lips.

He spun to face me, wrenching away from the dark-hairedbeauty in the process. She nearly stumbled backward as his shoulder caught her square in the chest, but I’d already seen them together. The damage had been done.

Wild desperation shone in his gaze, and his mouth gaped open like he attempted to call my name. No sound came out of his ruined throat. Even if he could speak, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to hear him above the pounding in my head.

Pain, unlike anything I’d ever experienced before, pierced my chest. It tore through me, ripping away skin and cracking ribs, shooting straight for the organ struggling to pump blood to my veins.

I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’tthink.

Malik took a step toward me, but I took an immediate step backward.

I could smell him. The scent of his arousal. It mingled with the overbearing stench of sex in the clearing.

Nausea crept up my throat.

“N-No,” I whispered, shaking my head, not quite willing to believe it. I took another step backward, and the vials of contraceptive tonics that I’d been carrying fell to the ground at my feet.

Malik advanced toward me, his eye wide and pleading.

Somewhere in the background, I heard Roman’s boisterous laughter, and hatred burned through me. While my heart ripped itself to pieces, this so-called alphalaughed.

I couldn’t take it any longer. I turned and ran.

I ran as fast as my feet would carry me, allowing the full moon’s rays to pour over me. Tofuelme.

Somewhere along the way, my footsteps transformed into my wolf’s paws thundering against the forest floor, carrying me away from theIntonat Noctepack house. Away from Malik.

My entire being ached.

I knew what I saw. My mate with another female, her fingers hovering centimeters from his erection, and he didn’t stop her.

Of course, buried deep beneath the heartbreak clouding over my soul, I knew that there could’ve been another explanation. The full moon changed our kind. He still could’ve refused her. If I’d given him one more second, he might’ve stopped her. But I didn’t, andhedidn’t.

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