Page 20 of Wolf Desired

Because she’s fallen,my wolf snapped, his voice muted as if he were far away.

A surge of panic shot me to my feet. I wasn’t sure if it was mine, my wolf’s, or a combination of both. I couldn’t assume the thump had been Audrey falling.

And yet given how weak she had to be, I couldn’t assume otherwise.

I mentally reached for Bishop to wake him and make him check on her when a soft sob cut through theshushingwater.

My wolf wrenched me to the door and flung it open before I realized what I was doing.

Panic seized my chest and I gripped the doorframe, stopping my wolf from forcing me inside.

She needs us,he snarled, his voice getting louder, his fear straining the magical collar containing him.

We can’t.I tightened my grip on the door, fighting to stay where I was. The wood groaned, threatening to crack beneath my strength, and the walls of the cabin crowded closer together, proving exactly why we couldn’t be her mate.

Another sob cut through the sound of the falling water and my wolf wrenched my unwilling body to the bathroom despite the pressure of the collar.

Audrey sat huddled in the corner of the shower just outside of the spray, hugging her knees to her chest. Her hair was wet and limp around her face and shoulders, her body too pale and too thin, and her eyes were squeezed tight in desperate agony.

The pressure in my chest that had been squeezing me since her fever had started crushed tighter, and I sucked in a sharp breath filled with her sweet scent and the scent of her arousal.

All fear of being closed in and suffocated by the small room vanished and my focus narrowed to just her, everything within me screaming to help her.

I turned off the water, crouched before her, and cupped her cheeks in my palms, urging her to look at me.

Her lids fluttered open and she locked gazes with me. Her eyes were surprisingly clear, the fever having eased enough for her to be lucid.

“Knox?” she gasped as tears rolled down her cheeks, the agony in her expression breaking my heart.

It should never have come to this. Bishop should have been taking care of her from the moment we’d left Stonehaven. Except if Bishop and Cyrus’s theory was correct, that wouldn’t have made a difference.

Only sealing the bond would have prevented this.

Her body tensed and her face scrunched in agony. A strangled moan escaped her clenched jaw and her breathing grew shorter and sharper.

My pulse lurched and I picked her up, not caring that she was getting my clothes wet. Sisters, she was lighter than when I’d carried her on my back to escape Darkweald. And that had already been too light for my liking. It spoke of neglect and too many days going to bed hungry. And now she was wasting away to nothing.

I had to get her to Bishop.

No. I had to end this.

Fuck.

I didn’t want to seal the bond, didn’t want to trap either of us. But there wasn’t any other choice.

I set her on the counter and brushed her damp hair from her face. She stared up at me with her soulful brown eyes, the gold rings around her pupils shining bright, mesmerizing me and reminding me that I’d never been close enough to look her properly in the eyes to notice that subtle, beautiful detail.

The bond had already ensnared my soul, it was only a matter of time before this brave, determined woman fully ensnared my heart.

Before I realized what I was doing, I palmed the back of her head to keep her steady and captured her lips with mine.

Her breath hitched then turned into heavy pants, and she kissed me like she was starving. Her fingers clung to my shirt and her hips rocked up, pressing her slick heat against my painfully hard cock.

My wolf howled and heaved inside me, straining against the collar, determined to break free and claim her. She was ours and we’d neglected our responsibility to protect her for too long. We shouldn’t have even left Stonehaven. We should have accepted the truth from the very beginning. She was our mate. She’d always been our mate and we’d just been waiting for fate to bring us together.

I bit back a growl, undid the tie keeping my pants up, and shoved them down my legs. My cock sprang free, jutting between us, and Audrey wrapped her small hand around it.

More tears rolled down her cheeks and she sobbed into my mouth.

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