Page 25 of Rituals & Runes

CHAPTER9

Even with the soothing touch of my mate, I couldn’t quell the anxiety winding up in the pit of my gut. It wound into my legs, nailing me to the floor, frozen, wishing I had found Kaden in a different time and place. A place where my father hadn’t left us in danger.

My father had cursed the Stone Mountain pack. Not only did I not know why, but I had been left to clean up his mess. As a sacrifice.

I reached up to take hold of Kaden’s cheek, feathering my fingers over his smooth skin, and then drawing a line along his hard edged jaw. So sexy it hurt. My heat pulsed through my body, heating my center and making my breasts heavy and sensitive. A dull ache never left me as I drew closer to the time it would take me over. He stared at me, a burning, aroused look in his eyes, well aware of the pheromones seeping out of every pore on my skin.

“Kaden, I know my body urges us to mate, but first I want to share something with you.” My words came breathy and light, almost like a pant. My wolf whined and paced. “I am so grateful that you killed my father. I know that might sound horrible, but after he found out my mother was pregnant, he made her live in another house. Alone except for people giving her basic needs. He intended to kick us both out of the pack when I was born, but she died in childbirth. A couple of shifters took pity on me or I wouldn’t have survived. He did kick me out at the age of thirteen and I lived alone until you found me. So, thank you. Thank you for taking him away from my life.”

Kaden pressed a finger onto my lips. “I’m afraid to be alone with you because everything in me needs to strip you down, but you’re right, we need to talk. Alone. Come with me.”

We left the crowd that still milled around the back of the main compound and returned to his home. This time, he directed me to a spacious kitchen with charcoal granite counter tops, custom wooden cabinets, and state-of-the-art appliances. When he saw me practically drooling over it, a bad boy smile spread over his face.

“I love to cook. Can’t wait to make you dinner. First I will fuck you, then we will eat a meal, then I will fuck you again until you can’t walk. But first, have a seat.”

My core clenched but I raised a hand in the air indicating for him to stop. I sat cross-legged on a wooden chair next to a table. “Don’t talk that way. My heat is already making it hard for me to focus.”

The grin dropped off his lips but not in his eyes. He served me a fizzy juice drink with ice and then sat next to me. “So, what do you want to tell me?”

I sipped the slightly bitter, fruity drink. “This is good.” I gestured to my glass. “But what I want to know is, how did my father find me? He promised to kill me if ever saw or heard of me again, thus why he came to execute me. Somehow, he must have heard I arrived here.”

Kaden set his glass down on the counter with a thump. “How? How would your pack know? They live an hour away from here. Someone would have had to inform your pack. That means I have a rat at Stone Mountain.”

With the stir stick, I clinked the ice around my drink. “There are several people that stand out to me. What about the guy who tried to get me at the first meeting? Drake? Maybe he got mad at you and decided to snitch. After living in my pack, I’ve seen almost everything. Then there are Knox and Torin. Maybe they were upset you snapped their necks? I mean, they healed and everything but still, he couldn’t have been too thrilled about that. And then one other—Caitlin.”

Kaden’s eyebrows raised as he sipped from his glass. “Beta Ethan’s sister? Why her?”

I narrowed my eyes. “As I said, I’ve seen it all after being bullied. Women can be so catty, so competitive. Caitlin sure seemed stressed when you were fighting my dad—like a bit more than everyone else.”

“That’s normal, I’m her Alpha.”

“She had her eyes glued to you, and every time you got injured, she startled.” I wiped my mouth with a napkin and then scrunched it up in my hand. “Then afterward, when you gave me that hug, I swore I caught her staring at us.”

He folded his lips into his mouth. “Ethan and Caitlin grew up at my house. Their parents died in a terrible boating accident. Since our fathers were best friends, we took them in. I’ve never seen any indication that she had any feelings for me beyond a brother/sister type of love. She never flirts with me or anything like that.”

I shrugged. “Whatever you say, but we didn’t narrow down who could have disclosed to my dad where I ended up.”

