Captive: Hopeless

Chapter 13 - Bonds

"Yes. It is what it is. Father will be angry but will learn to deal with it. You'll have a bond with Kay, Thane will be happy, we will have thwarted Azera, and Kay will understand things better,"

Frowning at his fiance's calm assessment, he toyed with a fountain pen.

"With me being a vampire, Claudia, marking her before claiming you will put her first and elevate that bond above yours."

The werewolf tilted her head, considering the information.

"Then mark me first. All of this is a done deal. There will be no reneging, and my father won't remove your balls before he has a grandchild," Claudia mocked, and he hissed at her.

Despite her smirk, she growled yet was dead serious.

"Just like that, no sex, no getting to know each other, no wedding or wedding night? Just claim you like it's nothing?"

Claudia shrugged.

"Marcus, I am not Delia and am no romantic. Yes, I would have secretly liked the bells and whistles, but we're on a deadline.

"Plus, I enjoy being one move ahead of my opponent. Father has no sons and did not raise me to be all girly, and, as you well know, Mother is a practical woman. You're an honorable man and don't have to prove that. Have I not seen you at your best and worst? Is it not why we are here now? I trust you to do the right thing."

Marcus stared at her like a little sister that was suddenly all grown up and not the woman he was about to marry, while the word Delia seemed loaded with innuendo.

This thing between Marcus and Claudia was a contract, not a love thing; that much was evident.

"Remember that when you go into heat before we're married and have to be locked in a cell."

Was he kidding? Kay had no idea how this thing with vampires and werewolves worked.

"Unfortunately, I will curse you to hell and back. Are you chicken or not?" Claudia asked, baring her shoulder, and he glared into her eyes for what seemed like a long time.

"Don't blame me if this goes horribly wrong and your father cancels the wedding."

Gently placing his hands on Claudia's shoulders, he pulled her closer. Should she be witnessing this? Yet she had nowhere to go and could not tear her eyes away from them.

With a basic idea of what marking was, she could not believe it to be true.

Why would one person bite another?

"Great, then we don't have to wait to be naughty, and we'd have to move to some unknown island," Claudia mocked but then growled low in her throat when those fangs sank into the soft flesh of her shoulder, resisting the bite for a moment before slumping into his embrace.

The werewolf hadn't passed out; she just seemed to experience some deep and profound emotion. As her pupils dilated to the fullest, then shrunk, she sighed, but it was more of a moan and had little to do with pain, reminding Kay of Azera caught in mid-feed.

Marcus lifted his head, revealing a raw, bleeding bite mark on Claudia's shoulder that ruined her blouse, his mouth bloody.

He licked the wound, and it sealed shut, but instead of fading or disappearing as the punctures healed, they became silvery and obvious, like a birthmark or a tattoo.

Their body chemistry altered, and when their lips met, it was no chaste kiss.

Daniella looked away.

This moment was more intimate and intense than sexual heat, leaving her uncomfortable.