Page 19 of In the Mouth of the Wolf

The absolute nerve of this woman, to insinuate anything about Marlowe. My love.

Jen grabbed my shoulder, trying to pull me off. “She didn’t mean it, Mike. Grace is just a little jealous. Who wouldn’t want to be your Lunessa?”

Her pleading failed to sway me. Jealousy in a servaglio was a poison. I’d watched it destroy my brother’s life, when his Lunessa was murdered in her sleep by his number two. He had destroyed all six remaining women, needing to start from scratch, and had never been the same again.

Grace desperately pulled at my hands, and I brought my lips to her ear. “You are not half the woman my Lunessa is. You are replaceable, and she is my goddess. If I hear one more unkind word towards her come out of your mouth, I will bleed you dry and throw your emaciated corpse into the bay. Do you understand?”

She nodded, her face turning purple.

I finally released her, and she crumpled on the floor, gasping for breath.

What made her insult even more infuriating was how untrue it was. Out of my checklist of sexual requirements, Marlowe met nearly every one.

Enthusiastic? Check.

Good at oral? Check.

Always willing? Check.

Into role-play? Check, I’d recently discovered. My cock hardened at the memory of the slutty maid’s costume she’d bought for our anniversary. Yes, it was cliché, but she had never broken character. I couldn’t wait to explore more with her.

Jen wrapped her arms around my neck and tried to take my attention away from Grace, getting my focus back on her. This was why she was a good number two, she was born to play peacemaker. “Have you showered since the last time you and Marlowe fucked? Maybe I can still taste her on you.”

I chuckled. “You can certainly try.” I grabbed her hair and helped push her down to her knees. Her tongue eagerly lapped the head of my dick, and I smiled in adoration as her lips opened and took me in. Was there any greater joy than watching a woman devour your cock?

I relaxed as she sucked the anger out of me, pulling me further into her mouth. I was about to close my eyes and think about my Lunessa when a corner of white plastic caught my eye, sticking out from underneath the dresser. It looked familiar.

The blood drained out of my face and I yanked Jen off me. “Ow – Mike, what’s wrong?”

“Shut up!” I yelled, getting down on my hands and knees to grab the small container. I inspected it carefully. “Is this…”

Jen shrugged. “Looks like birth control pills. Marlowe’s out of town though, right? Just use condoms for a week or so when she gets back, you’ll be fine.”

“No,” I spat. “It’s not fine, you fucking idiot. These are the pills that keep her hidden from other shifters.” I waved them in her face and then threw them across the room. “Without them she’s a walking bucket of chum, and every alpha in the state is about to go into a feeding frenzy.”

I needed to get her.

Now.

8

MARLOWE

Archer and Camden stood on either side of me as we headed to my room in the elevator. I didn’t want to believe shifters were real, but Archer had described my symptoms so accurately it was scary. I knew something had felt off about me ever since I had arrived here.

Iwasbecoming more sensitive to smells, Iwasravenously hungry, and Iwasinsanely horny. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I might be pregnant. But I took my birth control religiously.

Well, until this morning that is.

The birth control pills, that had to be it. I vaguely remembered feeling strange like this when I was near the end of high school, when my mom had first gotten them for me.

I was just suffering from not taking the pills, that was all. That had to be it. If I could just find a pharmacy...

But Archer and Camden had insisted we needed to leave. “If you think that man who approached you before I arrived was bad, you have no idea what’s going to happen if we don’t get you out of this hotel before your heat starts.”

“Heat? Come on, you can’t be serious.” Yeah, I was strangely turned on, but who wouldn’t be with the attention of a couple of hot guys? Calling it a “heat” was too much. I wasn’t an animal; it was just side effects from the hormone withdrawal.

Right?

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