Page 5 of Deadly Ties

Elvana

I’m stretched over Arben, my thighs spread over his hips, but in my mind I’m back in that hotel room, the spark of life draining from my mom’s pale face as she gasps out her last words.

“With my death, the contract ends, Elvi. Alpha Ferrier will come for you. You were never part of the deal.”

“Mom, don’t worry about that. I can look after myself…”

“Elvi, this ring proves you are his. Hold on to it and use it when the time is right. It’s the only thing I can give you that’s mine.”

She’d given me her ring – the one I always assumed marked her as Luna of the Night River Pack - but I’d tossed it away, leaving it in that hotel hallway in a puddle of my puke. I’d been on a rampage, fueled by grief and so angry at my dad for the lies and neglect. All I could think about was hunting him down and making him pay. I’d had my gun, maybe I even planned to kill him, but then I’d run into Rory and Cam in that elevator and…

I squeeze my eyes closed, my hands fisting the collar of Arben’s shirt as the crack in my chest opens into a gaping wound. Distantly, I can feel my wolf staggering from the emotions clawing through me. But I’m too angry to reach out to her, my teeth grinding as I spit, “Link was right. It was all bullshit. They never cared about me or my mom. They were justusingme. And I fucking let them!”

Arben’s hands cup my cheeks again, as if he can wipe this pain away as easily as my tears. But I shake him off. “I was a fucking idiot, Arben! Ibelievedthem. I let them make me forget.” I’m shaking now, his hands sliding down my spine but I buck them loose. I don’t want his soothing touches. I don’t fuckingdeservethem. “I didn’t fight them at all. I just let them take my mom from me, Arben!”

He doesn’t try to tell me it wasn’t my fault. I know they manipulated me. They used the accident – getting run down in the street by a freaking cab – to crack me open and then filled me up with the worst kind of lies. They even warned me. Cam is a head-twister, and Rory is the one they send out to screw girls into giving them what they want. And it’s not like Link ever hid his loathing of me. They must have thought I was such an easy target. That I was a stupid little omega, so eager to be fucked over by them all…

I give a brutal shake of my head, barely able to catch my breath. If I could scratch off my skin, I would. Instead, my wolf drags her claws down my spine, and as I writhe on Arben’s lap, he makes a low, desperate sound. “Tell me what you need, Elvana. Anything… How can I make this better, baby?”

Baby. Baby.I’m not Bisha’s baby. I never was.

But then, who am I? Because whoever this girl is, no one seems to want her.

“Just… get me out of here!” I beg, a moment before I lean down and bury my howl in the thick column of his throat.

I don’t just scream; Ibite. And I don’t even try to suck away the bruise. I’m too lost in my pain, and the only way I can ground myself is by burying my teeth inside his skin. I taste the coppery flavor of his blood and know I must be hurting him, but Arben just grunts, his hand cupping the back of my neck. He growls directions at his driver and the privacy screen rolls up, the car pulling away from the curb. If Ferrier – my supposed father - is still standing there, I don’t bother to look back.

“I remember,” I pant as I finally pull free, knowing I must look insane with his blood on my teeth. But I just run them up his neck and across his jaw, my hands tearing at his white shirt. “I remember my mom, Arben. She told me about Ferrier.” I hiss as the memories swirl around me, making my head throb. “I remember meeting Rory in the hotel elevator right after she died. He was dressed as a maintenance guy and he said he wanted to fuck away my pain.”

Arben falters for a moment, no doubt making the same connection I just did. I could tell him his offer to relieve my grief is nothing like Rory’s obsession to fuck broken girls, but I don’t even know if that’s true. Arben has only really spent time with me in my heat. And the first time I was a battered mess, raped and bitten and bleeding on my living room floor. But I don’t want to add that shit to the nightmare swirling in my brain, so I grab his hand and press his fingers under the torn skirt of my dress. There’s not much room between us, but I rub them across my panties, already slick with heat. “But Rory didn’t get any further than this,” I tell him, grinding on his hand. “He was on a mission, after all.”

