Chills danced on Lorraine's skin even as her blood spiked with awareness.

Damn Kiara wouldn't let go of her obsession with him. 

She and Justin turned in the direction of the voice, and her breath caught in her throat.

The glower on Logan's face was so ferocious that she swallowed automatically. And not from the way her core was melting at his domineering presence.

He had not used his alpha command, but it was damn close.

"I will appreciate it if you stay the fuck away from my woman." He said in a deceptively soft voice that only made Lorraine's warrior instinct remain on alert.

She had no idea if it had happened when she turned or if Justin had been the one to let go, but her hand was no longer in his.

A very preferable development. Still, a word in Logan's statement stuck in her craw.

"I am not your woman," she gritted.

"Oh, baby. You are mine and mine alone. Which means staying away from other men."

The audacity. "You can't tell me what to do!" She seethed, gleefully welcoming the roaring anger in place of the awful feeling that had been pulling at her all morning.

Though he was a beta and no match for Logan even in build, Justin shifted slightly in front of Lorraine, saying, "Is he bothering you, Lorraine?"

Lorraine's brow puckered a bit as she wondered when they had gotten on a first-name basis.

She was about to respond when a low growl rumbled out of Logan as he stalked towards them like a hulking beast homing in on his prey.

Lorraine was slightly impressed by how Justin stood his ground still. 

She, on the other hand, was slightly nervous at the way the alpha's exposed forearm seemed to thrum with restrained energy.

Nervous! Can you believe that? She recoiled from the silly feeling just as Logan got to them.

His smile was chilling as he looked down at Justin like he was an annoying fly.

"You are bold, my man. Bold to dare to think my mate needs your protection."

Justin squared up. "You are the Luna's guest, Alpha. And as much as I respect that, you..." He suddenly stiffened as his ocean-blue eyes jerked from Logan to Lorraine. "Mate?" 

Disbelief and something close to pain rang in his tone as his eyes beseeched Lorraine. "You are his...mate?"

"You get the memo now?" Logan's scoff scraped on Lorraine's nerves. "Now scram. You really should know better than butting your nose where it's not needed."

This insufferable...

"He is not my...anything!" Lorraine snapped.

Something flickered in Justin's eyes as they snapped back to hers, "But he just said..."

"I am going to reject him." Lorraine declared, eyes burning holes through Logan.

A growl erupted from him as he shoulder-shoved Justin out of his way.

"No, you are not!" Tawny eyes burnt like coals into Lorraine's shocked face.

Before she could draw a breath, firm arms were pinning her legs together while she dangled over his shoulder.

"Hey, you can't just...!"

Nausea rose in Lorraine's throat as he swung around, his cold tone directed at Justin, "Try me. Fucking try me, beta."

Lorraine blew the bouncy ends of her bob out of her face as she kicked hard at his shin.

She barely connected before he swung around again, moving lithely like she weighed nothing.

"This is ridiculous. Put me down, Logan!"

"Not a chance." 

His response, coupled with the fact that Lorraine's gaze caught on some soldiers a few paces away, infuriated her.

She was the beta general, their superior. And the mortification of being thrown over a man's shoulder like a...ninny was just too much to bear.

She kicked hard at him, doubly attacking with her fists too.

All she got for her trouble was a break in his stride. Oh, she almost got away.

Her body even slid down his, reminding her of how hung he really was.

Molten heat shot through her core, and Kiara's shameless cartwheels were the only thing Lorraine blamed for how easily he hauled her right back onto his shoulder.

Then he had the nerve to pat her butt, his chest rumbling against her confused body as he said, "Now, stay put. We are almost there."

"Where the fuck are we going?" She snapped.

She finally looked around to see that they were in the woods.

"A place where we can talk."

"Right." She snorted. "We couldn't have done that at..."

Her words trailed off as she saw the unexpected view ahead.

The fight went out of her for a moment as she gaped at the sheer beauty before her.

The treehouse perches high in an ancient oak, its steps carved intricately into the trunk of the massive tree, vine-wrapped, with its cracked glass dome catching the golden rays of sunrise. The light filtering through the surrounding tree branches giving the environment an ethereal look.

"What the...?" She was unaware of how breathy her voice sounded as she felt the last dreg of tightness leave her chest.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" 

She nodded as she looked around reverently at the way the woods wrapped lovingly around the site, like a mother nurturing a child.

The path to it was overgrown and seemed to have only been recently disturbed, but...

The sound of a door shutting jolted her out of her reverie.

Wait...

"What are you doing?" She asked automatically as she felt her body slide down his again. Damn the fucking heat.

