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I leaned back in my chair, savoring the warmth of the sun on my face. It was a beautiful day, one that was meant to be enjoyed. Only one thing was stopping me from doing just that: Neil’s mating mark on my neck. It was annoying, just distracting enough for me not to forget it was there.
"Penny for your thoughts," Gabe offered, returning with his own mug. He set it on the table between us and stretched out in the second old chair.
“Have you thought about what happens if we can’t remove the mark?”
Gabe didn't answer right away. He blew on the coffee,and we watched the steam circle in the morning air.
“Of course, I have,” he said finally. “But we can’t focus on that right now. We just have to think positively. Besides, Mariam asked me the same thing when she first received Trace's bite. You know, before she fell head over heels for him. I did a little digging for her back then, and I'm pretty sure there is something we can do about it. Fingers crossed, it's as easy as replacing his bite with mine.”
I choked on the horrible coffee. The thought of another male biting me, even my true mate, felt confusing with the mating mark on me. But remembering how it felt, how cock hungry I had been...Gabe might not have been the one who had marked me, but as my true mate, I had been more than willing to throw myself at him in lieu of consummating the bond with Neil. My face burned all the way down to the roots of my hair.
"Are you okay?" Gabe asked, reaching toward me. His fingers grazed my arm, trying to help me but setting off a new wave of desire in me.
Heat raced through me, replacing my embarrassment with…something else. I jumped from the chair and raced into the hotel room. The door leading to the hallway was within reach when Gabe tackled me to the floor. His body covered me as I squirmed beneath him.
He held my hands firmly above my head, parting my legs with his knee. I felt his cock swell and nudge against me, lining up perfectly to fit inside. I writhed at the contact, hungry for more.
"Please, Gabe," I begged. "I need you. I need you."
"Fuck, Ella," he growled. "You don't know what it does to me when you talk like that."
Gabe fisted my hair with his free hand and brought my lips to meet him. Our hips moved in tandem with our mouths, pushing in and pulling away. I felt my wolf spilled out, her eyes shifting to over mine.
“Claim us, mate,” she coaxed him. “Remove the mark from the imposter male.”
Gabe’s teeth elongated, and his kiss became more urgent. His thrusts against my core were hard enough to bruise, but I met his every stroke. If only I could get his pants off and remove the thin layers of fabric between us.
As if reading my mind, he released my hands and broke our kiss. I scrambled for his belt, but instead of allowing me access to his body, he pulled me to my feet and carried me to the bathroom. In one fluid motion, he set me inside and slammed the door shut.
“Gabe!” I shouted. It felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I pounded on the door with my fists and tried to turn the handle, but he was holding it shut from the other side. “Let me out of here, you jerk!”
I kicked the door a few more times for good measure, but he wouldn't budge or even answer. I spun around, trying to find something, anything, that might help me escape.If only there was a window I could crawl out of…
I growled low in frustration.
Take over, I told my wolf as I stripped out of my clothes. Happy to oblige, she initiated the shift.
__________
Gabe held the door shut while Ella raged at being locked in. It had taken every last ounce of his self-control not to rip her clothes off and take her right then on the floor. Shehad been so wet, so willing, and even now, her arousal clung to their air.
That, and her anger.
It was actually his wolf who had stopped him. Some might call his wolf the wild animal, but the creature’s only goal was to protect and care for their mate. Somewhere, deep inside, the wolf knew why Gabe was hesitant to bite Ella and claim her for them, and in the end, the animal was the only thing strong enough to prevent the man from fucking everything up and endangering Ella.
He had also been wary of Samantha and her endless flirting, so maybe Gabe owed him a little more credit than he usually got for that reason, too.
The pounding on the door had stopped, and now it was suspiciously quiet. Gabe’s wolf tensed and then yipped like a pup. He had to smile at the animal’s antics.
“Ella? Are you alright?” No answer. “Okay…I’m going to open the door. Please don’t try to bum-rush me or anything.”
Gabe eased the door open and was greeted by her wolf. She was beautiful, exactly how he remembered her from their run in the woods.
“Hey, girl. Your human is having a hard time, but you’re helping her, aren’t you?”
He ran his hands through her thick fur. Unlike Ella, she leaned into his touch, happy for the connection. Normally after a mating bite, the female shifter would experience intense feelings of arousal, but only for the one who gave them the mark. Ella’s situation was a little different because the one who bit her wasn’t a true mate. And yeah, chosen matings happened a lot, and that alone shouldn’tbe a problem, but since the bond wasn’t completed and her true mate was in her direct proximity afterward, the waters were muddled.
If nothing else, their situation would make for interesting casework for the pack historian. Future generations will be reading about this for years.
