Breeder To The Brutal Alpha King

Chapter 171: Not Herself

Kaden’s POV

​The thick, heavy smell in the room was almost too much to bear. It wasn’t just sweet; it was a wild, burning wave of flowers and honey that crashed over my senses, forcing my inner wolf to the very surface of my skin.

​I stood completely frozen by the door, my chest rising and falling fast as I tried to understand how this was possible. My mind was spinning. How could she be in heat? Her wolf was locked away under a cursed silver collar. A suppressed wolf meant a suppressed cycle; it was an absolute law of nature. Yet the undeniable, intoxicating evidence was filling my lungs with every breath I took.

​"Kaden..." she whimpered from the bed, her voice a ragged, breathless whisper. "Kaden... please..."

​Hearing my name leave her lips should have driven me straight into her arms, but I couldn’t move. My boots felt like concrete. A heavy, suffocating wall of guilt and hesitation locked my joints in place. Just an hour ago, she had looked me dead in the eye and told me she would rather take her last breath than ever belong to me. She hated me. I had tortured her, broken her, falsely accused her, and destroyed her life.

​If I went to her now—if I took advantage of this fever—I would be no better than the monster she already believed I was. She was out of her mind. She didn’t want me; her body was just reacting to the primal pull of a male. Since she is unmarked, she could want any male.

​"Kaden..." she cried out again, her body twisting violently against the sheets, her hands clawing helplessly at the air.

​Go to her! my wolf roared in my head, scratching desperately to break free. She is burning!

​The agonizing sound of her weeping finally snapped my restraint. Forcing my legs to move, I crossed the room in two large strides, climbed onto the mattress, and reached down to catch her flailing arms.

​The moment my fingers wrapped around her wrists, a violent jolt of electricity shot straight up my arms, rattling my spine. Rebecca gasped, her entire body jerking at the contact.

​"Kaden...?" she panted, her voice trembling as she frantically searched the dark. "Is that you?"

​"Yes," I rasped, my throat raw and tight as I pinned her wrists gently above her head to keep her from scratching herself. "Yes, darling. It’s me. I’m here."

​She didn’t hesitate. With a desperate, feral strength, she pulled against my grip, lunged upward, and crashed her lips against mine.

​The kiss was sudden, deep, and completely frantic. Her mouth was a furnace, her tongue sweeping into mine with a fierce, demanding hunger that nearly made me lose my mind. I groaned against her lips, the sheer sensation of her taking my breath away. But as I held her, the terrifying reality of her condition hit me. Her skin was scalding, practically burning right through my clothes.

​I tore my mouth away from hers, panting as I stared down at her. "Rebecca, look at me. Open your eyes."

​Her eyelids fluttered open just a little bit. Through the dark shadows of the room, I froze. Her sea-blue eyes were gone, replaced by a bright, glowing silver. Her wolf was pushing through the block, completely taking over her body. Her gaze was foggy, dark, and completely unfocused. She wasn’t herself. The fever and her wolf had completely stolen her mind, leaving only raw instinct.

​"Kaden..." she whispered, her hips shifting restlessly beneath me, rubbing against my thigh. "I want you. Please... I need you."

No. This wasn’t what I wanted.

I wanted Rebecca.

The real Rebecca.

The woman who would look me in the eyes and choose me willingly—not a fever consuming her body.

​I shook my head violently, trying to clear the fog of lust and desperation creeping into my own brain. "No... no, Rebecca, stop. You don’t know what you’re saying. You’re going to regret this when you wake up. You hate me, remember? You said you’d rather die."

​She didn’t listen. She didn’t care. Ignoring my words entirely, she arched her neck, burying her face into the crook of my shoulder. She began kissing her way up my neck, her hot breaths sending tremors of pure desire straight to my groin.

​I let out a low, ragged groan, my grip on her wrists weakening. God, I wanted her. My wolf was practically begging to claim her, to tear down every barrier between us. The scent radiating off her skin was a drug, overriding every lick of common sense I had left.

​"Rebecca, please..." I gasped, trying to pull my head back, trying to build a wall of resistance.

​But she was relentless. Freeing her hands from my loose grip, she grabbed the collar of my shirt and yanked. The fabric tore with a loud rip, buttons flying across the hardwood floor. Before I could stop her, her mouth pressed against my bare chest, her hot tongue tracing a path over my skin. She found my nipple, sucking on it deeply while her hips rolled upward, deliberately grinding her core right against my hardening length.

​The friction hit me like a bolt of lightning. My jaw clenched so hard it ached.

​"Rebecca, stop..." I growled, my voice dropping into a dark, heavy Alpha tone. I grabbed her shoulders, forcing her back a little, my chest heaving. "I’m warning you. You won’t like it tomorrow. Stop."

​Rebecca stopped moving, her breath hitching. She lifted her glassy, fever-bright eyes to mine, a sudden, defiant pout touching her wet lips.

​"If you don’t want to make it stop..." she whispered, her voice laced with a dangerous, chaotic heat, "...then I’ll just go to Kane. He’s right outside."

​A dark, blinding possessiveness exploded in my chest. The mention of my brother’s name triggered something fierce and ugly inside my wolf. The thought of her hands on him, of her scent on him, of Kane touching what belonged to me turned my blood to pure fire.

​"Like hell you will," I growled.

​Losing all control, I slammed her back down onto the mattress, pinning her beneath my weight. Before she could even breathe, I reached down, grabbed the neckline of her damp nightdress, and ripped it down the middle, tearing the fabric apart in one violent motion.

​The cloth fell away, leaving her bare beneath me. My breath caught in my throat. Her full breasts were flushed pink from the fever, her hardened nipples tightly peaking on display, practically begging for my touch.

​The last shred of my restraint snapped. Dropping my head, I buried my mouth over one tight peak, sucking her deeply into my mouth as my hands gripped her hips, pinning her to the bed.