THE AWAKENING

“Two days ago you wanted to kill me.” Yeah, sorry that was a hard one to let go, she thought grumpily.
“Now you’re suddenly all interested in my welfare? Not buying it. Not be rude or anything,” she tacked on for appearances sake
because frankly, she was a bit pissed.
Of course, Cristophe had been planning to kill her as well, but for some reason, she wasn’t as miffed at him for his momentary
lapse in judgment.
“Here I am kidnapped by creatures I’ve never even heard of until a few days ago and since then I’ve been, well, for lack of a
better word, violated, when I’d been planning to save myself for marriage and I can’t seem to help myself when that stupid Phase
thing starts heating up my body like an engine that’s been running too hot without oil; suddenly, I’m this raging slut who wants to
screw anything that walks, oh! And if that’s not bad enough, I’m some mystical werewolf with a magical hoo-ha! Then, I get
kidnapped by this really, really bad guy named Ulster who has terrible plans for the world, I should let you know, and when I
finally manage to get away — on my own, thank you very much — I come to the one place I thought I’d be safe and the first thing
you do is try to kill me. Forgive me if I don’t think much of your managerial style.”
She finished her last bite, shoveling the meat into her mouth in an angry gesture. “That was delicious,” she snapped, privately
shocked at how feral she felt inside.
She was all riled up and could almost feel the hackles of her wolf-self rising from beneath the skin. She wanted more food. That
steak wasn’t nearly big enough to satisfy her hunger but she wasn’t about to ask Tieran for a single thing.
The silky smooth fabric began to chafe her tender skin and a bead of sweat dotted her hairline.
Someone had washed and bathed her sometime after she’d passed out for her epic snooze and had dressed her in a thin
chemise the color of cream.
Seconds ago she’d been perfectly comfortable but now, everything felt too hot and scratchy.
Oh no.
She recognized this feeling.
Nooooo, not with him in the room!
“You need to leave,” she gritted out, swallowing as her heart rate rose. Instead, he closed the door and locked it.

To her horror, he began unbuttoning his shirt. His chest, smooth and chiseled, was the picture of male perfection. Muscle corded
his stomach and tapered to tight hips. Her tongue snaked out to slide along her bottom lip.
“Please go,” she whispered, too ashamed to care that she was pleading. “I don’t want to be with you.”
“You’re Phasing,” he said unnecessarily. She probably had that figured out seeing as she was about to rip her chemise to shreds
just to be free of anything touching her.
He advanced toward her, a low growl sounding from his chest when she actually bared her tiny, human teeth at him. “No one will
touch you but me from this moment forward.”
“Get the fuck away from me,” she warned. “Go get Jandin or Koris, or Cristophe for fuck’s sake; anyone but you!”
She scrambled from the bed, trying to escape, possibly to jump through the window — anything to get away — but he jerked her
into his arms, hissing when their chests collided.
Her breasts heaved as she panted, her insides boiling. God, she hated this! Even as she cursed him, she rubbed against the
granite of his chest, writhing in his arms.
“When I come down from this, I’m going to kick you in the nuts,” she promised in an angry breathless whisper seconds before
she latched onto his mouth, sucking his tongue deep into her mouth as he hefted her in his arms.
She fit perfectly into his arms, like a puzzle piece locking into place. Cassandra didn’t know if it was the Phase that made her feel
as if she’d just leapt into the arms of destiny or something else but she knew it was pointless to try and figure it out at this
moment.
She moaned as her core liquefied with desperate need.
“It’s like there’s a fire beneath your skin,” he gasped, breaking free from her ravenous kiss. He cupped her behind and squeezed
the plump flesh.
She thrilled at the possessive imprint on her skin. His eyes darkened to a wild hue as the blue disappeared with his humanity.
He took her mouth savagely, growling against her lips as he plundered, stabbing her mouth with his tongue until she was forced
to accept him.

