Page 52 of Left Hand of the Divine
Rayne snarled and snapped his teeth. He was close to losing control of his human skin.
“You need to run, Beau.” I threw my jacket off and pulled my t-shirt over my head. “Or we will fuck you right there. I’ll count to ten. That’s all you’ll get.”
Beau’s eyes remained fixed on my hands as I undid my belt and trousers.
“One,” Rayne snapped, shedding his clothes to prepare to shift.
“Two,” I added. “Better run, vampire.”
He gave us one last longing look and then vanished, his vampire speed carrying him far away from us.
But it wouldn’t be enough.
He was going to be ours.
The ground was rough beneath my paws as I chased my prey. Rayne ran beside me, his pace matching mine as we followed Beau through the woods. He’d slowed his heart to the point where it was barely beating, and he’d stopped breathing altogether.
But we knew how to hunt. And we knew him. His scent. The beat of his heart. The taste of his fear.
A twig snapped ahead of us, and I lunged towards it, with Rayne right on my heel. I caught a blur of Beau ahead of us, but he was moving slower, taunting us.
If that’s how you want to play, littlevamp…
I flicked my head towards Rayne, and he panted a huff in response before peeling off to the right. As Hounds, we were a pack, and we didn’t need words to communicate. We had been doing this together for so long that everything was instinctual.
Beau stumbled into the clearing ahead of me, and I sensed Rayne standing in the line of trees on the opposite side. We had him boxed in.
He could sense us. His spine stiffened, and his eyes searched the tree line. He wouldn’t spot us. We were too good for that, but I wanted him to feel us. To sense us closing the distance.
To feel the goddamninevitability.
I stepped forwards out of the shadows, my huge Hound almost at head height with Beau.
His eyes never left mine as I slowly closed the distance between us. My huge paws padded on the ground softly as I started to circle him, Rayne stepping out of the trees and mirroring me. Beau carried on watching us, his lips parted, his body trembling.
He sank to his knees in the dirt and lowered his gaze to the floor.
This was it. His moment of surrender. Not in defeat, but as achoice.
And it was soul-shaking.
I shifted back into my human skin, bones cracking and slotting back into place. My claws retracted into fingers, and my jaw snapped back into shape with a sickening crunch. Fur burnt away in a cascade of embers and smoke until I stood there before Beau as a man ready to claim his mate.
Rayne stood behind him, and we shared a look. It felt monumental. We never thought we’d find a mate, yet here we were about to take the first one. It was bittersweet because we should be doing this with Roux as well, and we knew the danger we were in if we continued to reject it, but we’d figure that out later. This moment was about us and Beau and creating a bond that would join us together for eternity.
I sank down to my knees in the dirt with Beau and tipped his face up to meet mine. “Are you ready?”
“Yes,” he breathed. “A hundred times, yes.”
Rayne wrapped his fingers in Beau’s hair and tugged his head backwards. “Are you sure? Once we start this, we won’t be able to stop.”
Beau licked his lips. “I’m sure. I need this. Needyou. It’s agony under my skin when you aren’t there. Please.Please.”
I couldn’t bear it any longer. I surged forwards, claiming his mouth. It wasn’t gentle. It was desperate, like we’d been holding back for years. My Hound rippled under my skin, rejoicing that we were finally going to claim him and make him ours. I sank my teeth into his bottom lip, my fangs growing as more of my Hound surfaced and the sweet taste of Beau’s blood hit my tongue. I nearly came in my pants.
“I need you,” Beau gasped against my mouth. “Please.”
“Look at me,” Rayne growled.
