HIS FATHER, MY MATE.

She woke up alone in the large bed. Ronan was gone. A part of her was grateful. She wasn’t sure she was in the mood in to see him that morning, especially after what happened last night. So, after a shower, she dressed in a pair of shorts and a peach tank top, leaving her wavy brown hair flowing down her back. She wasn’t in the mood for anything extra, so she slipped her feet into yesterday’s pair of loafers, and followed the smell of coffee down to the kitchen, only to find Matthias there, as well as his eldest son, Silas. Ronan was absent.

The sight of Matthias, seated at the head of the table and sipping on a mug, caused her to falter in her steps. She was sure her cheeks were on fire, and anyone could see it. Both men were talking about something, but stopped when she walked in.

Matthias flared his nostrils, scenting her, and he glanced away, something in his expression turning stormy. Silas stared at her with visible confusion.

“Good morning, alpha.” She bowed slightly.

“I know you,” Silas said, “You’re Ronan’s mate, aren’t you?”

A flutter rose in her chest at being referred to as Ronan’s mate, and she nodded. “Yes, alpha.”

Silas nodded, “It’s nice to see that you two have made up. Goddess knows, I didn’t expect that kind of responsibility from Ronan.”

“It’s all thanks to Alpha Draven,” she muttered, her head still down.

Silas said something else, but Raine wasn’t listening, her entire being was tuned to Matthias’s every movement. Her wolf, who had been sulking all morning, had finally perked up, and was practically foaming at the mouth, pushing Raine to cross the room and plant herself into the older man’s lap. She bit her lips, her claws sharpening with the effort it took to keep herself in check.

Not only could she not do anything with Silas right here, she was a mated woman, promised to another. If people found that she was having thoughts like these towards another man—her soon to be father in law—she would be cast out, disgraced… lynched.

Silas said something else, and got to his feet. He bowed his head at his father, and was gone in the next moment. Leaving Matthias and Raine alone. The room was suddenly too small. The scent of Matthias was everywhere, making her sweat, and her knees tremble.

Keeping her gaze turned stubbornly away, Raine shuffled stiffly to the counter where the coffee machine stood, and proceeded to make herself a cup. Less than five minutes later, she heard the loud sound of the chair falling to the floor as Matthias got up and crossed the room in the blink of an eye. He slammed both hands on the counter, caging her against it from behind, and keeping her from moving. His scent instantly overwhelmed her, and her wolf howled with joy, coming alive for the first time in days. The bond between them sparked to life, fiery and hot, like dying embers in a dry field.

Raine gasped, her hands clutching at the counter’s edge as her knees suddenly went weak. Matthias groaned like a man possessed, shoving his face between her neck and sniffing deep. Raine moaned softly, arching her neck back so he could have better access. His teeth skimmed her nape, sharp enough to graze, and her wolf yearned for it, craved this man’s bite like it was oxygen. Raine was scared, and aroused. So, so, aroused.

It was taking every of her willpower not to shove her shorts down, bend over the counter, and present for the alpha, spread her legs apart so he could see just how wet, and needy she was, how badly she ached for him between her glistening folds.

She bit her lip until she tasted blood.

“You smell like him,” Matthias growled against her skin, “You smell like Ronan… Did you let him touch you?”

Raine moaned helplessly as his big hands circled her waist, digging into the flesh exposed by her top. “He’s my mate, alpha.” Her voice was breathless as lust overtook her. “I belong to him.”

“Fuck.” He hissed like a man in pain, “Fuck. I feel like a horrible person. I shouldn’t feel this way, but I do. You belong to Ronan, but the thought of him having you, touching you, fills me with so much rage.” His hands tightened on her waist, hard enough that she knew she would bruise. In a quieter voice, he said, “I shouldn’t have had you taken to his room. But my wolf could not bear the thought of not having you under the same roof.”

Raine turned in his arms so she could face him. He was much taller than her, and so much bigger and broader that she felt caged, and safe, like nothing could harm her in his arms. She stared up at him from where she came up to below his chin, taking in his sharp gray eyes, the crow’s feet around them, his gray beard, and his soft salt and pepper hair. Another wave of lust shot through her, and she bit her bruised lip.

“I thought of you,” she said breathlessly, rubbing up against him before she could stop herself. “When I was pleasuring him, I pretended he was you. And later, when I fucked myself, I closed my eyes and pretended you were there,” she pressed closer, almost flattening her chest to his. “I came with your name on my lips, alpha.”

The alpha’s gaze darkened with heat, and a dark promise that sent shivers from the tips of her toes, to the top of her head. In one swift move, he lifted her off the ground and on to the counter, spreading her legs wide and stepping in between them. Raine gasped, even as a voice in her head told her they were in the kitchen, in broad daylight. Anyone could walk in on them.

But that knowledge only made this even more delicious.

Matthias’s hands pushed under her top, snaking over her skin to cup her breasts, his thumbs rolling her nipples into hard, aching nubs. Raine moaned, throwing her head back.

“Say my name,” he growled, his voice part man, part animal.

“Matthias,” she moaned, loud and wanton. “Matthias. Oh please.”

She spread her legs wider, rubbing against him, begging for his touch where she ached for him most.

“Please what?” He teased, thumbs still punishing her nipples.

Raine moaned again, muffling her cries against his shoulders. “Please, Matthias… tou… touch me.”