Forty eight

JADE POV.

Infiltrating the Graco fortress was easier than I thought it would be, and as I slipped between the building, I could already tell that I was going to be able to get Ares out before they even found out that I had been there.

Using my heightened sense of smell, I could navigate the compound more easily. Dearil was not around and that was because it was a full moon and he was probably on the run, or back at Etral.

I wasn't a full wolf so I didn't get the urge to transform or run under the glare of the full moon, all I felt was the urge to howl, and that was because I was so horny, every little move I made caused zaps of tingling up my spine. And I was so hot, it was almost a chore to concentrate.

I'd scented the belongings of Ares so I knew exactly what I was searching for and once I got a lead, I immediately went after it.

His scent led down a basement that gave way to a dark retro-looking dungeon filled with different sexual playthings.

There were no guards stationed anywhere near the dungeon and an alarm bell flared in my head that it was probably a trap. Dearil must surely know that I would take matters into my own hand after how I left the casino.

I inhaled deeply, and I don't sense Dearil anywhere near the vicinity, but if I got trapped in the dungeon, I would be stuck until he got back.

I stepped cautiously towards the dungeon, my sense alert for any trap on active, and when I stepped inside, Ares's scent thickened in the air, indicating that he was somewhere in the room. Everything was perfectly still, and that put me more on edge than I already was.

I was so horny that if I saw Dearil, I was probably going to jump his bones even though I hated him. His pheromones were so heady that they turned me into mush when all I wanted was to cut his head off his body.

Ares was tied to the very end of the wall. His gaze snapped to mine once I stepped out of the shadow.

A look of surprise crossed his face, then he chuckled. "Told Ryland, you were fucking alive" he got out hoarsely as his eyes raked over me. Marks littered his body and he looked gaunt. Edward was probably a sick bastard who got off on torturing other people. "Please tell me you got rid of that bastard".

"I am working on it. You look like shit" I said and he chuckled.

"I feel like it too. This is embarrassing. You're rescuing me when it should be the other way round"

"Other way around? I guess I'd have to be abducted first right?" I stepped towards him, making quick work of breaking the chains that were used to hold him to the wall.

Ares stared at me, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets, then his gaze moved to the chains on the floor, a disbelieving look on his face.

"Am I having a fucking dream right now"?

I smirked. "It might become a dream if you do not hurry the fuck up, "I told him and he made to move his leg, then went crashing to the floor as they gave out on him.

He groaned, his elbows and hand smacking against the floor. I bent down to check on his damages.

"Are you ok? Did you hurt yourself" I asked, but I was sure there were no cuts because I could smell no blood?

Ares shook his head. "I'm fine. It's just that I haven't walked in a long while, so everything kind of feels new, also I am freaking starving".

"A blind man can see that, " I said then thought the situation over. "I am going to carry you," I said, and his eyes widened before they hardened.

"No! This is already humiliating enough. I can walk by myself" he assured, then pushed to his feet. His legs shook but he got it under control after taking three more steps.

"We need to leave now, and like it or not, I still have to carry you, or we will never get out of here".

Ares nodded and I forced a reassuring smile. Checking to see if there was any movement or the scent of any human approaching, but really I was just on edge worrying about when Dearil would show up.

I couldn't believe I had gone from not mentioning his name or thinking about him, to mentioning his name every other second. It was beyond pathetic.

I held onto Ares's hand, and we navigated our way back up to the main building.

The scent of Dearil hit me like a freight train and I paused, my head reeling from it.

"Why are we stopping," Ares asked, and I flinched, having forgotten that he was still with me. Seeing an open door, I shoved him into it without a word.

"Stay. Someone is coming" I said to him, and he stopped trying to get out.

Trying to regulate the heat that arouse within me and the urge to seek out Dearil myself, I took another path, to steer him away from Ares. There was no evading him, but I wanted this to be the last time we had any reason to meet. More of his scent reached me and it was so sharp and angry it made me want to go to him and do whatever it took to have him calm again. It was absurd, but I couldn't help myself.

I stepped out of a door and there he stood, staring right at me, a dark look in his eyes as he sniffed in the air.

He looked glorious, and he was naked, every muscle glistening under the low light. Everything south of my waist clenched deliciously, his scent making me feel lightheaded the longer I breathe. This was a temptation I was sure I wouldn't be able to resist, especially since his scent kept fucking with my head.

He made me feel like running or tearing at his throat, or baring mine in submission. It was too much and at the same time not enough.

