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The alpha slung the oversized white towel low on his hips, leaving little to the imagination. If she came to him like that, he wouldn’t have a chance in hell. Hopefully it would have the same effect on her. Trace combed his hair and pulled it back, grateful to get the wet mess out of his face.There. That’s as good as it’s going to get,he thought.
The smell of perfume intensified as he walked to the bathroom door, alerting him that Mariam must be on the other side.
He ran my finger over the edge of the towel, silently debating if he should remove it and greet her in the nude. Trace had no problem doing it, but she had only seen him completely naked once after a shift. Would it be crossing a line to surprise her like that?
He wasn’t happy at the thought that she might not jump willingly into his arms, but he kept the towel firmly in place. Trace took a deep breath and opened the door leading to the bedroom.
His eyes landed on her legs first; they were bare, as was the rest of her save for a tiny pair of panties and a tight corset that caused her breasts to spill over the top. The primal beast in him loved the sight until his eyes traveled high enough to see her face. His wolf erupted, furious at the deception. It wasn’t Mariam at all.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Jessica?” His anger caused her to cower in fear, but he was beyond caring. “What the fuck are you wearing? Fuck!”
Trace wanted to run back into the bathroom, but the alpha in him refused. A member of his pack had defied basic werewolf standards by showing up like this in a mated wolf’s room. His animal pushed forward, wanting to deal with this on his own, but Trace fought back.
Jess started crying, fumbling to put on the robe she had discarded on the bed. He stood fuming, eyes averted. Trace wouldn’t betray Mariam by looking at her again until she was properly covered. His wolf growled in agreement, glad that we were of one mind.
“I’m sorry, Trace,” she choked out. “I know that you weren’t interested before. But you have been under so much stress…and I thought that maybe you’d be open to—“
“Open to what, exactly?” he asked, interrupting her. “You’re a sad replacement for my mate. We were friends as kids, and I thought we were friends as adults, too, but I am not going to put up with this, Jessica. You owe Mariam an apology for approaching me like this. She’ll determine yourfate. Let’s go.”
He grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out of the bedroom. Having Jess in there, even with the robe tightly cinched around her waist, felt dirty. He thundered down the hallway until he reached Mariam’s temporary sleeping space.
The handle wouldn’t give when Trace tried to turn it.Damn her and that fucking chair.He wasn’t going to let it stop him from getting to her; not now, not ever. He stepped back and kicked against the heavy wood, splintering it apart and tearing it off the hinges. Mariam scrambled to her feet, looking first at her mate and then at Jess next to him. Her face paled, and she looked like she might be sick.
Trace’s heart did a double-take. In his haste, he had probably terrified her. She was a victim in this, too. He shoved Jessica to her knees at Mariam’s feet.
“This pack member was in our room. I thought she was you until I saw her,” he explained through gritted teeth.How could I have been so stupid?“The way I see it, she has offended you even more than me. As furious as I am, I leave her punishment in your hands, mate.”
Mariam swallowed hard. Jessica was openly sobbing on the floor. She refused to look up and meet her alpha female’s eyes. That sparked anger anew in Trace, and he grabbed her hair at the base of her head and jerked her face upward.
“You will look upon the woman you have wronged,” he spat.
Mascara was running from her eyes in a way that he would have found appealing on Mariam, but on Jess, it struck him as just pathetic. His packmate, his friend, wasn’t big enough to face her own fate.How could I have been sowrong about her all this time?he wondered. Trace had stood up for her, defended her, to Mariam, but in the end, she had betrayed his trust.
His eyes returned to his mate. He needed to convey his regret to her and apologize for his blindness, but something stopped him. Mariam wasn’t angry. Instead, she looked worried. The blush that spread across her face reflected shame, but how could that be?
Gently, she reached down to pull Jess to her feet. She wiped the girl’s tears away using the sleeve of her sweater and hugged her. Trace grit his teeth, the pieces slowly, too slowly, falling into place.
“You were behind this,” he said, his blood boiling. “You sent her to my—our—room like a whore.”
“I’m so sorry, Jessica,” Mariam said, tears running down her face now, too. “Go home. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m so sorry.”
Jess didn’t have to be asked twice. She hurried to leave, refusing to meet Trace’s eyes as she disappeared. Mariam and the alpha stood facing each other, neither of them saying anything until they heard the front door shut.
“Undress yourself and come to our room,” he growled. Without waiting for an answer, Trace left Mariam to prepare herself. Not even she had the gall to ignore his command right now.
He went straight to work when he returned to the bedroom. Trace opened the chest at the foot of the bed and began selecting the device to use. Initially, he set out a cane and single tail whip, but after taking a deep breath, he changed his mind and returned them to the chest.
As much as he wanted to use them and cause Mariamsome real pain, this was probably her first time being disciplined by a partner. He would need to take it slow and build her up to receiving the heavier equipment. At least, that had been Randy’s advice when he gifted Trace the kit during their search for his mate.
It was tradition, the best man gifting the tools of discipline when his friend took a mate. Trace was tempted to use them that first night he returned home to find Mariam living in Tumblewild, but her newness had stopped him. There was no getting out of this, though; she had earned this spanking, and he was the one to give it to her.
Trace gripped the handle of the widest paddle in the collection, knowing that the pain would be more evenly distributed across her whole ass by using it. It wouldn’t be comfortable by any stretch of the imagination, but it would make it more manageable for her. He closed the chest and stood, waiting for his mate.
There was a gentle knock on the door before it opened a few inches, and Mariam shuffled in. She was glorious, completely nude, with her eyes averted. Blood rushed to his dick, and he removed the towel around his waist in one quick motion. She would see the effect that her punishment had on him, whether she wanted to or not.
Trace sat on the bed and patted his lap. “Sit,” he commanded.
Mariam’s eyes widened as she looked up to take in the sight of his fully engorged member. She didn’t look scared, as a virgin might, but instead, she looked…hungry.
