Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 242728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1214(@200wpm)___ 971(@250wpm)___ 809(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 242728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1214(@200wpm)___ 971(@250wpm)___ 809(@300wpm)
A mate who slept beside me.
A mate who I wanted more than anything.
My breath caught as the alpha sank his sharp teeth into the scruff of a female I’d named Verio. It was the word for swiftness as she was the fastest hunter. Salak thrust deeper and Verio dropped her head, submitting to him while digging her paws into the ground for better balance.
I watched the primal moment, knowing I ought to look away. Before, when Salak shared his affection with a pack member, I always turned my back and gave them privacy, but this time...I kept watching.
The flesh between my legs hardened until I trembled with pressure and pain.
Another female leapt into the cave, returning from her nightly roam, padding slowly toward the two lovers. She nuzzled Verio’s nose who stayed pinned beneath Salak. The two females shared a lick, but the alpha snarled, sinking his teeth into his chosen’s neck with possession.
His snarls switched to the same guttural grunts that’d woken me, and my entire body tingled.
I couldn’t look away. Couldn’t stop watching, imagining how it would feel to share my body with another’s. How it would feel to share it with Runa.
My eyes tore from the mating wolves and landed on the girl who’d walked in my dreams and now slept in my present. Eyelashes remained soft on her cheeks; her lips slightly parted with slumber. Her muddy-white hair glittered with the faintest glow of the brightening dawn.
Out of everything I’d seen on my travels, she was the most perfect.
My belly clenched as images in my mind unfurled. Of rolling Runa onto her hands and knees. Of pushing away the wolf pup she cradled. Of climbing on top of her—
I swallowed a groan as my body jerked. Sharp bolts of pleasure arrowed between my legs, vibrating through my hardness until my hips begged to rock. My pulse pounded as heavy pressure gathered at the base of my spine.
Horror filled me as I glanced at my bare lap and witnessed what such thoughts had done.
My body now stood stiff and angry.
It ached.
Throbbed.
It made me hungry. Greedy—
The female let out a sharp yip, waking Runa from her sleep.
I stiffened as she twitched beside me, her arms unlocking around the pup. My attention split, staying on Runa as shame coated me, all while I couldn’t take my eyes off Salak as he hunched deeper into Verio, his hips thrusting deep as he let out a heavy huff of pleasure.
Every part of me burned.
I couldn’t look at Runa as my hands fisted by my hips, unable to even graze myself without exploding. Had I been inside Runa in the life we couldn’t remember? Had we shared such pleasures like Salak and Verio? It seemed unthinkable that we hadn’t.
Slowly, Salak unlocked his jaws from Verio’s scruff and licked her gently. The other female padded to her nest in the middle of the cave and lay down.
The heavy tension in the air dissipated now the mating had finished.
Runa yawned and sat up, clasping the wriggling pup to her chest as it squirmed to stay near.
Another wash of guilt cloaked me.
She’d slept beside me, believing I would protect her from all things, yet she was utterly clueless how close I was to yanking her upright and plunging deep inside her.
She can’t know.
She’d begun to trust me.
I couldn’t break that trust by showing her I was no better than the Nhil hunter.
Clearing my throat, I shifted away from her while trying to hide the angry stiffness between my legs.
Stretching, Runa blinked away sleep and carefully placed the pup back into Kiu’s nest. She stroked Natim with a gentle smile on her lips before twisting to face me. I couldn’t meet her eyes, but it wasn’t me she first noticed.
Her cheeks blushed bright red, and her eyes widened as her attention locked onto Salak and Verio. Dawn etched their fur with watery pink light while the two wolves remained joined.
Runa slid onto her knees, her fingers gripping her thighs as if to grant herself bravery. For a long moment, she studied the mated pair before casting her eyes to mine.
I gritted my teeth at the awareness in her amber gaze, then flinched as she asked, “I’ve seen Nhil lovers sharing pleasures. I’m not naïve to what couples do in the dark, but...mortals usually separate once their joy has ended.” She shifted closer, making me turn to stone. “Why have they not—”
“It’s the joining tie,” I croaked. “I didn’t understand it at first either, but...it seems they must stay joined to ensure the bond brings new life.”
“How long must they...?”
I didn’t answer her. I didn’t trust my voice as she bit her bottom lip and filthy thoughts filled my head.
A painful few heartbeats passed.
I willed my body to calm.
I begged the hardness to stop torturing me.
But then her gaze dropped from Salak and Verio and landed squarely on my lap.