ENSLAVED TO BE HIS MATE

THE PREDATOR'S OBSESSION

POV: Draven

I stood by the tall window of the council hall, staring down at the dirt path that led to the slave quarters.

It had been two days since I left Mona shivering on my bed, and I still hadn't been able to get the scent of her out of my nose.

"Draven? Did you hear a word I said?"

I turned slowly. Bea was sitting at the long oak table, tapping a polished fingernail against a map of our northern borders.

She was dressed in fine red silk, her hair braided perfectly. She was exactly what a Luna should look like. My father had promised her father we would marry. The pack expected it.

But looking at her did nothing for me.

"The borders are fine, Bea," I said, my voice sounding like gravel.

"The borders are not fine," she snapped, standing up and walking toward me.

"The North is reporting a sickness. We need to discuss the trade routes. But you’ve been standing at that window for twenty minutes. What are you looking at?"

She joined me at the glass, her eyes scanning the fields below. She spotted the group of laborers instantly. Among the men and the older women, one small figure stood out. Mona. She was hauling a heavy crate of fruits, her grey shift soaked with sweat, clinging to every curve of her body.

That body….that I still remembered.

"Her again?" Bea’s voice went shrill.

"The slave you bought for five thousand gold? Draven, the whole pack is talking. They say you’ve lost your mind. Why is she out there working if you paid enough for her to buy a small village?"

"Because she’s stubborn," I muttered. My gaze stayed locked on Mona.

"She’s an Omega, Draven. A rejected one at that," Bea said, stepping closer to me, trying to reclaim my attention. She put a hand on my chest.

"You have a duty to this pack. To me. You can’t be obsessed with a piece of property."

I looked down at Bea’s hand, then back at the window. "I am not obsessed."

It was a lie. I was losing my mind. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her face on my pillow. I felt the way she arched under me when I pinned her down.

My wolf was pacing in my head, snarling at me to go down there, throw her over my shoulder, and bring her back to my bed.

"Then prove it," Bea challenged. "Sell her. Or send her to the mines. She’s a distraction."

"She stays where I put her," I said, my voice dropping an octave. "And right now, I’ve put her in the fields because she refused to stay in my room. I want to see how long her pride lasts when her hands start to bleed."

Bea laughed, a cold sound.

"You’re trying to break her. But Draven, look at her. She doesn't look broken. She looks like she’s leading them."

She was right. Mona wasn't just working; she was observing. She was talking to the guards, her sharp tongue clearly giving them hell even while she did the work of two people.

She was mine. Even if she hated me, she was the only thing in this pack that didn't bore me to death.

"Leave us, Bea," I said suddenly.

"What? We haven't finished the report—"

"I said leave," I growled.

Bea flinched, her face turning pale. She gathered her papers, her eyes flashing with jealousy.

"Don't think I don't see what's happening, Draven. You want her. But she’s a slave. She will never be your Luna."

She slammed the door behind her.

I stayed at the window. My trousers felt uncomfortably tight. Just the thought of Mona—of the way she tasted when I finally forced her to open her mouth—gave me a rock-hard erection. I wanted her.

I wanted her more than I had ever wanted anything in my life.

But I didn't just want to take her. I could do that anytime I wanted. I wanted her to give herself to me. I wanted to see those defiant eyes go soft with need.

I wanted to hear her beg for me again, but this time, I wanted her to mean it.

My Beta, Silas, walked in a moment later. He didn't look at the window. He knew better.

"The reports from the North are getting worse, Alpha," Silas said.

"The Great Rot is spreading. Two more packs have closed their borders. We haven't had a single case in the Fireball Pack yet, but it’s only a matter of time."

"Keep the patrols doubled," I ordered, finally turning away from the glass.

"And check the slave quarters. They’re usually the first to get hit."

"Actually, that’s the strange part," Silas said, scratching his chin.

"The slave quarters have never been cleaner. Usually, this time of year, we lose three or four to common fever. But this month? Nothing. Not even a cough."

"Is that so?" I murmured.

"The guards say the new girl—the one you bought—has been spending a lot of time in the woods near the edge of the fields," Silas continued. "She says she’s looking for firewood, but they’ve seen her picking weeds."

"She’s a healer's daughter," I remembered. Tharr had mentioned it at the market.

"Whatever she’s doing, the slaves are healthy," Silas said.

"But the pack members are starting to worry. They don't like an Omega having that much influence."

"I’ll handle her," I said.

I walked out of the council hall and went straight toward the fields.

I saw her before she saw me.

She was standing by a well, dumping a bucket of water over her head to cool off. The water soaked through her grey shift, making it transparent. The sight of her skin, the curve of her waist, and the perkiness of those breasts I'd fondled…

I stopped a few feet away, my shadow falling over her.

Mona wiped the water from her eyes and looked up. She just stood there, dripping wet, and gave me a look that was pure fire.

"Back for another lesson, Alpha?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Or did you just come to watch the help work?"

"You were told to stay in the palace," I said, stepping closer.

"I’m a slave," she said, her sharp tongue as lethal as ever. "I belong with the dirt. Besides, your silk sheets were giving me a rash. I prefer the straw."

I reached out and grabbed her waist, pulling her flush against me. She let out a small gasp, her wet shift pressing against my leather tunic.

"You’re playing a dangerous game, Mona," I whispered, leaning down until our noses touched. I looked down at her lips, then back at her defiant eyes.

"You think because I didn't finish it the other night, I won't finish it now?"

"You won't," she challenged, though her breath was hitching.

"Because you want me to surrender. And I’ll never give you that.”

I leaned in, my lips brushing against hers.

"I’ll own every part of you before I’m done. I’ll make you beg for my touch until you forget there was ever another man who rejected you."

I felt her flinch at the mention of her rejection. For a split second, the fire in her eyes flickered.

"Go back to work," I commanded, suddenly letting her go. If I didn't walk away now, I was going to take her right there in the dirt, and I wouldn't stop until she was screaming my name.

She stared at me for a moment, her chest heaving. Then she turned her back on me and picked up her bucket.

I watched her walk away. My erection throbbing.