Feral Awakening (The Feral Series-Book 2) (35 page)

 Fear shot through
Kat’s system, as she realized what he intended to do. “Ronan no!” She had
thought that she would have time to calm him down but she had underestimated
the power the beast had over him. If he tried to mark her in the feral state he
was in he could kill her.

 “Mine.” Ronan snarled
at her as their eyes met. She was helpless in his arms as he held her immobile,
letting his dominance wash over her. Never again would someone try to take her
from him. After tonight she would carry his mark for all to see. Kat cried out
as Ronan’s razor sharp teeth descended toward her neck. Pain blazed like an
inferno through her neck and into her shoulder as his teeth broke deeply into
her skin and beyond into muscle. The very air she breathed was force from her
lungs as his massive arm clamped down around her rib cage as he forced her to
submit to his bite.

 Kat’s limbs began to
feel weightless as all of the tension melted away. The pain of his fierce bite
and powerful arm began to fade. Her head began to spin and it felt as though a
piece of her very soul began to float out of her body on a warm ocean wave. Beautiful
glowing lights of green began to twirl around their two bodies in a hypnotizing
dance. Swirling lights of gold flowed out of Ronan and joined the swirling
energy. Twisting together, the two blinding colors wrapped around each other
until you could no longer tell the two apart.

 Kat gasped as the wave
suddenly crashed back into her body, filling her up and returning to her
forever changed. It returned stronger, more powerful and mixed with the love
that her mate had for her. She felt protected and safe and cherished. The two
of them now bound together forever.

 The same energy
pounded back inside of Ronan, flooding his ragged and untamed emotions. It
eased his rage, bringing with it the calm and peace that he had been missing
for most of his life. It soothed his beast and filled the emptiness in his soul,
with it came the love of his mate and the complete acceptance of both the man
and the beast that resided within him.

 Slowly coming back
into himself the beast eased its grip and allowed the man to once again
resurface. As both man and beast came back into balance he loosened the fierce
grip he had on the tiny female in his arms. Carefully he released the fragile
neck trapped between his jaws. As the rage ebbed he began to shift, his
medallion glowed brightly as beast once more became man until nothing of the
beast remained except for his glowing eyes.

 Cradling his mate in
his arms he lowered his eyes to her now silent form. His focus returning, the
reality of what just happened began to sink in.

 “Kat?” He looked into
the face of the woman he loved in confusion. “Kat?” He gave her a little shake
but she still didn’t respond. Dropping to his knees he quickly laid her in
front of him so he could better see her injuries. She was unconscious and blood
ran freely down her neck and across her chest from where his mark now forever
stained the delicate skin. “Oh gods, Kat!” Ronan quickly ran his hands over her
body looking for more injuries and found two broken ribs and claw marks across
her back.

 His roar of pain
echoed into the unnatural silence of the moonlit woods, sending the creatures
of the night scattering from their hiding spots. Once again his mate had been
attacked by a monster but this time he had been unable to save her. This time
the monster was him.

 Kat woke to delicious
warmth heating her clear to her bones. With a deep sigh she grinned as the
scent of warm male surrounded her. A low growl rumbled beneath her cheek as she
squirmed to get a close as she could. With a long luxurious stretch she finally
cracked her eyes open and found herself spread across Ronan’s broad chest. Heat
surged through her body as the results of all her squirming and stretching rose
to attention beneath her hip.

 Taking inventory of
her surroundings she saw that she was back in her room at the McLaren pack. Looking
down at herself she could see that she now wore a white tank top and panties
that she didn’t remember putting on herself and that not only was Ronan
shirtless he was completely naked beneath her.
Mmm, yummy.
Kat wanted to
purr in appreciation.

 In no hurry at all to
move from her perch on her mates chest, Kat stacked her hands beneath her chin
and gazed up at the man who had been watching her so closely. She could feel
his body beginning to tense beneath her and she could feel her smile falling
beneath the intensity of his eyes. Her mate was frowning at her and the look he
gave her was full of guilt and concern.

