Page 9 of Mated By Twilight
It would have been almost sweet if she wasn’t so furious. The absurdity of the situation only made her more determined to get one lick in. So she mimicked his stance, adjusting her feet and shifting her weight, and then she threw another punch, aiming for his jaw.
Rylan deflected it again, but this time, there was a glint of approval in his eyes. “Better,” he said, his voice low and encouraging. “You’re getting there.”
She wanted to scream, to rage at him for turning this into some kind of lesson, but the exhaustion was creeping in, making her punches slower, her movements less coordinated. Her breath was coming in short, ragged bursts, her chest heaving with the effort. But she wasn’t ready to give up. Not yet.
With one final burst of energy, she threw another punch, putting everything she had into it. But before her fist couldconnect, Rylan moved. In one swift motion, he caught her wrist and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her in an unbreakable hold.
“Let me go,” she gasped, struggling against him, but not as much as she had been. Rylan's body was warm and solid against hers. She felt the heat radiating off him, the steady rise and fall of his chest as he held her tight, his breath warm against her ear.
“I’m never letting you go.”
His words washed over her, their meaning sinking in even as she fought to push them away. He wasn’t lying. She could feel the truth in his embrace, in the way he held her so close, like he was afraid to lose her. But it was too much, too overwhelming, and she wasn’t ready to face it.
“Please,” she whispered, her voice breaking as the fight drained out of her. “Just let me go.”
Rylan tightened his hold, pressing her closer to him until there was no space between them, until she could feel the steady thrum of his heartbeat against her own.
“Yes, I was engaged to be married,” he began, his words calm, almost resigned. Liza felt a fresh surge of anger at his admission.
“You bastard,” she hissed, kicking at his shins in a last-ditch effort to break free. But Rylan was quicker, stepping to the side, easily avoiding her foot.
“Listen to me,” he urged, his voice carrying a note of desperation now, one that made her hesitate despite herself. “After decades of not finding my mate, I made the decision to have an arranged marriage with a woman from another pack.”
Liza paused at the admission, mostly at the sadness in his voice. There was a weight to it, likely the pressure and baggage of years spent searching for something he hadn’t found. She heard the exhaustion, the resignation that had led him to that decision. More of the fight drained out of her. But not all of it.
“And you were just going to go through with it? Marry someone you don’t love?”
“I was on my way to meet my new bride. Then I saw you. And I knew.”
The sincerity in his voice pushed out the last of her anger. The conviction that resonated in every word shook it loose. But she wasn’t ready to give in, not yet.
“I came straight for you. I knew the moment I saw you that you were my fated mate, Liza. There was no denying it, no pretending otherwise.”
His words were thick with a promise that felt too big, too overwhelming to fully grasp. He was telling the truth. Truth was one thing. Trust was another. The scars from her past held her back, the memories of betrayal and hurt keeping her from fully surrendering to the moment.
“And what about the deal with the other pack? What happens to your pack if you break it off?”
“There will be repercussions,” he admitted, his voice tinged with the weight of responsibility. “But there’s no way I could go through with it. Not now. Not when I’ve found you.”
Liza closed her eyes. Every fiber of her being was urging her to trust. But it wasn't that easy. Rylan held her as if she were something precious, something he would protect at all costs. And it scared her—scared her how much she wanted to believe him, how much she wanted to trust that this was real.
When she opened her eyes, Rylan was so close, his breath warm against her cheek, his gaze intense and unwavering. He leaned in, the space between them vanishing until his forehead nearly touched hers. It looked like he was going to kiss her. Liza felt utterly helpless to stop it.
Rylan's head dipped closer, his lips brushing against hers with the lightest of touches, a barely there promise of something more. Her breath hitched, her lips parting on instinct. Shefelt herself sinking into the moment, ready to give in to the connection that crackled between them.
Just as her eyes fluttered shut and she was about to surrender, there was a sharp knock at the door, shattering the fragile bubble of intimacy that had formed around them. Rylan froze, his lips lingering a hair’s breadth away from hers, tension thrumming through his body.
But the spell was broken. Liza tried to catch her breath. However, the lingering sensation of his almost-kiss still tingled on her lips.
9
The door thudded heavilyagainst the frame as Rylan yanked it open. Under the rising moon, his instincts were sharpened, enhancing the possessiveness that surged through him. Gideon stood at the threshold. He gazed past Rylan, finding Liza, and his brows went up.
"What’s going on, Rylan?"
There wasn't just Gideon on his doorstep. His brothers stood there too. At least Elijah and Caleb had the sense to stand back ten paces. Rylan was a wolf who had found, but not claimed, his fated mate. He was an Alpha on a tightrope.
"I’ve found my fated mate," Rylan growled, the rumble deep within his chest not just a declaration but a warning. "And I’m not letting her go." His words were barbed, laced with the ferocity of his wolf, which skirted just below the surface, barely restrained.