Dumb moment there, not figuring out how Torin saw the grekins. Wolf senses could keep up with—
Torin moved, sprinting toward me, and I’d lingered too long to do anything except brace myself for the hit while simultaneously preparing to fight him. Because I would. I’d fight with everything I had in me.
As he closed in on me, Torin crouched in a typical tackle position, his intent to scoop me up. I embraced the wolf, allowed her energy to fill me as I took the option away from him, falling to the ground and spinning so I could slam my hand up into his thigh as he went past.
“Fuck, ours!” a grekin shouted, trying to grab at me again, but this time, I could see them coming, thanks to my wolf lingering close to the surface.
My fist crashed into its face. “Fuck not yours,” I growled.
Torin recovered far quicker than I’d expected, his hands wrapping around my arms as he hauled me off the ground and against his body. It was such an alpha signature move. Shadow had used it on me more than once, but it wasn’t the same with Torin. He was big, but not Shadow big. With the beast to compare him to, Torin seemed like a boy, without enough years of experience to harden him. One day he’d have it, but not this day.
“Let me go, you motherfucker,” I seethed, slamming my head forward to smash into his chin.
Torin let out a roaring rumble. “Bitch!”
“God yes, I am. You’re just realizing it now? Slow-ass fuck.”
“Bitch, ours!” a grekin chirped, leaping up onto Torin’s shoulder and wrapping its twiggy arms around his neck.
Was bitch an upgrade from fuck? Didn’t really matter, as long as they gave me a chance to get away. Wrenching myself out of Torin’s arms, I managed to get my feet back on the ground, but I was too slow again.
Sliding across the grass, I was jerked back when Torin wrapped a hand around my ankle. “Shadow!” I screamed, finally resorting to the ace in my back pocket—he had to be somewhere nearby.
“Who the fuck is Shadow?” Torin yelled, dragging me back into him with one hard jerk. He lifted me again, and this time, instead of shouting in my face, he kissed me. A firm slap of his lips against mine, the power rising up between us as the bond that had been rejected but not completely severed surged to life.
“No!” I cried, trying to jerk my head away, but he held me, forcing his energy into me. Forcing his power to mingle with mine. Forcing me in a way that no woman—or man—should ever be forced. My knee jerked up in an attempt to hurt him, but whatever I hit wasn’t enough to stop him.
So I bit him. As hard as I could, teeth tearing into his lips with force as blood spurted in my mouth. With a growl, Torin shoved me back, his face thunderous and brows furrowed. “What the fuck, Mera? We’re true mates! You belong to me… What the hell is wrong with you?”
What was wrong with me? WHAT WAS WRONG WITH ME?
“You’re as delusional as your father,” I growled. “And I belong to no one.”
The grekins had disappeared at this point, leaving just Torin and me in the Torma grounds.
“You’ll learn,” he said, not even trying to hide his narcissism. “I’ve come a long way in the year you’ve been gone, Mera, and the one thing I have figured out is that a shifter is stronger with his true mate.”
A derisive laugh escaped, and I licked at my dry lips, still tasting his blood. “I’m not a trophy to be carted around in the hopes I’ll increase your power.”
He moved toward me, his hands out to grasp my face, but this time, I saw him coming, sidestepping and kicking my leg out to knock him down. If he hadn’t been so focused on kissing me again, he would have seen that move and avoided it. Dick-brain was a man’s fatal flaw.
“I belong to no one,” I hissed as he sprawled on the ground. “I rejec—”
My words to try to sever our bond were cut off by Shadow’s roar, and no lie, it was a relief to know he was fine and could get me the fuck away from Torin. My previous plan of trying to escape and see how far I’d get would definitely have to wait another day. Since apparently, my true mate had now decided he wanted