Page 44 of Their Marked Mate

Whatever he’d discovered made him angry, so she wasn’t sure she wanted to understand. Even so, she found herself asking, “Why did he acknowledge me now?”

“The transfer link allows him to sense you more clearly.”

“I don’t understand why you’re angry.” It felt wrong to have him inside her while he glared at her. She tried to wiggle away, but he grabbed her waist and remained between her thighs. “Don’t you want me as your mate?”

“That wasn’t all he told me,” Alex warned. He looked at Nate then returned his angry gaze to Luna. “What are you hiding from us, mate? My wolf is sensing deception, and my wolf is never wrong.”

Luna felt her eyes widen before she could stop the reaction. “I don’t know what⁠—”

“Lying will make this infinitely worse,” Alex cut in. “What is my wolf sensing? Tell me now and tell me all of it.”

CHAPTER 7

Panic surged through Luna and she struggled with all her might. Pain flared between her legs and she cried out sharply. “Release the knot,” she pleaded. “Please, let me go.”

“It’s not up to me,” Alex told her, his expressive eyes still filled with hostility. “I don’t control the knot, my wolf does. And he doesn’t seem willing to let you go.”

Despite Alex’s claim, the pressure inside her gradually decreased and Luna scrambled backward, separating their bodies. She ignored the warm rush of liquid seeping out of her abused pussy. She scooted across the bed and pressed her back against the headboard, then drew her legs up to her chest.

Alex let her go, but remained beside the bed, his eyes intent on her face. Nate positioned himself on the other side of the bed. This was not the time or place for her revelation, yet she seemed to have no choice. Lying now would likely result in some sort of mind probe, and she didn’t want to be subjected to that. Besides, this wasn’t a secret she could keep indefinitely. She’d just hoped for more time.

“I made changes to Babcock’s formula,” she admitted, forcing herself to meet Alex’s gaze.

“Why and to what end?” His deep tone sounded unusually growly, and alpha energy still shimmered in his eyes.

“We agreed that the transformation would only be attempted with volunteers, so I tried to make the project more appealing to females.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Alex snapped. “Just explain what you did.”

“Nate volunteered for the original program because he expected to gain paranormal abilities.” The comparison came to her while she worked in the lab. The parallel was striking, and Alex was familiar with the details so she hoped it would help him understand her motivation. “Babcock’s formula would have triggered an excruciating transformation, but all the females would have gained was the ability to produce hybrid babies.”

“That’s not true,” Alex argued. “They will gain devoted mates who will protect and provide for them.”

“Does your formula create female shapeshifters?” Nate wanted to know.

Nate’s eyes narrowed as he asked the question, but Luna could no longer sense his emotions. In fact, she couldn’t sense either one of them now. It was frustrating that at the first hint of conflict they’d immediately shut her out. “I’m exploring the possibility, but the injection I gave Shannon didn’t go that far. It will just allow her to trigger bonding fever with the male or males she chooses.”

“Is that all?” Alex released a humorless laugh and crossed his arms over his chest. “You gave control of the bonding process to the females?”

Luna lifted her chin. She would not apologize for this. The males on Rydaria had treated the females terribly. This was one tiny step toward resolving the power imbalance. “We are at the mercy of every male who desires us. This will allow us to⁠—”

Alex grabbed her ankle and dragged her across the bed. “No transformation is going to change that simple fact.” Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Alex dragged Luna across his lap. She struggled in vain every step of the way, but he soon had her face down over his legs. “You are safe because we protect you.” He smacked her upturned ass. “You have food and shelter because we provide for you.” He spanked her even harder. “We are bigger and stronger than you.” He paused for several hard spanks before adding, “We can force our will on you at any time, but we choose not to.”

More hard slaps followed and Luna let out an exasperated cry. “You’re forcing your will on me right now!” She twisted around and glared at him, infuriated by his intransigence. Life should be filled with compromise, but Rydarian males were unwilling to bend. “I did nothing wrong!”

“Like hell you didn’t.” He resumed the hard swats, moving from side to side until her entire bottom throbbed with burning pain. “Instincts in the male help him identify his mate, but the female must accept him.” His hand fell fast and hard, adding to the impact of his words. “A mating bond can’t be forced.” He paused for another flurry of punishing slaps. “The process is balanced, or it was until you fucked with it.”

Emotion burned in Luna’s throat and her eyes filled with tears. She stubbornly blinked them back, refusing to admit defeat. She’d never thought about this from the hybrids’ perspective. She just wanted females to regain control over their bodies.

Alex pushed her backward until she knelt beside him. With his fingers tangled in the back of her hair, he tilted her head back. “They tried this at Nuevo, and it resulted in horrible side effects. You need to go back to the original formula.”

“Yeah, right.” She rolled her eyes. “You expect me to believe that? If you want babies bad enough, you’ll give up a little power. It’s a fair exchange.”

He started to say something then shook his head. “Have it your way, but you can’t say I didn’t warn you.” He dragged her back across his lap. “Let’s focus on your attitude instead. Did you know this would piss me off?” Alex’s harsh tone demanded an answer.

When she gritted her teeth and said nothing, he smacked her upper thighs. Luna gasped but continued her silent rebellion.

He shoved her legs apart and swatted her pussy twice. “Answer me!”