Betrayed Forced Mate (Rosecreek Special Ops Wolves #4)

“Do not call me that.”

“Losers don’t get to pick their nicknames,” Byron says, making Kaila giggle, and my chest warms further.

So, he’s not perfect, but he’d make a great dad. I go outside to get some air, and try to shake away some of the overwhelming lust I feel every time I look at Byron.

But he comes out to find me on the porch, pushes me up against the siding of Bigby’s house, and kisses me senseless, his hands under the hem of my shirt, his lips skating over my skin.

That night, he shows up at my door, but when I step forward to wrap my arms around him, he cocks his head and grins.

“You want to go for a run?”

We shift as soon as we hit the trees, racing through the woods. We follow a rabbit for a while, then tumble down a hill together.

When it starts to rain, hard, we seek refuge under a pavilion far from the house. We shift back, and Byron slots his body to mine, making love to me in the rain. The tender touches, soft breaths, the way he holds me like he knows I could break—I realize it all at once. That this is more than a fling. That Byron and I are end game.

“Byron,” I breathe, looking up at him when we’re done, laughing at how the water drips from his nose and onto my chest. “I love you.”

“What?” he mumbles, pulling his head back, looking at me, his expression still sleepy and lust-filled and adoring.

“Byron, you—you’re my mate.”

“What?” he says, rearing back, and I miss his body heat immediately. It’s a lot to deal with, I know, so I take a deep breath, meeting his eyes.

“I—” I say, smiling so hard my cheeks hurt. I don’t even care that I’m naked—I feel so comfortable with him, it’s just the same as being fully clothed. “We’re mates. Can’t you feel it? I’m just, so, so happy. After all those years hiding with Kaila and Rosa, I never thought I would get to have a family of my own—”

“Family?” Byron whispers, shaking his head and backing away more, his face white.

“Byron,” I say, my smile falling a bit. I reach for him, but he steps back, avoiding my touch. The sting is immediate and painful, and I watch it flicker over him, too.

Because we feel each other’s emotions. Because we’re mates.

“No,” he whispers, still shaking his head, his breathing coming fast, and I feel his panic wash through me as it washes through him. “No, Olivia, I’m sorry. We’re not. You’re mistaken.”

With that, he turns and shifts, racing back into the thunderstorm, while I stand and watch from my place under the pavilion, watching his figure disappear into the woods.

Chapter 7 – Byron

When I walk into the medical bay, Olivia is laid out on a cot, her eyes closed, her arms at her sides. I hate how my breath catches in my throat when I see her, but, luckily, nobody is looking at me.

She’s dressed for the event—wearing a skin-tight dress, her makeup done, that dark brown wig on her head. I notice her heels sitting at the end of the cot, and wonder who took them off for her.

“—ran all her vitals, they’re completely normal,” Maisie is saying. “I can do an MRI, but I’m not sure what we’ll find. I don’t know if she’s—”

“It’s a curse,” I say, crossing my arms and walking into the room. I glance at Bigby and Rafael, who are standing against the wall. “It would have got me, too.”

“You were monitoring the mission?” Bigby asks, raising an eyebrow at me. “Does Aris know?”

“Yeah,” I say, narrowing my eyes at him and trying not to let my anger get the best of me. I’m pissed all the time lately, and Bigby may be annoying me right now, but he doesn’t deserve full-on anger. “And we’re all pretty lucky I was, or she wouldn’t be here right now. She’d be wherever the hell that guy was going to take her.”

“Fair,” Bigby says, after holding my gaze for a moment. He takes a deep breath, then shrugs and turns back to Olivia, who looks like she’s only napping and could wake up any moment. “A curse?”

“Yeah. As soon as the guy started saying it, I took my headphones off.”

“What guy?” Percy asks as he walks into the room. It’s just like him to enter mid-conversation and pick up without hesitation. “Do you know who it was that said the curse?”

“No, he was obscured by the door frame. But it was the mayor who was trying to get her out of the building.”

“That’s weird, that a politician would risk doing it themselves,” Bigby muses, his hand to his chin. “Why not just have someone else do it for you?”