“Touch,” his wolf growled again.

Bethany looked away as the tears filled her eyes. She hated that she was so emotional over this. She didn’t even understand it; she just knew that she needed Drake’s touch like she needed water to quench her thirst.

“Mine! Touch!” The wolf nearly howled making Bethany jump in her seat.

Her eyes snapped back to him and she watched as his breathing increased and his nostrils flared. He was holding on by a thread. And so was she.

Bethany nodded. “Okay, okay.” Her voice was weary, as if the previous night’s sleep had done nothing to restore her energy. “You can touch me,” she said quietly.

Drake’s wolf rumbled his approval but he didn’t move. Bethany looked at him, her brow raised, but he just stared back. She opened up the bond and immediately felt him flood her mind. She couldn’t just tell him he was allowed to touch her, she had to want the touch as well. Pack magic was apparently very specific.

“I want you to touch me, Drake,” she said clearly as she held his gaze. A single tear fell as she added, “Please.”

Between that breath and the next she was in his arms. Drake had picked her up faster than she could have believed possible and was cradling her to his chest. His face was buried in her neck and she felt his tongue ghost across the bite mark he’d left on her neck that first night she’d ‘met’ him. She trembled in his arms as the act caused all sorts of reactions inside of her.

“Mine, mine, mine,” she heard his wolf growling over and over and then he said something that made her laugh. “Stupid human,” the wolf snarled and through the bond Bethany could read that the wolf was calling Drake stupid, not her. As his wolf pushed information into her mind, she saw that the wolf didn’t think like the man. He wanted to claim Bethany in every way possible as soon as possible. That was what it meant to be true mates—to be one. The wolf didn’t see all the complications that humans added to the equation. All he knew was that his human half was pushing their mate away and it was pissing the wolf off.

One minute she was in his arms, and the next she was on her back on the couch, and Drake was kneeling beside her. He wasn’t looking at her face. His eyes were glued to the markings that showed beneath the shorts she was wearing. Drake lifted her calf until it was bent at the knee with her foot resting on the couch. He slowly pushed the hem of her shorts up until all of the mark was bare to his eyes. Bethany felt electricity running through her body and her blood felt as though it was heating up inside of her veins as Drake ran a finger over the dark design. His eyes still glowed with the wolf as he leaned closer to her. Just as he had done the first time he’d seen it, he pressed his lips to the flesh that bore the mark. When he was done, he rose up and covered her body with his own. He held himself up so that he wasn’t crushing her beneath his much larger frame. He shifted them so that she was laying on the inside of the couch and he on the outer. One of his arms was beneath her head, while the other reached across her and grabbed her hip, pulling on her to angle her body more toward him. Then his hand moved down her hip and on down her thigh until he reached the back of her knee. Drake grasped it and pulled it up so that her leg was wrapped around him.

Bethany found herself relaxing in his arms and enjoying the eager attention. His warm breath on her skin gave her goosebumps and his hand roaming over her body caused the emittance of more than a few gasps.

“I’m sorry,” she heard several minutes later. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” Drake told her as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, cheek, and neck. Apparently the wolf had allowed the man to take back over control.

“I hurt you too,” Bethany admitted as she trailed her fingers across his corded neck and down his shoulder.

“I should have listened to you instead of making my own choices for you. I’m just so scared of screwing this up, Bethany. I don’t want to lose you before we’ve even really started.”

She pulled back so that she could look at him. “Are you going anywhere?”

He frowned at her. “No.”

“Good, because neither am I,” she breathed out before pressing her lips firmly to his. Drake caught on to her intentions quickly and his lips and tongue moved just as eagerly as hers. He pulled her tightly against his body, molding her from head to foot. Bethany wrapped her arms around his neck pulling herself closer, needing to be as close to him as possible.

“Mate, mine,” she heard Drake’s wolf through the bond.

“Yes, I’m yours.”

“You’re ours,” Drake added.

Bethany lost track of time as Drake showered her with his attention. Each kiss and touch was like a balm to the wounds their fight had caused.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmured against her collarbone as his lips traced it and then traced the v-neckline of her shirt. Bethany’s head tilted back and her eyes fluttered closed.

“You’re precious,” he continued as his mouth continued its exploration. “You’re lovely beyond words,” Drake whispered against her neck. Her breathing was a tad erratic as she listened to his deep voice purr at her. “You’re mine. I need you. I want you. I thirst for you like a parched desert that hasn’t seen rain in centuries.”

Bethany felt more tears well up in her eyes and her breath caught as emotion filled every empty place in her. It wasn’t only her emotion she was feeling, but Drake’s as well. Through the mate bond, their feelings and passions entwined, morphing into one. She wasn’t sure which were hers and which were Drake’s.

His fingers danced across her skin as he played her like a piano and her body sang for him. Bethany loved seeing the passion that filled his eyes as he pulled back and looked down at her, taking one of her hands and lifting it to his lips. He kissed each fingertip, her palm, and wrist, holding her gaze the entire time. He ran his nose up her arm to the bend where he inhaled deeply. When Drake’s tongue darted out to taste her, Bethany sucked in a quick breath. He was assaulting all of her senses, overwhelming her with his presence.

“Drake,” she breathed out his name.

“Hmm,” he answered, never taking his mouth from her skin.

“Jen explained more of the Blood Rites to me. To complete it, I have to—” she sucked in a breath, pausing her words when he pushed up the hem of her shirt, exposing her stomach and ran his hand across the expanse of her flesh. “I have to bite you,” she finished and squirmed under his attention.