Page 61 of The Forbidden Alpha

“I’m yours,” I cried out, the words ripped from my lungs as the world began to spin. “I’m yours!”

My body tightened, my pussy clenching, squeezing him.

“Come for me, Princess.”

My body obeyed. I stiffened, my back arching off the sheets as a scream of pure ecstasy broke from my throat. I came and came, my walls clenching around his length desperate for all that he could give me, but as the pleasure peaked, his knot pushed into me, testing my limits, shattering them. I screamed, my nails clawing at him, desperate to get away. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt.

He thrust into me, a fuse blowing in my brain as I took all of him. My toes curled into the silk, my mind fracturing as the room bled away. I tried to hold onto him, to stay with him, but the darkness was stronger. Everything went black as he roared. I fell lax beneath him as I lost the fight for consciousness.

Chapter 33

Ethan

Dawn approached when Odis finally convinced me to return.

I couldn’t help the gnawing feeling as Erebus gnashed his teeth. I’d wanted to be a man, and not a beast last night. It was hard, but I heard her plea. I stayed out, and spent the night with Odis. If I had marked her earlier—if I had claimed her soul and twisted it with mine—I would have felt it. I would have known something was wrong, felt her through the bond. She’d have linked me.

We’d both needed air, but as we stepped into the penthouse, the silence wasn’t peaceful; it was a silent attack of arousal and another man’s lust.

Kill. Mutilate. Slaughter, the voices screamed.

A growl slammed against my ribs, claws extending as the scent of the man who dared burned our nostrils.

I stopped by the living room. Every lungful was a toxic blend: my mate’s arousal with the scent of another Alpha. The ache in my chest was suffocating; it felt like cold fingers had reached inside and held my heart in a vice grip. Fury took over and each step was a thunderclap against the silence, a promise of the execution to follow. I’ll kill him.

Erebus demanded blood as I lunged down the hall. My boots thundered against the silence. But the scent of copper slashed through my fury. I faltered, the world tilting as the thick, metallic tang filled my mouth. Fury didn’t just bend into fear—it was swallowed by it.

I’d wanted to keep her safe, and someone had taken that from us in our own home. Years of building a fortress, just for someone to sneak past the Enforcers, into my sanctuary. The signs had been there: lilies, tea. Marking her territory was a distraction—she’d opened the door. For the second time in my life, I felt fear. I needed to see her, to know she was okay, but if she wasn’t?

We were hunting. The hallway narrowed, bleeding into a blurred tunnel of red.

“Wildflower?” I called out. My voice sounded small in the vastness of the penthouse, the faltering tremor of a plea.

There was no answer. I moved toward our room, my boots heavy. Every instinct I possessed told me to turn back. A growl tore from my lips as I closed the gap in a single stride.

We shoved the door open.

The light from the hallway splashed across the floor, losing itself when it met the sun, illuminating the wreckage. The bed was a ruin. The silk sheets were tangled and soaked. Wet patches that made my heart bleed. And in the center of it was my mate.

Her hair was a tangled halo against the pillows, and her skin was mapped with more violence. The marks on her neck had doubled, hickeys covered bruises; purple bloomed on her exposed thighs.

She was naked, but all we could think about was whether she still breathed.

We needed to know she was alive.

“Mate!” The roar that left my throat wasn’t human.

I lunged for the bed, my knees hitting the mattress with a force that made the frame groan. I reached for her, my hands hovering over her skin. I was terrified she’d shatter if I touched her, that the truth was more than I could handle. A cry filled the room, mine, as I promised to find the one responsible for sneaking past my Enforcers and claiming what was mine.

She stirred. Her lashes fluttered, heavy. She blinked against the light, looking around the room blearily as her small nose twitched, sniffing the air. The world froze as her eyes opened and she looked at me with a soft smile on her lips.

“Ethan,” she whispered, her voice cracking, oblivious of my world crumbling.

Then, she tried to move. She winced, her face contorting in pain, and she looked down at herself. Her eyes widened as she took in the blood, the fresh prints on her skin. Her smile faded, her brows knitting, as absolute horror dawned.

“No, no, no.” She looked at me, her brown eyes round. “It wasn’t you.”

Shane. And wolfsbane.