Under the Beast’s Skin

CHAPTER 1 – BURN THE GHOST He marked me as his mate… but never bothered to f**k me. Two years trapped in a sick joke. Two years carrying his faded silver brand on my wrist while he treated me like a piece of furniture — good to look at, but never good enough to get hard for, never good enough to fill up. I was Luna in name only. My bed stayed ice-cold, sheets untouched, my body throbbing with a hunger he refused to give a s**t about. And while I wasted away in the shadows, he handed my crown, my home, and my place in his bed straight to Mara — his dead brother’s widow. Let her wear my clothes, sit in my chair, play innocent while she sucked the life out of everything I owned. “Fragile,” he called her. “Grieving.” Bullshit. f*****g bullshit. She was a greedy little slut, and Kael was too blind or too stupid to taste the lies on her filthy lips. When I spoke up, he snarled I was weak, jealous, a pain in the ass. When I stayed quiet, he acted like I didn’t even f*****g exist. So I stopped begging for crumbs. Stopped waiting for a man who thought my only purpose was to stand there and look pretty. That night I walked out into the storm — no cloak, no shoes, no f***s left to give. The rain soaked my thin nightgown straight through, plastering it tight to my breasts and hips, my n*****s hard enough to cut glass, my p***y already throbbing from the cold and the empty ache that never went away. I didn’t get far before the air changed. The ground rumbled like something massive was waking up. Then came the growl — deep, guttural, feral — the kind of sound that didn’t just reach my ears, it sank straight into my bones and coiled hot and tight between my legs. From the shadows, he stepped out. Damian. Alpha of Blackspine. The Beast King. The stories said he killed men for glancing at him wrong. Said he f****d women so hard they couldn’t walk straight the next day, then left them begging for more. Said he had no heart, no mercy — only hunger. But when his molten silver eyes locked on mine? All fear melted away, replaced by a fire so hot it burned every last trace of the cold I’d lived with for years. He was huge — shoulders broad enough to block the moon, muscles rippling under soaked leather like they were carved from granite. Scars crisscrossed his jaw, neck, and arms — trophies of war, proof of power, making him look even more dangerous, even more irresistible. And his scent… pine, rain, iron, and pure, thick, uncut male. It hit me like a fist to the chest, making my knees wobble and my core clench so hard I almost moaned out loud. “You’re trespassing,” I snapped, chin up even as my pulse raced out of control. He didn’t flinch. Didn’t slow down. Just stalked toward me slow and predatory, like I was the only prey he’d ever hunted and he wasn’t rushing the f*****g catch. “Trespassing, baby?” His voice was rough, graveled — like gravel, smoke, and raw s*x all rolled into one — vibrating straight down my spine and settling right where I needed it most. “I’ve been walking this border for weeks, following a pull I couldn’t explain. Turns out I wasn’t lost. I was coming for what’s mine.” His big, calloused hand came up. Before I could flinch, his fingers wrapped around my jaw — firm, warm, claiming — and his thumb dragged slow and heavy over my lower lip, pressing until it parted. “Look at that mark,” he growled, eyes burning into the gray, faded brand on my wrist. “Dead. Lifeless. That sorry excuse for an Alpha only marked you to say he owned you — but he never took you. Never f****d you until you screamed his name loud enough to shake the walls. Never filled you up until you couldn’t tell where he ended and you began. Never made your cunt ache for him the way it was made to ache.” He leaned in, mouth brushing my ear, his hot breath sending shivers straight through my body. “Kael left you hungry. Left you cold. Left you to rot. But me? I’ve waited centuries for you. And I’m gonna feed every single one of those needs he ignored. I’m gonna wake your body up until you forget what it feels like to be empty. I’m gonna burn every trace of his touch off your skin. I’m gonna get so deep under your skin, in your head, in your tight little p***y — you’ll never want anyone else’s hands on you ever again.” MATE. The word exploded inside my head like dynamite. My wolf — silent, half-asleep, almost gone for two years — snapped awake. She howled loud and wild, surging up through my veins, lighting every nerve ending on fire. OURS! FINALLY! HE’S OURS! Before I could even breathe, Damian pulled me flush against him, and I felt it — hard, thick, throbbing, and hot, pressing heavy and hard right against my stomach through the fabric. No hiding how badly he wanted me. No pretense. Just pure, raw, demanding need. “Get your filthy hands off her!” A roar tore through the trees — furious, jealous, desperate. Kael burst out of the shadows, claws extended, eyes blazing gold, two of his warriors right behind him. But I saw it instantly — no love, no longing. Just pride. Just the rage of a man who didn’t want what he threw away… until someone else reached for it. “She’s mine!” he screamed. “My mate! I marked her first!” Damian threw his head back and laughed — sharp, cruel, dripping with disgust. “Yours?” He took a step forward, shielding me completely behind his massive frame, baring his teeth in a snarl that made Kael’s men stumble back. “You had every right to her body, her heart, her loyalty — and you pissed it all away like it was worthless trash. You left her sheets cold while you screwed around with that lying little w***e. You let her bond die right under your nose. Don’t come barking now just because you realize someone else knows how to f**k a woman right.” He looked down at me, silver eyes burning like fire, and his hand slid down to grip my waist hard enough to leave bruises — marks that would stay longer than Kael’s ever did. “From this second on, she doesn’t belong to you. She belongs to me. Every breath. Every curve. Every wet, tight inch of her. I’m gonna claim her so deep, so hard, she’ll forget your name before the sun even rises.” Kael lunged, but I didn’t flinch. I stared back at the man who’d wasted two years of my life, then lifted my eyes to Damian — the beast who looked at me like I was the only thing in existence worth burning the whole world down for. Slowly, deliberately, I slid my hands up his chest, feeling the hard, steady thud of his heart beneath my palms, and pressed myself closer. “He’s right,” I said — loud, clear, no tremble, no regret. “You didn’t want me. You just hated that I stopped wanting you. I’m done being your ghost. I’m going where someone is gonna eat me alive and ask for more.” Damian’s smile turned feral, hungry, and so filthy it made my thighs clench tight. In one smooth, powerful motion, he swept me off my feet — one arm locked under my ass, the other wrapped tight around my back — and turned to vanish into the dark trees. “ELARA! YOU UNGRATEFUL b***h — COME BACK!” Kael’s screams faded behind us, but I never looked back. I buried my face in Damian’s neck, breathing in his wild, addictive scent, and felt his hard c**k press even harder against me as he ran. “Hold on tight, little Luna,” he rumbled against my skin, his lips grazing my throat, sending sparks straight to my core. “You just ran straight into the devil’s arms… and trust me, baby? The devil knows exactly how to f**k you until you can’t remember anything but my f*****g name.