Page 48 of Zodiac Beasts

He attempted to sidestep me, but that was pointless. My vampire speed always outclassed these ridiculous, lesser hybrids. I had him against the back wall with his neck in my grip, and my body caging him in a split second.

“No. You’re not getting off that easy.” I tightened my hold on his neck, and he tensed against the wood at his back. “You think I’m going to buy the idea that you’re a shifter and just so happened to not notice the visible mark on her neck? Whether you admit you knew I had a claim on her or not, you didn’t hire her for her eye for fashion.” I adored Lila, truly I did, but that was not her strongest trait. “Let’s cut the bull shit, and this will go much better for you.”

“Fine. I had my suspicions.” His eyes darted to the side, so I dug my fingers more roughly into his neck. “Fine, I eventually figured it out.” He admitted through his strained throat. “She’s mated to you. Why would I want anything to do with her unless it was strictly for the good of the business?” He evaded the truth with every answer.

“Because you’re a masochist.” That wasn’t a question. “Why else would you be sniffing around someone who I marked.”

“I rejected you, remember?” Ceto pushed back on my shoulders, and this time I obliged, giving him a couple feet of space. “There’s a reason your mark never took.”

“You’re welcome for that.” I rolled my eyes. As an Omega, it wasn’t like he had a choice to reject me on his own anyway. It was a simple system. Alphas could initiate a mark on anyone, with or without feelings. Betas couldn’t give a mark, but they had to consent in order to seal one. But an Omega… their breeding ability meant they were still little more than a tool for stronger shifters, regardless of the push back of social progress. I could have taken him against his consent—implanted on him, and used him as a breeding conduit for my own DNA—and he wouldn’t have actually had a say in the matter. A mutual pact couldn’t seal without consent, but without my express permission, he wouldn’t actually be able to reject my mark either.

Lucky for him, I wasn’t that cruel. I didn’t want someone who didn’t actively want me, even if I wasn’t entirely convinced he felt that way.

He glared at me while he rubbed his neck. “You’re as charming as ever.”

“Lila thinks so.” I added as a taunt. “We can’t all have her good taste.”

Ceto’s gaze dipped to just below my jawline. “I’d never questioned her taste until right now.” He relaxed against the wall, crossing his arms while the ghost of a frown cast over his face. “What do you want, Marcus? You’re the last person I want to see this close to the moon, so if you could get to the point and get out of my shop, I’d really appreciate it.”

I raised a brow, legitimately shocked he was trying to play dumb, when we both knew why I was here. So instead, I rolled my head to the side to clearly emphasize the vivid Virgo symbol on my neck. “An overnight shift on the full moon, and you just had to have a little helper around, huh.”

He kept eye contact with unusual boldness. “It’s a lot of work this time of year.”

Fuck, he had some audacity. “I’m legitimately curious who you think you’re fooling right now. I’m not a naïve hybrid who doesn’t know what the full moon means to mated shifters.”

His eyes narrowed behind his glasses, while one side of his lips lifted in a smirk. “Don’t you think it’s interesting that your naïve hybrid doesn’t care what the full moon means to mated shifters?” Cute jab, but Lila’s complete ignorance to the rules and expectations of our kind was actually something I enjoyed about her. She was so separated from our drama and internal politics that it was refreshing. I was willing to suffer for that.

Not the least of which because it also meant getting to ruffle his feathers. “Not particularly.” I waved a hand dismissively. “I find it much more interesting that you’re putting yourself in a position to spend the night with someone who you’ve surely noticed has a tractor beam like existence around men like us. I would have thought your obligations as a legacy family heir would supersede your… how did you put it when you turned me down again? Your ‘self-destructive tendencies’? Your ‘bad decisions’? I forget.”

“My temporary insanity.” He corrected me with a shake of his head. “She volunteered, and I wasn’t going to turn down the help when I need it. You already know the shop is warded and protected from moonlight, so this isn’t the nefarious plot you’re making it out to be. Simply put, I could use another set of hands, and she probably needed a break from overbearing vampires.” He kept our gazes locked, as his pupils shifted into those oh-so-powerful snake eyes of his. Though my compulsion gaze was strong enough to cancel out his paralyzing one. Neither of our magic worked on the other, making him one of the rawest relationships I’d ever had.

