The Mark of Betrayal (by Cooper) novel Chapter 25

Roman

I meant what I said about kissing Samantha. It really was the most enjoyable moment of my life. I wanted to keep kissing her. I wanted to do so much more than kiss her. Her lack of experience with kissing was obvious and I’d immediately felt a wave of possessiveness unlike anything I’d ever felt before. All of her firsts are going to belong to me. Her sweet surrender to me, allowing me to guide her through her first kiss, was intoxicating. By the time I ended the kiss, my head was spinning and my heart was lost to this woman forever. I wouldn’t have let her go before, but now, I know I can’t live without her. And she’s not even wearing my mark yet.

I knew she wasn’t ready for more, and I meant what I said about wanting to know her real name when we complete our bond, but I’d stolen another kiss because I’m already addicted to my mate. Her scent, her taste, her sweetness, even her fire when she’s fighting against me, it’s all so intoxicating. With one kiss, my mate has become my drug of choice.

When we’d gotten into bed, she’d been shy. I’m not surprised. Even though I’d put on my boxers, my desire for her was clearly on display. I ignored her wide-eyed gaze that only made my cock twitch with desire. I’m sure she felt my hard length pressed against her when I pulled her rigid body against mine. But I’d wrapped my body around hers, burying my face in her hair and holding perfectly still until I felt her begin to relax in my arms.

It took her less time to fall asleep than I expected. Since I needed to get my own body under control before I could fall asleep, it gave me time to make sure she really was asleep before I fell into the deepest sleep I ever remember having in my life.

The next morning, I wake slowly, feeling like something is off. I had been so deeply asleep that it takes a moment for reality to come back to me and the moment it does, I realize what's wrong.

Samantha is gone.

I slap my hand on the place where she’d been sleeping and finding it cold. I panic. She left me. She ran and I didn’t even feel her leaving.

‘SAMANTHA!’ I yell in the mind link, mentally reaching out to find her as I leap out of bed.

‘Oww, what? Do you always wake up like a bear with a thorn in its paw?’ she asks, completely unperturbed by my rising fear.

‘WHERE ARE YOU?’ I demand, leaping over the stairwell banister and letting Pierce pull the shift. I hear the yips and gasps from my pack members who quickly move out of my way as Pierce races out of the back of the packhouse, rushing to get to Samantha before she can leave us. My heart feels like it might shatter if I lose her. Did that kiss scare her this much?

Suddenly I get an image of snow, snow that has a wolf’s imprint in it, like Ayla was rolling in the snow. From the perspective of the image, I can see snow on the end of Ayla’s nose.

‘We’re at the mountain. Ayla’s never seen snow. She’s having so much fun I guess we lost track of time.’

‘They’re not leaving us. You need to calm down. You don’t want to scare them off,’ Pierce says calmly, pushing hard to get to his mate. As he runs, the fear in me begins to subside. I can feel Ayla’s excitement and even hear her yipping as she plays in the snow.

‘Do you know where they are?’ I ask Pierce.

‘I have a general idea,’ he says, lifting his nose in the air. He catches her scent and begins to follow it to her. The last of my fear evaporates as I realize she’s not moving away from us. She really is letting Ayla play in the snow. I can’t wait to see her. If this is her first time in snow, she’s probably acting like a puppy.

We’ve just about reached her when I hear the sound of bones snapping. I catch a glimpse of Ayla’s snow-covered fur before her body shifts into Samantha’s. I’m ready to pull the shift and take her in my arms, but Pierce fights me to stay in his form, slowing down as he walks up to Samantha.

She smiles down at him, the snow that was in Ayla’s fur still coats her hair. “My, my, aren’t you a handsome Alpha wolf?” she purrs. She’s obviously still feeling Ayla’s good mood. It's emanating from her in waves of happiness.

‘We were hoping to see Ayla playing in the snow. Pierce would happily play with her,’ I say in the mind link.

“Not yet,” Samantha says out loud, crouching down and sliding her hands into the fur on either side of Pierce’s face. He begins purring loudly, making Samantha laugh. It’s such a beautiful sound that I somehow fall even more in love with this woman.

He rubs his face over her body, walking around her as he goes, scenting her all over and marking her as ours.

“Really Pierce?” she says, her tone mildly aggravated, but she holds still and lets him scent her.

Once he’s worked his way around her, he pushes his large head against her chest knocking her onto her butt before laying on her lap.

“Dude, you’re a little heavy,” she says, laughing at his antics. Instead of getting up, he begins purring at her. She surprises me by wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she says. I can feel Ayla purring against Pierce and his own purring increases in response. She holds on to him for longer than I would have expected, then sighs.

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