Reluctantly Mated

She hated him? He’d been far too lenient on this witch.

Enough was enough.

Protect what is ours, his wolf murmured. Kieran savored the rebuilt connection, not wanting to question why his wolf had once again made himself known, but they were already in disagreement.

The witch wasn’t his or his wolf’s. She had hexed him somehow. His brain refused to believe the only other possibility while his heart pounded with a different truth.

A witch as his mate? His fated mate?

Never.

“Touch me again, creature, and I’ll show you what it truly means to hate.”

He hoped his words were cruel as he watched her eyes dim with hurt, but the satisfaction he longed to feel at her sadness was absent.

Wolves revered mates above all else. To scorn one was practically an abomination in and of itself, and he felt sick treating her so callously.

Instinct rode him hard to right the wrongs he was making with her, his wolf snarling at his behavior.

He, an alpha, wanted to grovel at her feet. He was nearly defenseless against the pull toward her or the maddening attraction, no matter how hard he resisted.

If she had spelled him to believe they were mates, it was far different than what he had experienced centuries ago.

This ache was primal, potent. Longing seeped into his bones, invading his body until nothing was left but desire and the urge to mark her as his.

His fingers twitched with the insistence to thread them through her long black locks, wanting to feel the silken strands on the pads of his fingers.

Was she bewitching him?

He felt his wolf stirring, planting suggestions in his head, one after the other, and urging him to think what this could all mean for him, for them.

Our mate.

He tried to resist, unsettled by the confident claim, but his wolf was too strong, or maybe Kieran was too weak.

Either way, his mind was filling up with all sorts of raunchy images, the witch before him starring in every single illicit thought.

He could bring her body flush to his, run his tongue over her neck, her breasts. Part her smooth thighs and lap at the cream between her legs he knew had all been for him since they’d met.

He smelled her arousal growing as they continued their silent standoff, her scent calling to him like a drug.

Kenzie shifted once more, uneasy with her own desire toward him.

Her body seemed to be feeling the same draw, the same connection, and he wanted to selfishly exploit that, his wolf agreeing wholeheartedly.

Ours.

He could simply lie back, the cool ground holding him, and coax her to his side, ripping her clothes from her delectable body.

He’d pull her to him until she was straddling his face, giving him perfect access as he ate her out. He knew she’d taste like heaven.

Her screams of pleasure would be music to his ears as she came on his tongue, riding his face with abandon while he held her over him.

Would she be clean-shaven, or would he find slick, black curls welcoming him? He ran a hand down his face, explicit images dancing in his brain.

She might claim to hate him, but her body told him another story. He could toss her to the ground, rut with her like the beast he was, and she would love it.

He would make sure she enjoyed every single thing they did together. His body shook with desire.

He thought about her on her hands and knees, her back arched, her pert ass pressing into him, her sweet voice begging to be filled with his thick cock.

Gods, he would stuff her tight cunt up with his—

He snapped out of his daze as his wolf backed off with the images, his cock straining against his zipper.

He ran a hand down his face, cursing the menace in his head for making him consider the carnal benefits of mating with a witch.

She had hexed him. He refused to believe anything else, even as the evidence seemed to stack against him and his wolf gave a disgruntled huff.

He took in the captivating sight of her, her small arms folded over large breasts. His mouth watered, thinking of the view that would greet him if he removed her sweater, baring her for his perusal.

The witch moved a few feet from him, oblivious to his heated thoughts, as she murmured to herself, “He doesn’t even know my name, but he wants me dead. My own mate. What a shitty day.”

“I’m well aware of your name, creature.” Just not much else. Shame had him turning away, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “And we aren’t mated.”

Kenzie turned toward him, brow raised in disbelief.

“You’ve known my name this entire time, and you keep calling me things like ‘creature’ and ‘witch’? I’m not even going to acknowledge the other bullshit you said just yet.”

His eyes narrowed at her, and he replied just to needle her.

“That’s what you are, is it not? An infuriating witch and a wee creature? What else am I to call you?”

The vixen was in his face in an instant, or as close as she could get. Her head barely reached his shoulder, standing on her tiptoes like she was.

Kenzie had pretty feet, delicate and slender. Her toes were even painted a lovely shade of purple.

“You are so unbelievably infuriating, Kieran. Just kill me already! It would be preferable to another second in your company!”

Kill her? Yes, that had been his plan, but no longer.

