She woke up alone in the large bed. Ronan was gone. A part of her was grateful. She wasn’t sure she was in the mood in to see him that morning, especially after what happened last night. So, after a shower, she dressed in a pair of shorts and a peach tank top, leaving her wavy brown hair flowing down her back. She wasn’t in the mood for anything extra, so she slipped her feet into yesterday’s pair of loafers, and followed the smell of coffee down to the kitchen, only to find Matthias there, as well as his eldest son, Silas. Ronan was absent.

The sight of Matthias, seated at the head of the table and sipping on a mug, caused her to falter in her steps. She was sure her cheeks were on fire, and anyone could see it. Both men were talking about something, but stopped when she walked in.

Matthias flared his nostrils, scenting her, and he glanced away, something in his expression turning stormy. Silas stared at her with visible confusion.

“Good morning, alpha.” She bowed slightly.

“I know you,” Silas said, “You’re Ronan’s mate, aren’t you?”

A flutter rose in her chest at being referred to as Ronan’s mate, and she nodded. “Yes, alpha.”

Silas nodded, “It’s nice to see that you two have made up. Goddess knows, I didn’t expect that kind of responsibility from Ronan.”

“It’s all thanks to Alpha Draven,” she muttered, her head still down.

Silas said something else, but Raine wasn’t listening, her entire being was tuned to Matthias’s every movement. Her wolf, who had been sulking all morning, had finally perked up, and was practically foaming at the mouth, pushing Raine to cross the room and plant herself into the older man’s lap. She bit her lips, her claws sharpening with the effort it took to keep herself in check.

Not only could she not do anything with Silas right here, she was a mated woman, promised to another. If people found that she was having thoughts like these towards another man—her soon to be father in law—she would be cast out, disgraced… lynched.

Silas said something else, and got to his feet. He bowed his head at his father, and was gone in the next moment. Leaving Matthias and Raine alone. The room was suddenly too small. The scent of Matthias was everywhere, making her sweat, and her knees tremble.

Keeping her gaze turned stubbornly away, Raine shuffled stiffly to the counter where the coffee machine stood, and proceeded to make herself a cup. Less than five minutes later, she heard the loud sound of the chair falling to the floor as Matthias got up and crossed the room in the blink of an eye. He slammed both hands on the counter, caging her against it from behind, and keeping her from moving. His scent instantly overwhelmed her, and her wolf howled with joy, coming alive for the first time in days. The bond between them sparked to life, fiery and hot, like dying embers in a dry field.

Raine gasped, her hands clutching at the counter’s edge as her knees suddenly went weak. Matthias groaned like a man possessed, shoving his face between her neck and sniffing deep. Raine moaned softly, arching her neck back so he could have better access. His teeth skimmed her nape, sharp enough to graze, and her wolf yearned for it, craved this man’s bite like it was oxygen. Raine was scared, and aroused. So, so, aroused.

It was taking every of her willpower not to shove her shorts down, bend over the counter, and present for the alpha, spread her legs apart so he could see just how wet, and needy she was, how badly she ached for him between her glistening folds.

She bit her lip until she tasted blood.

“You smell like him,” Matthias growled against her skin, “You smell like Ronan… Did you let him touch you?”

Raine moaned helplessly as his big hands circled her waist, digging into the flesh exposed by her top. “He’s my mate, alpha.” Her voice was breathless as lust overtook her. “I belong to him.”

“Fuck.” He hissed like a man in pain, “Fuck. I feel like a horrible person. I shouldn’t feel this way, but I do. You belong to Ronan, but the thought of him having you, touching you, fills me with so much rage.” His hands tightened on her waist, hard enough that she knew she would bruise. In a quieter voice, he said, “I shouldn’t have had you taken to his room. But my wolf could not bear the thought of not having you under the same roof.”

