Tasting The Enemy

Elaine

I gripped my aching bones and panted heavily. As suddenly as the pain came it went. My wolf awoke within me, but I didn’t shift.

How is that possible without venom to keep me from splitting into two?

“Dove? How are we okay?” I asked.

“Mate,” she replied.

“Excuse me?”

“Mate… mate.”

I looked around searching for a male. Heat rushed to my cheeks. I was naked in the lake. This wasn’t the ideal scenario to meet my fated mate but who was he?

“Where is he?” I whispered.

“Mate,” a soft male voice said.

I stepped back into the water and cupped my breasts. The stars didn’t provide enough light for me to see the face of my mate. He cleared the bushes and walked into the lake.

The closer he came the faster my heart beat. He was tall with large, toned and hard muscles. He must have been coming from a run because his naked limbs glistened with sweat and forest mud.

When his face came into view my heart dropped. How could the moon goddess do this to me?

“You?” I rasped.

“You,” he spat. “You lied to me!”

“What?” I snapped out of the flowery moment of finding my mate.

“When did I lie?” I demanded.

“When I asked you if you felt anything you said you didn’t.”

I bit my bottom lip. I didn’t lie but I couldn’t tell him that without telling him my secret. Azaire gripped my arms and pulled me close. The cold water bound us together like the mate bond.

I couldn’t believe I had a mate and I was engaged to another man.

“What are you doing here anyway?” I whispered, not looking at him.

A moment passed then Azaire stroked my hair gently. “I went for a run. Do you always swim naked?” He chuckled.

I suddenly recalled the cut on my cheek and my arms, but the wounds on my flesh were gone. Not even a scar. I finally met his eyes I was bewildered at my miraculous healing and then I was captivated by his hazel eyes. He tied his blond hair in a low bun.

His lips parted and he leaned in gently. My breathing spiked and I thought the water got hotter because of our burning desire for one another. I could smell his desire and it smelled like a bakery of freshly baked goods. It was warm and welcoming I wanted to fall into him.

Did he want to kiss me as much as I wanted to kiss him?

I stood on my toes and touched his chest with shaky hands.

“We shouldn’t…” he said softly.

I felt a pang of rejection but the heat of desire spurred me on.

“You don’t want me?”

He sucked his bottom lip, keeping his focus on me.

“Fuck of course I want you.”

He hoisted me off the lake floor and locked my legs around his waist. I felt the swell of his cock slide against my thigh. I nearly froze with fear.

I never felt anything so thick and real.

Our lips crashed together and my fears evaporated. Azaire tightened his arms around my body as he dominated my mouth. It took me a second to match his rhythm but I did and our tongues danced passionately.

Azaire walked out of the lake and placed me on the shore. He kissed my neck and sucked the soft skin on my shoulder. He kissed me tenderly and held me as if I were a delicate object made of expensive and rare glass.

It felt right with Azaire. It shouldn’t be. This is what I’d been fantasizing about since I saw him again at the high school. Despite the hate, this felt right. I couldn’t help but yearn for Azaire’s mysteriousness and edge.

“Azaire!” Came a shout.

We broke apart.

“You’re not alone?” I asked.

He scanned the forest. “Um, not exactly.”

I covered my chest and looked around. The fairy tale was over.

The male voice continued to shout.

“Who is that?” I asked searching for my clothes.

Thank goodness Azaire couldn’t see how pink his kisses made me.

Azaire clenched his jaw. “A beta from the pack. I might have gotten carried away.”

“I should go.”

I scurried to my feet and Azaire caught me.

“We have to talk.”

“Not now! We can’t be seen together. Not when we’re both naked.”

He raked a hand through his hair.

“We’ll have to talk eventually.”

I nodded, biting my lip. I heard someone kicking bushes aside and kicked into flight mode. I felt the heat of his stare on me as I fled.

***

I arrived in time for dinner without cuts and with an active wolf. I was the last in the dining room. A seat was saved for me next to Neel.

Blazer shot me a mischievous look as I walked to the table. Did he think this was funny? Avena sat at my Father’s right as she had since the Luna died and Alpha Keegan, the previous White Mountain Alpha sat to the left of my Father while I was wedged between Blazer and Neel with Nik across from me.

“Finally, the young lady arrives,” Keegan chuckles.

Dad’s jaw clenched and eyes narrowed on me.

I cringed.

“Punctuality has always been Elaine’s problem,” Dad said through clenched teeth.

Keegan laughed and picked up his wine glass.

Neel’s hand slid over my thigh and squeezed it. My spine stiffened and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from snapping at him.

“That’ll change when she moves to our pack, isn’t that right, mate?”

My blood boiled. I’m not his mate.

“Right mate?” He grounded out.

I flashed him a pressed smile.

“Wonderful to see they’re getting along so well,” Keegan said warmly.

He must be blind.

“It’ll be even more wonderful for them to make an appearance at the one-hundred-day ball in two days,” Dad added.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“The Blood Moon pack’s celebration of their new Alpha,” Dad replied.

They invited us?

“I don’t think going is a good idea,” Nik grumbled. “Could be a trap.”

“We never know with them but we should take advantage of being on their territory legally,” Alpha Keegan said.

What if it was a trap? Azaire would know about a plot against my family the same way I would know about an attack on his family. This was just one reason why a relationship between Azaire and I was impossible.

Knowing my Family even if the invitation was in good faith they would find a way to cause trouble. After dinner the men excused themselves. Everyone got up except for Neel. He kept his palm on my thigh, keeping me from standing.

“Let me go,” I snapped the second we were alone.

He grabbed my face and yanked me forward so we were a whisper apart.

“Where the fuck were you?”

“Don’t touch me.”

“Get with the program, Elaine. You’re mine and you’re going to respect me from now on, understood?”

“You must think I’m an idiot.”

“Be one if you want. Things are going to change. It’s better if you submit now than when we get married it’ll be easier for you.”

“You pig,” I spat.

He clenched his jaw and curled his fingers into a fist. For a second I thought he would hit me. He was an egotistic narcissist and I wanted to empty the juice on his head but the Omegas came in to remove the dishes.

“You’ll be screaming my name soon, Elaine. Before our wedding too.” He winked and my stomach turned upside down.

Horses will sing before I enjoy his touch.

I needed to get out of this marriage and I doubted Azaire was my knight in shining armour. I needed to find a cure for my curse or I could say goodbye to my life.