Page 14 of His Claim
“You marked me.” My voice crackled with fury, with disbelief, as I stood before him naked, bruised and bleeding. “You bit me like an animal, claimed me like some goddamn prize to hang aroundyour neck. You—” my throat clenched, but I forced it out anyway, “—you fuckingmatedme.”
The word burned in my mouth, and my stomach twisted, fury and shame tangling until I thought I might tear myself open just to claw it out.
I pushed off the wall, glaring at him, every muscle trembling, but my voice was sharp enough to cut steel. “Do you even understand what you’ve done? Or is this just another day for you? Claim the girl, fuck her, and drag her back to your goddamn den?”
His jaw flexed, but he said nothing, and the silence only poured gasoline on my rage.
“I should rip your throat out,” I spat, my hands curling into fists. “I should make you bleed the way you made me bleed. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t ask foryou.”
I took a step closer, reckless, my heart pounding, the words hurtling past my lips faster than I could think. “What did you do to me? Tell me! Why the hell can I still feel you—” my voice caught in my dry throat, “—inside me?”
His nostrils flared, his chest rising, eyes locked on mine like they were burning me alive.
He didn’t flinch. Didn’t roar back or snap his teeth the way the others would have.
Instead, he straightened, rolling his shoulders back until he seemed even bigger, his presence filling the entire room, like he could hold the ceiling up with those broad shoulders if it all came crashing down.
“Enough,” he ordered, his tone like iron wrapped in velvet. “I hear you.”
I hated the way it slid over my skin, deeply calm and commanding, but not cruel. My pulse pounded even harder, my body trembling with a fury I didn’t know where to aim.
He took one slow step toward me. Then another.
“Stay back,” I snapped, my nails biting into my palms, my body backing up to press tight against the steel door. “Don’t come closer.”
“I’m not here to hurt you,” he said evenly, hands loose at his sides. He took another step. “You’ve been through hell. I can smell the drug on you. I can still see it burning in your veins.” His eyes softened. “That wasn’t you in the corridor.”
His calm made me want to scream. It was infuriating and I balled my fists at my sides and tried to control my rage.
“You don’t get to play savior,” I hissed. “You marked me. You forced me back there.” My throat clenched, heat pricking at my eyes, but I refused to blink. “And you think you can just… stand tall and step closer and explain it all away?”
He stopped a few paces short of me, the air between us vibrating with tension. His voice stayed steady, though, like each word was chosen to keep me from shattering into pieces right then and there.
“No,” he said simply. “I’m not going to explain it away. I’m not going to pretend you asked for this.” His gaze sharpened, locking me in place. “But I’ll tell you this: I didn’t do it to break you. I did it to keep you alive.”
I barked a bitter laugh. “Alive? You call this alive? Don’t act like you were doing me a favor. You tied me to you with an unbreakable chain. I know what the mark means to wolves.”
His eyes flickered, pain in the flash of silver, but when he spoke again, his voice was incredibly calm.
“Then hate me if you need to. Curse me. Fight me.” He took one final step, close enough that his heat pressed against me, his scent fogging my lungs like smoke. “But you will live, Mariah. Because you’re mine now, claimed, marked, and mated. And no one—no Council member, no soldier, no wolf—will ever take you from me.”
I wanted to keep screaming. I wanted to claw his face open, spit blood in his silver eyes, and curse him until the walls shook.
But hate only carried me so far.
Because the memory of his mouth on my skin still burned like fire. Because my body still ached from the way he filled me, the way my orgasms had ripped through me no matter how hard I tried to fight them.
And the worst part?
I’d actually enjoyed it.
That truth slid under my skin like a blade, cutting through my rage until all that was left was a hollow confusion.
I swallowed hard, pressing my back against the steel door, staring up at him. He wasn’t snarling, wasn’t smirking like so many of the wolves I’d seen before. His eyes weren’t mocking. They were steady. Focused. Almost gentle.
That terrified me more than his claws ever could.
My voice came out smaller than I meant for it to, rough from the fight. “Who… who are you?”
