Page 71 of Scapegoat

Jesus Christ…

People had tried to explain what knotting your mate was like, but no one had mentioned this. Of being lodged down as deep as you could go, with not an inch of movement either way. Of feeling her, hearing her heartbeat twining with yours. Of feeling her fucking heart in your hand. The sun had dropped low in the sky, just a few thin trails of red staining the clouds and I felt like I was sinking down with it, into her.

“Kai…”

I scooped her up, held her in my hands, her back pressed against my chest, my nose questing for her neck.

“Kai…”

“Now, Jay…” she croaked out. “Now, I can’t wait anymore. I’m done being apart… I need…”

I knew exactly what she needed, a kind of certainty I’d never experienced before in my life washing over me. Man and wolf knew that she was mine, just as woman and wolf knew that I was hers. That feeling pulsed hot and hard and true in my chest as my teeth sank into her neck.

I felt her, felt the hot, hot flame of her pleasure rush through me, right as mine burst too. I felt her chest heave and her lungs suck in breaths as I listened to her ragged cries of pleasure. And I felt a deep down feeling of satisfaction that I had been the one to cause it, right as bliss pumped through me.

When I came to, I had tears in my fucking eyes, something thankfully no one saw, because Kai? I’d been searching for her for two fucking years, longing for her for longer and now… She was mine, I felt that in every swipe of my tongue as I licked her mating mark clean.

Mine.

When I finally opened my eyes, I saw a great big grey wolf standing at the edge of the paddock, watching everything that had been going on.

Chapter 41

Atlas

Trouble with Xavier was he talked too fucking much.

“Tonight is Jayden’s night,” he told me as we hit the showers. Our brother had already gone, pulling up out front of the shearing shed on one of our bikes, those fucking idiots who thought they had a chance with our girl all muttering to themselves as they watched the two of them go. “Once he’s mated Kai—”

Everything that should’ve happened that day would’ve happened. I’d told Xavier that plenty of times, that when he gave me a hard fucking time about claiming Kai the night of the party, that he and Jay should’ve done the same. Anna wouldn’t have meant a damn thing if we’d already claimed her. But Xavier always focussed on the wrong things, worrying about what our parents and the alphas thought.

I only gave a shit about Kai.

So I nodded, pretending to go along with my brother’s bullshit plans, right up until we got out of the showers. Then, without a word, I shifted into wolf form and took off out the door. Xavier called after me but I didn’t stop, trotting out onto the veranda and then jumping down onto the dirt track Jayden had taken.

“Which one of them boys you think the girl is with?” The sly tone of that voice had me stopping in my tracks. “I thought she was with the big fucker, but then she goes off riding with the other brother.”

My muzzle peeled back in a snarl as I slunk closer. Ned and some of the other shearers were sitting outside their room, nursing beers.

“Maybe she lets all three of them go through her,” Ned cackled, and I barely managed to keep my growl down as I watched him grin.

Fucking prick.

Humans never understood the way things worked for us; I’d worked that out pretty quickly. To ‘men’ like Ned, women were possessions, holes to dump cum into. He’d never know what it was like to give his whole heart to one woman.

“Maybe it’ll be our turn next, before the shearing season is done here,” Ned continued.

That’s when I did let out a growl, all of those fuckers turning around to stare at me.

“Is that their dog?” one of the other guys asked, craning his neck to peer at me. He flicked his cigarette ash out on the veranda. “Looks a lot bigger than the last time I saw it.”

I stalked towards him, stiff legged, the threat clear in my snarls.

“And she better mind her fucking manners,” Ned said jumping to his feet and grabbing an old axe handle that was leaning against the wall, hefting it in his hands. “Or I’ll put her down just like I will that girl—”

“At…” Xavier’s voice trailed away as he walked outside, looking around for me, but then frowning at the tableau in front of him. “What’s going on?”

“Your little bitch has a really nasty attitude,” Ned said, nodding to me. “I was just going to adjust that for her.”

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