Before I can process what’s happening, his mouth crashes onto mine, desperate, claiming. Sparks roar through me, every nerve alight. I don’t kiss him back. I’m too stunned by what he is doing. His tongue runs along the seam of my lips, and when I don’t open to allow him entry, he tugs my hair back. My breath hitches, and it’s all the opportunity he needs. His tongue claims my mouth with a demanding, all-consuming hunger.
His taste is delicious, sweet.Mine. Electricity surges all over my body, and I’m on the edge of an orgasm from the friction of his hard length grinding against me. But I can’t do this. He doesn’t get to say some hot words and erase how he has treated me.
My hands are on his chest, and I push him back. He withdraws, taking his heat with him. We’re both panting, and the room is filled with so much sexual tension that I could choke on it.
“We’re not doing this.” I run my hands over my face before looking at him. “You were awful to me. You made me think you hated me, and I had no idea what I had done wrong.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Princess.”
“Don’t call me that!”
“Does ‘mate’ work better?” he asks with a smirk.
I shoot him a filthy glare, but I know if looks could kill, he would already be long gone. How does he think we can go from him barely acknowledging me to being mates? I roll my eyes at how fucking cocky he is.
“Roll those eyes again, I fucking dare you,” he growls at me, and I have to fight myself not to. Fuck, why do I want to push him so much?
“Stop being all growly at me, Luca Taylor. You made your bed by being a dick to me for three fucking years! You say I was all you wanted, but it didn’t stop you fucking a steady stream of different females. Just because you wantmenow, it changes nothing. I don’t want someone who will treat me like shit rather than confront his own feelings.”
“You’re my mate, Sofia. I’m confronting my feelings right here and now. We’re meant to be.”
“I don’t give a fuck! And you know what? Consent fucking matters, Beta. You don’t get to kiss me or touch me without my permission. You don’t fucking own me because I’m your mate. I won’t be for long. So how about you go fuck yourself and leave me the hell alone?”
I’m so done with this conversation. A wave of frustration washes over me, tightening my chest and constricting my throat. The urge to end our interaction becomes almost overwhelming. I don’t need to hear pretty lies about him wanting me. It’s too late. I don’t believe anything he has to say.
I wrench the door open and storm into the hallway, Luca trailing close behind me. I ignore his haunting presence the entire walk back home. Walking in, I slam the door behind me, but Luca is already pushing in after me.
“We’re not fucking done, Pri—” he snarls, cutting himself off, and I spin around, ready to punch him in the face if he calls me that one more time.
“What the fuck is going on?” Ryan growls as he joins us in the living room. His eyes scan over us, taking in the anger we are both radiating.
“I’m done. Ryan, I tried, but he can’t even acknowledge what he’s done wrong. I’m sorry. I know something is going on with you. I’m aware the timing is shit, but I deserve better than this.”
“You have to accept the bond,” Ryan pleads. But one glance at my angry posture and shaking head must make him realize there is all of zero chance that will happen. He growls, low and throaty, as his eyes turn from their usual brown to the golden hue of his wolf’s irises. “I wanted to let you get there in your own time, but it can’t wait much longer.Ican’t wait much longer.”
What is he talking about? Why not? I turned twenty-one only a few days ago. There is absolutely no reason to rush into completing a bond at this age, even if my fated mate wasn’t a giant asshole. Which he is.
The hair on the back of my neck stands on end as I take in Ryan’s appearance. His wolf’s golden eyes dart around the room, his canines have descended, and his arms are thick with hair. He mutters under his breath, and he clenches and unclenches his fists repeatedly.
“Ryan? What’s wrong with you?”
“Accept the bond, Fia,” he says, applying his Alpha command. I stagger back, covering my mouth as my vision clouds with angry tears. How could he?
“With all due respect, Alpha, what the actual fuck?” Luca snarls. Coming to stand in front of me, as if he could block out an alphacommand. “Take it back. You can’t alpha command her to accept me.”
Oh, great, now he cares about what I want. Just in time for Ryan to lose his damn mind.
“Accept him now,” Ryan says, applying every ounce of his alpha command, and I thank the Goddess for making me immune to alpha commands. A secret I’ve never shared with anyone.
Luca lets out a growl that’s part roar and lunges for him, his fist connecting with Ryan’s jaw with a sickening crack. “Take it back,” he grits out, grappling for control until Ryan throws him across the room. Luca doesn’t stay down for long, immediately scrambling to put himself between me and Ryan again.
Bile rises up my throat, and I can’t breathe. Who is this? My big brother would never abuse his power this way. But he hasn’t been acting like my brother for a while now. All the events where he has behaved in ways I couldn’t understand flash before my eyes. Not helping Emily, being gone from the pack more often than he was here, pushing me towards Luca, and ignoring my wants.
He’s not in his right mind. Fuck! I shoot off a frantic mindlink to Doc to come quickly as weight crushes down on my shoulders. How long has Ryan been suffering on his own? A quick glance at the shock painting Luca’s face tells me he was kept as much in the dark as I was. My brother is slipping. Losing control.
Moon madness.
And he’s been hiding it from us all along.
