"Dante," he said gruffly as he slid her down his body as if introducing himself. It was pretty common that two wolves could mark each other before exchanging names, swept away by the urge to claim. Most people around didn't understand what had just transpired. But, the enforcers and others tailing Freya and Dante, or even Ariel would understand the process.She smiled. "You made it happen."Dante almost rolled his eyes when Declan said, "congratulations, you two.""Oh. My. God," said Ariel, gazing at them wide-eyed.Let the show begin, grumbled Freya inwardly, turning to see that many of the Shifters had observed the claiming and were staring. Every face was a picture of shock. Even Katherine and Oscar, who didn't understand one bit of what was happening, looked as though they wanted to pass out.Ariel was still in shock-still and gaping."Hand Freya over," demanded Zoe. The unsteadiness of his voice suggested he was aware of who Dante was. "As Jake's enforcers, we are responsible for
By now, Zoe was gnashing his fangs out of piercing anger. "Jame might be away, but he gets here soon," warned Zoe. "He'll come for you."Dante laughed. "Oh, I certainly hope he does." With that, he flung the guy who'd been blocking him away and signalled for Theo to release the second guy he was about to devour. He then turned his back on them, communicating his lack of fear, and snaked his arm around Freya's waist to pull her tight against him. "Time to look mesmerized by each other while we have a little chat," he whispered in her ear.Wrapping her arms around his neck, she locked her gaze with his and fixed a smile on her face. His answering smile was devilish. "By now, everyone should have felt my connection to you.""I think Alpha Duke's already on his way here. When the enforcers first tried interfering, one of the males from his pack announced to Ariel that he was going to call him. Are you going to be okay watching what happens next? I don't want to battle with Ariel's father
As his head tipped to the side and his eyes turned wolf, Dante gasped. His gaze was glued to her shoulder, and she knew exactly what it was that had his wolf fighting to surface. She had to refrain from flinching as he released a menacing growl. If she, the female his wolf saw as his, showed any fear of him, it would offend and aggravate him. He was already very much on edge right now. Knowing what the animal wanted and needed, she said, "Go on." He didn't hesitate. Just bent his head and bit down hard over where he had earlier marked Freya, sucking and licking the skin to replace it with his own mark. Twice in a roll, meaning that there was no going back.When he lifted his head again, it was Freya looking back at him. Apparently, his wolf was satisfied enough that he was willing to retreat.Dante wasn't surprised by his wolf's eagerness to repeatedly mark her numerous times. But he was surprised that Freya had let him do so twice. By abruptly more or less chomping on her shoulder, h
This whole thing hit too close to home, making Dante think of his own father. His dad for one day did not see him as a son, but as a tool to continue his lineage. He was ruthless and would unnecessarily punish Dante for every little mistake. What he was after was the pack more than his family. He would never seek Dante's opinion but made decisions on his behalf. Right from time, Dante had opposed the idea of being betrothed to someone. He knew he was young and might not like who he was, yet, Alpha Hero still went ahead to do so. While his father was alive, he tried to play along with what he wanted but now, he could make his own decisions without interference since he was dead. Was it not better to go for who would give you power over people? "Get the hell off me!""But I'm comfortable here." Watching Duke try to glance around, Dante smiled. "No one's going to help you. Unlike you, they know better than to try to get between mates. Says a lot about you as an alpha if no one is willi
Rolling her eyes, she dug out her cell phone from her purse and read the dozens of text messages she had received from Katherine asking if she was okay since she noticed a little commotion earlier on. She also kept wanting about how her doctor friend was hot and how grateful they were for him saving Ana's life. From her one thousand messages, she was so mesmerised by Zoe. Although one text did catch Freya's attention. The one from Zoe and Jake respectively. Jake was begging Freya not to make things more difficult for everyone while Zoe was asking Freya to reconsider her decision. Zoe had sent several, both expressing concern about his reputation and trying to convince her that she was wrong about him being her true mate. What she was yet to understand was why Zoe had so much interest in her affairs. Who was he and what was his game?She knew she would have to have to rethink her steps soon, but right now she was feeling too raw.Aware that all had suddenly gone quiet, she looked up fr
All Dante wanted right then was to trace both with his tongue, but he doubted he'd have the self-restraint to take things nice and slow when his lust for her was like a fever in his blood. His wolf was eager to come inside her–another way to mark his mate. But both he and his wolf knew that this was about more than just consummating the claiming. Freya needed to acknowledge, accept, and admit that she was his mate, putting aside whatever ill feelings she might have had for him.They weren't mates of the soul or even the heart – both of which made it possible for it to be temporary – but she had to understand that this didn't make the mating any less real. They were still mates in the physical sense, which meant that she still belonged to him. If he didn't make her understand and admit it, this would never work. He wouldn't have her always throwing in his face that he wasn't her true mate, implying that he didn't have any rights to her. She was his now. Or at least for a short while an
Freya cried out as he began mercilessly pounding into her with deep, dazing strokes that were zapping her with bliss. Nothing should feel this good, she was sure of it. She had definitely never thought it would feel this good before, but she'd known it would be this way, and it had scared her. Now, though, as he tunneled in and out of her reaching depths that had until now been untouched, there was no fear, only sheer and utter carnal bliss.As Dante gazed down at all that smooth skin of her back, that unmarked smooth skin, he had the urge to bend down and sink his teeth into wherever he could reach. He closed his eyes against the impulse. He wouldn't mark her again, he told himself. He'd fuck her and ensure she knew that she was his, but he wouldn't mark her again. Twice already he had marked her when the one claiming bite was all they needed. He didn't need to possessively mark her up with claws and teeth to leave his brand all over her the way his wolf wanted him to. The way Dante
Maybe it would be fair to say that if she hadn't fought him so hard on the issue of belonging to him, then she wouldn't be in this state. Yeah, but that only applied to the first time. After that, she had conceded belonging to him as his mate, although she had snarled at him with every concession. He hadn't had any need to keep it up.She wondered if maybe the drive behind it had been that he had sensed that her admission was only half-hearted. Once she had belonged to someone and when he had broken up with him, it destabilized her for a while. She locked her heart after Jake in a bit to concentrate. Moreover, it will take more than fucking, mating and branding for Freya to open up her heart to Dante. She hadn't forgotten what he was like in a hurry. And that was okay because that was not his chunk to take. But she wouldn't give that much of herself to another person again. Her soul wouldn't survive the loss a second time, as there wouldn't be enough of her left to allow her to live.