Page 40 of Dark Cravings

He watched me for a moment. “You’re not defective. Maybe it’s just not something that happens the first few times.”

I buried my face in his neck again, breathing deeply of his scent. He tensed up, but he relaxed when he seemed to realize I was keeping my teeth to myself.

"I'm not going to bite," I promised. "I just like the way you smell."

That earned another scoff. "You're pathetic, you know that?"

I was well used to his insults and cruelty, but I wasn't used to the affection behind his words.

I brushed it off, telling myself it was merely some chemical response to everything we had just done. Letting myself hope for anything else was a recipe for disaster. I already knew perfectly well that Castor was a threat to me physically, should I step out of line, but I hadn't fully realized just how lethal he really was until that moment. And he wasn't just a threat to my life, he was a threat to my very soul. When I was close to him like this, with no separation between our bodies, it was impossible not to feel like some unbreakable bond already existed between us.

And hell, it probably did.

I just knew better than to think it went both ways.

ChapterFifteen

CASTOR

"You smell like a dog."

And with those four unceremonious words, I knew exactly what kind of day it was going to be. I turned around to find Arrow approaching me, as I was a mere few feet away from getting through the front door unaccosted. I should've known better.

"Shouldn't you be licking Father Marius’s feet?" I shot back.

He just smirked. "Sensitive today. The mutt must not be very good at it. You're supposed to be in a good mood after you get laid."

"You've been taking too much dog blood," I said. "You were already feral enough to begin with."

His grin just grew wider, like some kind of devious Cheshire cat. "So, you really fucked him? I would've thought your aversion to fleas would override your horniness."

I shot him a filthy glare and looked over my shoulder to make sure no one was within earshot. "Will you keep your fucking voice down? He was in rut. It wasn't like I had many other options."

"Sure," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

The worst part was, he wasn't wrong. Yes, fucking Eddie had definitely been the most expedient way of getting him out of rut, but it wasn't the only way. And I had enjoyed it more than I wanted to admit.

"What do you want?" I demanded. "I'm going out on a hunt."

"You sure you can walk straight?" he asked in feigned concern. "I wouldn't be a gentleman if I let you go out there on your own after that."

"Oh, fuck off," I hissed. "Not that it’s any of your goddamn business, but I’m a top."

“Really?” He raised an eyebrow. “Huh. Wouldn’t have figured that.”

I just glared at him again, hoping he’d get bored and go away.

“How does that work, anyway?” he asked, oblivious to all manner of hinting. “If he’s an alpha, I’d assume he needs to knot something to get out of rut.”

Until last night, I had assumed the same. The fact that Eddie was out of rut despite his knot never making an appearance was an anomaly, to say the least, but it was far from the first where he was concerned.

“He’s my student,” I finally answered. “This isn’t something you need to concern yourself with.”

“Possessive,” he sneered, folding his arms. I could tell from the gleam in his eyes I’d made the mistake of giving him something to latch onto. “Interesting. You know, it’s been a while since I was on teaching duty, but I don’t recall fucking being in the handbook.”

“You weren’t training shifters,” I countered.

"Yeah, whatever.” He snorted. “Anyway, Baker is busy, so I was going to go out solo. And I hear you haven't been taking Eddie on hunts with you." His eyes darkened with mischief. Or probably malice, considering it was him. "You know, he's more than just your personal sex toy. Father Marius wants him trained."