Page 14 of Unforgivable

"You kissed me, too," I accuse him.

He smiles. "After we eat, I'll explain." His smile falls. I could swear he looks uncertain.

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Rhet takes a deep breath, glancing down at his clasped hands before looking back at me. I swallow, nervous. Thjis is standing at the door, arms folded across his chest, looking like he's going to prevent me from bolting from the room. Ezra is pacing at the window, his green eyes darting outside, then to me, to Rhet, never to Thjis.

"W-what's going on?" I ask shakily. As I ate breakfast with the five males, all I could concentrate on was what these males really want with me. It's obvious, right? What else would MateLess, adult males want with a ruined female but sex?

"We want you to be our female," Rhet says, blunt but in a gentle voice.

So, I was right. My brain tumbles. Morally, I wasn't this female. Or, I used to not be this female. I wasn't going to mess up my mating and become a female who everyone knows is easy. I was never interested in males other than my mate.

I always looked down on the females who slept around. I guess this is my comeuppance. Nothing like having your virtue ripped from you to make you realize that virginity is cheaply sold and highly prized.

"Sex," I murmur, keeping my gaze on Rhet, the undisputed leader of this little pack.

"Yes, when you are ready. If you agree, then we'll start..." he pauses, "touching you. Nothing too fast, nothing violent, or forced. If you agree," he says again, softly.

I nod, swallowing. My eyes fall to my lap where my fingers are twisting, twisting, the tips turning white. I can't look into those blue eyes anymore. Silence reigns for a long time. I can hear the males' deep breaths, the shuffling of movement as Ezra stops pacing but still fidgets. I can practically taste the tension in the air, and not all of it is mine. They know they are asking something of me that is difficult. "If I can't agree?" I finally ask.

Rhet inhales deeply, "then we will help you leave the pack. Maybe... maybe my former pack will take you in."

I nod again, without looking up. He sounds disappointed and not very hopeful of my chances in another pack. I agree. Even if Rhet helps me, makes contact for me with his former packmates and alpha... I will be a foreign she-wolf who smells impure and has a destroyed reputation. I am a rankwhore. I'm nothing that anyone wants, not anymore.

Except these males want me. For sex, true, but what do I have left to bargain with? My pack and family are lost to me. My mate was never mine to lose. All of the work that I put into rising to the top of the pack hierarchy is wasted.

"Lyri?" Ezra approaches carefully and crouches down in front of me. Gentle fingers unwind mine. "Do you want to think about it?" hope rings in his voice.

I lick my lips. "No," I whisper hoarsely.

His face falls, hope disappearing.

"I'll stay," I rush out before he gives up on me. "I... I agree." Immediately I burst into noisy, uncontrollable tears.

I expect Ezra to hold me, but it's Rhet who picks me up and sits back down with me cradled on his lap, my face buried in his chest.

"Shh, pretty. It'll be good, Lyri. I promise," he whispers.

I can't suppress the shudder. Here is a male who doesn't know me making promises. I want, more than anything at this moment, to trust his promise.

"You promise?" I husk out through sobs.

"We all do," warm lips touch the back of my neck. My breath chokes out; tears stifled for a moment. Thjis moves his lips lower, hands stroking my back. "Nothing bad will happen to you again. You'll be ours. Only ours, understand?" he continues despite Rhet's unhappy grunt.

I pick my head up off of Rhet to meet Thjis' bottomless eyes. I can see the hard promise. Let these males protect me and all they ask is that I warm their beds.

"I understand," I tell him. He nods, rubbing the tears from my face. "Will it hurt, Thjis?" I blurt out, my breath picking up. He will know, as a healer. And he'll tell me the truth, even if the truth sucks.

"No," he responds. "We'll make sure your body is ready."

"What if..." I swallow, "what if I'm bad at it?" Will they abandon me if I can't please them?

Rhet turns my head to face him again. His mouth slants over mine. It's a demanding kiss, but not harsh. I gasp in surprise, and his tongue sweeps in, tasting and teasing. I feel my body soften, sagging into the arms of this strong male. I don't pull away until I feel hands creep towards my thighs.

Rhet lets me pull away. Ezra grins sheepishly at me, his hands on my knees. Rhet pushes his hands off. "Too soon," he grunts. Ezra tosses a scowl toward him but listens and takes his hands away.

"You'll do fine, pretty," Rhet smiles at me, drawing my attention back to him. "It's our job to make sure you're pleasured, and, for a male, pleasuring his female is how he finds his own pleasure."

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