Chapter 149
JESSICA
“My hybrids?”
:
- )))
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Grayson didn’t blink. Just nodded. Jaw tight. And I knew what that meant. That jaw thing – he only does it when he’s close to snapping. When something doesn’t go the way he wants and he’s holding it in, holding me in.
“Yes.”
“I know about that!”
“Yes.”
Riot chuckles again, quiet and cruel, and I hiss, bratty, “Stop laughing, you’re not helping! What is it, Grayson?”
“You have to make a choice, Jess.”
“A choice?”
My heart is traitorous. Also my eyes. They weren’t supposed to stare at Grayson’s face but it did. I had the opening. A perfect opening to memorize his features.
If he’s going to ask me again if I’m confused between him and Riot, I’ll have my answer right away. Except, Grayson doesn’t really ask twice. In fact, he will never ask at all.
He’ll just look at me and wait for me to make my decisions. That’s what he always does. He takes care of me in his own ways but sometimes, I wish he would let me take care of him too.
I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block him out, but it’s useless. His presence is everywhere, pressing in on me, demanding an answer I’m not ready to give.
“Grayson,” I start, but he cuts me off.
“The other pack knows about your hybrids Jess and the other pack knows you’re still…in heat.”
“Stop,” I manage to say, but it comes out weak, like I don’t even believe it myself.
“Who do you belong to, Jess?” His voice is calm, but there’s a dangerous edge to it.
You.
Only you, Grayson.
“You’re still in heat, Jess. Your instincts are screaming, and you’re too damn stubborn to listen.”
“I’m not doing this again with you or anyone.”
9:39 Thu, Sep 4
Chapter 149
“Jess-”
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“No!” I cut off Pierce and stared at the three of them. I know what they are going to tell me. I’m reeking and the others smell it and if I remain to not have a mate, I’m going to end up being claimed. It’s just a matter of who. “No one is going to claim me.”
“Jess-”
“Even you Grayson!”
Tears welled up in my eyes. Moon goddess! These assholes only think about their knots! Grayson attempted to reach for me but I jerked my hand away, refusing to give him power over me.
I’m still not over it.
Of everything.
I’d spend weeks in that dungeon fighting Theo out of my system and no one…no one will claim me again.
I was the last unclaimed bitch in heat in a ten–mile radius and it wasn’t a secret anymore.
If I didn’t submit, someone was going to take.
“You think she wants that collar?” Riot rasped,holding me when I tried to run away again.
“Let me go-!”
I thrashed, but it was pathetic. Weak. My legs buckled the second he grabbed me.
He chuckled, that low nasty sound that always meant trouble.
“I really think,” he said, dragging his mouth along the shell of my ear, “we should tie her up.”
“No one is tying me-‘
But he had both wrists in one hand now. Pinning them behind me, arm arched up, body caged around mine like a rutting wolf ready to mount.
Grayson was silent.
Watching,
I turned my head, shame blooming under my cheeks like bruises.
Grayson’s jaw was locked. His eyes weren’t calm anymore. They were glowing. Starved.
“Let me go,” I snapped again, weaker this time.
“Let her go, Riot.”
“Tss.”
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Chapter 149
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Riot let go like he was doing me a favor.
But the second his hands peeled off my body, I gasped for breath, stumbling forward, chest heaving, thighs wet, shame slamming into me like a fist as I felt every set of eyes still on me–watching, scenting, knowing.
I caught myself, barely, heartbeat kicking, shame crawling up my back like teeth, the whole fucking pack still out there breathing me in like blood in the water, scenting how slick I was, how badly I needed, how close I’d come to folding.
And then I turned.
And I hit him.
Fist to jaw, clean and hard, bone slamming into his face with everything I had left, and it still wasn’t enough because Riot just grinned when his lip split open, blood trailing down his chin like he liked the taste of it.
“Fuck,” he rasped, licking it slow, “that slick little cunt’s got claws.”
“Touch me again,” I snarled, voice shaking from breath I didn’t have, “I’ll tear your fucking fingers off.”
“I’m not yours,” I snapped, voice shaking. “Not your bitch. Not your heat.”
His eyes dragged down my body like a tongue, slow and smug, pausing at the dark smear between my legs, nostrils flaring as his smirk curled wider. “No,” he said, low, dangerous, cock thick against his thigh, “but if no one claims you, you’re fair game, sweetheart. And they’ll chase you again. Fuck you raw in the dirt and fight over the taste of it.”
My breath caught. His gaze didn’t blink.
“You better pray someone puts a mark on that pretty little neck,” Riot growled, stepping closer, voice like heat down my spine, “before I do.”
He turned his back like he didn’t care what I did–like he knew I’d watch him go–and he was right, because I did, shaking, stomach clenched, thighs clamped together, every nerve screaming for air I couldn’t fucking
catch.
Then the heat behind me shifted.
Grayson didn’t touch me.
Didn’t have to.
He stood close enough that I could feel his breath on the back of my neck, his presence dragging across my skin like a collar I didn’t remember putting on.
“It’s okay, Jess.”
“What?”
“For you to choose Riot.”
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Chapter 149
My breath caught. “I didn’t-”
“You looked like you wanted him.”
:D
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I turned, stupid, slow, and there he is, my cruel alpha accusing me of everything but choosing him. “Is this fun for you, Grayson?”
“Hmm?”
“Making me feel like-”
“Like what?”
My mouth shut too fast. “Like..” I stare at the ground, not really having the courage to look at him. ” Like…you don’t love me anymore.”
His hand came up, knuckles grazing my jaw, not soft — just enough to make my mouth fall open, to make heat crawl down my throat. I hated that I didn’t step back. Hated worse that I leaned. That my chest rose for him.
“Love?” he murmured, thumb brushing over the corner of my lip, watching it catch. “That what you want?”
My mouth opened, but nothing came out.
“You want love,” he said again, colder this time. “Then why’d you let him touch you?”
My stomach dropped so fast I almost choked.
He smiled. Just a little.
“Yeah. That’s what I thought.”
Grayson’s eyes stayed on mine for a second longer, like he was waiting for me to say something–anything. When I didn’t, he just turned and walked away.
“Well, that was… something,” Pierce’s voice cut through the silence, followed by a low laugh. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, smirking like he’d just watched the best show of his life.
“Shut up,
Pierce,” I snapped, but my voice cracked. I hated how weak it sounded.
“What? I’m just saying he shrugged, still grinning. “You two are always drama. It’s kind of entertaining,”
I glared at him, walking away too. This is so stupid. Just plain stupid.
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Chapter 150
