Page 38 of Hunted

“That was different and you know it,” I said at last.

“Are you having second thoughts?”

“No.”

“I would never pressure you, Ellie. You know that.”

And I did. It was just I couldn’t seem to quiet the raging internal battle I faced in my own head every day. River was mine. I’d felt him beneath my skin from the moment he’d rewritten my memories. We were linked. And my own reservations aside, right now I wanted this. Wanted him.

Bite me. I want to know what it’s like. Just once.

His voice was a low growl in my ear, his fist moving in hard, punishing strokes. When I bite you, if this were real, my bite would instantly sear a connection between our wolves. My wolf is dominant. His hand began to move faster and I felt hot beads of seed dribble onto my bare stomach. River closed his eyes. Your breathing and heartbeat would be linked to mine.

Like a tantric thing?

Yeah, he ground out. He threw his head back. I’m really close.

I rose up off the bed, biting his bicep. He groaned.

Ellie, he warned. I’m so close to going full on wolf on you right now. You have no fucking idea. His eyes blazed gold, no trace of his silver irises left, his wolf fully in control.

Maybe I want that. I bit him again, harder, this time lower, on his pec.

The connection goes deeper. His voice in my head was ragged. After biting, both mates in the bonded pair feel physical sensations the other person experiences reflected back until the high of mating wears off. He groaned when I bit his shoulder.His voice was husky. You… have a wicked mouth.

I felt River’s fingers fist in my hair, exposing my neck to his teeth just as he growled and began coming in hot spurts on my stomach. I felt a sharp flash of pain as he nipped the base of my throat—

—and then with a gasp, I woke up, tangled alone in thesheets.

Groaning, I pushed my sweaty hair out of my eyes. I was sore, and knew I would be feeling every kiss and bite and more in the most delicious places for the next twenty-four hours. I was also in zero danger of falling back asleep.

Outside it was raining yet again. A boom of thunder rattled the windowpane. Shivering, I fumbled on the nightstand for a hairband and tied my hair into a messy bun. Scooping one of River’s worn white t-shirts from the end of the bed, I slipped it over my head before finding my panties and wandering towards the bathroom.

After using the toilet, I washed my hands, blinking at my reflection in the too harsh light of the mirror over the sink. I inhaled sharply. River’s shirt had slipped down off one of my shoulders, exposing my collarbone. I leaned closer. There at the base of my throat, was the telltale crescent mark of a recent werewolf bite.

I silently swore, tracing River’s claiming mark with my fingertips.

Instantly, a warm fluttery feeling whispered over my skin, like being caressed with thousands of invisible feathers. I groaned, nipples suddenly tender and aching, my clit so swollen it was like River hadn’t just given me three orgasms in a row.

What was happening to me? This was impossible. None of this was real. It had only been a projection.

Back in the bedroom, my phone buzzed.

Hurrying over, I swiped it from the nightstand, staring at the incoming text.

River: Are you okay?

My thumbs flew over the screen.

Ellie: Was my mark there when you woke up too?

River: Yes. This is my fault. I never should have let things go that far.

Ellie: What do you think this means?

River: I don’t know.

But I knew. It was the truth I’d been avoiding for months, ever since the day I realized the nightmares and hallucinations of wolves in a cornfield were real. River and I were linked by a primal force searing through our blood, a connection neither of us could claw back, much less hope to control. Was he my mate? That thought thrilled and terrified me in equal measure.

I wanted to be with him. I wanted quiet nights at home where we sat around in the kitchen making soup. I wanted nights where we didn’t get any sleep because we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. I wanted the cozy evenings in sweats where we binge-watched entire seasons of Battlestar Galactica while eating Thai takeout. Maybe some part of me had always known River was my mate. There was no denying the feelings that were written in my heart.

But much as I wanted a future with River, I was terrified of losing myself. And after everything my sister and I had gone through in our childhood, watching our father struggle with addiction, only to ultimately disappear, how could I take a step where I might leave her, too?