Raine turned in his arms so she could face him. He was much taller than her, and so much bigger and broader that she felt caged, and safe, like nothing could harm her in his arms. She stared up at him from where she came up to below his chin, taking in his sharp gray eyes, the crow’s feet around them, his gray beard, and his soft salt and pepper hair. Another wave of lust shot through her, and she bit her bruised lip.

“I thought of you,” she said breathlessly, rubbing up against him before she could stop herself. “When I was pleasuring him, I pretended he was you. And later, when I fucked myself, I closed my eyes and pretended you were there,” she pressed closer, almost flattening her chest to his. “I came with your name on my lips, alpha.”

The alpha’s gaze darkened with heat, and a dark promise that sent shivers from the tips of her toes, to the top of her head. In one swift move, he lifted her off the ground and on to the counter, spreading her legs wide and stepping in between them. Raine gasped, even as a voice in her head told her they were in the kitchen, in broad daylight. Anyone could walk in on them.

But that knowledge only made this even more delicious.

Matthias’s hands pushed under her top, snaking over her skin to cup her breasts, his thumbs rolling her nipples into hard, aching nubs. Raine moaned, throwing her head back.

“Say my name,” he growled, his voice part man, part animal.

“Matthias,” she moaned, loud and wanton. “Matthias. Oh please.”

She spread her legs wider, rubbing against him, begging for his touch where she ached for him most.

“Please what?” He teased, thumbs still punishing her nipples.

Raine moaned again, muffling her cries against his shoulders. “Please, Matthias… tou… touch me.”

She was already shaking. Already soaked and aching for him, and it was wrong. It was so, so wrong. “Please, alpha,” she whispered, voice breaking. “Take me.”

Matthias swore under his breath, his hands tightening painfully on her hips. “You don’t know what you’re asking for.”

Raine met his gaze. Yes, I do.

Matthias’s gaze was hot with molten heat, and an intensity that shot to her toes. He closed the distance between them and slammed his lips down on hers. Raine opened for him immediately, parting for his tongue and melting in his arms.

A part of her knew this was wrong—the part that wasn’t being led around the noose by her wolf. Last night she’d been in Ronan’s bed. And now she was letting his father shove his tongue down her throat, on a counter, in the pack house kitchen, where literally anyone could walk in on them.

She wanted to push him away, tell him to stop, tell him that this was wrong. Instead, she wrapped her arms and legs around him, pressing closer as his mouth devoured hers. The kiss was wet, and sloppy, and the sounds they were making echoed in the room. The thought of someone hearing them, walking in on them and finding him balls deep inside her, filled her with so much excitement that she pulled away from his kiss to pant, “I want you.”

Matthias stared at her with eyes blown wide with lust. “Here?”

“Yes, alpha.”

“No.” He growled. He fisted one hand in her hair and yanked her head back painfully. She hissed, but kept her gaze on him. “I’m not taking you here. You are going to go upstairs, to the room you and Ronan share, and you are going to wait for me on the bed. Naked.”

She moaned helplessly, squeezing her thighs tight to stave off her arousal. “In our bed, alpha?”

Matthias nipped at her neck, “I’m going to fuck you into those sheets until your eyes cross, and the only name you can remember is mine. I’ll knot you so much that the only thing you’ll smell is me.”

Raine moaned again as she got even wetter, fisting her palms so she wouldn’t touch herself. Matthias dragged her top back down, and lifted her down from the counter. Her knees shook violently, and she had to brace herself on the counter.

“You have ten seconds.” he growled into her ear. “Run.”

Raine ran.

She didn’t know how she managed it on shaky legs, but she raced past the stairs and the hallway in record time, and before long, she was in Ronan’s room. The only thing she could hear was the pounding of her heart, and the whooshing of blood in her ears as she tore out of her clothes and crawled naked on top of the covers.

She settled between the pillows, her legs up and spread, and was assaulted with Ronan’s scent. The reminder sent a sharp stab of guilt through her, but before it could overwhelm her, the door slammed open and Matthias stalked in.