He held her suspended, their faces only slightly apart as he whispered, "Putting you down as you demanded, Prickly. Unless you don't want me to." He added suggestively, a new look entering his drugging eyes, messing with Lorraine's breath.

"Let me..."

"You are so beautiful." The reverence in his tone stilled the hands she had raised to his chest to push him off.

No man had ever called her that. Not the way he just did.

None would dare to.

Capable, yes. Strong? Preferable.

Beauty...it's not just...her. It's for soft women. Not the likes of her who could hand a man's ass to him before he fully got the words out.

At least that was fully believed before Athena.

Athena was beauty, elegance and strength wrapped into one indomitable spirit.

Still...

"Put me down," she ordered, breathier than intended.

"If you insist." He heaved a long-suffering sigh as he set her down. 

Lorraine swung away from him, hands brushing the short ends of her hair that barely graced her neck.

"What is he doing to me?" The perplexed thought surged as she stalked to the single window letting in more light to rival the one filtering in through the glass-domed roof.

Her eyes caught on the worn leather chair by the corner. The old brass telescope and faded star charts to her left speak of time past.

Pine scent and dust motes tickled Lorraine's nose as she wondered how her morning had turned out this way.

The floorboard groaned slightly as she turned back to face him, asking, "What do you want from me?"

He leaned casually against the door. Yet she knew he had no intention of letting her get past that door.

"To talk," he said simply with a shrug.

"There is nothing to talk about." She folded her arms defensively.

"There's plenty to talk about, Lorraine. And you know it. You are my mate, and..."

"...I don't want to be."

He straightened and tucked his hands in his jeans pocket, eyes sharpening on hers as he drawled, "Too bad, babe. We are already fated."

"Very easy. I rejected you, remember?"

"I don't want your rejection!" He growled.

His eyes flared at her as he took a step forward.

Lorraine's stance immediately shifted into defence, even as Kiara groaned.

But then, he stopped abruptly and swung towards the door again.

"I want you, Lorraine. You, my prickly queen. I want you as my Luna. I..."

"No, you don't." Lorraine took an unconscious step backward as torment fired up in her body. "You...you just want...to fuck me." She blurted out in desperation.

"What?!" He gaped at her for a moment, looking genuinely confused for a second. "Of course, I don't want to fu...what are you talking about?"

"So, you don't want me that way?" Lorraine asked before she could stop herself.

"Of course I want you... I..." he took a step forward and she moved back immediately, hating the cowardly move.

The frustrated growl beneath his breath seemed to reverberate in her chest as his gaze held hers captive.

"You know I want you, Lorraine. I want to fuck you so bad that it's all I can think of. I want..."

"Then do it." The words rolled off Lorraine's tongue like they had a life of their own.

She cringed as it fell on her ears. Yet deep down she knew she wanted it out.

The result on him was almost comical. He blinked.

"What are...?" 

"You want to fuck me? You are right. I want you too. Let's get it done and over with. After that, accept my rejection. Deal?"

She thought it was a fair bargain. Men getting their way with a woman was always a win for them anyway. She expected him to snap it up.

Instead, his face darkened dangerously as a growl erupted from him, "Lorraine!"

"What?"

Instead of instinctively stepping back as he stalked towards her, she raised her brow. "You don't want to fu...?"

"Stop talking," he growled as he laid his finger on her lips, cupping her jaw in the process.

Lorraine's breath scrambled in her throat. Still, she managed to narrow her eyes. "You don't tell me what to do."

"Right," he murmured, eyes intent on her lips. "But I can shut you up."

His breath on the corner of her lips as his thumb trailed over them like a work of art was enough to do that.

Still, Lorraine refused to take her eyes off his, even as her insides melted in anticipation.

He... he was going to kiss her. And she had no intention of stopping him.

His extended fingers tightened slightly on her throat as his breath drew a hot trail from her lips to her right ear.

A swift nip on her lobe made her jerk involuntarily, the action pushing her hard nipples into his chest.

She could already feel his hard bulge against her, which surprisingly did not make her pull away.

"I won't stop." The words sounded faint under the sensation swamping her body, yet they were just as hot. "A taste of you, and nothing will stop me."

"I... who said anything about stopping?" Lorraine was more than sure that could not have been her voice.

His ragged breath as his hands tightened on her shot a thrill through her. Now, he would...

"No." The word sounded tortured as he suddenly jerked back from her.

The eyes she had unconsciously closed snapped open as an unexpected feeling of rejection slithered through the hot frenzy in her body.

She held herself rigidly as she blurted, "No?"

