Page 21 of Betrayed Bullied Mate

“I guess we’re staying here until the commander sends our backup. Let’s make ourselves as comfortable as we can. Eva, Percy—there’s a small town about twenty miles south. Should be a department store over that way. If you shift and travel through the woods, it should only take a few hours. Take a pack with you and buy supplies—Eva, can you get Linnea some extra clothes? We’ll also need lighter fluid, soap, and toothpaste. Check with everyone and see if there’s anything specific anyone needs.”

“Pain killers,” Bigby grumbles, while Byron says, his voice incredibly hopeful, “Energy drinks?”

“That’s a good idea,” I second, “grab some coffee while you’re at it.”

“You got it,” Percy says, already scribbling down a list on his pad while Eva rolls her eyes.

“Highly trained weapon of death, and I am sent to a fucking Walmart.”

“It’s just for now,” I say. “Trust me, I don’t want to be here any more than you do.”

As soon as Percy and Eva leave, a jolt of arousal shoots through my body, and I have to lean on the nearest wall until it passes. Ado and Bigby are staring at me. Ado, as usual, has no expression, but Bigby is wearing a mix of amusement and concern.

“Ado,” I struggle to get out, “you’re back on the perimeter.”

Ado nods, seeming relieved to get out of the cabin. I watch him go, then take a deep, shuddering breath.

“Don’t stare at me, Man,” I say to Bigby.

“You can’t go on like this,” Bigby says, “I know you think you’re hot shit, but even you can’t resist nature, pure and simple.”

“Fuck you.”

Bigby laughs, then tips his head up, sniffing the air. Right as he does, it hits me like a truck, the intense need. I feel my pupils dilate, my heart hammering in my chest.

“What—”

“That explains it,” Bigby says, nodding to the doorway, and when I look in that direction, I can smell her clear as day, and though she’s not visible, I know she’s standing just outside the cabin.

And she smells like sex.

“Get out of here,” I say to Bigby, who holds his hands up, standing and moving toward the back door.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he says, as my body moves of its own accord, ripping open the door and finding Linnea there, her mouth in a perfect “O” as she looks at me.

My eyes immediately dart down to her hand, which smells like sex, so potent it’s invading my head. I can’t think straight.

I grab her wrist, dragging her back toward her cabin, intent on throwing her in there and locking away the key.

Chapter 12 - Linnea

Aris’s grip on my wrist is iron-clad, but I can barely feel it as he drags me back through the clearing to the big cabin. I think back to the way he’d looked at me when he came bursting through the door, his eyes practically black, darting immediately to my hand. I’d hidden it behind my back as though that would fix the problem.

Right after he commanded that I stay in the cabin, I’d thrown the covers off, pacing around the room. As a non-shifter, my sense of smell is nowhere near what it could be, but I could still sense Aris everywhere in the cabin, smell that familiar pine scent lingering around the couch and on the pillows.

Frustrated, I’d thrown myself back into bed, staring up at the ceiling again.

I thought about how he’d been watching me this morning, of that dream where he was behind me, hips pressed to mine. I close my eyes and picture what might have happened if that dream hadn’t been interrupted, how he would have moved my panties to the side, slipping inside me.

Would he have groaned at the feeling? Shifted his hips to hit me deeper?

Before I realized what I was doing, I was wiggling my fingers under the waistband of my underwear. I was wet from thinking about him.

I pictured his hand coming around, covering my mouth, pulling my head back into his as he rocked into me, his other hand gripping my hip and pulling me back, closer, adjusting me so he could fill me completely.

“Aris,” I whispered, as I came completely undone, writhing along in the bed.

As soon as it was over, I felt an intense wave of shame and embarrassment wash over me. Fantasizing about Aris? The guy who made my life a living hell, who insulted my appearance every day, made me so uncomfortable in my skin that I could barely breathe when I was at school?

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