 Images of last night
played through her mind and Kat sucked in a sharp breath as she began to
remember the details of Ronan coming to her rescue followed by his chasing her
through the dark woods. Rising up in alarm she straddled Ronan’s chest and
reached her hand up to brush against the now mostly healed mark on her neck. The
mark was still an angry red but in time it would fade to a silvery sheen that
would barely be noticeable to the human eye. To other Lykans though, it would
stand out like a red flag. Anyone who saw it would stare in awe that she had
survived being marked by her fully shifted mate. Sliding her hand down her side
she palmed her ribs and found that they were only slightly sore but no longer
broken.  Experimentally she took a deep breath and was happy with the results.

 Next she trailed her
fingertips across the angry red welts on Ronan’s body. She was pleased to see
that he was also beginning to heal from his injuries. She was still concerned
though, there was a
lot
of them.

 Ronan’s voice rumbled
from beneath her. “How are you feeling?” He watched her closely but made no
move to touch her.

 “Fine, I think. How
did I get here?” Kat looked at Ronan in confusion. He breathed a deep sigh of
relief when he sensed no fear coming from his mate. He had feared that she
would take one look at him this morning and run screaming the other way. One
day he would learn to stop underestimating this amazing woman.

 Ronan carefully rose
to a sitting position beneath her and then scooted the two of them backwards so
his back rested against the pillows and headboard. He hesitated for a moment
and then brushed the backs of his fingers along the mating mark on her neck. He
knew of no other female that had been mated by her male while in his beast
form. Remorse filled him at the pain he caused her. It was a miracle he hadn’t
killed her last night.

 “Kat, I’m so sorry. I
never meant to hurt you. After I placed my mark on your neck my beast began to
settle and I was once again able to shift. Completing the mating bond soothed the
beast and brought me back from the edge. When I came to I saw the damage I had
caused to you and realized you were unconscious.” Kat watched as Ronan ran one shaky
hand through his hair. “Gods Kat, I could have crushed you to death. The bite
on your neck was so deep. What if I….”

 “Shhh.” Kat put her
fingertips against Ronan’s lips silencing his what-ifs. “But you didn’t. I’m
here and I’m fine and so are you and that’s all that matters.” Ronan didn’t
look convinced though, the guilt of harming his mate was clearly eating him up.

 “When I realized what
I had done, I gave you my blood to heal you and then carried you to the others.
My father and the rest of the pack had just decided to come after us when I
carried you out of the woods.” With a snort he shook his head, disgusted with
himself. “They thought I had killed you. Hell, I thought that I had killed you.
Your heartbeat was strong though and we brought you back to the pack. I cleaned
you up and you have been out for the past twenty four hours.”

 Ronan breezed over the
part of last night’s events that had him stomping around, snarling at anyone
that had dared to get within ten feet of her. He hadn’t let anyone touch her but
him and had tended her wounds himself. Caring for every scratch from his claws
and puncture from his teeth had been part of his penance for what he had done
to her. He had put her to bed to rest but she had toss and turned, unable to
settle down. After a while he had climbed in next to her and the minute his
skin had touched her own she had snuggled up alongside of him and settled into
the deep sleep she needed to heal. Unable to rest himself, he had watched over
her while she slept. He had been relieved to watch her wounds healing before
his eyes but had been unsure of what her state of mind would be upon waking.

 Kat looked at him in
concern. There were dark circles under his eyes and there were lines on his
face that hadn’t been there before. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. Kat
was suddenly filled with apprehension when he continued to frown at her.

 Kat looked down at the
crisp hairs on his broad chest, unwilling to maintain eye contact, a feeling of
dread replacing her earlier contentment. “Um, Ronan? You don’t regret mating
with me do you? I mean, I know you didn’t really want to but now that it’s
done… you’re not going to… I had hoped that…”

 Kat squeaked as she
suddenly found herself flipped over and pinned beneath a very intense male. “Never
again will you doubt how much you mean to me. You are my mate and you will
never again be separated from me. I love you Kat. I was such a fool to ever
think that I could live without you. You have been the answer all along and I
was too stupid to see it.

