Filed To Story: Chasing the Rejected Luna's Heart (Clara & Liam) Book PDF Free
Now I felt plenty of warmth rushing to my face, but I knew the reason. “I’m not in heat yet,” I mumbled, folded my arms. “It’s not even a full moon.”
Cole raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?””What?” I asked defensively.”Shifters don’t go into heat on a full moon,” Cole said, as if it should be obvious. “Not automatically.”
Oh. Yet another way my sex education, or lack thereof, had completely screwed me over. Ironically enough. “Well, I did last time.””It can fluctuate,” Cole insisted. “It’s not always a monthly thing. That’s a myth. It can be sooner or later, and different things can trigger it.”
My face was still flushed. He was the last person I wanted to talk about this with, especially in front of Marcus. But I really didn’t know that many shifters, certainly not well enough to discuss this kind of thing.”They didn’t teach you this in school?” Cole asked. The disbelief in his voice made it all the more embarrassing.”I didn’t go to school,” I mumbled. “Not with the others. It was kind of bare bones.””Right. Shifter Puritans,” Cole said, raking a hand through his hair. “Well, here’s a crash course. You just shifted for the first time, and that’s bound to throw your hormones out of whack. Then there’s the unknown of whatever it is that makes up the other half of you.””Yeah, I get the picture,” I said, grimacing. I was starting to panic. I thought I had more time.”It’s not a big deal,” Cole said, even though he seemed almost as stiff and awkward about this whole thing as I was.”Maybe not for a normal shifter,” I protested.
I really didn’t want to admit what had happened on the last full moon, but I figured he should probably have a heads up since there was a good chance I was going to end up writhing in agony on his kitchen floor at any minute. His expression didn’t change as I explained what had happened.
I could tell from Marcus’s reaction it was piecing together a few things for him, too. Of course he was the first one to interject as soon as I mentioned Alexander. “Thevampire?” he asked with an unmistakable tinge of disgust in his voice. Or maybe it was just rage. Guess he didn’t get along with vampires as well as he usually did with shifters.”It’s a long story, and he was there when I needed him,” I said, not liking the fact that I instinctively jumped to his defense.”I’m sure he was,” Marcus said bitterly, echoing Sam’s initial response.
I could understand why they were wary. I had enough experience with vampires by now that my opinion of the species as a whole was mixed at best. But even if it probably wasn’t prudent to believe, I wanted to think Alexander was different. Something in me did, at any rate.”He helped me suppress…whatever this is,” I said, waving my hand in the air. “I was supposed to go back to him during the next full moon, but apparently, my wolf is on her own schedule.””You’re not going back there,” Marcus growled. He might’ve been human, more or less, but he had the whole possessive alpha male thing down pat. It was at once infuriating and admittedly kind of sexy.
Yep, I was definitely going into heat.”I’m not?” I challenged, raising an eyebrow. Sexy or not, there is no way in hell I was letting him get away with thinking he could tell me what to do.”He’s a vampire. You can’t trust them,” Marcus argued.”I don’t trust him, but it’s not like I have a whole lot of options here,” I shot back.”He compelled you. For all we know, he compelled you to think that, too,” said Marcus.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not some child who doesn’t know her own damn mind. Alexander might have held back the shift in the mating sickness back then, but he didn’t cause it.””You don’t know that,” Marcus argued.
As annoyed as I was with the macho routine, I had to admit, the sincere protectiveness behind his tirade was helping to allay some of the doubts our encounter in the woods had fanned into a flame.”That’s enough,” Cole interjected. “There’s no point in arguing about this. You’re not even in heat yet.””I’m not?” I asked warily. I had to admit, I wasn’t really sure what that threshold had been last time. It felt gradual and subtle–until it wasn’t.”I know from your scent,” said Cole.
And now I was blushing again. “Right.”