It was brutal and heady — something that she would’ve found completely distasteful if she were in her right mind — but at the
moment she found him intoxicating.
She clutched a handful of his dark hair and wrenched it back, laughing when he responded in kind, twisting a hank of her hair
and yanking it close to the scalp.
The pain sparked an insane pleasure that baffled but she didn’t care. A low throaty laugh followed and he threw her to the bed.
“I don’t like you anymore than you like me,” he said in a low growl as he followed her to the bed to rip the thin chemise away from
her body.
His eyes glowed with lust as he feasted on the curves and valleys of her breasts, hips and thighs. Her knees fell open and her
hand found its way to her core.
She was nearly mindless with the need to be filled. He slapped her hand and pushed it away from her folds as he climbed her
body with the grace of an animal; all muscle and sinew corded together to create sheer masculine power.
His scent hit her like a sensual slap. He smelled of something so intoxicating she couldn’t even put words to it, but she wanted to
bury her nose against his groin like a woman who’d found her drug of choice.
“But there will be no one but me planting their seed in your belly. If you are to whelp a pup that will rule this world, it will be mine
or no one’s.”
Yes! No! Her heart sang even as her brain babbled in an incoherent attempt at holding onto her sanity but the Phase would not
be denied and simply shut down the thinking section of her mind.
She wanted to feel, touch and taste. She wanted Tieran to bathe her insides with his seed and calm the fire that raged inside her.
She wanted to feel his pup grow inside her, beneath her heart, which was pure insanity!
He flipped her onto her belly, pausing to grip the twin halves of her behind in both hands and squeezing with a grunt of approval.
“On your knees,” he demanded, his voice tight. “I want to see your beautiful ass in the air.”
She didn’t hesitate.
In fact, it felt completely natural to offer herself to Tieran like this when in fact, if she were completely lucid, she would’ve told him
to go fuck himself.

But there was nothing but eager compliance in her head at the moment and she simply spread her knees and lifted her backside,
ready and quivering.
He didn’t wait a moment. There was no teasing, no readying either. No, it was a brutal assault from the start but there was
something about Tieran that made her heart sing even as she would’ve been happy to deny it.
He was a cold, ruthless jerk and she wanted nothing to do with him, under most circumstances. But right now, she was infected
with the insatiable need to feel him inside her, thrusting into her with the same reckless abandon as they tumbled down the
rabbit’s hole of insanity together.
His cock pressed at her entrance, thick and blunt and she shuddered as he rammed himself deep into her core.
She groaned as the pain of being entered without warning faded into delicious fullness, the head of his cock banging against that
elusive spot that she’d only read about in books.
She writhed, impaled; gasping with pleasure. “Yesss! Tieran! Yess! Make me yours! Fill me with your seed!”
The words flowed from her lips as if she’d suddenly been possessed and she was helpless to stop the torrent. “The superior
male will claim the womb of the pale bitch and the resulting pup will rule the world!”
Cassandra’s breasts bounced with each hard thrust, rubbing against the linens as she clutched the comforter tightly. She was
spiraling quickly, her channel gripping his cock, milking him with feral intent.
They were helpless to stop what was happening. They were both caught in a maelstrom set in motion at the beginning of time as
they fulfilled an ancient creed.
It didn’t matter that neither particularly wanted the responsibility that the Gods had given them; the Gods would have their
Prophecy fulfilled.
In a blinding moment, Cassandra felt melded with Tieran. She glimpsed a female face that was not her own. A wave of sorrow
washed over Cassandra that clashed with the wild lust riding her hard. Momentarily disoriented, she realized she’d slipped
behind the curtain of Tieran’s thoughts, similar to what had happened with Ulster.
“No!” Tieran growled savagely and suddenly Cassandra was shoved from his mind and back into her own.

He withdrew and flipped her onto her back so that he hovered above her. Everything happened so fast Cassandra could only
blink in stunned silence as Tieran regarded her with angry lust-hazed eyes.
“Off limits,” he bit out a warning before shoving himself back into her molten core. She gasped at the savagery and agony in his
tone but quickly lost herself in the building pleasure between them.
Tieran groaned, his movements becoming frantic as his grip on her hips tightened almost painfully. She knew what was coming.
She could feel it in her bones as her own body reacted in kind.
Pleasure spiraled, taking no prisoners as they both hurtled into their own black hole of pleasure where nothing existed but the
sizzle of sensation obliterating their nerve endings and sending both collapsing to the bed, panting hard.
It was several moments before either realized where they were or what had happened. Cassandra’s thighs were wet with sticky
fluid and her cheeks heated with the knowledge that it was Tieran’s seed dribbling from her core.
She wanted to move away but she was as weak as a newborn kitten. Tieran seemed the same, which was shocking given the
man was one solid wall of muscle.
“What just happened?” she asked in raspy voice, still stunned. This had been different than the other Phasing. Vastly different.
“What. The. Fuck. Just. Happened?”