“Mateo?” Ezra calls. “Mateo, I am struggling to feel her,” he says, snapping me out of my head.
“What?” I focus on his words, letting it help me keep my head somewhat clear.
“How badly was she injured?”
“I…. I…. don’t know, I was trying not to touch her, how far away are you?” He goes silent, and I can tell he is distracted. “Ezra!” I yell at him.
“There are so many,” he growls before the link is lost.
“Ezra?” I call forcing the link, getting nothing, almost as if the tether is gone.
I hear gunshots going off, and yelling, before feeling the link click back in place. “You right?”
“Not really, you need to check her. I can’t feel her. I don’t know if it’s me or her,” he says, yet his voice sounds like he is struggling to breathe.
“I can’t go in there!” I argue, I know all too well what it’s like to get locked onto a scent.
“I can’t help her right now, go, Mateo, I’m counting on you.” I stand up, pacing, her scent is already overwhelming without being in the same room as her. “Mateo!”
“I can’t Ezra, you know what will happen.” My words are my last desperate plea. My sanity is at its limits. If I go out there, everything could change.
“I’d rather her be alive than dead. Get in that fucking room and check on Kat,” he commands. “Keep her alive.” is all he says, as I try to fight his command.
If I walk in there, not even Ezra’s commands will work on me.
“What if she is hurt badly like he thinks?” Ares questions, restless. He understands what will happen, yet even he is fighting against his own instincts when he suddenly forces his way forward. My limbs move against my will as he takes over. “I can do this,” he assures me, ripping the tape off before he howls at her scent.
“Keep it together, Ares,” Ezra warns him.
Our hands shake as we reach for the handle. Throwing the door open, I see her door slightly ajar. She never locked it. Panic kicks in when I spot her blood seeping out from under it. Ares shifts, so quickly I don’t have a chance to hold him back, my bones snapping and rearranging before he runs toward her room.
I drop back, not able to watch as he bursts into the room, the door hits her, and she groans in pain. I can almost see just by the sounds. The whimpers and cries of pain turn into soft moans, and I force myself forward to find out what’s going on. I don’t want to see Ares fall into the heat, but I have to fight. My eyes peer out, and I find her with her back torn to ribbons, flesh barely hanging on as several deep scratches decorate her back. Her ankle is broken and bleeding heavily from all the teeth marks from that damned wolf.
What shocks me most of all is that Ares isn’t trying to mate with her, he is trying to heal her, making himself weak in doing so.
“Her side, Ares,” I instruct him, and he uses his nose, moving her arm away to get at the gaping claw mark down her ribs to her lower back.
She rolls, regaining consciousness and looking up at Ares. “Mateo, get Ezra,” she whimpers, before passing out. Her body temperature is so hot, the room has gotten even hotter, it is like sitting in a sauna.
“Ares? We need to shift back and lock her door.”
“I’m not leaving her till she is conscious,” Ares replies, nudging her with his nose.
“You seem almost calm, how are you controlling it?” I am confused, her heat is radiating out of her like a beacon. Inviting and delicious, yet he is fighting his own desires.
“You’re not the only one that loves her, who loves Ezra,” he snorts, before whimpering in my head and shifting back. I try to grasp his tether and force him back, not trusting myself, but he retreats, leaving me naked and alone with her.
“Mateo, how is she?”
“Ares healed her,” I tell him, and he goes quiet. Only mates are supposed to do that, it wasn’t my place.
“But is she ok?” He asks, though he doesn’t sound too good himself. More gunshots ring outside, leaning down, I touch my hand to her face, and she moans.
“She is fine, just she feels hot to the touch.”
“Put her in the shower,” he advises, and I shake my head, not willing to touch her more than I already have when her eyes fly open. They’re glowing brightly, blindingly so, before she growls deep in her throat and I realize instantly what it is.
She is in phase two.
Her head snaps towards me, and she no longer cares that I wasn’t her mate, she’s running on pure instinct and instinct only. All rational thought is gone when she lunges at me.
I jump to my feet, backing up toward the door, but she is quicker as she throws herself at me.
“No, Kat,” I call to her with a grunt as she collides with me, I grip her arms and her legs wrap around me, knocking me backward. The touch of her skin against mine, gliding over my skin, desperate for me, lights a fire inside me. I want to mate her, I need to, but I fight it. For hers and Ezra’s sake. I can’t give in.
Her lips crash against mine, kissing me hard, moaning against me as she tries to part my lips. Her tongue brushes against my lips, and I shudder.
Shoving off the wall I am pinned against, I force her closer, and she licks and sucks on my neck. I close my eyes, fighting what my instincts want. Her hands slide down, grabbing me and squeezing hard as she seeks relief from her agony.
My erection throbs in her hands, I wish I can stop it, but it’s hard enough to fight myself from grabbing her and throwing her on the bed. At that moment, I want nothing more than to bury myself in her and take what I so desperately want. She lets me go, and I drag her to the shower. She purrs and wraps her legs around my hip, rubbing her body against mine.
Fuck, it is hard to think. I find myself grabbing a handful of her hair and have to force my fingers apart to let go. I lunge under the stream of ice-cold water and lean against the wall. Maybe the temperature will help ease her discomfort.
She bounces up and down against me, and I grunt from the effort of keeping my sanity. She will hate me if I give in, hate herself for betraying Ezra.
Her hips move painfully slow against me, her body clinging to mine. I swallow and grab her hips to stop her from grinding.
“She’s not mine,” I whisper. She whines and bites at my neck, lapping at it with her tongue, before going higher and sucking on my earlobe. “Not mine,” I repeat, as she continues to assault me in the most delicious ways. She wants release, release I am not supposed to give to her.
It takes everything in me to not give in. Especially when her hand slips between us, and she grabs me. I shiver as I grab her hand away and move it to safety.
“She’s not mine.”
“She’s not mine.”