“Because I love you.”
Had they not been in the confines of their kitchen, the whole Palace would have heard her shriek. “I can’t hear this! I don’t want to talk about Thólos!”
“Don’t be a coward, Claire. Fight me.”
It felt like she was walking the ice again, cracks spreading out under her feet. “I told you I couldn’t do that… I won’t stand for Thólos. That part of me died.”
“You know they deserve every torment they will feel.”
“What’s left was what you made! There was good there once. YOU ARE KILLING ME.”
“The only good thing that ever was in Thólos is standing before me, very much alive,” Shepherd growled, stepping nearer should she think to run before his lecture was complete. “And she doesn’t belong to Thólos anymore. She belongs to me, to my domain, Greth Dome. She belongs in this palace that I have secured for her. She belongs on the throne at my side because I have made her queen.”
She ignored a goodly portion of what he said, her thoughts on one man. “Corday was good.”
The second it was said, Claire wished she hadn’t spoken. Fear hit her hard. “Corday is still alive right? You didn’t kill him when you came for me, did you? Oh my god, Shepherd, please tell me you didn’t!”
“He lives.” The giant’s fists were clenched tight, his silver eyes burning. “Don’t think I wasn’t tempted… until I saw what he’s become.”
There was something deeper going on, the real reason Shepherd was orchestrating his attack. “Explain?”
“He hates his people, himself… the world.” Shepherd watched her confusion, watched her try to process something seemingly absurd. “It’s a legacy I understand.”
Claire knew him better than that. “Corday is gentle, he’s sweet. I don’t believe you.”
Shepherd sounded almost proud. “The Undercroft has that effect on the soul.”
“What do you think you’re doing?” Claire ground her teeth, angry, so angry. “Why are you saying these things?”
He repeated his reason from before. “Because I love you.”
“…and you want me to not love my friend? You can’t share my affection with those who cared for me when I was alone and scared?”
“He is not what he was, little one. That is my point.” Shepherd stood taller, took her chin so she was forced to look. “The fall of Thólos brought out the true heart of everyone. Do not be fooled by his smiles or the flowers he brought you. That goodness was corrupted when you were ra—”
Her hands flew to her ears, Claire breathing too hard to see straight. “SHUT UP!”
One swipe and the dress was ripped off, a hard cock shoved in with only the kitchen counter digging into her back to offer support. Clawing and scratching, she raged at the Alpha, punishing him with bites as he thrust.
Holding her bare ass in his hands, yanking her body back down when she squirmed away, Shepherd grunted like a beast, barely able to form the words, “Fight me, little one. Remember.”
The initial aggression was all hers, Claire so far gone she hardly noticed how she screamed when all the rage inside her squeezed, cracked, and dumped out like stagnant filth. The power of her release, she sobbed through it while the violent Alpha used her as he had not since Thólos.
Just when he was about to knot, he spun her around, bent Claire over and plunged in from behind. The knot expanded, her legs kicking while Shepherd roared, “This is your Alpha, your mate! That is who is fucking you!”
Dangling from her awkward position, feeling the cramp of her orgasm milk Shepherd’s cock, she understood. Living in seclusion, where they walked trails and enjoyed one another, didn’t change what he was, or what she was. He needed her to accept all of him, and not pretend while they played house.
He was never going to be easy on her.
There would never be a day he’d regret forcing her into a pair bond. It was the only way he would have ever won the female’s affections. His reward was perfect, dominating her body and mind sublime to such a man.
Shepherd twisted her hair in his fist, pulling her neck up so he might dig his nose in and sniff, so his grating purrs would be felt best with her back to his chest. “You are my little one. Sweet and so pretty. The way you come around my cock is something that I hunger for, hearing you scream for me my favorite sound. You are my wife, my mate. No time apart could change that. No courting Beta, no estrous, no drugs. You didn’t want me, I know that. I enjoyed the challenge. I enjoyed stealing your affection. I enjoyed mating you into oblivion more times than I can count. I’d never let you go. EVER!”
Claire could see his reflection in the window, could see that the man knotting her was Shepherd and not a horrible memory, and wondered if he’d plotted the entire conversation just to reach that moment, knowing she would have that reflection should she need it.