“I don’t even know if that is possible anymore. Darius has been treating me like this for four years. When he found his mate I thought he would leave me alone. But Sasha cheated on him, before he found and marked her. Apparently he has some infatuation or obsession with me. So after he rejected her, he turned his sights on me. The last day of school, he made me follow him into the woods and forced me to mark him. Then he forced me to mate with him. I am not doing this by choice Markus. This is why I say that I am weak. You deserve better.”
He kisses my head. “No, Darius deserves the worst he can get.”
“I begged him. I told him I had a mate, but he said he didn’t care. He wanted me and that was that.”
“I am going to find a way to fix this. I am going to remove that bond. I am going to save you from him.”
I cry and he holds me closer. Markus leans me back and his body pressed against mine. “Don’t cry over him.” He kisses my eyes. “Don’t cry, ever.” His lips find mine for the first time and I moan in pleasure. I have never had a kiss feel this amazing in my life. I can feel the love that Markus has for me and I for him. I have loved him since I was eight years old. He moans too, only when his fingers work their way under my shirt and I wince in pain does he pull back.
“Is that where it hurts?”
I lift up my shirt and show him the pink inflamed skin. “This is what happened last night.” He bends low and lays feather light kisses along my skin.
“I am going to make this stop.” He lifts up and looks me right in the eyes. “This doesn’t make you weak. You are strong to get through this. I don’t know that many wolves that would go through this and make it. You are strong.”
“Markus, I don’t know if I can hold on much longer.”
He kisses me again. “Please, hang on for me.”
“I will try.”
“I don’t want to stop kissing you. I want you so much right now.”
“I would never put that pain on someone else.”
Markus sighs. “He deserves it, but I will respect your wishes.” He rolls off me and lays next to me holding my hand just the way he did that first day. “I have been in love with you since that day.” He laughs a little. “You remember how we laid here all those hours, just enjoying each other. We didn’t even exchange names.”
“I remember. I waited for you. I have wanted to see you every day since that day. I would come up here and pray that you would show up just like you did that day.”
“So you fell in love with me too.”
“Yeah, I did.” I am silent for a moment. “I never told Darius that I love him. Just so you know. He said it all the time. I never once said it back.”
“That means I am special.” I can hear the glee in his voice. “I never said that to anyone either. It has always been you.”
“It has always been you.” I turn and look into his green eyes. I never thought I would find this. Please goddess, please let him fix this. I want to be with this man.
He leans in to kiss me again, but he stops part way. “Ugh. My dad wants me back. We can’t stay all day today.” He smiles and gives me a small kiss. “As soon as I can I will fix this. I will carry you away any chance I get.”
“Yes, please do.” I mumble. I don’t want to go back. I know Darius is still pissed. He will be until I submit to him. I can’t do that. Never again will I be able to do that.
Markus holds me the whole way down the mountain. As we approach the clearing he puts some distance between us. I miss him already. He’s still standing next to me. We barely make the clearing and I am rushed by Darius. “There you are. I couldn’t find you anywhere. My dad said you went training with Markus, but you weren’t at the training grounds. I started to really worry about you.” He pulls his arms around me. He completely ignores his brother.
“Markus took me for a different kind of training. Hiding. It was very useful.” I spare him a look over Darius’s shoulder.
Darius starts kissing on my skin. “Come on. We need to talk.” He keeps me in his arms pulling me to the packhouse. I want to run. I want to be as far away from him as possible. Once we are inside the main door he picks me up and throws me over his shoulder carrying me up the stairs. Yeah, no running now, plus this hurts like hell on my belly. “My little mate. I hope you didn’t forget who you belong to.”
“Did you feel excruciating pain rip through your body?”
He growls out. “No.”
“Then there is your answer.”
He carries me all the way to our room where he locks us in. He sets me down on my feet. Then he cups my face. “I’m sorry. I am going a little crazy. I think we need to spend some time alone. I am so worried that someone is going to take you away that I am chasing you away.”
“Why do you care so much? You seemed pretty happy with Sasha last night. Why don’t you just go back to her and leave me alone?”
He pulls me close to him. “Little mate. Don’t you realize I don’t have a choice either. It is always you. You and you alone. Even when I fucked her last night I couldn’t feel satisfied. I never released in her. I couldn’t. Only you can do that for me.” How the fuck is that supposed to make me feel better. So he didn’t get off, I felt like I was fucking dying.