Chapter Five

Brax POV

I step into the shop early and see Raine staring down at her phone.

“Morning.”

She looks up and smiles but it’s wary. Then I notice a bruise on her cheek. There was a faint bruise under her eye yesterday that had gone by the time she finished tattooing me.

I don’t even think. I move and grasp her chin, lifting her face. “Who fucking touched you?”

She flinches slightly and steps back. “That has nothing to do with you.”

My wolf paces inside of me, a low growl rumbling. She backs up, her eyes flashing. “Fucking try it, and I’ll rip you apart. I don’t care if you’re a dirty bloodsucker.”

She thinks my wolf is ready to attack her? I go to step forward but stop when I see exhaustion in her eyes. Forcing my wolf down, I relax.

“I wasn’t going to hurt you, and no one else should.”

“Well, my mother likes to. Are you done talking?” she snaps and I nod. I lie down on the table, and she places the stencil on me again. Then she stands beside the table and begins to work.

She’s tense, and I can see she’s hating this, standing to the side. She takes pride in her work. “Climb up,” I whisper and she tenses, her head shaking.

She tries to focus, but I can see it’s annoying her.

“Climb up, I promise, no biting.”

She huffs then moves. Her thighs straddle me, and then she focuses. I watch her change, she goes from stressed, from looking like the weight of the world is on her, to relaxed.

Art is her outlet, I know because it’s mine as well. As an Alpha, drawing pictures doesn’t really do much for you, so I avoid doing it now.

I just watch her work. My hand moves without thinking, brushing the hair behind her ear. How can she not feel this? Her eyes lift, colliding with mine, and I’m so fucking distracted my wolf lunges forward. I don’t have time to stop him before my hand wraps around the back of her neck and she’s dragged to me.

Our mouths crash together, and I wait for her to fight, to slap me, to call me names. Instead she whimpers and her wolf pushes forward.

I stop thinking entirely and let instinct take over. My hands grow bolder, sliding up under her top, palms gliding over the smooth, warm skin of her back. I feel her shiver as I drag my fingers down her spine. She rolls her hips against me in response, pressing her heat right over my rapidly hardening cock, and the friction pulls a low groan from my throat.

I know this is wrong. I know the daughter of the Shadowvale pack is clean, pure, untouched, and completely off-limits. I’ve heard the rumours that everyone expects her to marry Kai from the Blackmoor pack. She’s meant for a safe, clean future with a pure wolf.

But I can’t stop.

Every roll of her hips, every soft gasp, drags me deeper into her. This is fucking dangerous. She’ll never be accepted by my pack. She’s not a vampire hybrid. But right now, none of that matters. I need her like I need air.

I sit up abruptly, pulling her tighter against me. Her thighs clamp around my hips as her nails dig into my shoulders, raking down my arms hard enough to leave marks. The sting only makes me hungrier.

My mouth crashes against hers again, then trails lower, hot, open-mouthed kisses down her jaw, along the sensitive column of her neck, to the delicate dip of her collarbone. My fangs ache, pushing through my gums with a sharp burn. I try to fight it, try to hold back, but the scent of her skin, the frantic beat of her pulse, is too much.

The moment my fangs sink into the soft flesh where her neck meets her shoulder, everything changes.

Her blood floods my mouth, sweet, electric, laced with raw power. Raine cries out sharply, her whole body jerking hard against me. Her hips grind down desperately, chasing friction as her wolf surges forward and slams into mine. The mating bond snaps into place like a live wire.

She’s my mate.

How the fuck is this possible?

Then I feel it, wild, crackling magic pulsing beneath her skin. I rip my mouth away, eyes wide with shock. She’s a witch?

Before I can process it, Raine lunges forward, kissing me with feral hunger. The bond flares hotter, stronger. Her hands fumble between us, yanking at the button of my trousers, dragging the zipper down with urgent, trembling fingers. She grinds down harder, her soaked core rubbing against my cock through the thin layers still separating us.

Fuck. I need to stop this.

But I have zero control left. She’s too warm, too wet, too fucking perfect, and far too close for me to pull away.

A phone starts ringing somewhere in the shop. The sound barely registers at first. I drag her top up and off in one rough motion, exposing her bare breasts. My mouth is on them instantly, sucking, licking, teeth grazing her stiff nipples as she arches into me with a broken whimper. She rocks harder against my now-freed cock, her soaked panties sliding along my length, coating me in her slick heat.

The ringing grows louder, more insistent.

Raine suddenly jerks back like she’s been doused with cold water, gasping, eyes wide and dazed. I pull away, chest heaving, lips still tingling with the taste of her blood and skin.

She stares around in confusion for a second before snatching her phone.

“What?” she answers, voice hoarse and breathless.

I can hear the voice on the other end clearly. “It’s me. You’re at the shop, right? I’ll be there in a few minutes to fix your chair.”

“Yes,” she snaps and hangs up.

She stares at me, mouth parted, realisation and the fresh mating bond crashing over her face all at once.

I move and begin to fasten my trousers. If her brothers are coming, this is better hidden.

She grabs her top and pulls it on, then goes to move, but I stop her.

“You can’t move.”

“I can’t be on you.”

“Yeah, well, if you move they are going to see everything.” She glances down. My cock is still hard, the outline highly visible, and there’s a wet patch from her.

She moves and grabs a cushion placing it over me.

Chuckling, my head shakes. “That looks even worse. Leave it there, and hop up.”

Her body shakes but she does. She settles on the cushion and begins the tattoo again. I want to touch her but I can feel it, if I do, I’ll lose it and touch her more.

“What happened?” She whispers.

“What happened is I found my mate.”

Her head shakes. “Vampire hybrids can only mate with other vampire ones.”

I cup her chin. “Which is why you’re so fucking rare and special, and I’m not ignoring that.” I don’t mention her magic, I’m not sure she even knows.

She nods, and continues to do the tattoo. I hear the door and footsteps, multiple. A second later her brothers and best friend walk into the room.

This is not going to end well, I can feel it. Their eyes go from her to me, then back to her, then back to me.

Yeah, okay, the cushion didn’t placate their need to protect her, and the tension is only getting worse.