I wondered: was Lila immune, too? I knew she was something with scales, and I knew she had poor eyesight, but was she something like him? Maybe he’d picked her because he sensed similar magic.

“Do you think you’re any safer on a full moon?” He’d always been cagey this time of the month, so I didn’t know his lunar form, but I knew his demon. “Can she look into your eyes without dying?”

“I never plan to find out, so it doesn’t matter.” He cleared his throat and looked away. “If that was all you were worried about, you can go now. I’m not looking to move in on your mate. It’s not personal, it’s just high season. I have no interest in her in any capacity outside of her professional and academic prowess.”

Fucking please.

“Liar.” I stepped back into his space, so we were eye to eye and nose to nose. I only had an inch on him, but that was enough to intimidate someone like Ceto Arya. “You say it’s not personal, but that doesn’t mean you don’t wish it was.” I grabbed his glasses and removed them from his face. He looked so different without them. I liked this version of him: Exposed with no protection, and nothing that stood in the way of the demon in his blood. “Don’t forget that I’m just as much Shifter as I am Vampire. I can smell her on you.” There was that satisfying nervous swallow again. “And I can smell exactly how you react to her.”

Ceto followed my hand with his gaze as I tossed aside his protective lenses. He drew in a sharp breath through his nose and tilted his head back against the wall, so he could subtly look down on me. He didn’t deny a single accusation.

Of course he didn’t.

“I’m going to ask you this one more time, Kitten.” He licked his lips with a slow stroke of a partially shifted forked tongue. An adorable threat. Not many people got away with mocking a lion, but in his case, I’d let it slide. “Why. Are. You. Here.”

Instead of letting me answer, he opted to interrupt. “Actually, let me guess. You’re so predictable, I’m sure I can’ figure it out.” The corners of his lips curled. “You’re here because you know that the little Beta you claimed isn’t like most shifters. You sealed your pact, and yet she still has another mark on her.” That was more a dig than a question. “She can take on multiple marks, because something in her bloodline isn’t limited to just one mate like a lowly full blooded shifter.” That tongue moistened his lips in a slow and provocative motion. “You wish she was as dedicated to you as you are to her, but even now, despite the fact that you satisfied her thoroughly enough to get a consensual concession, you know she’s still entertaining other men, and you’re afraid that I, of all people, might be one of those men.” His taunting smirk was complimented by fangs that were more sharp and narrow than even my own. “Do you think she can take on a third mark? Because I’ll test it just to spite you.”

“Cute.” Those words would have stung more if he hadn’t subtly admitted I was good in bed. I’d keep that little compliment in my pocket. “And observant. I can tell you’ve been paying very close attention to her.” I placed a hand on his shoulder, and slowly moved down his arm. His expression tightened, but he didn’t move. “You know what, maybe you should test that theory.” I moved that hand to his waist, and I pressed snugly against him. The increasing speed of his pulse was loud and melodic in my ears. Speaking of predictable, Ceto was still so easy to read. “I’ve already sealed my claim, but if you want to tie yourself to me through her, I won’t be the one to stop you.” When I reached his belt, I followed the leather to the front of his waistline. His poker face was quickly losing its composure. “I might even enjoy taking you again.”

His heartbeat hammered, and any of his amusement had long since disappeared. His breathing flowed heavily through his nostrils, like he was trying to focus on anything but his own feelings.

“Here I thought you’d have moved on by now.” Ceto was doing his best impression of someone who was having an easy, unimportant conversation.

“From you?” I shook my head as I unlatched his belt. “Come on now.” I dragged down his zipper, while using my slightly larger frame to make sure he felt adequately trapped and overpowered. “I’ll admit I was a bit nervous at first when Lila showed me where she worked. I didn’t know what she could handle or what you saw in her yet.” He bit his lip when it started to quiver. “But now that I see how ensnared you are, this couldn’t have worked out any better.”

“W-what are you doing?” Ceto’s protest was noncommittal at best, and encouraging at worst.