He shook his head, took a step towards her and stopped just before he held her again. "No, Lorraine. I won't let you reduce this to... what you are doing," he finished with a limp wave of his hand.

"What am I doing?"

"Putting this down to just the mate heat, Prickly. That."

"I told you to stop calling me that." She glared at him.

His stormy look was replaced so swiftly with a grin that she blinked. This man.

"Maybe when you stop pushing me away, I will consider that."

He stepped towards her again, and she was the one who stepped back this time.

She couldn't believe she was actually feeling put out because he would not screw her brains out. She had always thought of him as annoying, and now she wanted him to fuck her until she forgot everything?

"This is your fault," she blamed her wolf, since the Moon Goddess was too far away to take responsibility for the mating she had shoved on her.

To Logan, she said stoically, "You had your chance and decided to blow it. I won't offer again. Now, let's get the rejection part over with."

He smiled as he folded his arms, all former agitation gone, like he was in control again. "You have not been listening, have you?"

"You haven't been making much sense," she answered curtly.

He nodded blandly. "Then let me repeat myself. Lorraine Spears, I am never rejecting you. I will haunt you until you realise that you can't live without me."

The arrogant... Wondering how on earth she had felt all the confusing emotions earlier, Lorraine gave him a derisive look as she said, "I only thought you were just an insufferable fool. Didn't know you are delusional too."

The insult rolled right off him as he stepped towards her again with widespread arms, saying, "See, babe? That's why I want us to get to know each other. How else will you discover all these wonderful qualities of mine?"

Lorraine almost lost the battle with the smile that sprang to her lips. She settled for an aloof look, even as he held her folded arms.

"Stay with me, babe. And you will find one thousand and one reasons to fall in love with me."

His intoxicating scent was messing with her again, so she tried to shrug him off.

Instead, he caged her in his strong arms, kissed the tip of her nose, and his grin disappeared as he stated, "Answer one question for me, please."

"What?" she blurted automatically, wishing he would let go of her before she melted into his arms.

"Your low blood sugar. That is a very rare thing for a werewolf. Any idea what caused it?"

The reminder of how he had seen her vulnerable, twice now, made her stiffen, and she jerked out of his hands as she gritted out, "I told you to mind your damn business."

"Lorraine, I..."

Annoyance crossed his face as his phone suddenly rang. He pulled it out to disconnect it, but hesitated as he saw the caller ID.

He looked apologetically at her. "I am sorry. I need to..."

"None of my business," she muttered as she stepped around him.

"Damien," she heard him say into the phone as she stepped out of the treehouse.

Damien. That was his beta. The one who had played a crucial role in the queen's rescue when they were in the human world.

Logan had put him in charge of the pack when he decided to follow them to Moonvale to root out those who wanted Athena dead.

Even though she did not want to admit it, Lorraine knew he did it partly because of her.

Just as he was mostly staying on in Silvergate now because he expected her to change her mind. She wouldn't.

"If the beta is calling him, maybe something important happened in his pack. He would be leaving, Lorraine. We can't let him leave like this." Kiarra's panicked deduction rumbled in Lorraine's mind.

She was surprised that it did not sit well with her, even as she said, "He can choose to go where he wants. I don't care."

"I care!" Kiarra snapped. She had always been mostly supportive in everything Lorraine did, but she had proven to be quite difficult when it came to Logan. "He is our mate! We shouldn't let him go!"

"I can't possibly tie him here, can I?" she muttered tersely. "He has a pack to run."

"We can go with him," Kiarra insisted.

Lorraine's step faltered as that possibility sprang into her mind like an unwanted burr.

"I am doing nothing of the sort. Stop talking about this," she snapped, ignoring Kiarra's sulk as she picked up on the sounds behind her.

He was still far behind, but she knew he could easily gain on her anytime.

"Lorraine, we need to talk!" His call made her want to shift into her wolf, outrun him and never stop.

She stopped herself from doing that and broke into a run instead.

Shame dogging her footsteps at her uncharacteristic behaviour, Lorraine entered the alpha house, glad she had beaten him there.

She intended to stay away from him until he gave up and returned to his pack.

Very soon, she would need to leave for Moonvale too, even if the queen decided to stay on in Silvergate.

The problem with Guinevere might have been resolved when the bitch blew her head off in front of Raymond two days ago, but there were still other things to handle in Moonvale. First on that list was Lance, the damn traitor.

Lorraine was looking forward to venting all her frustrations on the damn delta who had colluded with outsiders to hurt their queen.

Then...

"Lorraine, you are back. Great. Come join us. I have something to tell you."

Lorraine's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Athena's voice.