The Kiss

Ryan.

I wrapped my hands around the stranger’s waist almost instantly, drawing her closer.

She smelled so fucking good.

She licked the seam of my mouth, and my wolf purred in delight at the taste of her, which was strange for him, considering he wasn’t a fan of humans.

Especially humans who mauled us without our permission.

But this was clearly different.

I wasn’t sure if I could bring myself to pull away, even if I was pried from her with a pair of oversized shears. pried from her with a pair of oversized shears.

It was like she was a drug and just a taste had gotten me hooked. I needed her in ways I couldn’t describe, and we’d only just met.

I traced the curve of her bottom lip with my tongue and groaned. She tasted like sweet cinnamon and pure, unfiltered fury.

She let out a tiny, almost inaudible whimper, and that barely there sound was the best thing I’d heard all week.

*Mate.*

The word floated in my mind, causing me to rip my lips away and jerk back.

Shit.

This angry, gorgeous, red-streaked-haired human who just shoved her way onto my lips was my Luna?

Dark, wild eyes met mine, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. She pushed back her black curls and blinked at me.

Once. Twice.

Gods. She was beautiful.

And familiar.

It took everything for me not to kiss her again, especially when she was looking at me like that.

I tried to remember where I’d seen her before, but my wolf was too loud, begging me to haul her over our shoulder and take her home where we could claim her without an audience.

“Well,” I started, my voice struggling to sound normal and relaxed and not at all as unravelled as I felt. “Looks like I picked the perfect time to grab a drink.” I glanced around us.

Everyone seemed to be wearing the same expression as they gawked at us.

Pure, unbidden surprise.

A few of them had already pulled out their phones, but I didn’t care enough to bother telling them to put them away.

My gaze landed on Shane Anderson and the brunette beside him. Like everyone else, she had the same shocked expression on her face.

Shane, on the other hand, looked livid.

“Get away from her.” The hot rage in his voice caused me to preen in delight.

In case it wasn’t obvious, I despised the motherfucker.

He was an obnoxious bastard who thought the world revolved around him, and whenever he didn’t get his way, he typically resorted to being an asshole, much like now.

Playing on the same team was already bad enough, but dealing with him off-ice was something I typically avoided.

“Now, why would I do that?” I pulled her closer to my side, tightening my hold around her hip.

She looked momentarily startled by the action, but immediately schooled her expression

“She’s my girlfriend and I—“

“Ex-girlfriend.” She interjected, shooting him a look sharper than knives. “There’s nothing between us anymore.”

Ah, so that’s why she looked familiar. I vaguely recalled seeing her at a few of our games, but she was too far away for me to catch her scent then.

If I’d known sooner that she was my mate, I would’ve—

“You aren’t seriously willing to throw what we had away over some stupid mistake?”

The brunette beside him flinched, then shot him a disbelieving look, like she couldn’t quite believe he just said that.

Unlike everyone else, the brunette wasn’t exactly dressed to party. Her shirt, the only thing she was wearing, was grey and had an acronym in bold font scribbled on the front.

I immediately recognised it as the shirt I’d seen Shane in earlier.

It didn’t take long for me to put two and two together as to what was really going on between the three of them.

That motherfucker.

*He hurt our mate* my wolf growled, *Rip his throat out*

“Mistake?” my mate scoffed. “You just told me and everyone here that you preferred her to me.”

“I was just saying shit. You know I didn’t mean it, baby.” He took a step toward her, but I immediately blocked his path.

“Move,” He growled in that all-but-pathetic way human males did whenever they wanted to act threatening.

“I don’t want to.” I shrugged and looked back at my mate. “Do you want me to move?”

She shook her head, and I grinned.

“Looks like she doesn’t want me to move either.”

“I’m warning you. This isn’t any of your concern. I don’t need you or anyone else getting in my way. All I need is my girlfriend.”

“Ex-girlfriend,” I corrected him.

His jaw clenched. “We haven’t broken up yet.”

“I’m pretty sure you have.” I turned back to my mate. “Haven’t you?”

Again, she nodded.

“It’s a misunderstanding. If you’d get out of the way and allow me to straighten her out, I’m sure you…”

“Straighten her out?”

My wolf did not like that phrase.

And apparently neither did I.

My hand shot out before I could stop to think, wrapping around his neck in seconds.

The crowd gasped, and the brunette let out a terrified yelp.

Sure, I couldn’t kill him, but I could definitely rough him up a little.

I lifted him just an inch off the floor before moving him back into the wooden bannister at the foot of the stairs.

The room went deathly still.

Anderson struggled against my hold, grabbing for purchase, but I didn’t let go.

“What are you—“ Shane choked out, his bare feet kicking uselessly at the floor as I tightened my hold around his neck.

*Rip his throat out for disrespecting our mate*

I considered it for a moment, gods know I did before deciding he wasn’t worth it and dropping him.

*You’re no fun*

The brunette rushed to his side, checking him for signs of bruising.

Fortunately for her, she wouldn’t have to search for long.

I turned away from the pathetic sight, running a hand through my hair as I forced myself to remain in control.

My heart was pounding way too fast, but it wasn’t from the fight or lack thereof.

It was her.

I looked over at my mate, who hadn’t moved an inch from where I left her.

I braced myself for the inevitable revulsion I expected to see once our eyes met, but instead I was met with none of the horror I anticipated.

She wasn’t cowering.

Her gaze remained steady, tracking my every move with a sharp, guarded curiosity.

I closed what little distance was between us, stopping in front of her.

“I’m leaving,” I said calmly. “You can either stay here or…”

“Or?”

“Come with me.”