Page 49 of Unforeseen Mate

Hayden and Fallon fought side-by-side for the rest of the encounter. The skirmish had been short, but intense. He looked around. They hadn’t managed to take any of the combatants alive, but none of them had escaped, either. As quickly as the battle and its attendant noise had started, it was now eerily quiet.

“Let’s go back to the house and shift. Colby’s going to want a debrief. If you want…”

“I’m fine, Hayden. In fact, my adrenaline is running high.”

“That is often part of the aftermath of being involved in a fight like this one.”

They headed into the house. Colby shifted before entering, seemingly unconcerned that he was naked and aroused.

“I need to make some calls and get others from the Resistance here. I also need to check in with my people and get a rein on my temper.” Hayden had never seen the lynx-shifter so angry, much less admitting that he was. Colby continued, “We will convene in the war room in…” he looked towards a large clock hanging on the wall, “…in three hours’ time. I’ll have food sent to your rooms if you need some time alone but will have dinner prepared and served once we are sequestered.”

FALLON

In the same way her body had felt tense in anticipation of the fight, it felt so now, only it wasn’t the relief of violence she was looking for. It was sex, and specifically sex with Hayden.

“With our mate and alpha,”whispered her hellhound.

Her hellhound was absolutely right. It was all she could do not to run into the men’s changing area and attack Hayden. She needed to feel his strength, honor, and courage.

“Bullshit,”said her hellhound.“We need to feel his cock.”

She was right about that as well. Fallon didn’t need to see her reflection to know that her eyes were shining and rimmed with golden fire. Her skin was pulled taut over her body as every part of her began to throb with heat and arousal. She caught herself sniffing the air and could smell his arousal and need as well. His scent called to her. Even though he was barely a few yards away, he was still too far.

Alpha.Her hellhound had called him her mate and alpha, and Fallon knew she was right.Somehow, she had alwaysknown, had always kept herself just this side of committing to another because she knew he was out there somewhere, waiting.

It was as if the moment her scent reached him, his passion flared, and she knew he could feel it too. The world shifted as she realized the power she had over him was just as great as the one he had over her. Fallon understood there was something far more primal and feral about what she needed. Maybe it was the battle and maybe it wasn’t; she didn’t care.

Instead of shimmering back to her human form, Fallon remained as a hellhound, leaving the mansion and emitting a long, low howl of need, defiance, and invitation. Hayden emerged from the house, still as a hellhound, with flared nostrils as he took in her scent. The pupils of his eyes grew larger and darker and were ringed with the same fiery glow as her own.

"Fallon?"he growled.“You should go back in the house, shift back, and lock yourself in our room.”

A purr rumbled deep in her chest.“No.”

Hayden froze, his body braced as if he wanted to move towards her but was using his last measure of control to refrain from doing so, just in case that’s what she wanted him to do.

“So noble, my alpha. But what if I don’t want noble? What if I want feral and wild? Your control, while admirable, is neither needed nor wanted.”

“You don’t know what you’re asking for.”

“Don’t I? My hellhound tells me that I want this, and so far, she hasn’t lied to me.”

All she could think about was getting those strong hands wrapped around her, pinning her to the ground, forcing her to shift and show her what it meant to be a hellhound. Her pulse thrummed, and her muscles twitched at the thought.

Fallon sniffed the air in the same way prey would seek the scent of the predator or rutting mate. She could feel his need to give chase and bring her down—the same need that made herwant to run, to evade him only until he caught her and then surrender herself to him. She could feel the hellhound in her burning up, needing to feel him take her in a primitive, savage way. Hayden was devouring her with his eyes; she could feel his lust reaching down the link, exacerbating her own.

“Catch me if you can,”she challenged.

Whirling, she bounded across the open lawn and headed back to the beach. Hayden wasn’t far behind her. They ran down the hillside, through the sawgrass onto the beach and towards another path that led to a cave hollowed out in the side of the headland on which Windsong sat. All she could hear was the blood rushing through her ears, the thunder of Hayden’s pursuit, and her own panting breath. Her feet pounded on the hard path as she left the beach, unleashing her inner beast with total abandon.

She could still smell him behind her. He was stronger, faster, and she knew once he caught her, he’d pin her down, force her to shift and have her—and have her in a way that she couldn’t even imagine, but one which her hellhound was eagerly anticipating. Fallon wasn’t yet ready to give in, and so she ran.

Her inner hellhound wanted to howl with the freedom and lust that coursed through her veins. She could feel the heat rolling off her body in waves. Even though she was still a hellhound, she could feel her human body’s erotic responses kicking in. When she lay underneath him as a human, her sex would be slick with need, her nipples would be tight, and her pussy would be throbbing in anticipation of something unknown and yet so desired. It made no sense, but whatever was going to happen was new and exciting to her.

Her errant thoughts gave Hayden the opening he needed. He slammed into her like a brick wall, all instinct and red-hot desire, knocking her to the ground and grappling with her until she was pinned beneath his huge bulk.

In the blink of an eye, he shimmered from hellhound to man, growling, “Shift, Fallon.”

Fallon struggled, and he growled again. “Shift.”

---