 “The morning you were
attacked I had decided to stay. I never left, I couldn’t do it. You were right.
We belong together. I came to your room that morning to find you but you had
already left with the others.”

 “All those years I
struggled to control my beast. Here I was this powerful male, a warrior, the
strongest in my clan and yet I couldn’t control it. I had no idea that one tiny
female would have the strength to tame me. You are the only one with that kind
of power over me. Looking back I think part of me feared you.” A very unlady
like snort interrupted Ronan’s moment of clarity.

 “No, really. I think a
part of me feared letting anyone have that much control over me. I had gotten
so used to being on my own. I feared needing anyone like that. I feared that if
I let you get that close to me that the beast might destroy both of us. I was
wrong though.”

 Beneath Ronan’s weight
he could feel Kat’s heart racing at his words. Her beautiful green eyes began
to fill with tears. He didn’t want to cause her more pain but he forged ahead
anyway. It was time he was honest with her, she deserved to hear the truth.

 Tenderly he swept one
tear off her cheek as he looked into her eyes. “Ah little one, don’t cry. You
know I can’t stand it when you cry. I’m sorry for all the pain I caused you. If
you will let me, I will spend the rest of our lives making it up to you. We
will go anywhere you want to. We can stay with the pack or I can take you back
to your little farm. We will do anything you want as long we are together. I love
you Kat. Just give me a chance to make you love me too.”

 Ronan watched the play
of emotion on Kat’s tear streaked face. She had been uncharacteristically quiet
and he found himself holding his breath waiting to hear her response. Maybe he
had finally pushed her too far. Maybe his brutally bonding with her in the
woods had finally pushed her away from him for good. There was no way he was
letting her go through. Somehow he would find a way to earn her forgiveness. Somehow
he would….

 Kat’s eyes suddenly
flashed a bright Lykan green and then to his amazement Ronan found himself
flipped over and pinned beneath his beautiful mate, the suddenness of the move
and her new found strength actually allowing her to roll his massive body off
of her. Proudly sitting on his chest with her legs wrapped around his hips, she
gazed down at her mate with a naughty smile that instantly sent heat pulsing
through his veins.

 Her eyes glowing
brightly she looked down at him from beneath a curtain a mahogany locks. “Mine!”
She smirked in feminine appreciation. Relief flooded Ronan’s system, now this
he understood. All his concerns that she no longer wanted him washed away.

 Ronan grinned at how
pleased she looked with herself. Apparently she was thoroughly enjoying the role
reversal. Clamping down his need to dominate her he decided to let his little
mate play. If this is what she needed he would do everything in his power to
give it to her even if it killed him, which he feared it may.

 Lowering herself
closer to Ronan’s chest Kat claimed his full lips with her own. Breathing in
his masculine scent she flattened herself against his chest, groaning at the
contact. Heat surged through her body as she moved her hands up to cup his jaw
in her palm. Holding his chin captive she devoured his lips. Running her tongue
across the seam, she gained entrance to the dark recess of his mouth. A groan
escaped her when his tongue eagerly met hers in carnal bliss.

 Warm palms slid up her
sides and along with them her tank top began to rise. Slowly inching up her
top, Kat gasped as it grazed across her sensitive buds, drawing them into tight
points. With a groan, Kat was glad there was no longer a barrier between her
skin and Ronan’s and she rubbed against him in appreciation. A low rumble vibrated
beneath her as the heat of her skin caressed Ronan’s chest.

 Kat growled in
frustration when Ronan broke their kiss in order to pull her top over her head.
After tossing the top to the floor, Kat could feel him bunching his shoulders
up so he could flip her beneath him and take over. Kat was having none of that.
Her inner Lykan rising to the surface, she growled low at him and once again
pushed down on his shoulders, pinning him beneath her.