After our argument, I curled next to Ares on our bed. We sat in silence, eating our pretzels, barely speaking a word to each other. I could tell that Ares was thinking about something, and I hoped that he was thinking about agreeing to what I had suggested, even though I knew it was so far-fetched.

So, instead of sleeping, I stayed up almost the whole night and tried to come up with a plan. I wanted Ares to agree to take the stone from me, so I didn't have to go behind his back. I wanted us to be open and honest with each other, but if he didn't agree then I would have to lie to him.

When the morning sun peeked through the trees, I had formed the best plan of my entire life. Okay, well, it was the best plan for being the sleep-deprived, emotions-driven, release-needing Aurora that I was at that moment.

I placed a lingering kiss on Ares's neck, right on his mark, sucking softly on the scar. Ares stirred in his sleep, mumbling my name and wrapping his arms around me. I climbed on top of him, letting my bare breasts brush against his chest.

Ruffles meowed at me and hopped off the bed, annoyed. I ignored her and sat up taller, grinding my hips back and forth against his, hoping he'd wake up. "Alpha," I whispered.

He tensed underneath me, slowly blinking his eyes open. When he saw me, they widened. "Kitten..." he said, his voice gruff. He grasped my waist, rubbing his thumbs in circles against my skin. "What are you doing?"

"Let's go for a run."

His gaze flickered from me to the window. "It's barely even morning."

I placed one more kiss on his lips. "Guess that means we have the whole forest to ourselves." I hopped off him and grabbed a crop top from the closet. He watched me pull it over my head and cover my breasts with it. "None of your warriors will interrupt you."

He leaned on his elbows, muscles flexing, brow cocked. "Interrupt me from what?"

My lips curled into a smirk. "Stopping by the lake, taking a dip, stripping off my clothes and taking me," I said. He chuckled, full lips curled into a smile, his eyes flashing gold. I turned toward the door and gazed back at him. "That's if you can catch me, Alpha."

And, with that, I slammed the door and ran down the hallway, out the front door, and into the woods. My heart was pounding against my chest. Pure adrenaline was pumping through my veins. I couldn't remember the last time I felt so... alive.

I listened to his growl echo through the forest, and I ran as far as my human legs would take me. Even from afar, I could hear his paws striking the ground, could smell his scent in the air. My pussy was clenching as I just thought about all the things he would do to me when he caught me.

There was no if.

Ares would catch me. And when he did, I was sure he'd fuck me hard for running out on him.

My chest heaved up and down and sprinted faster than I ever had. I ran deeper into the woods, the forest becoming heavy with fog. I glanced back, unable to see or hear anything--not even Ares--and my heart dropped. Maybe I went too far. Maybe I had run onto Hound territory again. If I had, that meant--

Someone pushed me hard against a tree, pressing their hips against mine. "Think you could outrun me, Kitten?" Ares asked, his fingers brushing dangerously up the column of my neck. I took a deep breath, my heart racing, and pressed my thighs together. "Did you think I'd let you run away from me after last night?" He pressed his hips harder against my backside, letting me feel his huge cock.

He brushed his thumb against my jaw harshly, his teeth grazing against my ear. "You should've ran faster," he said. "I like chasing you."

"Yeah?" I breathed. "Why's that?"

His lips curled into a smirk, his canines brushing against the bare side of my neck. For a moment, I thought Mars would sink his teeth into me, but I was talking to Ares. And when Ares had control, he didn't surrender it that easily.

"Because when I finally catch you, I get to hear you purr for me, Kitten." His fingers trailed down the center of my chest and slipped into my shorts, touching my clit. I dug my claws into the tree bark, trying to keep my breath steady. "Come on, Kitten," he mumbled against my ear, rubbing his fingers hard against my clit. The pressure rose inside of me, and a wave of heat warmed my core. "Purr." His hand tightened around my throat, his cock pressing against my ass. "Do it for me."

One of his fingers slipped inside of me, and I moaned out, arching my back ever so slightly. He grinded his hips against mine and smirked against my neck. "That wasn't hard, was it?"

I reached behind me, grasping his cock through his shorts. "Please," I said quietly, wanting nothing more than to have him thrust me against the tree.

He pushed down my shorts, placed his hand on my lower back, and made me arch harder. "What was that?" he asked, pulling out his cock and rubbing his head against my wet entrance.

"Please."

"Please, what?"

My pussy clenched. "Please, Alpha."

And, with that single word, he plunged himself into me. My whole body shuddered in delight. I grasped onto the tree for support, pushing myself back against him with his every thrust. "This doesn't change my mind," he said against me, thrusting his cock into me.

I didn't know what he was talking about at first, so I moved my hips faster against his. "Harder, Ares, please."

"I won't let you risk your life for my sister," he said. He pumped deeper, groping my breasts from behind. "Because there are only times two times I want to see you unable to move, unable to stand, unable to fight me." He curled his hand around my neck, his thumb brushing against his mark. "After I fuck you," he said into my ear. "Or when your stomach is swollen with my pups."

Something about the way he said it made me clench harder on him, the pressure rising in my core. I curled my fingers into his chest, brows furrowed together. "You like that, don't you, Kitten?" He brushed two of his fingers against my clit, moving them roughly. "You want to carry my pups?"

I moaned softly against him, trying to keep my voice low.

"Louder," he demanded, rubbing his fingers harshly into me. I buried my face into his chest, my pussy clenching even harder on his cock, and moaned louder.

He slid his hand around my throat, pulling me close. "Do you want me to cum down this pretty throat of yours? Or do you want me cum deep in your pussy?"

I parted my lips, the pressure in my core rising and rising until I could barely handle it any longer. "Cum inside of me."

"Then beg for it," he said, lips so damn close to mine. "I want to hear my luna begging to be filled with my cum. I want your claws digging into my chest. I want you to call me Alpha."

He plunged himself deep inside of me, and I screamed out in pleasure, my body trembling. "Please, Alpha..." I breathed, voice shaky. "Please, cum inside of me. It'll make me cum."

As soon as the words left my mouth, I could feel his cock pulsing inside of me. My pussy quivered on him, and I cried out, the mere knowledge of him cumming inside me sending me over the edge. My fingers curled into his chest, tingling. I could feel his cum starting to coat the folds of my pussy and roll down my thighs.

Ares pulled out of me slowly, letting me watch every inch of his cock slide out. "Watch my cum drip out of you," he said into my ear. He pulled one of my legs into the air, and I gazed down at my pussy, creamed with his cum. It rolled down my thighs, dripped right onto the ground, made my pussy quiver even more.

"Fuck," he groaned, staring down at my pussy. "Look how much of my cum you've taken today." He brushed two fingers against my inner thigh, catching his cum on them. I expected him to stuff his fingers into my mouth and to tell me to suck them, but instead he pressed his fingers into me. "While I love to see my cum run down your thighs, Kitten..." He plunged his fingers deeper, curling them against my g-spot. "I like rubbing it into your little, wet cunt better."

Wave after wave of pleasure rolled through me again, my legs and arms tingling in delight. The corner of his lip curled up, his eyes gold. "You're mine. Every single inch of you is mine. Remember that."