Stolen and Forgiven (Branded Packs #1)(15)

He frowned and gently took her arm in his hands. His calloused fingertips scraped against her skin, but didn’t hurt. In fact, it made her…need. Hell. What was with this man? One look at him and she wanted to rub up against him like a cat in heat. Or maybe it was a wolf in heat?

Oh crap. Now her brain was making wolf sex jokes. She needed a drink. Or a nap.

He traced his finger along her skin, gently lifting the bandage without pulling too hard. She sucked in a breath before looking down. She hadn’t known what she’d expected to see, but the angry red flesh wasn’t it. Holden’s and the rest the Pack she’d seen had dark brands that looked like raised tattoos surrounded by their Pack tattoo. She hadn’t seen a mating tattoo on the right side, but she figured it would look similar to the Pack tattoo.

“It’s healing nicely. Faster than what I would have thought. That’s good. It means your wolf is strong.” He cleared his throat, his eyes still on her skin. “I can’t believe I did this to you.”

“Its not you,” she whispered. “It’s what they made you do.”

“And if I were a stronger Alpha, I wouldn’t have to do it at all.”

She wasn’t sure that was the case. She saw the size of him and some of the others. They had to be strong. But they were highly outnumbered and outgunned. It would be harder than one man fighting against another to win. When she told him as such, his head raised and he gave her an odd look. She didn’t know what it meant, but she felt as if he were seeing her in a light he hadn’t before.

“Why is yours darkened in?” she asked, trying to get the feel of Holden’s touch out of her mind. She also wanted him to focus on something other than his perceived weakness. There wasn’t a weak thing about the man in front of her.

He cleared his throat and tore his gaze from hers. “We add ink to the flesh once it’s fully healed. We can’t tattoo over all of the scarred skin, but enough of it that we can make the brand as much of ours as we can.”

She nodded and looked down at the brand. If it had been a pure tattoo, one of her choosing, she would have thought it was beautiful. The long lines of tribal blended into a wolf howling at the moon. Instead, all she saw was ownership she had never wanted to claim.

Holden brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear and she froze. “Are you okay?”

She swallowed hard, too aware of the man in front of her. She truly wanted to reach out and rake her nails down his chest and tilt her head up so he could brush his lips across hers. Was this the wolf? Or the woman? Because if she couldn’t tell, she wasn’t sure she could do anything about it. She didn’t like being out of control, and as it was, she didn’t have much control, if any, of her life anymore.

She needed something that was hers.

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly.

He nodded and cupped her chin. “What’s going on in that mind of yours?” His thumb stroked her skin, and she had to keep from turning in his hand. Seriously, what was wrong with her? She didn’t even know him.

But she wasn’t going to get out of her situation by living in her mind. Not voicing her thoughts—at least some of them—wouldn’t change the brand on her skin or collar around her neck.

“I don’t know what part of my reactions are me or my…”—she cleared her throat—“or the wolf. I haven’t shifted, so I have no idea if I’m really a shifter like you say, but I have all these extra senses, and I want do things I know I shouldn’t, and now my head hurts.” She closed her eyes and tried to wish herself back in time so she could say what she needed to say eloquently rather than the ramble she’d just done.

Holden let out a breath then lifted her chin. She opened her eyes cautiously, praying she wouldn’t see laughter in his eyes. She wasn’t sure she could deal with that right now.

“I know it’s a lot for you, Ariel. Hell, it’s a lot for any of us when we’re dealing with another half of us we’ve always had. I can tell you it’s been since we were first put in this compound that one of us has changed a human. So I think I almost forgot that it’s going to be ten times as worse for you. For that, I am sorry.”

She licked her lips, her pulse racing at his touch. They had so many more important things to talk about, yet all she could think about was how he would taste. There was truly something wrong with her.

His nostrils faired and his eyes darkened. “Well f*ck, siren.”

“What?” she croaked.

“I can scent your need, darling, but I’m not going to do anything about it right now. Only because we need to talk first, and you need to find your way. Me pawing you won’t help that, but f*ck, you make it hard.” He grinned. “You make me hard.”

Her cheeks heated as mortification rolled over her. She was embarrassed before, but this surely took the cake. “Oh.”

He rested his forehead against hers. His breath brushed over her skin, and she fought keep steady so she wouldn’t tremble.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Ariel. With our heightened senses, it’s hard to keep secrets. Most of us aren’t animals and try to ignore it. I shouldn’t have said anything to you about it at all, but you keep me off kilter.”

“So you can scent when I…when others...?”

He let out a rough chuckle, his face still close to hers. “Yes, but it’s usually mixed with all the other scents out there so I ignore it. But with you? You’re mine, you see, so I’m attuned to it, to you. It makes my wolf want to ease your need.”