He looked bigger somehow—more wolf than man at this point, and as he gazed down at her—dark, and heated, and possessive, Raine’s body responded. She whined, arching her neck and spreading her legs wider so he could see just how wet and swollen she was for him. She dragged her hand down her body, pulling at a nipple as she went with a soft moan. She kept her eyes on Matthias, watching him watch her as she dragged her hand down her wet clit, spreading her juices around before sinking one finger into her hole.

Matthias made a low grumbling voice that seemed to come from deep inside him, and his scent overpowered every other thing in the room, including Ronan’s, until the only thing Raine could sense was him.

“Alpha,” she whined, spreading her legs wider. “Please.”

Matthias wasted no time. In the blink of an eye, he was between her spread legs, kissing up her legs until he reached the apex of her thighs, and his breath fanned hot against her wetness. Where she throbbed and ached for him. Still holding her gaze, the older alpha dipped his head low, and ran his tongue down her clit, pulling her nub into his mouth and sucking on it until she screamed. The beard burn was ecstasy, and Raine wanted to feel it everywhere. Burn with it until it was all she knew.

Matthias lapped at her cunt like a man starved—kissing, and sucking, and licking until Raine was reduced to nothing but a sobbing mess, burying her cries of pleasure into Ronan’s pillows and inhaling both their scents. It was like both men were there with her, the one who owned her heart, and the one her body craved. The thought both shamed and excited her. Fantasizing about her mate while his father ate her out on their bed. She felt like the worst kind of slag.

It didn’t stop her from arching her back and digging her fingers into Matthias’s hair when he entered her with his tongue, and her orgasm crested. She arched her back, crying out loud enough that they must have heard her down in the pack.

She lay there, boneless and panting as her orgasm washed over her. Matthias crawled up her body, and she hummed in contentment as his beard scratched along her skin, rubbing the sensitive part of her stomach, before settling between her breasts as the man sucked on her nipples.

She moaned again, spreading her legs and arching up to rub against the outline of his cock through his clothes. Matthias hummed against her, one hand reaching down to free himself as he leaned up to capture her lips with his.

Matthias dragged her to the edge of the bed, spreading her thighs wide. The heat of his body pressed into hers, his breath hot against her ear as he lined himself up. “You’re mine,” he growled, voice thick with heat. The first thrust was slow, stretching her inch by inch, forcing her to take all of him, until she was trembling beneath him, gasping for breath, a plea on the tip of her tongue. And then in the next breath, he slammed deep into her, and Raine screamed

She arched her back, panting and clenching around him as she tried to get used to his girth, but then, without warning, Matthias leaned back, hands tight on her hips and pulled her until she was practically in his lap. She gaped up at him, panting to catch her breath. He gazed down at her, eyes dark and unrecognizable. He pulled out almost to the tip, and then slammed back in one brutal thrust, bottoming out at once and tearing a guttural scream out of her.

“Fuck!” she wailed, “Oh fuck, alpha…”

Matthias set a punishing pace, pounding into her over and over, like a jackhammer on a nail, relentless and brutal, grunting with each thrust until Raine was reduced to incoherent babbles and whimpers, making uh, uh, uh noises with each punishing thrust. She held his gaze, and he looked so untamed and rogue, she felt like she was being fucked into the bed by a wild beast. Unable to do nothing but hold on for dear life as he fucked into her like she was a ragdoll.

“Please… please… please…” She sobbed.

His rhythm stuttered, and his thrusts became irregular as his orgasm crashed through him. He slammed into her one last time, and they both groaned as he came into her, painting her insides with his cum and marking her as his own.

They were both panting when the alpha finally pulled out. He stared down at her, his gaze dark and unreadable. Raine didn’t know what she’d been expecting, but Matthias pulling up his pants and running out as soon as they were done, was not it.

The door slammed shut behind him, and she was alone. Spread out, sticky and leaking both their juices. The gravity of what they’d done crashing down on her all at once.