Magnus

Egil is talking to me but I don't think I have paid any attention to what he is saying. Something about the visit to Gunnar but I can't bother. I am standing by the window, looking out at the lake like I have one a thousand times before. But this time the view is different.

Antiope is out there, running on the shore, in her wolf form. Her black fur is shining under the sun, her strong legs are pounding on the earth. She moves so flawlessly, so gracefully. I have never seen a more beautiful she-wolf.

"Go to her!" Henrar demands.

I look down and see her run with Thane. Seeing Antiope with another male even if it is her bodyguard is making my wolf angry and taking me on edge. I want to be with her all the time, just to look upon her, talk to her. When I leave home, all I can think of is when the time to go back to her will come. Before her, I slept here, on my couch. I couldn't go back there, but now... I can't wait to go back to her and cook for her.

"Magnus?" Egil chuckles right next to me.

I still don't turn to face him. Antiope has gone in the water and I see her shift. Thane halts his wolf and guards the shore. Wise move! I scowl. My look turns to Antiope. I know she is naked under that water and I shift uneasy on my feet.

"Magnus?"

"What?"

"I am happy for you, Alpha," Egil pats me on the shoulder.

He is not just my Beta. He is my oldest friend, my most trusted advisor, my family more than the royal one.

"What for?" I use all my strength to turn away from Antiope.

Egil says nothing, just beckons at the lake. I raise my brow and look over his shoulder.

"Nothing to be happy about, Egil. The pack needed a Luna to be strong. She is strong and her presence will stop any doubt on my power and the unity of our pack."

"Sure," Egil smiles. "She is strong, I give you that. Strong and strong-willed. And hot."

I react without thinking. I grab Egil by the throat and I push him to the wall. I am fuming with rage. No one calls my mate "hot" and lives. Antiope is mine and no one else gets to look at her like this. No one will have and even if her destined comes, I will rip him apart on the spot. I have enraged the Goddess enough. One more kill won't make a difference.

"You got it bad, Magnus," Egil struggles to let out.

At his words, I drop him and he gasps for breath. I avoid his knowing look and I pretend to look at the papers I was holding.

"You really like that girl."

I keep my mouth shut. "Like" doesn't even begin to describe the perplexed feelings I have for her. I needed a Luna and though I could have my pick, the moment I saw her, I knew it had to be her.

Then, for the first time ever, I felt something I thought I have left behind in my adolescence: lust. Pure lust for her scent, that irresistible, all-female scent. And when her body responded to my attention, giving off that powerful smell...

But there is more. Damn it, there is more. It's the way she defies me, the way her mind works in overtime, the love and worry for her sister, her sharp intellect. She speaks her mind, she shows courage but cunningness at the same time. A true Luna, a born leader.

"Don't let your Luna hear you call her "girl", Egil," I joke.

I enjoy that flash of anger that goes over her face when she hears me call her little girl. She is anything but. She has been here and could have asked a million things. Shoes, clothes, bags or whatever little girls play with. But she is a woman. She wants her family safe and her pride intact.

"Are you going to tell her about Celia?"

My face darkens and I look once more out the window. Antiope is still in the water and swims through it. From here I can see it. A smile. A real smile on the constantly worried face of hers. My heart stops for a second and my jaw drops. After that first initial shock, my heart rate speeds up, my manhood stiffens in my jeans, my head is spinning.

"Magnus?"

"I..."

I drop the papers on the desk and I run down the stairs. There is no resisting the pull that calls me to her in every waking moment. I go past the guards that look at me weirdly and I turn to the lake. Thane's wolf turns to me and goes on offense position. Good lad, I think but beckon at him to leave.

Then I lose my clothes and get in the water. It's still chilly but we are wolves, we can take it. It does nothing to cool my burning insides. As I get closer to her, the more scorching my feelings get. I swim swiftly to her and I grab her arm.

"Ah!" She screams and turns ready to attack.

I stop her other arm and I pull her to me. I am not thinking rationally right now. I am pure emotion, pure instinct. Before she has time to react, I place my hand on the side of her head and I bring her face closer to me. My lips touch hers roughly and she leaves a gasp. I don't stop, I just suck her lower lip and glue her body to mine.

She resists, trying to push away but all she does is grind against my body, igniting me more, fueling my uncontrolled passion. I wrap my other arm around her waist and I keep my assault on her lips, licking them softly. I lean my head to have more access and that's when it happens.

Antiope stops struggling and after a few long seconds, she responds. Her body stops fighting me and she wraps her arms around my neck. Her lips move timidly against mine but she is kissing me back. She is kissing me back!

A growl vibrates my chest and I make her be flush against me. I bite softly on her lower lip and suck it slowly. Antiope drives her fingers through my hair and presses her lips more onto mine, battling me for dominance and my wolf is relishing on that feeling. I grip her bare behind under the water and the sigh she lets out gives me the opportunity to find my way in her mouth. When I touch her tongue, she erupts.

As if she was holding back a dam, she wraps herself tightly around me and responds to the kiss as furiously as she fights. I wasn't expecting that but I don't stop now. I mold her to me and deepen the kiss even more.

But as quickly as she gave up, she finds her self just as quick. With one sudden move, she wiggles away and she glares at me, her lips swollen from our kiss. No, I know it before it happens. Antiope raises her hand and strikes me across the cheek. Her nostrils are flaring and her chest is heaving.

"You fucking bastard!" She almost screams. "You don't do that. You don't get to hold my sister and drag me here and do... that!"

"Antiope," I try.

"NO!" She raises her finger at me and she is almost in tears. "No!"

She wades through the water and goes on the shore, still glistening with water. My wolf focuses on her perfect body, the firm behind, the toned muscles and finds her ideal for mating and breeding. Me? I read her body and I think everything but that. Her hands are in fists and her whole body is shaking. My mate is distraught and beyond good reason, I go out to her and stand behind her. I reach out and touch her shoulder.

"I told you," she looks at me and her eyes have gone even darker, "do not touch me without my permission! Thane!" She calls and then shifts.

I watch as she runs away from me. Thane's wolf passes me by without even looking at me. And I just stand there, like an idiot. An idiot with a sweet taste on my lips, fire coursing in my veins and a howling wolf in my head.

"Ours!"

This is not going according to my plans...