Chapter 2

"Stop!" Michael snarled as he stalked toward the bed.

I froze, my eyes going wide.

"I'm sorry, Kennedy," he growled, "he's my . . . mate," he trailed off, his eyes scanning the room as he drew to an abrupt halt. He blinked.

I swallowed. Looks like I'd be fighting instead of fucking. I let go of my cock. Michael's gaze shot to my crotch. He licked his lips, and I stilled again.

"Where's Kennedy?" he asked, like he hadn't barged in. He ran a hand over the back of his neck, the only sign he felt embarrassed. For having such fair skin, he didn't blush easily.

"Tommy called." I kept my voice chill, like it was normal to talk to someone with my hand down my pants.

He nodded, his eyes still fastened on my lap. He stepped forward, a smirk forming. "I can take care of that for you."

My cock throbbed against my palm. Traitor.

"Nah, man, I'm good. Besides, don't know if you noticed, but I don't like you."

"Yes, you do." He said it so matter-of-factly. Wolves were a conceited bunch.

"I really don't." I moved to withdraw my hand, but he strode to me and clamped onto my wrist, his grip firm.

He tugged gently until my hand slid from my waistband, and he brought my palm to his mouth and kissed it, his tongue teasing.

"You do." His eyes fluttered closed for a second on his inhale. "Fuck. You smell like wildflowers. Everything sweet in this world."

My cock noticeably jumped. I yanked my wrist from his grasp and glared. "Fuck off, wolf. You don't get to decide who I like or who I sleep with. You don't get to decide shit about me."

And I didn't smell like wildflowers. Possibly burnt sugar from spending part of the day at the sugar factory. More likely, stagnant water, exhaust fumes, and sun-warmed asphalt from working the docks. Didn't think I'd ever scrub those scents out of my skin, even though I hadn't worked there for months, thanks to my increasing obligations to my alpha and now Kennedy.

The more I thought about his words, the more they pissed me off. I bared my teeth in a snarl.

"Fuck, that's hot, baby."

I ignored how the endearment made my heart flutter.

"I'm not your baby. I'm not anything to you. Get it through that thick wolf skull."

"Dire wolf. It's not the same thing. I'm much stronger than any wolf. My lineage goes back before wolves even existed." He actually puffed out his chest.

"Don't know why you think I care."

"Because you're my mate. You have to care."

"I already told you, I'm not interested."

He blew out a frustrated breath before leaning over and caging my shoulders—they were broad, so that was no easy feat—between his arms so we were eye-to-eye. "I know what you said. But you're wrong. We're meant to be together. That's how fated mates work."

"And I'm telling you, I don't care."

I started to sit up and shove him away. A low growl in his chest stopped me.

"Don't do that." His eyes darkened, his lips thinning.

"What? Sit up? Tell you to fuck off?"

"Pretend you can't feel it, too."

"Ravens don't have mates." That much was true. At least as far as I knew.

"Dire wolves do, and you're mine." He said it with such conviction that a shiver raced down my spine. He leaned back slightly. "I'm sorry I was such an ass when we met. I'm an alpha. We're possessive by nature. I assumed the feelings were for Kennedy. Turns out it's you. I didn't like her touching you."

"Look, man, that's not as flattering as you seem to think. And being an alpha doesn't excuse your behavior. Poe never acts like that. Never."

Poe was our alpha—and the big boss' mate—but not because he was born an alpha. He earned it. And our respect. Wolves had this messed up hierarchy where they believed they were born into a certain rank and stuck there. Most of the alpha wolves I'd met in Tommy's Neighborhood weren't the stereotypical knot-heads, though Michael seemed to define that role to a T. Not impressed. Just because I was a beta in my roost didn't make me less. I'd earned my position. Poe counted on me, asked for my counsel regularly, and treated me as a friend.

"I'm not a bird. My instincts are different." He shrugged.

"Different isn't a problem. The fact you think your instincts are better than mine is."

"I never said that." His gaze stayed locked on mine, though he shifted his weight to one arm and brushed a stray loc off my face, the backs of his strong fingers brushing along my close-cropped beard, licking like a trail of fire.

I forced myself to turn away from his touch.

"Do the words, ‘Even though you're just a bird, I still accept you as my mate' ring a bell?" That still stung days later.

He had the grace to wince. "I . . . I didn't mean it quite that way."

"There's really no other way to take it."

"You're perfect the way you are. I simply expected my mate to be another dire wolf. My parents would be furious if I mated a regular wolf, much less a raven. You have no idea the social ruin and the complication this brings—"

"Let me up." I gritted my teeth and tried not to punch him. I was strong, but he was stronger. Didn't mean I wouldn't give as good as I got. Didn't care how many people said he was a good guy. He'd been nothing but a snarly dick since our first meeting.

The abrupt turnaround wasn't appreciated, either. At least when he'd hated me, I knew what to expect. His backhanded compliments were worse. Didn't have time for that shit.

"That's not what I meant—"

"Seems you say that a lot. Maybe you should just stop talking." I shoved his shoulder, letting him know I wasn't playing. "Let. Me. Up."

He licked his lips, his gaze trailing down my body and stopping on my cock. "Can I pleasure you first? The smell of unsatisfied mate is driving my wolf crazy. Let me take care of that for you?"

"I don't need you to take care of me." It would probably be more convincing if my dick wasn't still hard as steel. At least my voice sounded steady.

"You don't have to do anything. It doesn't even have to mean anything." He glanced away, his jaw hard. "I need to . . . can I please suck your cock?"

My turn to blink. "You want to . . . suck . . . me . . . off?"

He nodded, his body rigid.

"Do alpha wolves do that?" I couldn't help the taunt.

I could almost hear his teeth grind. "You're my mate. I'd do anything for you."

I raised a challenging brow. I wasn't usually such a dick, but between the disappointments of the day, sexual frustration, and having to put up with his ‘compliments,' I was at the end of my tether. "Fine. Yeah. Do it."