AURORA
“Ruffles!” I shouted when I got home. I hurried to her yellow-accented bedroom with the cracked window, empty bed, and her blue hat missing. She hadn’t made it home yet, which made me even more nervous.
With autumn sweeping across Sanguine Wilds, the sky became darker earlier in the day. I didn’t want Ruffles to get lost somewhere in the woods, not knowing how to get home. She’d be an easy prey for a hungry hound.
After grabbing a light-purple jacket, I rushed down the stairs and mind linked Ares—who was still meeting with the other alphas—that I wasn’t waiting any longer. I needed to make sure Ruffles was safe. If I lost her, I would lose it. She had been with me since Jeremy died the first time.
Stomach in tight knots, I rushed down the asphalt streets toward town. Ruffles never stayed out this late. If she left, it was only for an hour or so … not for the entire day. Some wolves ran past me, bowing their heads toward me in respect. Feeling weird about asking about my cat, I politely nodded back and continued to peer into the alleyways.
Ruffles was too prim and proper to hang out in back alleys, but she’d stopped in one yesterday after our walk. Maybe she had come back for some ungodly reason. Maybe.
Wind whipped through the town, blowing my hair in all directions and making me feel like the mythical woman Medusa, who had restless snakes for hair. I pulled my hood up to shield my face from the blistering breeze.
Couples walked past me on the sidewalks toward The Flaming Chariot. High schoolers gathered outside of Mad Moon Grocery. I weaved between herds of people to try to find my damn cat. She must’ve really wanted to give me a heart attack or something.
Hurrying past an alleyway, I stopped dead in my tracks. I stepped back and peered around the corner of a building, staring wide-eyed at Marcel, who had Charolette pressed against a wall, his nose buried deep in her hair, one hand posted on the brick wall, the other brushing against her hip.
When he touched her, I shivered and nearly squealed in excitement. I felt like a total creep, peeping on them, but … it was finally happening! I had waited for so freaking long for this damn moment that it felt like Ares was touching me for the first time.
Marcel inhaled deeply and pressed her harder against the wall, growling into her ear.
My heart pounded against my chest. I waited in anticipation for one moment, then another, then another for them to just kiss already. Since Liam was out of the picture, Marcel could finally step in and tell her that he liked her. After. So. Freaking. Long.
Marcel’s white hair hid their faces, so I couldn’t see much, but he leaned down and—
“It’s not luna-like to spy,” someone said into my ear.
I jumped back, my heart racing from being caught, and turned on my heel, expecting to see Ares.
Instead, I came eye-to-eye with a young man with devilishly sharp cheekbones and dark brown glasses, who couldn’t be any older than me. Dark brown locks blowing against his forehead, he rocked back on his heels, stuffed his hands into his jean pockets, and gave me a sheepish smile.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
I parted my lips, and then pressed them back together. Though I was certain I hadn’t met him before, he looked so familiar. My cheeks flushed, and I stepped behind the building, so Marcel and Charolette wouldn’t see me gawking at them. “It’s okay.”
“I’m Adrian,” he said, sticking out his hand. “Thought I’d properly introduce myself.”
After giving him a once-over and concluding he wasn’t a threat, I placed my hand in his larger one. It felt even more callous and rougher than Ares’s.
“Aurora,” I said. I furrowed my brows at him, knowing that I had to have seen him somewhere. He looked way too familiar. “Have we met before?”
“You’ve probably met my twin sister, Ariana. She works at the pharmacy with Alpha Barrett.” An awkward moment of silence fell upon us, and then he nodded to the alleyway. “So … you’re stalking your mate’s sister?”
I took a few steps down the sidewalk, away from the alley. “No. Are you stalking her?”
He chuckled and followed me. “No, I’m trying to find my cat.”
My eyes widened, and I clenched my jaw. Oh, Ruffles, the ho, had probably gone to meet that cat we had seen last night. That was why she had been out all day, trying to strut her stuff for Mr. Siamese Beauty.
“Is your cat a Siamese that frequents alleyways?”
Adrian nodded his head, and I arched my brow. First, that damn ho had been all over my man, and now, she was out on a hunt for another. Couldn’t even keep her men straight anymore. She needed some cat therapy or something.
“Lead me to his favorite alley,” I said, glancing around the town. I couldn’t remember where we had seen him last night.
