Chapter 67 Chapter 67
ALPHA XANDER'S POV
I stare down at Adriana in my arms, she is still smiling which should have annoyed me but did the absolute opposite. I pulled her closer to me, aware that I was being rough but also being unable to stop. It may just be my deranged mind but something told me she was enjoying it. Else, why the hell would she be smiling like I just fucking gifted her a kingdom?
"If you two are done with your lover's spattle, I'll be in the pack" Donovan's bored voice didn't make me look away from my unhinged looking mate in my arm. I distinctly hear the rattle of the keys as they fall to the ground. "Here's the keys, I'd rather run back." Again, I didn't turn to look at him. He shifted right there and took off.
I forgot I had called a meeting, I am definitely not going to attend that. I had a mate to teach a lesson for trying to leave. I was waiting for the anger to fully settle, I am angry, beyond livid but I was also calm for some weird reason. It's like I inhaled something that was making me feel that way.
I ignored that thought and fist Adriana's blonde hair in my hand, then I tugged hard. She yelped but that is the only reaction I got from her, she wasn't scared or anything. A resolved look was on her face and that didn't really sit well with me. I liked that she wasn't bending to anyone's will and looked even strong enough to challenge me, not physically though. That was the strongest form of challenge.
That isn't my focus now, the fear I'd smelled earlier when I first saw her was what I craved. Like an addict looking for his next fix. She hadn't expected to find me and she was vulnerable that split second. It had driven me mad and I knew if I was in my human form, I would have taken her then and there. Taking it slow and savoring her be damned. I only wanted to use her then.
"How did escaping feel?" I ask, my voice is still raspy. From both arousal and the lingering adrenaline. I tug her hair harder when she doesn't reply for the first few seconds. "Answer me." I command, my nose nuzzling her neck.
My cock throbbed in the jeans, painfully rubbing against the zipper. If I didn't want to put some sort of barrier between us I would have ditched it and stayed naked. But that would give my body way too many ideas and my control was already hanging by a very thin thread, I didn't want to tease it.
"Good," I almost thought she wouldn't answer when I heard the soft spoken words. Her voice is no louder than a whisper, the truth in the single word was unmistakable and it made my blood hot. I really needed to catch a fucking break before I did something that would make her hate me for real. Whatever she was feeling now, it wasn't hate.
"Was it worth it?" I ask. She doesn't answer, keeping her eyes on my face but not meeting mine. I asked the question again, my hand that was around her waist tightening. She shudders against me, the hairs on the back of her hands standing but that was it. "Was it worth what I'm going to do to you when we get back to the pack?" I lowered my voice, it was nothing more than a whisper against her skin.
"Xander," she called when I bit down on her skin where her shoulder and neck met. It was nothing more than a gentle nibble but I understood why she would get worried. That is where her mark would be when I finally claim her. She has nothing to worry about because I'm not marking her now, that would be when she begs me to do it while she's writhing and bucking against me.
"Shhh," I mumble, my tongue jutting out to lick the red skin there. I stood back up and released her hair, it was sudden and she almost fell to the ground. "Let's go." The words came out as a harsh command. I lean down and pick the key Donovan threw before I tug her hand and start dragging her to the car, she follows without any fight. Her steps are light and hesitant.
I guess, her minute of bravado was done and she was coming back down from her high. I wanted her to stay there a little. She just showed a glimpse of what she was capable of, her true strength. It reminded me of the girl I saw talk back to her father and I wanted more of her. if she was going to be the luna, then that kind f strength should be what she exudes.
I open the door for her and help her climb in, I go to close the door but stop when I see her eyes roving the side. I clamp my hand over hers and drag her to me, holding her at the last minute before she falls out of the chair. I keep forgetting how tiny she is compared to
me.
"Don't try anything stupid." I saw the look in her eyes, saw what she was trying to do. She bit her lip and nodded, I released and closed the door then round the corner and got into the driver's side.
The ride to the pack house was silent, her agitation growing close the more trees we passed. She came really far, so very fucking close to the main exit that would read to the highway. If she had gotten lucky and reached there without any hassle, then she would have been able to reach where the humans were largely populated by nightfall. That made me fucking panic because I wouldn't have known how to start looking for her.
In a way, Donovan making me unknowingly link myself to her was what helped us. That didn't mean I was fine with it, she wouldn't have wanted to be violated that way. It's why it was so easy for me to mindlink with her, she wasn't linked to me or the pack.
"Who were you with?" I asked when we reached the border gates of the pack. The question has been at the back of my mind since I smelled another man's scent on her. She was hell bent on driving me crazy.
Aiden was still in the dungeon, that was confirmed. He is also the only person I would suspect her wanting to run away with. She was alone, there was no other scent behind hers on the trial. But I couldn't look over the fact that she has another man's scent on her. Who knew if she met him beforehand and they planned on meeting after. I didn't let myself think of that too much, before i got tempted to end his miserable existence.
"What?" she asked, biting her lip. Her eyes were locked on the road and she sounded genuinely confused. My hand tightened around the wheel when she took a second too long to answer. The gates opened and I pressed on the gas, a little harder than necessary.
"You heard me. Who were you with?" she glanced at me the same time I did and I saw the genuine confusion in her eyes. I didn't fully believe it because she ran more than four miles on foot when she had a leg injury. I was starting to question a lot of things.
"No one." She said, sounding defensive. I scoffed.
"You were just running on your own?" I asked, my tone suggesting I wasn't going to buy anything she said. It was an asshole move and borne purely out of the anger I was feeling toward her. The adrenaline has dissipated leaving me with just the realization that she almost slipped through my fingers and was damn near close
leaving the pack.
"Yes." She said through gritted teeth. That fire of the girl in my office coming back. "I was with no one." She said the words coming out like a growl. She sounded offended, her hands were in her thighs, the fingers locked tightly together.
"Then whose scent do you have on you?" I held the wheel in a vice-like grip. She inhaled a sharp breath and exhaled. It didn't make me feel an ounce calmer.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." She stated, looking out the window and giving me her back. I considered letting go of the wheel and dragging her, but I stopped in time. I didn't want to hurt her, but she was making it so fucking hard for me no to.