I ram him, claws raking fur, teeth flashing. His bulk slamming into a tree with a crack. He snarls back, lips curling. “She’ll be mine, Thorn.”
“Over my dead fucking body.” My voice thunders through the woods.
I don’t wait for his lunge. I tear onward, lungs burning, paws pounding. Her blood is in the air, driving every wolf mad. I hear it — the frenzy of others catching the scent. Growls grow sharper. Frenetic. They’ll rip each other apart for her.
Not if I get there first.
The trees blur. My chest heaves. But then — I seeher. A flash of fire darting between trunks, her red fur wild in the moonlight.
Mine.
The sight of her drives me faster, branches snapping under my weight. She glances back, eyes widening when she sees me. She pushes faster. The full moon light glistening off her red coat. Gods, she is beautiful, even in her desperation.
We burst into the field before the Sacred Circle, the blood-red leaves of the Sacred Tree swaying in the distance. My pulse roars.
I veer into her path, nudging her flank. She snaps back, shoving me. We tumble in a blur of fur and teeth, rolling through the grass until our momentum spent itself.
We shift mid-roll until I’m pinning her beneath me. Her pale skin gleams, streaked with blood at her side, red hair spread wild in the grass.
My wolf howls inside me. “Who hurt you?” I rasp, nose brushing the blood on her arm. Rage and hunger warred in me. Whoever laid claws on her will pay in flesh.
Her lips part, breathless. “You took your time. I thought Alphas were supposed to be fast. Are those big legs just for show?”
Even bleeding, even hunted, she’s smiling. Just for me.
That smile eclipses the full moon.
“I’ll show you.” I crush my mouth to hers, devouring her. She melts, opening for me. I tear down her body with kisses and bites until I bury my face between her thighs. Her taste — sweet, musky, mine — explodes on my tongue.
She arches, crying out, her nails clawing the grass. I lick deeper, sucking, tonguing until she screams my name into the night. The sound makes every nerve in me burn.
“Ember…” I growl against her, then rise, spreading her legs wide. My cock, hard and aching, presses against her slick entrance.
She trembles beneath me, pupils blown wide, lips swollen from our kiss.
“Mine,” I snarl.
“Wait—” she gasps, her hand flat against my chest.
I freeze, chest heaving, every muscle strung tight.
Chapter 28
EMBER
He pauses, hovering above me, his body heavy, his heat sinking into my skin. Gods, I want it. Every nerve in me is begging for him to finish what he started. But my mind betrays me.
Roman.
If I give in now, I’m not just sealing my fate. I’m sealing his too. What will it mean for him if I choose this?
Crap, why is this so hard?
Literally, so hard because it’s staring me right in the face, thick and ready, and I want it inside me. My body aches for it, but my heart and my head…are at war.
A flash of movement.
Something gray blurs between us, ripping Thorn off of me with a snarl. My breath catches as he and the gray wolf tumble across the grass.