We walked down the sidewalk against the searing wind, looped around the pharmacy, and snuck around some buildings to peer into a surprisingly clean alley made of bricks. Sure enough, Ruffles sat right on a green dumpster with her blue hat on, her little ass right up in the air, back arched—stretching. Adrian’s cat sat near the closest building with intent wide eyes, as if he were watching a stripper.
Oh Moon Goddess. Who taught this damn cat to be such a slut?
I stifled a laugh and watched Ruffles parade around with that blue hat. She loved it so much that she wanted to show it off to other cats too. My mind wandered to Ares for a moment, heart clenching. Goddess, I couldn’t wait to tell him this. He’d be so proud.
“Pringle,” Adrian called behind me.
The Siamese cat glanced over as Ruffles continued to prance around on top of the dumpster. He stood on all fours, the silver bell on his neck jingling in the breeze.
“Pringle? That’s your cat’s name?”
“His nickname.” Adrian rubbed the back of his neck. “Used to get his head stuck in Pringles tubes when he was younger.”
My lips curled into a smile, and a giggle escaped my lips. Of course, Ruffles would go for someone named Pringle. Out of all the cats in the entire world, she would find someone who loved chips almost as much as she did.
After stifling another laugh, I cleared my throat. “Ruffles, what are you doing?”
She snapped her head in my direction, eyes wide in fear. She hopped off the dumpster, gray fur blowing in the wind, and rubbed herself against my shin, her tail sticking right up in the air. She stood between my legs and stared at Pringle.
Adrian nodded to Pringle. “Come on. Let’s walk your new girl home.”
Pringle took charge and walked ahead of us toward the pack house, as if he knew exactly where he was going. Ruffles let him walk in front of her, prancing by my side and glaring at Pringle like she hadn’t just been trying to seduce him a couple minutes ago.
“So,” I said, smiling at beams of moon through the trees. While hundreds of hounds were being raised from the dead, tonight was oddly quiet—too quiet. It frightened me. “What do you do?”
“I’m an engineer,” Adrian said. “Been working on this pack for a few years now.”
“You’re an engineer?” I asked, raising my brows. Though Ares commanded a huge and thriving pack, he had been focused on building an army, not so much on any other disciplines. “I haven’t met any here yet.”
Adrian nodded. “I’m probably one of the only ones you’ll find here.”
When we reached the pack house, I noticed our bedroom light on. The alpha meeting must’ve been over by now. Ruffles ran to the door, scratching at it for Ares to let her into the house, and I turned toward Adrian. “Can you build underground bunker-like tunnels?”
“I can design something like that, yes.”
“Good …”
This would be the perfect chance to get the same underground tunnels like the ones back home done here with improvements. Pack members would have a safe place to hide their pups when we were attacked by the hounds. And this time, I would make sure that all the pups would be saved. There would be entrances at all corners of this pack, so we wouldn’t lose anyone else.
“I have something that I want to discuss with you. Are you free tomorrow night?” I asked.
He scrolled through his phone calendar. “Yeah, anytime after four. Here.” He handed me his phone. “Put your number in. We can meet at Pink Moon Tavern at seven.”
After typing in my number and handing him his phone back, I clapped my hands together, my stomach fluttering from excitement. “Perfect!”
Ares let out a guttural growl behind us and snatched the back of Adrian’s neck, lifting him. My eyes widened as Adrian dangled in the air.
Ares bared his canines. “Making plans without me, Kitten?”
“We were just …” Adrian grasped Ares’s hand as it tightened around his neck, his cheeks flushing a deep red.
Ares had Adrian a foot off the ground, his bicep flexing so hard to hold him in place that I thought the muscle would burst out of his T-shirt. He stood so stoic and strong with that infamous look of golden fury on his face, so godlike and divine under the moonlight.
“Ares, let go.” I tugged on his arm to pull him away or at least to loosen his grip on Adrian’s neck because a god could snap a mortal’s fragile neck so easily. “We weren’t doing anything.”
Ares yanked Adrian closer. “Planning a date with my mate and your luna?”
“We were … talking … about …” Adrian’s wolf tried to force him to shift to break out of the death hold, but Ares held him tighter and refused to let him move.
“About fucking what?” Ares said through his canines.
“Ares, stop,” I said through clenched teeth, pulling his arm harder.
After snarling one last time, he thrust Adrian against the nearest tree. “Listen to me.” He pinned Adrian and tightened his grip around his neck. “Aurora is mine. All mine. Nobody takes her away from me. And if you try it again, you’ll be sorry you did. Do I make myself clear?”
