Page 102 of Bitten By Bloodmoon
I loved Ambrose. There is a part of me that still loves him. But what he did…it’s not something I can just forgive.
And then there’s Nyx. He did something just as unforgivable. I don’t love him. But my heart is thumping so loudly in my chestat the sight of him that I think there is something I might be missing about him.
I want the choice.
The wolf shifters never used to get a choice in their mates. They were always predestined, and everyone accepted that. We accepted our mates. We procreated. Lived happy lives in our packs. We followed the rules. Until someone from my pack rejected her mate. She wanted a choice, and it angered the gods so much that they cursed all three magical creatures that walk this earth.
And now, there’s a rebel part of me that wants to do the same. I want the choice. I want to pick, even if it means I end up picking Ambrose. I want to decide my own future.
But that’s not what the gods want. They want to choose. They want us to dance around for them like the playthings they see us as. Nyx isn’t my mate; he just shares a bond with me because he is also destined to end the curses.
The sun begins to dip, the light pulling back from the room inch by inch. Nyx stares at me, and I stare at him. Both of us lost to our thoughts, no longer in each other’s heads.
“Lumi could still be my mate. Sometimes the prophecies are wrong. Sometimes they change. Our connection is just as strong as hers and Ambrose’s. There is no denying that. She could be my mate.”
I didn’t realize I slipped back into his head. Or did he whisper the words through our bond? Either way, I heard them.
The veil is pierced between us as he realizes I heard his words.
“What do you want to do, Lumi? It’s your choice.”
The sunlight has crept to the foot of the bed and is rapidly retracting from the room now. I watch it slowly retreat across my body until I’m cast entirely in shadow before I answer. My eyes meet his with hooded eyelids.
“Right now, I want you.”
His body goes still as stone. He understands exactly what I’m saying.
“I can’t promise you how I’ll feel tomorrow or what decision I’ll ultimately end up making. It’s not fair to you. You’re an alpha shifter and a vampire lord; you have feelings, too. I’ve seen them. Doing this will only intensify those feelings for both of us. I doubt it will make it clearer if you’re my mate or if Ambrose is in my mind. It will probably just confuse things even more,” I say.
He continues not to move, not even blink, as I speak.
I take a deep breath. “But if I don’t get at least one night with you, I know it will be the biggest regret of my life.”
His lips hit me first, crashing into me with such force that it nearly knocks the wind out of me. It’s so fucking worth it as I fall onto my back on the bed. Whether we are mates or not doesn’t matter in this moment as he claims my mouth with his. My arms are pushed up over my head, and my hips are pinned by his as he kisses me desperately.
“I’d regret not getting to claim you as mine for at least one night, even if you’re not mine to claim forever.”
Shivers dance over my skin at his hungry words. I get a haunting feeling in my belly that I don’t know what it means.
“Let’s forget together,” I say out loud.
He kisses me, pushing me deeper into the soft mattress. “I won’t forget anything about tonight, love.”
My tongue pushes into his mouth, feeling the sharp point of his fangs trailing over my tongue. He fists my hair, pulling my head roughly, and my tongue slides out of his mouth.
“Careful, love, you’re playing with fire and you’re going to get bitten if you keep teasing.”
With flared eyes, I say, “What if I want to get bitten?”
He shudders, but shakes his head. Without any notice, we are across the room, my front is pressed against the window, and he’s pushed against my back, his fangs hovering over my neck.
I can see our reflection in the window as the moonlight hits us just right. One of his hands grips my hip, while the other sweeps my hair off my shoulder, exposing my neck to him. His fangs touch just the top of my skin without breaking it.
Fear pulses through me. He could kill me. As a vampire. A wolf shifter. Just a male. He could kill me in a thousand ways.
He’ll kill you. He’ll kill you. He’ll kill you…
The whispered promise of the voice that likes to play in my head at the most inconvenient times promises me. A prophecy of its own making.