Arben winces at my bitter tone, but I don’t want his pity. Instead, I pull the wet silk aside and slide down on his fingers, sinking all the way to the knuckle. I don’t even feel the stretch, and I know my body needs this. Not to push the sorrow away, but to sharpen it. I want to flare as hot as my aching core, to take these feelings of shame and helplessness and burn them to ash.

“Fuck me, Arben.” I clench around his fingers, my teeth pulling roughly at his earlobe. “Show me it wasn’t all a lie.”

He shreds my panties, his tongue invading my mouth with deep, slick kisses. He doesn’t give me his words, and I’m glad. There’s nothing he could say that would make my memories any less cruel. And my wolf is beyond words. I’ve never felt her so close to the surface. She’s there in the impatient roll of my hips, and the way my nails rake across the back of his neck, just shy of cutting him. I don’t want to hurt him, and neither does my wolf, but we need him toshowus. We need proof that what happened in his room in the Red Poppy was real – at least for one of our so-called mates.

Mates.

I want to scoff, but instead I moan out my pain, my pussy throbbing as I bear down on his hand. If my brain wasn’t twisted by all the lies, I’d probably realize this is the last of my heat. That the needy demand for a mate connection is driving me to claim this last one – the only one – who’s still here with me and my wolf.

But I’m not thinking, and Arben seems just as lost to his beast. He tears his shirt off, leaving it in tatters, then presses my hands to his chest, digging my nails in. “Mark me up, princeshë. I’m yours.”

Mine.

The word drives me forward and I latch onto his nipple, sucking hard. I brutalize the other one, even biting when his arousal floods the car. But I’m not so far gone I don’t lick him better, arching up on my knees so I can tear at his belt, my hands desperate for his cock. As soon as the buckle is loose, I mimic his earlier action and claw through his suit pants. Instead of flinching, he snatches my mouth again, sucking on my bottom lip as I squirm to free him from his boxers.

The angle is all wrong, but it doesn’t stop heat from exploding in my belly. I know I’m half-drunk on his blood and his scent, but I’m lost in a delicious haze. And my wolf is riding me so hard – literally panting in my ear - I don’t think I could stop even if Ferrier was sitting in the seat across from us.

And then Arben’s cock is pulsing against my palm, my wolf now purring as I stroke his warm, hard flesh. Before he can stop me, I slide back between his knees, my mouth watering as I study the prize in my hands. My brain might have been fried during my heat, but I rememberthis. A perfect cock, as big as the rest of him, the skin smooth around the heavy veins, the head as plump and hard as a fist. And then there’s his knot, already swelling as I lick across that delicious tip. He shudders above me, widening his thighs and curling down to watch me. I flash my teeth at him as I take another lingering lick, my nails chasing the pulsing vein that runs all the way to his knot. “So pretty,” I coo, leaning in to trace his slit with my tongue. The tart juice makes me shiver, and I hum as I wrap my lips around the head and suck. He almost comes out of the seat and I let him go with a pop. “And delicious. Makes me want to gobble you down.”

“Then eat me, princeshë,” he growls, his hands fisting the leather seat. “But know that I willconsumeyou when it’s my turn.”

I cock a brow at him, wondering if that’s meant to be a threat. But I have better things to do with my mouth than challenge him, so I rise up and suck him into the back of my throat. I purr at how full it feels, the weight of him on my tongue, the way he thrusts just enough to scrape along my teeth. Shifters like a little pain with their pleasure, and I feel a thrill at the idea of pushing this indestructible man to his limit.

Easy, Elvi… You’re not the one proving something here.

But I still want to impress him, and there’s a very omega way to do that. As soon as he’s all the way down my throat I begin to hum, my scent gland vibrating around his throbbing length. My thighs clench as he groans, one hand cupping my head in place while the other grips his knot. I suck and swallow, kneading him with my throat, while he tries to wrestle his flesh into submission. But I can feel the edge he’s teetering on as he jerks and grinds, a strangled roar finally punching from his chest. When he pulls me back, painting my lips with his pre-cum, my wolf purrs to see his own beast shining in his eyes.

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