He watched me, cocking his head. There was a tinge of amusement in his gaze, which usually just filled me with rage, and it did. But there was enough of something else present to reassure me that heat was impending even if I wasn’t already in the throes of it.”You know…” He took another step closer. “There are ways you can stave it off if you want. It’s not foolproof and it won’t work forever, but it’s preferable to taking your chances with the vampire’s compulsion.””And what would that be?” I asked, even though I had a feeling I knew from the way Marcus was bristling. I just wasn’t going to let myself jump to the conclusion that Cole of all people was about to suggest…”Mate with a shifter,” Cole said with a shrug. Like it was just some casual topic to him. And I guess it was.”Bullshit,” Marcus responded before I had the chance.? The amusement in Cole’s eyes only intensified, confirming my suspicion at least part of his suggestion was in the interest of getting under the other man’s skin.”What? You don’t want her around the vampire, and it’s not like youcan do the job,” Cole countered.
Another growl tore from Marcus’s throat, even more furious than the last. Cole didn’t seem fazed in the least. “You’re just trying to piss me off.””Don’t be such a narcissist. That’s just a happy side effect,” Cole quipped, turning back to me. There was a faint yet crooked smile on his lips that affected me way more than it should have. Especially when a sultry darkness came into his eyes. “In any case, it’s up to her.”
Any lingering doubt that he wasn’t talking about himself in particular went out the window with that comment. My heart was drumming in my chest, but all my blood was rushing from my head to other places. I gripped the edge of the table because I suddenly felt a bit unsteady on my feet.”Are you serious?” I asked hoarsely.
Cole shrugged. Nonchalant and apathetic as ever. I wasn’t sure if it was close proximity to another shifter nearing heat that was affecting him or if enraging Marcus was just a kink, but either way, the shift in his pheromones was unmistakable, and it was making the growing restlessness within me hard to ignore.”That’s enough,” Marcus gritted out. I wasn’t sure which of us he was talking to until he stalked over to Cole and gave his shoulder a shove. “You’ve made your point, alright? So fuck off.””I’d rather fuck your girlfriend,” Cole quipped, shoving him back a little harder. The look in his eyes made it clear this was getting out of hand way too fast, but I was still reeling too much to intervene. “And considering how she seems to be thinking about it, I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess you’re still as mediocre at that as you are at poker.””Mediocre?” Marcus echoed, his lip curled back in a snarl. “That wasn’t what you said last time, but whatever you need to tell yourself.”
Cole’s eyes narrowed, but I could tell Marcus had succeeded at getting under his skin. And mine, just not the way he’d intended.
I had to admit, the thought of them together had crossed my mind on more than one occasion, and now that I was already worked up, it was just making my imagination run wild. Especially with them both here in the present. Their bickering already felt like foreplay, and for me, it definitely served the purpose.
When they both turned to look at me, I knew I’d been caught staring. I smiled sheepishly, unable to keep my gaze from drifting. Marcus was wearing a muscle T-shirt that left just enough to my imagination to fill in the lines of his sculpted body my mind had engraved into my memory. Cole was still shirtless, leaner than Marcus but toned and powerful in his own way. They were such polar opposites in dress and personality, it was almost comical, but when it came to panty-melting virtue, they were equally stacked.
Marcus cocked an eyebrow. “You okay?”
Before I could answer, Cole turned to me with a knowing smirk, his eyes traveling over me with the same boldness I’d shown a second ago. “She’s fine. She’s just turned on.””Turned on?” Marcus frowned, looking like he didn’t have a damn clue. “By what?””Still more brawn than brains,” Cole said flatly, rolling his eyes. He ignored Marcus and walked back toward me, cupping my chin with his thumb and forefinger and tilting my head up so I had no choice but to look at him. “So that’s what you like, hm? Two guys going at it?”
My face was already so hot I doubted I could blush anymore, but he had me too flustered to pull away even if I wanted to. And I didn’t. From his touch to his scent, he had all my senses firing and when I opened my mouth to speak just as he lowered his hand to my throat, all that came out was a faint gasp.