“True.” He took my hand once more, kissing each of my fingers, then pressed them to his cheek. “I will look into it right away. After you tell me what you really wanted to say.”

My heart squeezed with a warmth and weight I’d never experienced for anyone before. I traced a line along the curve of his strong forehead, down the bridge of his nose, and around the edge of his lips until I ended up cupping his straight-edged jaw line. He watched me intently with his vibrant green eyes. “My heart is filled with gratitude for how you’ve protected and defended me since I arrived. I’ve never had anyone do such things for me, and it means everything to me to have you do it. I already expressed to you how much it meant to me that you removed the fear of my father hunting me down. And when I saw your brother and the others suffering, knowing you’ve lost everyone to this curse, I decided that I must sacrifice myself.”

My wolf barked in protest, riding me to take it back. Like me, she needed her mate, needed to join with him, and claim us. It broke my heart for both of us to have to suppress that urgent need.

Kaden gripped my upper arms. “You’re my mate, you can’t do that. I won’t let you.”

I gritted my teeth. “One death to save many, it’s worth it, Kaden. Besides, you haven’t claimed me, I’m not your mate.”

“You’re my one true mate. It doesn’t matter that I haven’t bitten you.” He pulled me up, molding our bodies together in a movement I didn’t detect. “You belong to me, always did, always will”

Heat flared in my core, my breasts became heavy, and my nipples instantly pebbled against his rock-hard body. A wave of feverish heat flooded me, making me arch and moan against him. I rubbed against his stomach, against his already firm shaft. My knees buckled. I needed Kaden so badly that he had my mind cracking and my panties dampening.

My wolf’s whine transformed into a howl that almost slipped through my lips. I craved his length inside me, pumping between my thighs, and coming deep within my walls. Yet, I couldn’t allow myself to be taken away by that. I needed to keep my head on my shoulders for the good of others.

“Kaden, it’s my choice.” I nudged him away and stared into his intense, emerald gaze. “I can’t stand the idea of your pack, which could be my future pack, wasting away. How can I live at your side knowing everyone you love is dying?”

His eyes flicked to the golden, yellow of his wolf, then back to his emerald orbs of a man. A strangled growl released from his tight chest. His alpha energy expanded around him, pressing against me, but not forcing me to heel. So far, except for kidnapping me which I now understood, he hadn’t forced me to obey. “No way in hell am I going to let you kill yourself. Nothing and no one is going to come between us. I won’t allow it.”

Barely able to keep my gaze locked on his, I pursed my lips. “I’m not asking permission.”

“Aila, you’re a submissive, and my mate. I don’t care about the not claiming part. I will claim you. End of story.” He gripped my upper arms. His power cloaked my body, weakening my muscles, raising my urge to heel to him, to bare my neck. At the same time, savage arousal tore at my body, making me want to submit for an entirely different reason. “I can compel you to obey. We can find another way.”

Trembling from hardly being able to resist, my throat balled up again, and sadness dimmed my vision. I averted my gaze as a tear slid down my cheek. My glasses fogged up so I wiped them down and put them back on. While my vision went blurry, his warm hand wiped my cheek clean.

“Damn it, Kaden. But what about the pack? We already asked the Seer if we had another way to deal with this, and she said no.”

His warm hands slid down my back until they looped around my waist. “I’m not going to lose you or the pack. There has to be another way.” He pulled me again his chest again. “The bond has already formed between us, Wolfling. It would shatter my world to lose you.? I can’t face the idea, let alone see it happening.”

I linked my arms around him, as his anguish and heavy torment seeped through our budding bond. “I may be a submissive, but you’ve seen how I don’t give up. If somehow we can find a successful way to save the pack and me, I will whole-heartedly take it. But until then...I can’t live while the rest of you die.”

His arms squeezed me as if someone would tear me away from him as if he would never see me again. “Agreed. It’s the right thing to do, Wolfling. I know. I respect your decision. It just tears me apart to admit it. There’s only one thing to do—tell the council so they can prepare the altar for tomorrow night.”

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