Page 48 of Rejected Forced Mate
“The only reason I pushed you away was because my father threatened you. He said if I didn't cut you off, he'd make your life a living hell. He would have destroyed you, mate. He even said he'd contact other packs to tell them that you were tainted goods. And I couldn’t—fuck, I couldn’t let that happen. So I rejected you and made myself the villain to protect you. I thought you'd hate me for a few years until I was able to take over the pack and could come clean and openly claim you as my mate. But you ran. I fucked it all up, but I swear to you that my intentions were to keep you safe, even if I did it all wrong."
The silence that followed was deafening, and my mate's eyes were wide as saucers.
Then, my soft, beautiful mate let her rage rise to the surface, her wolf shining through. She was on her feet in an instant, and I swore I could feel her magic crackling in the air. “You decided that for me?” Her voice shook, furious and raw. “You thought you had the right to choose my fate, to throw me away without even letting me fight for myself?”
My hand shot out in a desperate bid to grab her,“Sage, please—"
Her laugh was sharp and devoid of any shred of humor. “Protecting me? If I hadn't found the ad in the paper for a healer position with Joe's pack, I would have likely lived the rest of my life as a fucking rogue! And now you steal me away, put me in your house, marry me, as if once more you know what's better for me than I do! It's bullshit!"
Sage's words were snarled, digging deeper than her claws ever could.
“Well, guess what!?" She poked her finger into my chest, breathing hard with emotion. "You're too late, Noah. I'm leaving!"
"You're not," I told her, gritting my teeth.
"Oh yes, I am." She moved, trying to step around me.
I reached for her, but before I could get a hold of her, Sage slapped my hand away, hard enough that my fingers stung.
"Don't touch me!" she cried, and the words were so filled with pain and anger that my heart shattered. "Don't touch me, don't look at me, don't follow me. You lost that privilege when you decided my future without letting me have a say."
She was going to be the death of me. She was going to rip out my heart and tear me into pieces. I had never felt so helpless in my entire life.
"Don't do this."
"What are you going to do?" she challenged, "Force me to stay?" "It would be within my rights as your mate and Alpha."
"Try it," Sage dared, her eyes blazing. "You aren't the only one with teeth and claws.
Then, I felt something shift. The energy between us changed. Deep beneath the rage and sadness coursing throughSage, there was the repressed desire that told me she wanted me to try, to touch her, to show her how powerfully I wanted to keep her close.
It was a chance to redo that awful moment from five years ago, when I pushed her away. I wasn't going to fuck it up again.
Sage was like a wildcat when I grabbed her around the waist, hauling her against me and crashing my mouth against hers. She fought, her teeth clashing with mine, her tongue lashing against mine, but her scent was filling my nose and my brain, and soon the fighting shifted. She wrapped her arms around my neck and dragged her nails down the back of my scalp.
It was a claiming. She was claiming me. Fuck, I needed her.
"Sage," I whispered against her lips, and I was shaking with need. "Shut up, Noah."
We tore at each other's clothes, not caring if we ripped anything. When I had her naked and bare beneath me on the bed, the world felt like it had righted itself. I had my mate under me, and I had her undivided attention. I was going to make the most of it.
"You're mine, Sage," I growled, kissing a hot trail down her throat until I could suck one taut nipple into my mouth. "No matter how far you go, or how many years pass, you're mine."
"Then prove it," she challenged, her fingers tugging at my hair. So I did.
I worshipped her breasts, licking and sucking at her nipples, drawing the sensitive buds into my mouth and flicking them with my tongue. She writhed beneath me, panting, her legs falling open as she begged wordlessly for more.
I was all too happy to oblige, and I trailed my lips down her stomach, kissing every inch of her. Sage was soft and supple, and I loved the way she fit against my body, like we had been carved to complement one another. Like all shifters, though, there was an underlying strength to her that made it easy for her to change things when she grew impatient with how slowly I was moving, wrapping one leg around my waist and rolling up over so she was on top, staddling my waist.
"You're thinking too much, Noah," she chastised, and her voice was rough.
"You drive me crazy, woman," I replied, reaching for her and dragging my hands up her hips.
She leaned down, kissing me again, her hips rocking against my cock, pussy lips spreading. I groaned, and she grinned into the kiss, clearly taking great pleasure in my desperation.
"Mm, you want inside me, Alpha?"
"I'd kill for it," I told her, meaning every word of it.
