All Chapters of The Mate Hunt: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

MaeveThe official stepped closer, her pale cloak brushing the forest floor as she raised one hand between us.“Maeve Cross, do you acknowledge that Alpha Ronan Caine physically captured and restrained you before sunrise?” My mouth went dry. I could still taste Ronan on my tongue. The air between us seemed to thicken, charged with the memory of his hands, his mouth, his claim. The heat of him pressed against my skin, even with the cold night air biting at every inch he’d left bare.Ronan stood rigid at my side, not looking back. He didn’t need to; the bond between us was a live wire, thrumming with anticipation and something hungry, feral. He already knew what I would say. Maybe he felt it building in me, the way my resolve melted every time he touched me.“Yes.” My voice was little more than a breath, trembling with everything I couldn’t admit.The official’s eyes narrowed, sharp and knowing. “Speak clearly for the witness.”My cheeks burned. My fingers curled into my palms, trying t

Maeve“What did you do to me?” I asked.Ronan stopped walking.I made it three more steps before turning back. He stood beneath the branches, moonlight cutting across one side of his face while the other remained hidden in shadow.“I didn’t do this to you,” he said.A humorless laugh escaped me. “You expect me to believe that?”“I expect you to listen.”“I’ve spent three years listening to stories about you.”“Stories written by your sister.” His voice hardened around the final word.My exhaustion disappeared beneath a fresh surge of anger. “Do not blame Mara for whatever this is.”“Mara is exactly who you should blame.”The bond tightened between us, carrying a flash of something sharp and bitter from him.Hatred.Not the careless dislike of enemies who had fought over land or power. This was personal. Ancient.Ronan walked toward me, but he stopped before getting close enough to touch.“Three years ago, my chosen Luna and I began a sacred binding ceremony,” he said. “Before the ritu

MaeveBy the time Blackthorne Mansion appeared through the trees, I could no longer feel my feet.Officials in white armbands moved between the forest and the mansion, recording captures as hunters returned with the women they had claimed. Servants hurried down the broad stone steps carrying blankets, water, and medical supplies.The Hunt continued behind us.Distant howls tore through the forest. Somewhere to the east, another horn sounded, announcing that a woman had reached sanctuary.The sound should have filled me with regret. I could have been running toward freedom. Instead, I walked behind Ronan Caine wearing nothing but his shirt and my boots.The dark fabric fell past my knees, covering most of my body, but it did nothing to hide the bruises beginning to form along my throat. Every step reminded me of what had happened against the cold stone.His hands. His mouth. The way my body had answered him while my mind screamed that he was the enemy.Ronan walked several steps ahead

MaeveThe man was broad-shouldered, red-haired, and still wearing the black armband identifying him as an active hunter. Mud covered his boots, but no claim token hung from his body.He had returned without a woman. Or perhaps he was only stopping briefly before continuing.“Your mate?” he said. “From the way she looks, Caine, I’d say you were in too much of a hurry to wait for the return journey.”The gallery froze.Ronan disappeared from beside me. One moment, he stood at my shoulder. The next, his hand was around the hunter’s throat. The man’s back slammed into the wall hard enough to rattle the portrait hanging above him.Several women screamed.Ronan lifted him off the floor. His claws emerged against the hunter’s neck.“Say it again.”The man clawed at Ronan’s wrist. His boots kicked several inches above the marble. “I meant no insult.”“You spoke about her body.”“I was joking.”Ronan drove him into the wall again. The portrait fell. Glass shattered across the floor.“You belie

RonanCassian was waiting inside my room.He stood beside the cold fireplace with his arms crossed over his chest, still dressed in the black leathers he had worn for the Hunt. His dark hair was damp from the mist outside, and a thin line of dried blood marked one side of his jaw.It wasn’t his.Cassian’s gaze found me first.It traveled over the blood coating my hands, the half-healed claw marks along my ribs, and the remnants of the torn fabric hanging from my trousers.Then he saw Maeve. His expression did not change.Cassian had spent most of his life learning how to conceal every thought that might offend an Alpha. But I had known him for too long.The slight lift of one brow said enough.Maeve stopped just inside the doorway.She still wore my shirt. The hem brushed below her knees, and the sleeves swallowed her hands despite the way she had rolled them. Her hair hung loose around her shoulders, tangled from the Hunt. Dirt marked her cheek. Bruises darkened the skin along her th