Chapter 17 Catch Me First
Kian knew something was off when Raina returned from town. He was told that she had a run-in with Mia and Octavius. Octavius had been rude, but Mia had acknowledged her as her Luna. He had been proud of her for that being able to finally come to terms with everything.
He had been trying not to approach Raina too much for the last few weeks, because he knew if he sought her out, she would be in a cycle of positions that would have his dick always in her sweet pussy. He had been coming too strong and she hadn’t asked him to breed her so he had no right yet to approach her.
Sterling had said that the start of Raina’s next cycle would be the best time to start trying. Since he knew Raina wouldn’t be getting pregnant right away, it wasn’t fair to approach her, but his resolve was crumbling every single time he saw her. Another reason why he tried to stay away from her as well, because he quickly was realizing that she was his downfall.
When she returned from town a week ago, all hell broke loose. Raina started to rebel against him and the protocols put in place to protect her. She would dip out on her body guards and disappear for long periods time, which would cause a mad search for her last whereabouts. When he confronted her about it, she acted all innocent like she hadn’t known that the entire pack house was in a frenzy trying to find her throughout the entire day.
One time, he was alerted by Sebastian that she was in the training grounds, brushing up on her skills. When he walked into the training grounds to yet again confront her, she yet again played innocent like she didn’t know she was supposed to be resting. She was supposed to be resting and relaxing.
She stopped eating the food Sasha cooked up for at the guidance of her sister, instead demanding other food to be brought. She was confronted by both him and Sterling that she needed to eat the right food to prep her body for pregnancy. She protested saying she had time, because technically she was just weening off her contraceptive so it didn’t count.
All these things were being reported to the Elder Council and they were none to happy with Raina’s carelessness. Elder Richmond had once again brought up that Mia would be the better candidate for his Luna than Raina. He had expected it, but he remained firm even though he was finding it difficult not to understand their concerns.
While he was trying to calm the Elder Council’s concerns, he was alerted by his guards through mind link that Raina had transformed into her wolf and was running through the land between the fence and the territory perimeter. Even though rogues were no longer a threat, it didn’t mean they couldn’t or wouldn’t be.
He had left Sebastian to take care of the Elder Council while he hunted down Raina. It was time she and him had a long talk about what she was up to, because the more and more he thought about, the more it seemed like she was doing it all of it on purpose. The only conclusion he could think of was that she was deliberately trying to sabotage herself.
He found her wolf playing in the stream. She was splashing around in the water until she stopped, sniffing the air for a moment. He watched as her wolf looked behind and saw him in his wolf form. Anger was radiating off him and he knew he was giving off his Alpha aura, willing her to submit.
For a moment, she seemed to slowly submit until she shook her head and started to back away from him every time he approached. He growled in warning, but Raina had taken off, running full speed into the opposite direction of him. Her only saving grace was it was still within the territory, but that was all he was going to give her.
Raina, he growled in her head, forcing a mind link. Come back here right now!
She continued on, racing and weaving through the trees. He followed after her, not letting her out of his sight. He knew she was one of the fastest wolves and humans in his pack. She was a little assassin and her technique was flawless. He had always admired and was impressed by her skills and tenacity… except when it was against him. No matter how skilled and tenacious she was, he wouldn’t allow her to escape from him though as he continued to gain on her.
Raina, go back to the pack house!
She had yet to say something or anything in return, keeping silent to further aggravate him he was convinced. She only picked up speed, flying through the forest at breakneck speed. If he hadn’t been so angry and slightly scared of her unpredictable behavior as of late, he would’ve maybe enjoyed this impromptu run, but Raina had been frustratingly unpredictable. She rarely was unpredictable not when it came to him yet here she was setting him on edge and second guessing himself.
No matter what, he would chase her down every time. The wolf in him demanded him to. The Alpha in him wanted her to submit. She was challenging him whether she realized it or not or maybe she knew and that was why it was getting under his skin even more. If she wasn’t careful, he’d be too fired up to stop himself from sinking teeth in that pretty shoulder of hers to show her exactly where she belonged.
When she took a turn, he realized she was finally running back to the pack house. He followed her as her smaller wolf form than his managed to wriggle underneath the fence, leaving him to growl in anger and frustration as pounced on the fence to show her his displeasure. He swore he heard her laugh in his mind as she bounced back and forth playfully on the other side of the fence. Fuck this, they were installing walls, high solid walls that kept shewolf that should know better inside. She continued to prance around the fence, thinking she won. It was official he was going to installs walls around the pack house now. It was good as done.
He transformed back in his human self and glared down at her wolf. Her wolf jumped on the fence and balanced on her hind legs while her front paws pressed against the metal.
