My wolf purred as his scruff brushed against the crook of my neck and made itburn.
Jane walked to the front of the building with a few of her friends and two warrior wolves—who I assumed Roman assigned to her for protection. I could smell their pungent scents, but none of them smelled like Vanessa so I could keep myself calm. She paused for the slightest moment, gazing in our direction. And when she did, I turned and pushed the rogue to the side of the building, my hair falling into my face. He grabbed my ass, and for some fucking reason, my wolf didn’t pull away. She didn’t want to.
But I did.
It felt wrong.
Jane walked into the building.
When she disappeared, I took a deep breath, and he pressed his lips to mine, his tongue in my mouth. He wrapped a hand in my hair and forced me to kiss him. I placed my hands against his chest and tried to push him away, but I wasn’t strong enough—even though I had done more than just push someone away in practice.
My neck burned. Blazing. Scorching. Sweltering.
I took a deep breath, gathering enough strength to push him back. I had a fucking mission.
“I thought you wanted to take me home,” I said, keeping my gaze steady. He licked his lips, and I pressed a hand against my neck and hoped that the pain would stop. I stepped away from the rogue, catching sight of Raj lingering at the entrance to the Night Raider’s Café. I swayed my hips back and forth, walking toward the woods. “So where are we going?”
He followed me into the woods, his scent becoming overwhelming, and grabbed my wrist. “We’re not going anywhere.” He stepped closer to me. “You’re too damn sexy to take all the way back home.”
“But—”
He pushed me behind a tree and grabbed my shirt, ripping it open. “I do take what I want, when I want,” he said, fingers grazing against my skin and lighting it ablaze. My chest burned, and suddenly my whole body felt like it was on fire.
My core was throbbing. My head was aching. My skin felt like it was searing off.
I squeezed my eyes closed and grasped onto him. His eyes turned black—the color of his wolf’s—and he brushed his teeth against my neck where Roman’s mark should’ve been.
Oh, Moon Goddess, no. My heat. It was here. Now.
Before the rogue could take my clothes off himself, I ripped them off of my body. It was too hot for this. Too fucking hot. I was sweating. My breathing became ragged, like I was gasping for breath but didn’t want to breathe too deeply or I’d get a mouthful of dry air, slowly killing me from the inside out.
So much pressure built in my chest that I couldn’t hold myself up any longer. I collapsed to my knees, and he unbuckled his belt, taking his cock out. I shook my head, but my wolf purred, wanting him. My eyes shifted back and forth between hers and mine, and for a moment I almost lost control.
But I grabbed a hold of myself. I didn’t know how long I’d be able to do this, but I made a promise to Ryker that my heat wouldn’t get in the way of doing my job as a Lycan. I wasn’t about to have Roman not marking me make me lose this position as a Lycan.
The rogue grabbed my arms and pulled me to my feet. Just as he was about to plunge himself inside of me, I grabbed his cock in my hand, my claws digging into it. He released me, grasping himself.
“Stop.”
My wolf jumped inside of me, wanting to be released. She had never wanted something so crazy. She wanted him. She wanted this rogue. She wanted him to fuck us.
“You fucking whore.” He wrapped a hand around my throat, pinning me to the tree. A tear slipped from my eye, and I whimpered. This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t how I wanted to be mated.
Without thinking, I swiped my claws across his neck and killed him instantly. I collapsed onto the ground, stretching out as much as I could and trying to cool down in the dirt. “Raj!” I shouted. “Raj!”
I listened to someone run through the woods, and Raj appeared at my feet. His eyes were wide and wolf-gold, and he looked down at me with so much fucking lust, I knew that he wanted the same thing that the rogue wanted. To mark me. To put a woman out of her heat.
That innate need was coded into every single unmated werewolf. It was so natural to want to help a she-wolf through their heat, to stop them from hurting, to make them theirs.
Some rogues exited the bar and saw me leaning against the tree—clothes torn off, body dripping with sweat, need radiating off of me in waves. And, suddenly, they raced toward me.
Raj approached me slowly, controlled by his wolf and his wolf only. His ears lifted, listening to the rogues.
“Raj,” I said, tears streaming down my cheeks. I could barely move. Everything ached beyond belief. He grabbed my arm, pulled me up, and wrapped an arm around my waist. His skin on mine was the only cool thing on my body.
It felt so good that I couldn’t help but beg for him to touch me more. My wolf took control. “More Raj,” I begged. “It’s too much.”
Chapter 38
