AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Read what?” My mouth snapped shut at a tiny tinkle near my ear. I focused on the leather, the black stripe decorated with an elegant silver trim. In the center dangled a tiny infinity charm that wound its way in an endless dance between our names.
Rafewas engraved on one side of the figure eight,Willowon the other.
“We belong to each other, Willow. Will you be mine?”
I blinked, and my brain stepped it up a gear time alone in his office.A collar.He held a collar. Our collar. “Yes.”
The word slipped out, but there was no way I’d take that one back. Ever.
Rafe smiled, his predator emerging in his blackening nails that grazed my skin in a sexy-as-hell touch. He buckled the collar around my throat, drawing me back into his body. The intimacy of the moment brought me to the verge of tears. His talons rested there as he kissed my lips, and I couldn’t hold back my moan. “Mine.”
For eternity.
I smiled and rose into his embrace. My sighs echoed around us as his talons curved over my bared breast in a gentle, possessive touch. Everything he did was designed to tease me to the edge of pleasure, returning his frantic kisses until he broke the connection, his chest heaving. I smiled because I knew how to repay that favor. And I smiled with the knowledge he wouldn’t leave me. The uncertainty in my life was gone, replaced with a man I adored. Loved.
His.
The End
Find more books by Raven Hush
UNLIKELY MATES
The Zwartberg Panther Pack, 1
Jade Marshall
Copyright © 2022
Chapter One
Kira
“Gemors.”
I hear the slur just before I get pushed from behind. I topple forward, landing on my hands and knees in the dirt.
How I hate this place, these people. Breathing through the pain, I glance at the figure walking away from me, trying to make out which of my many tormentors pushed me this time, but I only catch a glimpse of a female form as she rounds the corner. After getting off the floor, I dust off my jeans, pick up my dropped belongings, and head toward my next class.
Growing up as the omega’s daughter has never been easy. My first memories are of being shunned and pushed to the side. Throughout my school years, I have been bullied and abused by my peers and the grownups who were supposed to protect me from that kind of behavior.
Living in a pack of panthers isn’t easy by any means, but being seen as nothing more than agemorshas the capacity to break my spirit and soul before I even get a chance to shine. No one ever took the time to get to know me. They only judged me on my family history.
Many years ago, my father, Abel Williams, used to be the alpha of the Zwart Pack. When I was still a toddler, my father convinced the entire pack to go to war with a rival, the Lira Pack. Unfortunately, he overestimated his leadership skills and our pack’s fighting prowess. Lives were lost, as well as the fight. My father was also dethroned by their alpha and left to live in shame. He has a horrendous burn mark on the left side of his face that never healed, a beacon for all to see, his shame worn on the outside.
The new alpha, Dante Taylor, was fair but brutal until the day he passed. After his death last week, his son, Rowan, took over, even though he is only seventeen. He has always been destined to be our next alpha, and that thought scares me more than any other.
As I enter my last class of the day, I hear the word again.Gemors.It isn’t whispered but said aloud. I don’t turn toward where the voice came from. I know that voice. Silas, Rowan’s best friend and his soon-to-be beta.
Everyone around me chuckles as I try to make myself as small as I can. I keep my composure and walk to my desk in the back. There are no other pupils seated beside me. No one to talk to, to bare my soul to, to help me with this burden.
My father has long since checked out, struggling to keep himself going every day. I love him more than anything in this world, which is why I have never told him exactly how bad it really is. He has his own pain and shame to live with, and I won’t add to it.
The teacher starts with the lesson, but my mind has already left the building. My thoughts swirl with everything I need to do before I leave because I won’t be staying here. I’ve been hurt and disrespected enough in my short life, and I’ve finally reached the end of my rope. Tomorrow is my eighteenth birthday. Tonight, I’ll leave this hellhole and never look back.
“Kira!” the teacher calls loudly.
The girls in the class all giggle as I look up. He may have called me before. I just didn’t hear him.
