Authors: Eve Langlais
“
Maybe for you,” he replied with a
glare. “Tell me, was he a good fuck?” Nathan’s words slurred
together, and a shiver of trepidation went down her
spine.
“
I’m not answering that.”
“
Why not?” he taunted. “I mean, it
can’t be because you’re afraid of hurting my feelings.”
“
You’re drunk.”
“
Gee, I wonder why? Could it be
because the woman I loved was fucking and marking another
man?”
Dana winced. Said so baldly, she sounded like a
vile bitch. But she refused to let him beat her down with words and
to dirty something so beautiful. “It wasn’t like that.”
Nathan jumped up off the bed and strode to her,
bristling with tension. “Oh, how was it then?” He encroached upon
her space, his looming form sending a shiver through her. “I know
you enjoyed it. I heard you,” he snarled through gritted teeth. “I
felt it when you marked him. Were you laughing at me when you did
it?”
Tears rolled down her cheeks as his pain washed
over her. “Nathan, don’t do this. I still love you. I want to make
you one of my mates.”
“
So why didn’t you mark me first
then? You were supposed to be mine,” he roared.
She realized there would be no getting through
to him while the alcohol held him prisoner. “I think you need to
calm down,” she said, backing away from him.
“
No, I’m done waiting for you to
make up your goddamn mind. I just want what you gave him. Fuck this
taking my time shit and giving you space.” His eyes glowered
fiercely, and she saw the tip of his incisors, which had dropped in
his mouth.
Oh shit.
Dana whirled to run, but Nathan caught her, his iron grip
inescapable.
He lifted her and brought her up to eye level,
and tears brimmed in her eyes. “Please Nathan, don’t do it. Not
like this. Please.”
“
You forced me to it. You’re mine,
Dana. I might have to share you, but damn it, you will belong to
me.”
She pummeled his chest as he drew her in close,
but there was no stopping him. He didn’t soften his action. He
didn’t even attempt to seduce her. He just bit her—hard. Pain shot
through her without the endorphins to soften it.
Dana screamed shrilly. Nathan loosened one hand
to muffle her cry, and she bit him, unthinkingly. At the metallic
taste of his blood in her mouth, lightning struck without the
beauty of the night before and completed the circle of shared
blood.
A moment later, she found herself torn from
Nathan’s grasp, and she sobbed against Kody’s chest, the pain in
her shoulder throbbing as it oozed.
“
What the fuck?” she heard John
yell.
“
She’s mine,” growled
Nathan.
“
And she was intending to mark you
when you stopped acting like a fucking Neanderthal.”
“
So what’s the big fucking deal? I
just did what she intended to do,” Nathan replied in a thick voice,
his belligerent tone not the least contrite. “Now, why don’t you
and the puppy leave so I can fuck my new mate?”
Dana heard the sound of flesh striking flesh.
She turned in Kody’s arms to see John methodically beating Nathan,
who, drunk off his ass, responded too slowly to defend
himself.
“
Stop,” she whispered, then louder,
“Stop!”
John delivered one last blow that made Nathan
drop to his knees and keel over. John glared down at his
unconscious alpha before he strode over to her.
Kody handed her over and shook his head. “I
can’t fucking believe he did that. I knew he was upset, but I never
expected him to attack her like that.”
“
He lost control, and he’ll be lucky
if the council doesn’t execute him for it.”
Dana blanched. Unclaimed females could be mated
by force under archaic laws, but Dana wasn’t unmated, not since the
previous night. What Nathan had done was tantamount to rape, the
esoteric kind. “You can’t tell.”
John’s brows shot up. “Are you kidding me? He
forced you to mate with him.”
“
He only did what I should have done
in the first place. If there’s any fault, it’s mine for not marking
him first. I knew how much it meant to him.”
John gritted his teeth. “Fine.”
Dana rested her head against John’s
shoulders and shook.
This is all my
fault.
“
What do I do with him?” Kody
asked.
“
I don’t give a fuck,” John
growled.
“
Put him to bed.” Dana knew she
should hate Nathan for what he’d done, but instead guilt ate her as
she took responsibility for his actions. She’d pushed him to this
by not choosing him first, by allowing her own hurt over the past
to cloud her judgment.
Dana let John lead her to the bed to sit down
as Kody hefted Nathan, with some difficulty, in a fireman hold and
staggered out with him.
“
I’m sorry, Dana,” John apologized.
“I went looking for him and couldn’t find him. Kody said he’d last
seen him going for a run in the woods. I never expected he’d do
this.”
“
If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine.
I should have marked him first.” At the sight of John’s lips
tightening, she hastened to say, “I don’t regret what happened last
night. I loved every minute of it, and I’m glad you’re one of my
mates. But,” she sighed, and her shoulders slouched, causing her
weeping wound to ache, “I should have done things
differently.”
“
Different how?” John asked as he
stood. He went over to his closet and pulled out a bag. He rummaged
around and pulled some antiseptic from his bag and proceeded to
wipe the gouges in her shoulder.
“
Well, maybe if I’d taken you all at
the same time, no one would have felt left out.” At John’s shocked
looked, she smiled. “Shut up. I know I am the last person you
expected to hear that from, but honestly, short of a tag-team
session, I don’t see how anyone wouldn’t have gotten
hurt.”
“
So does this mean you’re going to
mark Kody sooner than later?” John asked carefully.
“
Talking about me?”
Dana’s head shot up as Kody strolled back into
the room. She still sat there in the buff, her towel lost in the
action, but she didn’t have the energy for embarrassment. “Yes, I
want to mark you if you still want me after all the crap that’s
happened.”
“
Take your time,” Kody replied,
dropping to a knee before her, his green eyes looking up at hers
with a serious intensity. “Unlike my alpha, I can handle waiting
for my turn, and I’m good at sharing.”