Adrian nodded furiously. When Ares let him go, Adrian fell onto his hands and knees, gasping for air. I hurried to make sure Adrian was okay, but Ares snatched my wrist before I could touch him and lifted me into the air.
“No.”
One single word.
One word that held so much power.
Ares dragged me to the front doors. I stared back at Adrian, who stumbled to his feet and leaned against the tree. He offered me a weak wave, as if to say that he was okay, and Pringle jumped onto his shoulder. Before I could tell him good night, Ares shoved me into the pack house and slammed the doors behind us.
He shoved me to the wall by my throat. “I told you not to fucking push it, Aurora,” he growled into my ear, canines grazing against the mark on my neck.
My entire body shivered at the memory of Ares marking me in that spine-chillingly cold prison a couple weeks ago.
“We didn’t do anything,” I said.
Jaw twitching, he glared at me with golden eyes and balled his free hand into a tight fist. I gathered all the damn sanity I had left and thought about swaying this in my favor. If Ares was mad … maybe I could get him angry enough to fuck me because I couldn’t wait any longer. I had been needy all damn night.
“Maybe if you weren’t such an overly possessive asshole, you’d be able to see this situation for what it was—nothing.”
He chuckled so menacingly that I clenched, and he brushed his fingers against my cheek. The touch was soft and inviting and such a facade because a moment later, he snatched my chin hard in his hand and stared down at me with dark, devilish eyes.
“Such an overly possessive asshole? If I were an asshole, I’d have you on your knees in front of Adrian as he watched me fuck this pretty mouth of yours.” He roughly pushed his thumb into my mouth. “But I spared you that embarrassment.”
“Embarrassment?” I asked, brow arched hard.
He pushed his throbbing cock against my stomach. “You’re my luna and an alpha. I don’t want just anyone seeing how easily you submit to me … but it seems like you need a reminder,” he said into my ear, fingers brushing against my breast through my shirt. “Get on your knees.”
Moon Goddess, I needed it so fucking bad, and he knew it. He fucking knew it.
“Knees,” he said between clenched teeth.
“What makes you think I’d submit to you so easi—”
Before I could finish my sentence, he shoved me to my knees, pulled his hard cock out of his sweatpants, and rammed it into my mouth. My breath caught in the back of my throat as he slammed himself into me. I dug my fingers into his thighs, my eyes watering as he snatched my chin and the top of my head and pulled me toward him, making me take every inch of his cock down my throat.
“All of it, Kitten. I know you can do it.”
Furrowing my brows, I pushed more of him down my throat until my lips met at the base. Not because I was submitting to him, but because I wanted him to break and finally give me what I wanted. Sucking him off until he was desperate enough to ram his cock into my pussy was my only plan.
“Fuck,” he grunted and pushed his hips closer to my lips, tracing the outline of his cock in my neck with his index finger. Then, he slowly started to jerk himself off inside my throat, his hand moving up and down the column of my neck.
After grabbing my hand, he placed it on my throat and made me rub him off too. I clenched and tightened my hand around myself, a wave of heat warming my core.
“Do you like my cock inside of you, Kitten?”
I moaned on him, pleasure rushing through me. This was pure agony, pure fucking agony. My pussy pulsed, aching to be filled by my mate. But I had to hold out, just for a little longer. I had to get him just a bit angrier.
“No,” I said through the mind link. “I don’t.”
We both knew that I fucking loved it, but that still didn’t stop Ares from losing total control to his wolf. Furious, he thrust quickly and harshly into me, holding nothing back. Spit and slobber ran down my chin as I choked on his big cock.
“Well, I fucking love when your tiny little throat talks to me, Aurora.”
“Harder.” I stared right up at him through teary eyes, letting him destroy my face, and pushed a hand between my legs to ease the ache. All I could think about was making him angrier and angrier, making him lose it. “It doesn’t seem like you love it to me.”
Ares continued, his hand traveling down my neck to squeeze his cock in my throat. “Don’t fucking touch yourself,” he demanded.
But I didn’t listen. I was too damn close to coming—something I needed more than ever tonight. I wasn’t going to give up now. Pressure was building up in my core, and my mouth was stuffed full. I felt so fucking good.
When I didn’t move, he pulled himself out of me, jerked me to my feet, and pinned my wrists to the wall. “I said to stop.” His voice was low and taut and full of fury. “Only I get to touch this pussy tonight.”
