Rebel : The Unwilling Mate

4. A Whole New World

Angie was leaning against the wall, snoring. I grinned and crept out of the bed. Time to explore. When I opened the door. I could hear Travis talking to someone at the end of the hall. He must have been at the bottom of the stairwell. I walked past Russell's office. The light was off. What was the best escape opportunity? When I had his trust, I would be able to leave out the front door.

The first room on the right was a guest bedroom. The door was cracked a little bit and candlelight was glowing out. I poked my head in and my curiosity got the best of me. I could see the back of Russell's head in the queen bed. Tussled black hair was pressed against the navy colored pillow.

My wolf crippled me. She needed us to be close to him. I knew that the longer I went without him marking me, the more I was going to lose control. I felt my canines getting sharper. I appeased her by sneaking into the room. He didn't move... I could smell his deep woodsy smell as I got closer. The lit candle was on the dresser beside me at that point.

Russell started to breathe in more deeply, rolling over. Good God he had no shirt on. I caught a glimpse of those deep gray eyes beginning to open as he rolled over, and I blew out the candle.

"Lilly?" He said my name for the first time, groggily in mid-sleep.

"Uhh..." Is all I had for once.

"I know it's you," He said, more awake now, "How did you get out of your room?" I had to think on my feet. I didn't want him to know that I was just sneaking around his house at night. Only hours earlier I had been his prisoner.

"I asked to see you," I said, trying to sound defeated.

"I don't believe you," He responded quickly, "You're sneaky."

"It's past midnight," I commented.

"So?" He said, I could hear him sitting up.

"Two questions," I said, sitting on the floor.

"Oh I see. Now that I caught you, you're going to make an effort," he said. My stomach knotted. My wolf was begging me to comfort him.

"You've rejected me, Lilly," he said. I heard him rolling over.

"You could probably say I'm not ready for pack life," I offered.

"I'm not going to control you. I'm a hardass when it comes to combat, to tracking, to my pack, but to my mate... That'd be different. That's supposed to be my queen, someone who rules beside me. Someone as strong as me. I don't want to steal your freedom from you," He was getting up in arms, so I shut the door so no one would hear.

I walked closer to the bed nervously and sat on the edge. We were so close I could feel the heat from his body. It drove me insane. Guess that's the mate bond...

"Look, sorry I'm not the ideal queen for you," I said.

"I'll wait for you," he replied curtly.

"And if I never come around?" I proposed.

"You really deny that your wolf loves mine? Isn't our closeness effecting you? If not, you've already rejected me. I didn't even know if was possible for a wolf to reject an alpha mate," he sounded like he was genuinely musing over it. Part of me wanted to just admit my attraction and make out with him.

"I'll compromise," I offered.

"I'm listening, but I reserve the right to say no," he replied.

"If you agree to give me my space, you can claim me," I offered daringly. It made me nervous, the idea of being claimed, but there had to be some give and take.

"Okay," he seemed to be thinking, "I can do that." And then, just like that, he outstretched his arm and pulled my body against his. Heat filled my veins instantly. In a second I was underneath him. I closed my eyes in slight fear, but my body gave in. The heat from his skin was intense. When I felt his lips on my neck, I felt a sigh escape my lips and immediately blushed imagining everyone in the house knowing what is happening.

Russell laid himself gently on top of me and I allowed my hands to roam over his thick shoulders. The feel of his skin had me breathing harder. His tongue brushed over the skin on my neck and I squeezed my eyes shut tightly. The claim was painful but it was also full of pleasure. His teeth sunk in so easily, and then it was over. When he grazed his tongue over the mark. Chills ran down my spine. I instinctively hugged him and he gently unwrapped my arms,

"Space," he reminded me with a wink.

"Right," I said, breathlessly. Regaining my balance, I turned to walk out of the room. My wolf literally crippled me, she wanted to be held after the claim was made, to be comforted by her mate. I'd never felt so week in my life as I did when I walked out of that room.

Travis was now outside my door again and seeing me emerge from the guest room made him raise an eyebrow at me, as he looked between me and the door behind him. I put my finger to my lips praying he wouldn't think to wake Angie up.

I could feel him staring at the claim on my neck as I walked past him into Russell's room. Ugh, so awkward. Angie was still knocked out but she was now laying on the floor. I crawled back into the bed quietly. Unfortunately, being apart from Russell after the claim was made seemed to make it very hard to sleep.

...

The next morning I woke up to Angie staring at me. She had a pile of clothes in her arms and a towel thrown over her shoulder,

"I bought you a closet full of black clothes, your own toothbrush and a body spray."

"Well, thanks," I said honestly, I tried to pull the sweatshirt hood over the mark on my neck, it gave me pain to brush over it.

She handed me the clothes and left the room. I assumed that meant I should shower, so I did. The shirt was a black Vneck that left the claim extremely easy to see. I frowned as I pulled on the dark denim jeans with the low rise boots I arrived in the day before.

As I pulled my short hair into a ponytail I stared at my reflection. Eyeliner was smudged around my lashes and my eyes looked tired from lack of sleep. I needed to decide what I was doing. Russell seemed to think I was staying with him. Ken would want to come soon enough... He still desired me as a breeder. Super creepy.

It was either I stay with Russell and become a pack mommy or go with Ken and be forced to be a mommy to his pups... I at least had to communicate to Ken where I was and make sure he didn't come after me, or else Russell would kill him and the friends that I had in the old pack. I had to escape.

I had to talk to Ken. 

...