Dana leaned forward and kissed Kody lightly. “I
can’t wait to experience that. But for now, I think I need some
clothes and food.”
However, she couldn’t stop the stir of
excitement Kody’s words had engendered. If one wolf loving her was
explosive, how would two feel? Or even more decadent, if things
ever got resolved with Nathan, three?
* * * *
Nathan groaned as he rolled in his
bed, his head throbbing painfully from a hangover to end all
hangovers, but even more strange, his jaw and face ached as
well.
What the fuck happened?
Fragments came back to him: the fight with
Dana—another fuck-up in his courtship of her. He’d owe her an
apology for acting like such an ass, something he should have done
the night before instead of sending John straight into her arms
while he turned to drinking beer. Lots of it. He recalled deciding
to get sloshed once he realized John and Dana were making love, and
then mated.
A pang of hurt, tinged with some jealousy, hit
him. He’d truly wanted to be first, but instead he’d allowed his
stubborn nature to send another man to her when she was
vulnerable.
The rest of the evening was a blur, as he’d
drowned his pain in alcohol.
But it didn’t explain his sore face. He rolled
out of his bed, a bed he didn’t remember staggering to, and
stumbled over to a mirror. He let out a low whistle at what he saw.
Bruises covered his visage, as if he’d taken a beating.
More hazy memories bombarded him, including one
of Dana regarding him with fear and pleading. Realization hit him
like a ton of bricks, and he sank to his knees, moaning.
“
No. Oh no. What have I done?” he
whispered, clutching his head.
“
I see you’ve
remembered.”
Lost in his misery, Nathan hadn’t noticed John
entering, but he didn’t miss the cold anger in his tone. “Please
tell me it’s a nightmare. Tell me I didn’t force my mark on her,”
Nathan pleaded.
“
I’m not into lying.”
Nathan swayed in horror. He pounded the floor,
anger rising in him—at himself. “How could I do that to
her?”
“
You tell me,” John said. “I
understand you wanted to be first, but if there’s one thing Dana
told you over and over, it was that she wanted to choose the when
and where.”
“
And she chose you,” Nathan replied,
his previous jealousy over that fact vanished in the face of his
greater travesty.
“
But she wanted it to be you. I want
you to know, I went to her and pled your case. She made the choice
to mark me first. I’m sorry, I didn’t have the strength or will to
turn her down. I hope you’ll accept my apology and responsibility
for what happened.”
Nathan’s head shot up—a little quickly—and his
stomach lurched. “Don’t you fucking dare. I’m not some coward to
hide from my actions. Had I not let my own pride and determination
blind me, I would have gone up to talk to her instead of you. If I
had, then things might well have been different. Instead, I chose
to wallow in self-pity and alcohol. I lost control, and no matter
the reason, there is no excuse. I’ll pack my things and be gone
within the hour.”
John inhaled sharply. “What the fuck are you
talking about? Who said anything about you leaving?”
“
I can’t stay here. Seeing her,
seeing her fear of me. Knowing I can never have her.”
“
God, you are such an idiot,” John
exclaimed, his exasperation clear. “Yes, she was scared when you
forced the mark on her, but who do you think stopped me from
killing you? Dana doesn’t want you to go. She still loves you and
blames herself for what happened.”
Nathan snorted. He didn’t believe
that.
“
He’s telling the truth.”
Nathan whipped his head around at the soft
sound of Dana’s voice. A wave of dizziness caught up to him, and he
almost fell over. “Dana . . .” he whispered.
“
It’s all right, Nathan. I shouldn’t
have hurt you like I did.”
Nathan closed his eyes at the recrimination in
her eyes, not directed at him, but herself. “No, not you too. I did
this. Me and my jealousy and my temper.”
The light tread of her steps approached as the
heavy ones of John receded. The door clicked shut a moment before
she clasped his bowed head to her body.
“
Don’t beat yourself up over it.
It’s happened. It’s over with. Let’s just move on.”
Nathan, for the first time since
Dana had left him twelve years ago, felt tears moisten his
eyes.
She might be able to forgive me, but
how do I forgive myself?
She tilted his head and forced him to look at
her. He wanted to see hate in her expression, disdain for him,
anything but the love that shone in her eyes. A love he didn’t
deserve.
I need to get her to leave me alone
before I fuck things up even worse.
He also
needed to leave the compound so that she could get a chance at the
happiness she’d earned.
“
I want to start afresh. Make things
right.” She smiled at him and brushed her lips over his.
Nathan shuddered, pushing down the need to let
himself take what she offered. “Listen, I’m still pretty wrung out
from all the drinking and stuff. Not to mention, I reek. Why don’t
you get Kody and John to take you to the movies while I catch a few
more hours’ sleep? I’ll make dinner for when you guys get
back.”
Her brow knitted in a frown as she stared at
him. “Why do I get the feeling you’re hiding something from
me?”
“
I’m really tired,” he
lied.
“
Let me help you to bed then.” She
tugged him up from the floor and walked him to his bed. He climbed
in and let her tuck him in. Her hand smoothed his hair from his
brow, and she leaned down to brush his lips.
“
I love you, Nathan.”
“
I love you, too,” he answered
through a voice gone thick. He closed his eyes before she saw the
dreaded tears.
She left, and Nathan lay there waiting. He
dozed off for a while, but woke when he heard the sounds of them
leaving.
He wasted no time. He sprang out of bed.
Regardless of what she and John said, he’d lost his right to
stay.
His cell phone rang as he readied
himself.
What does the Lycan council want
now?
He answered, and his brows drew
together at their message.
It looked like he had one more task to do
before he left Dana to live a life of happiness. Something to keep
her safe.