Chapter 2 Chased and Claimed: His Punishing Kiss

Aurelia

The heat radiating off him slammed into me with such force that knocked the air from my lungs.

Alpha Zhayad’s wolf prowled closer, and I tried to get up to my feet. I couldn't. There was a magnetic tug between us that kept me still.

I needed to run. Everyone knew what Alpha Zhayad was capable of. He was ruthless, and often tore apart rival shifters with just his hands alone.

Imagine what he could do with his claws and fangs in his wolf form?

The pull between us stretched and stretched until it was like I was reading his thoughts. 

His voice in my head was the loudest, deepest, sexiest baritone I'd ever heard.

Mine. My destined mate. 

Wait? Had he just spoken to me? 

He lifted his massive head and howled, then let out a deep fierce growl that sent all the birds and animals in the woods scattering about.

I didn't think. I pushed up to my feet and ran.

But he was right behind me. What had he said back there, destined mate?

It had to be that I'd heard wrong. That was definitely not happening. Not when I was what I was. 

Just when I thought I’d spotted a gap between the trees, a wall of pure heat and muscle crashed into me from the side.

The air left my lungs the second his body slammed into mine.

My back scraped the rough bark of the tree as I fell. One huge hand locked around my throat, not tight, just owning. 

His thumb rested over the frantic beat in my neck like he was counting every terrified thud.

I looked up, and the world tilted.

He was beautiful in the way storms are beautiful: deadly, unstoppable, and right on top of me.

Fuck, no one should be allowed to look like that.

With the hand on my throat, he lifted me from the floor and pinned me against the tree.

Alpha Zhayad towered over me, all six-foot-too-much of him, bare-chested, his skin still steaming hot from the shift.

Moonlight poured over him like it was paid to worship every line. My eyes landed on his broad shoulders that could block out the sky.

And the hard, carved chest still rising and falling fast from the chase. Abs so sharp I could cut myself just staring. 

His black hair was wild and damp, falling into those deadly green eyes that were locked on me like I was dinner and dessert rolled into one.

He was terrifying. Beautiful didn’t even scratch the surface. 

He looked like someone had taken sin, sculpted it into muscle and bone, then set it on fire.

And my stupid, traitorous body lit up the second he touched me. 

Heat flooded low in my belly, and my thighs pressed together on instinct. My nipples went tight against the thin fabric of my dress. 

I hated it. Hated him. Hated the way my skin screamed yes while my brain screamed run.

His lips curled, slow, smug, knowing.

“Still running, little viper?” His voice was pure smoke and gravel, rolling straight into my bones.

“I’m not your anything,” I snapped, shoving at his chest. It didn’t move him an inch. 

“Get off me, you overgrown dog.”

His eyes flashed brighter and darker all at once.

“Wrong answer.”

I tried to roll from under him, but my frantic movements only caused me to rub myself against his groin.

I pushed and slapped, but it only seemed to irritate him.

He tightened his jaw, and grabbed my wrists to stop me from moving them. He pinned them above my head, causing my breasts to thrust out.

I opened my mouth to scream but he tightened his grip around my throat. I swallowed back my strangled scream immediately.

“You're not a wolf shifter, what are you?” He asked in a low growl that caused my stomach to flutter.

“I'm not anything. Let me go.” I snapped, giving him the hardest glare I could muster.

“You're my mate.” He shot back, leaning down to bare his fangs.

I gasped when I saw the famous onyx fang that formed one of his canines. Every Alpha grew one once they were named Alpha, and it was rumoured to be as dangerous and sharp as a scythe blade.

“I'm not your anything. You're mistaken. Let me go.” I told him, ignoring the way my body protested.

I wanted him to brand me, to claim me. And I loathed myself for having conflicted feelings about him when I was supposed to be fighting back.

“Say that again and I'll make you regret it.” He threatened, his hot breath fanning my face.

“I’m. Not. Your. Anything.”

His eyes darkened to reveal only a dangerous glint of desire and want, the kind that destroyed anything in its path.

“You will pay for that.” He growled right before his full, sensuous lips crashed down on mine. 

His mouth took mine like punishment and prayer all at once.

There was no warning. No softness. Just raw, burning hunger.

His lips crushed mine, hard and hot, forcing them apart so his tongue could sweep in and claim every inch. 

He tasted like midnight and wildfire, like something I wasn’t allowed to want but already craved. 

A low, animal growl rumbled from his chest straight into mine, and the sound alone made my knees buckle.

He swallowed my gasp, kissing me deeper, rougher, like he wanted to punish me for every word I’d just spat at him. 

His fangs grazed my bottom lip, sharp, and dangerous.

Then he sucked it into his mouth and bit down just hard enough to sting. A whimper slipped out of me before I could stop it.

The second that sound left my throat, something inside me cracked wide open.

Heat exploded low in my belly, fierce and liquid, rushing between my thighs so fast I clenched them together on instinct. 

My skin lit up everywhere he touched, my throat, wrists, hips, but also everywhere he didn’t. 

My nipples ached against the thin fabric I was wearing, and my pulse thundered so loud I was sure he could hear it.

The mate bond.

It wasn’t a whisper anymore. It was a roar.

It burned through my blood, screaming one word over and over: his, his, his.

I hated it. I wanted it. I wanted him.

He felt it too. 

His grip on my pinned wrists tightened, his whole body pressing me harder into the tree. 

The thick, hard length of him ground against my stomach, and a dark, satisfied sound tore out of him when I shivered helplessly.

He slanted his mouth over mine again, slower this time, licking into me like he owned every breath I took. 

His tongue stroked mine, coaxed mine, then dominated it completely. My head spun. 

My body arched toward him without permission, breasts crushed to his chest, hips rolling just to feel more of that heat.

I was drowning in him and I didn’t want air.

He broke the kiss only to drag his lips along my jaw, teeth scraping the frantic pulse at my throat.

“Try to run, and I won't be merciful when I catch you.” He warned in a ragged voice.

He broke the kiss and stepped back just enough for cold air to slap my burning skin.

One sharp, commanding howl ripped from his throat. The forest answered instantly.

Shadows moved. Dozens of wolves in different shades melted out of the darkness and shifted in a single heartbeat. 

Naked, steaming warriors dropped to one knee in perfect silence, heads bowed.

Zhayad never looked away from me. His green eyes blazed with possession and promise.

“Bow to your Luna,” he ordered, voice low and lethal. “The Onyx Fang pack has its queen.”

Every head lowered deeper.

My heart slammed against my ribs. There was no running now.

The moon had spoken. I was caught. I was claimed. I was his. There was nowhere to run or hide now.