“Well, Alpha,” I said between raspy breaths, “let’s get one thing straight. Just because I get on my knees for you doesn’t mean I submit easily. All you’re doing is giving me what I want—for you to break, bend me over the bed, and fuck me senseless.”
After growling again, he stepped closer to me and trapped me with his hips. “You don’t think I have you tied around my finger, Kitten?” His cock throbbed against my stomach. “I can smell your wet cunt. I know just how much you want me to thrust my cock into your tight pussy.”
I sucked in a deep breath and tried hard not to let him mess with my head.
Control the damn situation, Aurora. You’re his luna. You make the deci—
“You will submit to me willingly tonight,” he said without leaving room for argument. He picked me up off the ground and walked with me to our bedroom. “I don’t care how long it takes. You’re mine.” He tossed me onto the bed and let me scurry to the headboard to catch my breath.
Trying to ignore the throbbing between my legs, I stared down the bed at that godly man with hungry eyes, sharp canines, and claws that could tear me to pieces. He crawled up the bed toward me, pulled off my pants, and forcefully spread my legs. Resting his forearms on the sides of my hips, he pressed his mouth against my clit and lapped at my pussy with his tongue.
“Don’t come unless I tell you to,” he ordered, his slight stubble tickling my inner thighs as his tongue moved in tortuous circles around my clit, driving me higher and higher. When he pushed a finger into me and curled it in a come-hither motion, I grasped the bedsheets in my fists and bit my lip to hold back my moans.
I was so close, so damn close. All he had to do was—
His fingers hit my G-spot, and my whole body stiffened.
Just as I was about to come, he pulled away from me and slapped my pussy hard. “I said not to come.”
“I wasn’t going to,” I lied right through my damn teeth as I teetered right on the edge of a body-trembling orgasm.
“Yes, you were.” He slowly rubbed his fingers against my clit, not fast enough to tip me over, but enough to make me clench. After a few moments, when the pressure subsided, he dipped his head and flicked my clit with his tongue. “Your whole body tenses right before you come, Kitten. I know your body.”
He pushed a finger into me again, and my pussy wrapped around it almost instinctively. I moved my hips against his hand, so close to another orgasm, and tugged on my nipples through my shirt. A rush of heat hit my core, and I curled my toes in pleasure.
Ares slapped his palm against my clit again, and my body jerked into the air.
“What did I say?” he scolded.
I didn’t even try to deny it this time. Instead, I stared down at him with my brows furrowed together, my legs spread wide, and my pussy pulsing as the cold air hit it. Desperate was the only word I could find to describe how I felt at that moment.
“Tell me what I want to hear, and I’ll give it to you,” he ordered.
I swallowed and shook my head, refusing to submit to him now. He was close to breaking. I could see it in his eyes. I just needed to hold out for a couple more moments.
After realizing that I wouldn’t submit willingly, he sat up. “Turn around and get on your hands and knees, ass in the air.”
While I wanted to refuse again, I couldn’t stop myself from turning onto my hands and knees. He crawled behind me and dug his fingers into my hips. He wrapped one arm around my waist to rub my swollen, sensitive clit again, the smallest sensation making me jump.
After pressing his hardness against my bare pussy, he grabbed a fistful of my hair and drew me closer to him. “Is this what you want?”
My lips curled into a smirk. “Yes, Alpha.”
He rubbed the head of his cock against my wet pussy and groaned into my ear. I listened to the sloppy, wet sounds my pussy made for him and waited for him to plunge himself inside of me. But instead, he pushed another finger in. I pressed my lips together, trying to suppress a moan as he moved it around inside of me.
Cock continuing to rub against my entrance, he made my wolf insane. I ached for one damn release—one, that was all. I didn’t care what it was from anymore. I just needed him to push me over the edge and send me into divine serenity.
“Doesn’t my mate want to make me his? Doesn’t he want to make me submit?”
With his free hand, he dug his claws right into my shirt and ripped it right down the middle. My breasts bounced out, and I clenched hard. Oh Moon Goddess. He groped my breast in one of his large, callous hands and then tugged my nipple between his fingers, making me cry out in pleasure.
After shoving another finger inside of me, he continued to thrust them in and out, moving them in a rhythmic fashion while pulling on my nipple with his other hand. I clenched around his fingers, the pressure growing in my core. My whole body tensed, and I lingered on the edge, but he growled lowly in my ear, fingers stilling.
