Page 38 of Stolen By the Lycanthrope

It would be too weird of a coincidence to run into each other this way, and he kidnapped me, and he stole all the possibilities I thought I had…

“He’s gone,” Javi says quietly, his shoulders slumping. “Abel…he’s been watching us, and he knows something’s off.”

“Like what?” I ask, my eyes wide.

“Like I haven’t actually claimed you.”

My eyes dart to the floor and my fingers curl on my thighs. “We could,” I say, “if we have to.”

“I’m not going to force you to do that,” he says. “That’s not…just no.”

I swallow the knot in my throat at his rejection. I keep thinking there’s something there, but then he says stuff like this and I remember he hates the situation almost as much as I do.

“They aren’t just going to give up,” he continues. “Abel is obsessed with you. Gideon is on the verge of finding you a new mate. I can’t leave you alone until we find a solution.”

“Well, what if…”

I break off before I can finish, the idea already so absurd that I can’t bring myself to say it.

“Tell me, Peach,” he says. “We’re running out of options.”

I take a deep breath, then I make my stupid proposal.

“What if you bit me a few more times? Get your scent on me and increase our bond. With enough bites, no other alpha here will want me.”

His brow furrows as he crosses his arms, staring hard at me. I think it’s going to be an immediate no—but the gears are turning in his head, his hand coming up to stroke his beard. He’s a big man and can come off as nothing more than muscle, but I think he’s gotten away with a lot of things by being smarter than he lets on.

We’re plotting a whole deception against my family—the worst, most cunning people I know—and they still trust him.

“It’ll hurt,” he finally says.

“But it’ll work?”

He nods. “I think it would. But you…if I do this, we won’t be able to sever the bond. I’ll always know where you are…for the rest of your life.”

My heart picks up a beat and his eyes fixate at the center of my chest, like he can see right through the black t-shirt, through skin, muscle, bone, to my pounding pulse.

“If I had to choose someone to always know where I am, why wouldn’t I choose the person who’s tried hardest to keep me safe?” I ask quietly.

Javi closes his eyes like I’ve said something offensive. I rush to make it better.

“Sorry,” I whisper. “I mean—sorry for…saying sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it—”

He raises his eyes to mine.

“Lie down,” he says.

I try to control my breathing as I follow his orders, scooting further back on the bed and lying back. He follows me, his muscles working smoothly as he strides over, then gets on his knees beside me. He’s got another shirt now, but I can see every line of muscle under the thin fabric, the sleeves stretched taut across his biceps.

He looks down at me and scans me from my neck to my knees, his eyes lingering where his first bite is mostly healed. It’s left a round pink scar in its place, the two puncture wounds small, nail-sized scabs. His eyes linger on my lips, too—and it makes me impulsively bite them.

Javi blanches.

“Can I touch you?” he asks.

I nod, a shaky breath rattling in my chest.

His fingers graze the initial bite and pleasure courses through me, my body begging for his touch. I make a desperate attempt to behave myself, but I’m certain Javi can smell me, and I don’t know what he thinks—that I want him or that I’m just a silly girl with a crush.

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