Chapter 2

Raven

Darkness absorbed me as I rushed into the room. The air was hot and thick as a jungle, and the ragged breaths of my mate were the only sound.

Go to him, Lunar pleaded. Her voice in my head sounded clearer and stronger than it had in years. We must give ourselves to our mate!

I couldn’t see the man’s face, but the tug towards him was undeniable. His scent made my mind do summersaults. It was mouthwatering, earthy and herbal like leather and rosemary.

How I longed to taste him…but I had no idea who this man was! I hesitated, biting my lip. Was it wrong, starting a mating bond like this?

Please! Lunar whimpered. I can’t resist his heat anymore – we have to mate!

This was it. My way out. I had to at least meet my mate, and the only way to do that was to get closer – even if I wasn’t sure I was ready.

I hardly registered my footsteps as I approached the bed. My pulse echoed in my ears, and I wasn’t sure which sounds were his breaths and which ones were mine.

And then, just as I reached the side of the bed, a hand reached out and grasped my waist, pulling me next to his muscular body.

I gasped but didn’t protest. Heat poured off of him, making me shudder. His hands pressed into my side, firm but gentle, and our quick breaths matched as I looked into his eyes – those striking, golden eyes.

I’d seen pictures with eyes like those in the newspapers. Eyes so gold they should’ve belonged in an Egyptian tomb.

Any hesitation I felt melted at his electric touch. The need inside of me was a black hole, sucking any sense of reason into its depths.

I couldn’t help it. I leaned forward, and our lips met with a spark that made me moan into his mouth.

It was raw and instinctual. He groaned into my kiss as he pushed my dress up and grazed his hand against my inner thigh, deliciously and painfully close to my core.

My eyes rolled to the back of my head as he nibbled my ear, and my hips bucked in desperation, heat pooling between my legs. The mating bond was maddening, and I wanted – no, I needed – his hand to move just a little bit further up…

He wasn’t moving fast enough. I was panting with need, dripping for him, and feeling so unbearably empty. So, as he continued to stroke my thigh, I used all my strength to pounce on top of him.

My skirt splayed around us, and, driven by instinct, I ground his hardness between my legs, moaning at the sensation. The clothes between us, my panties, his trousers, they hand to go, immediately. I whimpered in frustration, moving my hands under my skirt to try and undo his belt.

He must have been just as lost in desire, I realized, as his warm, calloused hand reached up from my thigh and pushed my fingers away. The click of his belt becoming undone made my mouth go dry.

As he pulled his length from his pants, he grabbed my hands, guiding them to his cock. I should’ve been mortified and pulled away, but that insatiable need for him made me wrap my fingers around him in a soft caress.

I swore under my breath. He was perfect. His skin was soft, and I could barely wrap my hand around his massive length.

My core clenched as I touched him and his breathing sped up. He was so big, but that just made my body more excited.

Then, I gasped as his fingers brushed my entrance, separated only by the thin layer of my panties. I stifled a moan. My head fell back as he pushed the panties aside and grazed his fingertips against my soaked lips.

My hand slowed as my body became custard. Slowly, softly, he wet his fingers with my juices and played with my clit. I’d rarely touched myself like that, and the sensation of another person doing it made it hard to keep my back straight.

His fingers became faster, and I had to let go of his cock and push my hands into his chest for balance. The sounds that came out of me were inhuman.

And then he pushed a finger inside of my entrance, thumb still swirling around my clit.

My legs shook, and tears of pleasure burned my eyes. That center of pleasure inside of me became taut, like a bowstring being pulled tight.

And just as quickly, he stopped, pulling his finger from me. I could’ve screamed.

“Not yet,” he rasped, pulling me further up his body. “I want to feel you cum on me.”

His fingers reached up to my wetness again, this time guiding the head of his cock to my entrance. I couldn’t breathe, I needed him inside of me so terribly.

Together, driven by the desperation of the mating bond, I moved my hips and he pushed himself inside of me.

I hissed, the sensation of such a big thing inside of me insufferably intense at first. The burning sensation made me try to pull away, but he grabbed onto my hips and held me in place, slowly lowering me onto his massive member.

Then, he stopped, breath jittery as though it pained him to hold still. After a moment, the pain subsided, and my breathing eased. I moved my hips, eager for him to continue.

Only then did he move, slowly moving his hips backwards and forwards to grind into the deepest parts of me. It was like touching heaven.

Instinct drove us faster and faster. His hands became vices on my hips, and I used my hands to lift myself up and down on that perfect cock, lost in the pleasure as I rode him. Every time he bottomed out in me, I moaned a little louder, sweat beading on my forehead until that same tightness coiled inside of me.

“Don’t stop, please, I need–” I said, though I didn’t have the words to articulate what I needed from him.

He seemed to understand, though, as he picked up the pace, driving into that perfect spot within me until I exploded into bliss.

“Oh fuck!” he hissed, bucking harder than before and spasming inside of me, pulling my body close as something hot filled me.

We stayed like that, breathing heavily as I laid collapsed atop him, until exhaustion and pleasure lulled me to sleep.

Sunlight streamed into the room, waking me. I was no longer on top of my mate, but the spot he’d pleasured so well was a sore reminder of what we’d done last night.

I smiled to myself, turning to look at my still-sleeping mate.

As I turned to look at his face, though, my breath hitched as panic wrapped its cold fingers around my stomach.

This was Marcus Hayes, my father’s worst enemy.

The man who’d torn apart my father’s brother and left his mutilated body on our borders. The man who’d sworn that he’d mount my father and anyone from his line’s heads on spikes around his pack’s palace.

This man – this monster – he would kill me if he saw me in his bed!

No – this wasn’t how this night was supposed to go! The hope I’d felt last night shriveled into a rotten pit of hopelessness. It was as though I was lost at sea, separated from my ship, and I bobbed on the surface of the water, waiting for the sharks to bite.

Tears stung my eyes. I’d dared to hope the Goddess had finally listened. Instead, she’d just proven to me that I was more helpless than I’d ever imagined before.

He grunted then, rolling over in his sleep. My body went stiff, and the only thing I could do for a moment was tremble.

Don’t wake up, please, anything but that!

The moment lasted for an eternity before I was sure he was asleep again. Then, carefully, slowly, I pulled the covers off of myself and eased out of the bed, flinching every time the bedsprings creaked.

I didn’t breathe until I finally pulled myself out of the bed. And when I finally managed to get into the hallway, I ran until I made it back to the banquet hall.

“Where did you go last night?” my father’s voice came from behind me. I gasped, turning to face him. At least this disaster I could handle better than facing my mate, though.

“I…I couldn’t find the right wine to serve Alpha Horace,” I said, reality crashing into me as I looked at his cold face. I could never tell him what happened. “And when I couldn’t find the room he was staying in, I ended up sleeping alone for the night – I was very tired.”

My father walked slowly up to me, each footstep echoing off the walls and making my pulse spike. He stopped just before me, and I nearly crumbled under his scrutiny.

“No games,” he whispered. “Or it’ll be your mother that pays the price.”

He walked off without another word. I followed him back to the car and didn’t speak the rest of the day.