I tried so desperately to move my hips, but he held me in place and refused to let me come. This was sinister.
When the pressure in my core subsided, he curled his two fingers and hit my G-spot. Over. And over. And over. And over. Until my legs were shaking. Until I collapsed on the bed, unable to hold myself up. Until I squeezed my eyes shut, knowing that this would be the orgasm I would come to, no matter what.
He grabbed a fistful of my hair, forced me back onto my hands, pulled his fingers out of me, and stuffed them into his mouth, sucking off the juices. “Kitten, your pussy tastes so good.” He hovered his fingers closer to my core again. “Do you want a taste?”
“The only way I’m tasting myself”—I pressed my lips together and wiggled my hips, feeling his cock press against my entrance, and his fingers slipped inside of me—“is if it’s off your dick.”
Pounding his fingers into me, tugging on my nipples, pushing me so close to the edge again, he sucked on his mark. Heat pooled between my legs. When he pinched my nipples harder and harder and harder, and the pain became almost unbearable, I whimpered.
“You think you have a choice, Kitten?” He pulled his fingers out of me and shoved them into my mouth. He pulled them back out and rubbed his fingers against my lips, his dick pressing at my entrance. “Good girl …”
I growled low. He rolled us over, so he was lying on his back, and I rested on him. With one hand, he groped my breast, and with the other, he rubbed his cock against my wet pussy.
“Who do you belong to?” he asked.
“Not you.”
He slapped my clit hard, and a wave of pleasure rolled through me.
“Who do you belong to?”
I clenched my jaw, trying to displace the pain. “Not you.”
He slapped my clit again, and I squirmed in his embrace. I gazed at him, watching him stare at me with those golden eyes and a smirk that told me I was his—whether or not I admitted to it.
All I wanted was for him to thrust his cock into my pussy, to fill me up with his cum, to make me tremble and scream out his name. And by the light in his gaze and the tenseness in his jaw, I could tell that he was so close to letting me have it too.
Ares hated being defied. He’d want to prove me wrong.
“Why don’t you make me yours? Thrust yourself inside of me and take it,” I whispered, watching his eyes flash gold. I slid myself down, closer to his cock, and rubbed myself against him. “Make my pussy yours.”
When he didn’t move like I’d thought he would, I growled and started to buck my hips against his. Moon Goddess, why did he have to make this so difficult? Didn’t he see I was so fucking—
“Oh, Kitten,” Ares said into my ear. He stretched my legs further apart and stared at my reflection in the mirror. “Look at you …”
I gazed at myself in the mirror, watching my pussy pulse as I desperately moved my hips. The head of his cock pressed against my aching entrance, teasing me and putting pressure in just the right place.
“Please, Ares.”
Ares slapped his cock against my pussy, coating it in my juices. “I’ve never seen you so desperate for me,” he said, golden eyes locked on mine.
Though he was controlling himself quite well, I could see the tenseness in his eyes. But … I didn’t quite have the strength to fight back anymore.
“Give it to me,” I said.
“Are you submitting to me, Aurora?”
I swallowed hard, feeling his head just about to slip into my pussy. “Yes, I’m submitting.”
He pushed his cock harder against my entrance and rubbed my clit. “Good girl.”
“Please, put it inside of me already.”
“I told you that we’re waiting.”
My pussy clenched, and I tried so desperately to move around in his hold to slide his cock inside of me myself, but Ares just held my legs further apart, making me watch him.
“Jerk me off. Make me come all over your pussy, baby.”
“Ares,” I whimpered, the pressure in my core rising.
“Do it. I know seeing my cum spread all over your pussy lips will make you come.”
I reached between my legs, took his cock in my hand, and stroked him almost as quickly as he rubbed my swollen clit until his cum sprayed across my sopping pink pussy.
“Alpha!” I whimpered, loving the way his cum looked on me. “Can I come?”
“Yes, Kitten. Come for me.”
My legs trembled, and I stared at him in the mirror, wave after wave of pleasure pumping through me. He pushed the head of his cock right against my entrance, feeling it pulse on him, and grunted in my ear. More cum pumped out of him and into my hole.
“Push my cum inside of you,” he said into my ear, watching it roll down my thighs. “Do it for me. I want to get you pregnant with my pups, Aurora. I want to see your belly swollen with my children.”
And so, I took two of my fingers and pushed his cum inside of me because I was Ares’s desperate mate, who wanted nothing more than any part of him to be inside of me.