"Cut it out" I forced out of my throat as my knees got weaker. His scent kept flooding around me, and it seemed to keep saying submit, submit, submit.

Everything In me rebelled against it, but I knew I was fighting a losing battle.

"Mine" he growled as he crowded against me, his figure looming over me like a dangerous wildcat.

My breath caught in my throat and I raised my hand to try to put some space between us, but he just caught hold of my hand, his scent spiking aggressively.

"Whose scent?" He growled, his voice sending tingles up my spine, and some things became clear all of a sudden. He looked just the way he did on the mating night, and maybe that was why I was also so horny. We were both in a rut. I squirmed under his gaze, my skin burning feverishly in response to his. I could feel him, even tho he hadn't even touched me yet.

My mouth dried up as his scent kept increasing. It was overwhelming, the way his scent made me feel good and on edge all at once. Without thinking too much about it, I bared my neck in submission when it got to be too much.

The act made him slightly less overbearing, and I flinched as he jerked me closer until we were wedged together, then he bent his head and rubbed his nose against my scent gland, marking me thoroughly until I could no longer scent any other pheromones but his alone. His whole body was pressed against mine and the bulge of his arousal pressing hotly against my stomach drove me insane. I wanted... I wanted...

"Mine" he murmured against my throat and those words made me feel as if I was floating... I struggled to remember all the things I had decided on before I came to rescue Ares, but it all felt like a distant past that didn't mean shit.

I gasped in shock when I was suddenly lifted from the floor like I weighed nothing. I tried to struggle out of his hold and his scent spiked so high that it made me whine in discomfort and arousal.

Fuck, what was up with him? He kept surprising me at every turn... first it was his Alpha voice, and now I was freaking addicted to his pheromones, the ones that made me want to bear my throat and try to please him as if nothing else in the world mattered.

He dropped me unceremoniously on the bed, and I gasped, bouncing a bit on and off it before he was leaning over me, his gaze intense. My breath caught In my throat. Dearil was naked and leaning over me, and it should have freaked me out, but just like before, all I felt was safe and the urge to take it further.

"So beautiful and all mine" he growled as his hand hooked the neckline of my shirt. A tug was all it took for the material to rip, then he went for my jeans, and tore them off me roughly in the same manner, his action making me gasp.

He reached for my bra, and my hands reached to stop him, a glare in my eyes.

"What the hell do you think you are doing" I got out, my chest beating rapidly at his looming presence. I wanted him... Badly. But there was also something at the back of my head that reminded me of everything that had happened in the past, and the fact that he had let me go without at least putting up a fight. He was probably here just to satiate his lust.

"Claiming what is mine."

"And how am I yours when you let me go, even tho you said if I ever left you, you'd kill me. It was all bullshit wasn't it".

His pheromones were messing with my head and instead of shoving him off, my hand latched unto his, almost pulling him closer.

His eyes clouded dangerously. "I did not come for you or stopped you from leaving because I wanted you to want me" he confessed even as the lust he felt dilated his pupil. His hands trailed my cheeks, then wrapped around my throat, a feral look in his eyes as he increased the pressure. It was all I needed and more.

"I wanted you to miss me. You were my mate, and yet the pain I felt never bothered you. Do you have any idea how much the past month had hurt, I let you be because I am used to always being left behind and rejected, but I have had enough. You are mine, and this time, you are not going to reject me", his hold tightened until my pulse thudded against his palm. "I am never going to let you go".

My heart drummed against my ribcage. Hearing his reason made me see that he was just like me. I left him because deep down I'd wanted him to chase after me, so I knew I truly mattered to him, and he'd let me go to see if I would come back, so he could know how much he meant to me.

We were both broken and wired so wrong that I knew, it would be toxic even if what we had worked. I would never leave my empire, just to become his Luna. Yet, that didn't stop me from raising my head and pressing my lips against his passionately. The fire that raged between us created an inferno that made even breathing difficult as we devoured each other. His hand moved over my body, marking every inch of my skin until I reeked of him. We were both soon naked.

He grabbed my thighs and spread them apart, then settled between them, his gaze on mine the entire time.

"You are mine now," he said, his pheromones spiking as he waited for my answer.

I bared my throat. It was totally out of my control. He made me want to give up everything and that fucking scared me, but it all faded into oblivion as he lunged forward, his teeth sinking into the scent gland in my throat.

A delicious current rushed through my whole system as if I'd been electrocuted, and as he thrust into me, I felt whole, as if both our soul was merging into one.

I grabbed onto him, and for once, I wasn't afraid to let go, or call him mine.