#7 Desperate Kisses

Ryanna POV

I tracked him through the canopy long before I saw him.

Cedar and amber. Heat and honey. A scent that sank into my skin and made my knees a little weak, which was bullshit, because I didn’t know this man. This alpha. This predator who stalked the forest like it bent around him out of respect.

Golden boy didn’t prowl like the others. He didn’t rush, and he didn’t snarl. He moved with a confidence that said he’d catch me eventually. That he didn’t need to hurry.

It made something rebellious and reckless unfurl deep in my spine.

So when the trees opened into a clearing of pale moss and broken moonlight, I didn’t hesitate.

I dropped.

The shimmer held until the last second, so I was invisible when I crashed into him from above. My knees slammed into his shoulders, knocking him forward with a grunt. We hit the ground in a tangle, my knife at his throat, and my breath already ragged.

His golden eyes flared molten hot.

“You again,” he growled.

“Miss me?” I purred.

He smelled even better up close, cedar and heat and something dangerously intoxicating. It curled in my lungs, and made my fingers tremble just a little.

His lips quirked. “You’re going to get yourself claimed.”

“Try it,” I breathed, leaning closer, “and see what you lose.”

His gaze dropped to my mouth, and my pulse jumped.

Too hard. Too fast. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Except I didn’t move.

His throat bobbed once, and his voice dropped to a husky, ruined rasp. “You smell like mine.”

I should’ve backed away. Should’ve run. Instead, I kissed him.

I don’t know why. I didn’t decide to. My body just… moved. Like instinct. Like gravity. Like the universe shoved me straight into sin and said have fun.

Our mouths crashed together hard, hungry, and wrong in every sense, and perfect in every other.

His hand snapped up behind my head, his fingers tangling in my hair as he kissed me like he’d been starving for years and I was the first taste of anything real. His lips were hot, his tongue was fierce, and his breath was a low growl I felt everywhere.

Heat shot through me so fast I gasped into his mouth.

He groaned, deep and guttural, rolling up beneath me so our bodies aligned perfectly, and that was when a new scent hit the air.

Cold metal. Moonlight. Silver-eyes.

He stepped into the clearing on silent feet, his shadows curling around him like smoke. His breath hitched when he saw us.

His eyes went silver-bright, and hungry in a way that punched low in my belly. “You’re kissing him?”

Golden boy didn’t stop.

He kissed me harder and deeper, like he was making a point, and silver-eyes snapped.

In a blur, he was on us, one hand fisting the collar of golden boy’s shirt, the other sliding into my hair as he forced my head back and claimed my mouth for himself.

Gods. He kissed like a storm, fast, consuming, and hungry enough to bruise. His tongue swept mine, claiming and demanding, his low moan rolling straight through me.

I should’ve shoved him off. Should’ve fought. Should’ve cared. But instead, I moaned into his mouth, and everything got feral.

Golden boy growled at the sound, grabbing my waist and yanking me back to him, his mouth finding my throat. His teeth grazed my pulse, his hot breath spilling across my skin.

“Fuck,” he groaned against my neck. “You taste like absolute fucking sin, Little Queen.”

Silver-eyes didn’t release me. His lips dragged along my jaw, his hand gripping my hip so tightly I gasped, sparks firing across my nerves.

“This shouldn’t be happening,” he whispered, his voice shaking with hunger. “Wolves don’t share.”

Golden boy laughed against my skin. “Then tell me why I want her too.”

Silver-eyes went still. Then his voice dropped to a whisper so low it shook something inside me loose. “Because she’s ours.”

My heart slammed. “I’m not anyone’s.”

Golden boy’s grip tightened. “Keep saying that. Let’s see how long it lasts.”

His tongue licked a slow stripe up my neck, and silver-eyes snarled. He grabbed my thigh, dragged me forward, and kissed me again, slow this time. Deep.

Devastating.

Golden boy slid his hand up my back and whispered against my skin, “You smell like you want both of us.”

I did. Gods help me, I did.

Their scents tangled around me, heat and metal, cedar and moonlight. My thighs trembled. My breath hitched. My body pressed into them both, traitorous and starving, even as my mind screamed to run.

“Stop,” I whispered.....weakly.

Golden boy kissed my throat. “Tell us to stop like you mean it.”

Silver-eyes cupped my jaw. “Or tell us what you actually want.”

I couldn’t speak. I wanted them. All of them. And I didn’t know why.

My breathing got ragged. “This isn’t...this can’t...”

Silver-eyes leaned in until our foreheads almost touched. “You feel it too.”

Golden boy’s voice rumbled against my spine. “All four of us. And you.”

My whole body shuddered. “I don’t even know who I am.”

Silver-eyes brushed my lower lip with his thumb, his eyes blazing silver-bright. “We’ll find out. Together.”

No. No, no, no. Too close. Too intense. Too much.

I felt the shift before I meant to summon it, the shimmer rising under my skin.

Silver-eyes’ eyes widened. “Don’t...”

Golden boy grabbed me tighter. “Little queen, wait...”

Too late. I blurred, colors swallowing me whole, my body fading into the forest itself.

Their hands passed through empty air. I was gone.

Their snarls ripped the clearing apart.

“Little Queen!” silver-eyes shouted into the trees.

My pulse kicked hard, the sound of it echoing through my entire body as I vanished into the canopy, the branches swallowing me whole.

Below, three voices for me. But I didn’t look back.

Because if I did…I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t kiss them again.