“Shift back,” he told her, not giving a damn he was stark naked in front of her. His fingers threaded through the spaces in the fence, feeling the cold metal.
It was actually part of every day life to see one another in different states of undress. Usually, they were in the process of finding clothes and not having conversations or arguments naked, but who would dare try educate him on manners right now. He’d bite their head off. His tolerance level was nonexistent.
Her wolf playfully licked at his fingers before she danced back and forth for a moment before she finally transformed back. His eyes ate up her bare body and that playful expression on her face. She had smudges of dirt all over her pear-shaped body. Her skin almost glowed under the moonlight, highlighting the curve of her small breasts to the generous curves of her hips. Her hair and her eyes were wild. She looked so fucking beautiful and he couldn’t help his body start to react other.
Her eyes drifted down, admiring his own naked body until she stared at his hardening dick. She licked her lips and he groaned at the obvious lust in her eyes when she glanced up to his eyes. She bit her lip as she walked up to the fence, threading her fingers in the metal. His fingers immediately threaded with hers as her wild eyes fiercely told him that she couldn’t be tamed.
“I know what you’re doing,” he growled at her.
She smirked as she tilted her head to side. “What am I doing?”
“It’s not going to work,” he warned her as she stepped back and forcefully detangling her fingers from his.
“How was the meeting with the Elder Council?” she asked, crossing her arms.
His eyes immediately went to down to her breasts being pushed up by her arms. He hated that the damn fence was between them. He would grab her up, set her on her hands and knees, and remind her who that body belongs to. She knew exactly what he wanted to do, because she only smirked, knowing damn well he couldn’t.
“You know exactly how well the meeting went,” he told her, glancing up and down at the fence. He could just scale the fucking thing. “Don’t act so innocent, Raina. You want to play these games? You want to pretend like you’re not purposely sabotaging yourself.”
Her eyes danced in sick amusement before she shook her head as she moved closer until her fingers gripped the metal fence again. She was so close, but yet so far away, it almost hurt.
“We both know the Elder Council will never allow you to claim me as your Luna,” she chuckled even when he threaded his fingers into the metal fence above hers. “I’m just making it quite clear to everybody the truth. Maybe, I should just give them a visit before the Elder Council leaves and say hello?”
He shook the fence angrily. “No matter what the Elder Council says and no matter what you do, you’re mine. I’m going to sink my teeth in you and claim you. You’ll be my Luna whether they like it or not.”
Her eyes widened at the claim. Her mouth dropped open, because he knew that she knew that he meant every single word. She was his fated mate and he wasn’t going to let her just run away, because she was scared. He didn’t care if he had to fight every single one of her inner demons.
“You have to catch me first,” she dared.
It was his turn to chuckle darkly at her audacity. Cute. Did she really think he wouldn’t find a way to catch her? Fuck scaling the fence. He grabbed the fence and started to rip an opening in the fence. Her eyes widened at that, backing away as he continued widening the hole.
With that, she quickly turned and transformed back into a wolf, running towards the pack house. He knew exactly where she was going. When the hole was wide enough to fit him, he immediately transformed into his wolf and ran after Raina. The meeting must have let out, because the Elder Council members were in the hallway.
Raina transformed from wolf into her human form and walked down the hallway stark naked right in front of everyone. Everyone stopped and stared in shock. He growled angrily as he bound inside in his wolf form after her. When he got closer to her, he shifted swiftly in his human form and scooped her up in his arms without breaking stride. She struggled against him as he carried her up to his suite, but he refused to let her go. He kicked open the door in and then kicked it closed behind him not caring if he shut it all the way or not. Anybody who dared to interrupt them would have a death wish.
He made his way to his bed and threw her on the mattress. She tried to scramble off, but he immediately grabbed her, pinning her arms above her head. His naked body pressed down on hers as she still struggled in vain. His face was hovering above hers as his eyes burned into hers.
“Caught you,” he threatened. Fear immediately swamped her, remembering his words at the fence no doubt.
Good. These games she was playing needed to end. He leaned down, licking her collarbone. Her breath caught as his mouth pressed against the soft skin he found, where his teeth ached to bite and claim. It would be so easy to do it. He nibbled at the spot before sucking her flesh into his mouth to mark her a different way.
She moaned. Her body reacted, arching up against his and he growled before pulling away from her shoulder. His eyes took his handiwork and rumble of a growl of approval with the small satisfaction of seeing the already darkening bruise on her skin.
“Next time,” he rasped in her ear. “It’s going to be real.”
He wasn’t done with tormenting her yet. She had been a stubborn, rebellious shewolf. Just because he couldn’t claim her right now didn’t mean he wouldn’t punish her for her disobedience. He grabbed the side of her face and roughly guided her face until his mouth smashed against hers.