He didn’t stop to consider his actions as he plucked the witch up, tossing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

One hand spanned her waist while the other firmly grasped an ass cheek as he meandered back toward his pack.

He hardly noticed the fists pounding at his back, smugly ignoring her curses and nodding at his men on the trek to one of the vehicles.

It was long past time to leave the woods and return home. He just hadn’t planned on returning with anyone, especially her.

He wouldn’t be killing her tonight or any night forward. He needed to regroup, to gather his thoughts, and no place was better suited for that than on his lands.

Kieran ignored the protests from the Rainstorm wolves and the pounding on his back from Kenzie herself.

A dark witch would have had him on his ass by now, but the minx hadn’t even attempted a chant in front of him.

How could his intel have been so wrong?

Perhaps the Rainstorm alpha had been speaking the truth to Tyler when he’d been interrogated.

The trace of magic in her scent was too faint for her to be a practicing witch, and she didn’t give off the death and decay aroma that always clung to dark practitioners.

She could be cloaking her scent, masking herself to trick him. It wouldn’t be the first time a dark witch had deceived him by altering herself, but the timing of his wolf emerging was too coincidental.

Could it be his vixen was unpracticed in her craft? That was the best he could hope for in this situation.

If she was unused to doing magic, then he would simply forbid her from practicing and keep a tight leash on her. The thought mollified him, though his wolf seemed put out by the suggestion.

His long legs carried them toward one of the various SUVs. He opened the back door, gently tossing Kenzie inside, careful not to injure her with his handling.

He’d come to kill a witch, and instead, he was being gentle with one. Unheard of.

“Where are you taking me?” Her indignant cry was cut off as he slammed the car door without answering, calling over Tyler while he smirked at her through the window.

He didn’t need to have enhanced eyesight to see her mouth “Fuck you” through the glass before she began yanking on the handle to the door like a lunatic and beating on the window.

Coming over, Tyler shot the car a panicked look. “Is she all right?” No doubt the shrieking from the banshee was throwing him off, if not the pounding on the glass.

“She’s well enough. A bit bruised, but the Nightroot seems to be out of her system.” She hadn’t even seemed injured, now that he thought about it.

Perhaps the slight bruise around her nose had been less than he’d realized, and she no longer favored one shoulder either.

“Yeah, okay. Just what are we doing with her? Obviously, you can’t kill her.”

Kieran leaned against the car door, giving his beta his full attention. “I can’t? Why is that?”

The air around them filled with menace. Kieran’s alpha waves slowly poured from him, barely any effort at all to push at the beta, practically daring the younger wolf to speak his mind.

Tyler looked like he swallowed a frog, struggling under Kieran’s slight influence before the wolf let out a deep breath. “She’s clearly your mate.”

Kieran was no longer propped against the car. Danger followed him like a cloak as he stalked to his beta.

“Keep those foul words out of your mouth and out of the ears of our wolves.”

Said wolves proceeded to scurry out of the area, packing belongings or busying themselves accordingly to not draw notice.

He might be slowly working his way to the same conclusion, but he couldn’t tolerate the words being uttered so boldly.

Unperturbed, Tyler continued even as he backed away.

“You can deny it right now; that’s fine. But sooner or later, you need to come to terms with this. You’ve been given something precious, what any of us would kill for.”

Kieran scoffed at the awed expression on Tyler’s face. “Hopefully, in time, it won’t matter that she’s a witch. Give her a chance.”

“I’ve been bewitched,” Kieran growled adamantly, knowing he was full of shit. Everything about this situation felt different than before.

“Get her out of my sight,” he nearly bellowed, unaccustomed to being questioned.

“Right. Just don’t fuck this up. She’s not just yours. She’s our luna now.” Tyler patted Kieran on the back, almost sympathetically.

“You’ve got a welcoming gift that’ll be waiting for her back at base. You’re welcome for that, by the way.” With that, Tyler dismissed his own alpha.

Unbidden, thoughts bubbled to the surface. If he mated the witch, she would be luna of his very own wolves. She could mold them into her puppets, just as Francesca had molded Kieran in his youth.

He watched Tyler wave to Kenzie through the tinted window, his witch gawking at their exchange with curious eyes.

She sighed, climbing over the center console to ride shotgun, strapping her seatbelt to her chest.

Fishing a set of keys out of his pocket, Tyler hopped into the driver’s seat, not even sparing Kieran a glance. The car started before pulling away, leaving him to watch as Kenzie slipped from view.