Chapter 4

Flora’s P.O.V

Never run from an angry wolf. That’s what we had been taught as pups, alongside our human packmates who were just starting to learn wolf etiquette. Because it encouraged the predator within and if they succeeded in catching you after a chase, they will undoubtedly go for the throat. Because rage was a beast that turned wolves into rogues. Rage and loss.

But at that moment, I wanted very badly to turn around and run as fast as I could in the opposite direction with my tail between my legs; his dominance shoving with razor sharp edges against my senses. Clay was the last person I could have imagined to come after me tonight and from the looks of it, he had thought the worst from what he had witnessed, that Garrick had tried to hurt me.

I kept backing up with slow measured steps, careful not to anger the predator in front of me anymore than he already was. However, soon I found myself backed up against a tree. Without my conscious thought, a small whimper left my lips, my wolf lowering its head at the dominance of the future Alpha and at that instant, something snapped inside Clay.

As I watched, the wolf retreated from his eyes, making them lose the glowing embers that had seeped into the gemstone green; his dominance no longer shoving against me like a raging tornado, ready to overwhelm my wolf. The power of him wasn't completely gone, he could not erase who he was, but it settled against my senses more like a nudge than a shove, his wolf reined in by vicious control to the point where he wasn't broadcasting his power anymore. Because some things were set in stone. Pack was family and dominants protected the submissives at all costs.

“Are you alright?” Clay asked a good two minutes later, when he finally had full control over his wolf.

“Yes,” I almost squeaked out and then cursed myself for it. Clay would never hurt me, Alpha-healer relationship aside; he wasn't a man who abused women for his pleasure. I’ve never seen or heard about him raising even his voice at any woman. “I was never in any danger.” I added the later just to make sure he didn’t decide to go find Garrick just in case he was feeling punchy.

Clay took slow, calculated steps towards me, making sure I wouldn’t run away at the slightest wrong move. I wouldn’t have run away even if he hadn’t reined in his wolf, because oddly enough, I knew I was safe with him. And oh! The sight of him as he walked towards me, it made desire stir inside me when it should’ve incited fear.

Clay might not be built like a tank like Garrick was, but he could make mincemeat out of Garrick with the tiniest amount of effort. He was all taunt muscle and liquid grace as he walked, the black material of his Tee-shirt stretching across his chest and biceps with each small movement. His copper hair was dark under the moonless night sky and his eyes held a faint glow that wasn’t just the wolf. He wore worn out black jeans and sneakers and I realized too late that he looked simply breathtaking even when dressed down while I looked like a drenched rat who was sweating profusely with my tank top stuck to my body, exposing the fact that I had breasts much smaller than most women in the pack, and definitely smaller than Ms. McKellar’s voluptuous curves.

I don’t know why I even made that connection, because we were leagues apart, but ever since I’d seen the two of them together, kissing with such open passion, it had left a mark when I should’ve just shrugged it off. Clay wasn't mine, would never be mine.

But my current distracted state had given Clay the opportunity to sneak up on me and now, he stood directly in front of me, his hands going up against the tree trunk to trap me on either side of my head. “Women usually don’t think about anything else when I’m around,” he tilted his head to the side slightly, no arrogance in his voice, just an extremely beautiful male stating the obvious. “What are you doing here in the middle of the night, that too with that half-assed soldier?”

Normally, I would’ve just kept my mouth shut and stayed away from such provocation, but Garrick was my friend and an extremely capable soldier. No one gets to insult him, not even the future alpha. “What I do, when I do and how I do it is none of your business!” I snapped at Clay, balling my hands into fists at my sides. “You don’t have the right to insult him just because you’re feeling snarly.”

A low growl vibrated in his chest and before I knew it, Clay had pressed so close to me that our chests were touching, our breath mingled as we stood mere inches apart. Sensations rocked through me at the close proximity, at the slight contact that my chest made with his and I had nowhere to back away. I pressed my back further into the tree, my nails digging into my palms, but none of those emotions led to pain, the exact opposite actually. My breath came out in short pants as his scent warmed my blood from the inside out, desire making my breasts swell, my nipples budded to stiff peaks. I wasn’t used to such surges in sexual tension; in fact I hadn’t thought of myself as the sexual kind...until Clay.

Clay took a deep breath and his eyes locked with mine. The beauty of those eyes rocked through me even as he leaned closer, making sure he was crushing me to the tree, his chest crushing my breasts in such a way that made me gasp, the hard nubs of my nipples rubbing against his chest, making me want to take off the damn top that provided a barrier between my skin and his. Clay’s eyes momentarily went to my lips as I gasped but he looked back into my eyes again, hitting me with the full intensity of his gaze. The depth of my emotions surprised me. I’d never been this aroused by anyone and he wasn't even touching me!

“So you’re into kicks and punches as foreplay now?” The words were a growl, his wolf very close to the surface once again.

It took a minute for me to understand what he’d just said and it made heat rush to my cheeks instantly. “Garrick isn’t my lover.” I said before I could stop myself, because I didn’t want Clay to misunderstand the situation. “He’s training me to learn to defend myself.”

“Oh?” the words were almost a whisper that I felt across my cheek, but he didn’t move and inch, didn’t give me room to fight the claws of desire that were digging deeper into my body.

“Does that mean you’re not seeing anyone right now? Or is there a lover that I have yet to unearth?” The words were a rough whisper as he pressed deeper into me...and I felt the hard ridges of his arousal against my abdomen.

I gasped in shock and that was when Clay lost his control.

Diving in for my lips, he crushed his lips to mine in a kiss that was rough and hungry and without any restrains. I felt the heat of that kiss warm me down to the core as I felt dampness at the apex of my thighs, making me clench them together. Clay’s hair was silken soft under my hands and I had no idea when I had reached out to touch him, but I felt his hands go to my hair at that instant, tug on it hard enough that my neck arched and Clay dived in to kiss down to my throat.

It was a very vulnerable position, having a dominant of Clay’s power at my throat. But I felt no sense of danger, no hesitation as Clay sucked at the erratic beat of my pulse before pressing a tender kiss to that beat and moving back to look at my face.

I was panting hard when he broke that kiss but I didn’t fail to notice that his breathing too was slightly hitched. It gave me some form of satisfaction that I was able to affect him in some way, even though the kiss had left me a little too drunk for thought.

“Let’s get you home, kitten.” Clay said as he released me oh-so-slowly. “Before Riley finds out that his little baby is now a toddler.”

Frowning, I cleared my mind enough to remember where I’d discarded my hoodie and went to fetch it out from under a bush. My wolf was nowhere near sane after that kiss but my human mind was almost back to full functioning mode as I dusted my hoodie and pulled it over my head. The night chill had no effect on me and I was far too sweaty after my session and that make out with Clay, but the hoodie gave me an extra layer of protection; made me feel less vulnerable in front of the future alpha.

“And no more sessions with that soldier.”

My spine went rigid at that casual command. “What makes you think I’ll obey you?” The words just kept spilling out. “What makes you think that you have the right to make that demand?”

Clay’s wolf had been dangerously close to the surface, but now I found myself looking into the eyes of the wolf, the gemstone green eclipsed by the amber. “I may not have those rights now, Flora darling. But I do intend to earn them.”

I sucked in a harsh breath at that declaration. Because alphas don’t make such declarations lightly.