Page 141 of Untamed

"Your kind of animal is always jealous," Orion smirks cruelly.

"What do you know of my kind of wolf?" I ask him in a low voice.

His eyes glow eerily. "A beast? An abomination? It's always like this. Everyone thinks you're a hero, but you can't help but be so obsessive aboutmycousinthat you'll destroy her before letting her have anyone else in her life."

I pull my mate into my arms. "I won't," I tell him. I ignore the claws curling from my fingertips, the fur erupting on the backs of my hands. "She has her mama and our family, our pack," I insist.

Orion laughs in my face. "You'll pull her away from them, isolate her, hurt her."

"I won't." Inside, the monster whispers.

Ours. Ours. No one else. Our treasure.

"I will not," I repeat, resolute. I will make sure my luna is happy and content. I'm in control of the monster inside me.

"You won't be able to stop yourself," Orion leans his forehead against the bars, eyes glittering meanly. "Already you can hear the beast inside you, yeah? Clamoring for her, obsessive, jealous."

"How do you know this?" I ask him in a harsh whisper. I inhale, but I already know there is nothing special about this male. He is not like me. He is barely an alpha-blood.

He laughs weakly, head lolling on the bars as if he lacks the strength to stand. "Your blood can be traced back to beasts. TrueBorn alphas," he spits derisively. "All the wolves east of GriMaw are descended from the same bastards. I know all the stories that the wolves of this world have wiped away. I know you're brutal. Fuck, you have some of my former packmates down here, beat the hell up." He waves a hand towards my mate, "she even calls you 'Mactiir.'"

"After the myth," I snap.

"After thenightmare," Orion spits.

"Explain," I bark.

He laughs again. "You know him as the alpha who mated the goddess of nature, yeah? A hero's tale. I was told differently. Mactiir was a beast." He looks at me steadily, "just. Like. you."

"He found his mate, a beautiful, young female who was rumored to be a half-witch, a 'goddess' if you want to call her that."

Orion smirks, "he stole her away from her family, her pack. Abandoned his pack. He took her deep into the wild and wouldn't ever let her escape from him. Any wolves who ventured near he slaughtered."

Orion's smile falls away. "The worst part, Alpha?" he sneers. "Every child his mate bore him; when that pup shifted for the first time, Mactiir would kill it. Murdered his children because he couldn't let them near his mate."

He closes his eyes and laughs weakly, "all except the female pup. She lived because she wasn't male, yeah? Her mother helped her escape. That female pup found her mate, and poof! The FeraxMax were born."

Orion opens his eyes, glaring at me. "No one saw the beast and his mate ever again. Sound like a hero to you?"

His gaze shifts to Willa, and his eyes soften. He picks his head up, "you can't trust him, cousin. He'll try to own you."

His face bangs into the bars, hard.

I think it was me, my monster, for a split second until I see the slim, tan fingers wrapped around Orion's throat.

"I am not owned, wolf," myQitsukhuffs at her cousin. "Mactiir is a good male. You will not call him any other word."

"Holy fuck," Orion croaks out. His left eye is already swelling. "You're kinda cute to be so mean, princess."

"I am not cute!" myQitsukhuffs angrily.

"Delicate," Orion gasps. His face is turning red as her grip tightens.

Willa makes a sound of pure fury. As much fun as I would have watching her strangle her cousin, I gently unwrap her fingers. "Shh,Qitsuk," I croon, petting the golden mane of hair that is puffing out just like an enraged kitten.

Orion takes a step back, rubbing his throat. He stares at Willa for a moment with eyes round in astonishment before he tosses his head back and starts to laugh.

"Nevermind! Fuck, she's fucking precious!" Howling with laughter, his pack's murmurs growing louder and louder, Orion is making my mate more and more agitated.

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