Chapter 199: Start A Fire

All through the night, Feral had ignored him. Maverick had felt nothing from his wolf since Feral had given him back control that morning, not a growl, a thought or even the faintest stirring in the back of his mind. Yet the instant Maverick set his eyes on Aria, there he was, surging to the forefront of his consciousness with such force that Maverick almost stumbled.

Fur.

No one really understood why fur had such an effect on male werewolves when worn by their women. Perhaps it was the resemblance to a pelt, something deeply ingrained in the wolf interpreting all that softness wrapped around a female as though she were covered in fur of her own.

Or perhaps wolves were simply primitive bastards who liked the sight of their women looking a little more like them. Whatever the reason, it awakened such possessiveness in them that even Feral’s stubborn silence couldn’t survive the sight of his mate wrapped in it.

And fuck, did Aria wear it well.

The fur surrounded her from her shoulders to her thighs, making the black beneath it look even darker and her blue eyes impossibly brighter. It was wild and soft at the same time, almost as if she had finally stopped trying to separate herself from everything beasts represented and had wrapped herself in a piece of their world instead.

Feral loved it. No, the bastard had gone absolutely ballistic.

The wolf was practically salivating inside his head, tongue hanging out like some lovesick animal as one possessive thought tore through the silence he’d maintained all night.

Mate.

Maverick found his feet moving before he’d made the conscious decision to follow them, carrying him straight toward Aria. For once, he and Feral were in complete agreement. He needed his mate. Needed to touch her, to bury his fingers in that fur while it was still warm from her skin.

More than that, the deeply possessive side of him needed every beast staring at her tonight to see him walk straight to her and understand exactly who she belonged with. Because whether Aria understood what she’d done or not, she’d wrapped herself in fur and walked into a den full of predators looking like every primitive fantasy a wolf had ever had about his female.

Maverick Nightshade walked toward her like a possessed man. His slitted gray eyes never left hers, the intensity burning through them so fierce that it was a miracle he didn’t lose his footing over the uneven stone beneath his boots. He didn’t look to either side. Didn’t acknowledge the beasts forced to move out of his path. The entire arena could have gone up in flames around him and Maverick doubted he would have noticed.

Her roommates must have realized exactly what was happening, because one by one, they began backing away. Dimitri was the first, easily pulling his mate along with him, before Brittney grabbed Trisha by the arm with a grin she didn’t even attempt to hide. Valerie and Variant, on the other hand, looked far too pleased with themselves as they retreated, their little experiment clearly producing better results than either of them had anticipated.

Within seconds, they had abandoned Aria in the middle of the firelit courtyard like a sacrifice deliberately left behind for the approaching wolf.

They weren’t the only ones who noticed, conversations faltered as Maverick passed. He could feel the weight of countless eyes following him, watching their professor cross the Outer Ring with all the subtlety of a predator who had spotted exactly what he wanted and saw no reason to pretend otherwise.

Maverick didn’t give a damn.

There was only Aria. Aria in his head like a melody he couldn’t silence, Aria burning through his blood like poison, Aria beneath his skin until even his bones seemed to ache with the need to reach her.

She tried to be brave. He had to give his little wolf-tamer that much. Aria held his stare as he approached, chin lifting slightly, and never once stepped back. But Maverick could hear everything her pride tried to hide from him.

Her breathing had gone shallow, making her chest rise and fall beneath the black top. Her pulse had quickened until the frantic rhythm of her heart reached his ears even through the pounding music, fast and wild like drums building toward the most riotous part of a dance.

And that beautiful heartbeat only grew faster the closer he came.

Aria knew.

Perhaps she didn’t understand exactly what she’d awakened by wearing that fur, but she understood the look in his eyes. She knew she was standing directly in the path of the big bad wolf, and judging by the hunger with which Maverick was closing the remaining distance between them, there would be no pretending tonight that he didn’t have teeth.

The moment he reached her, Aria opened her mouth. "I think you should calm—"

Calm down? Not a fucking chance. His little wolf-tamer should have known better than to start a fire and expect him not to burn.

Maverick cupped her face in one hand and crushed his mouth to hers.

There was nothing gentle about it. His lips moved against hers with hungry, demanding force, and Aria’s mind went completely blank the second his tongue swept past her parted lips. She didn’t have time to brace herself, didn’t even have time to remember where she was or who might be watching. All she could do was feel.

His tongue tangled with hers in a battle neither of them seemed willing to lose, stroking deep and insistent as he swallowed the broken moan that escaped her throat. Maverick growled against her, low and feral, the sound vibrating straight through her chest, and Aria’s fingers found the front of his shirt, fisting the fabric as her knees threatened to give out beneath her.

He angled his head, deepening the kiss further, his teeth catching her bottom lip and tugging just hard enough to sting before soothing the spot with his tongue. The bond between them surged violently, roaring louder with every passing second until there was nothing left in her head except him. His taste. His heat. The hard body pressed against hers and that possessive rumble in his chest every time she made another helpless sound for him.

Aria’s fingers abandoned his shirt and slid into his hair instead, gripping hard and pulling him impossibly closer as she finally gave up any pretense of resisting what he was doing to her. She kissed him back with every bit of the ferocity he’d brought to her, meeting him stroke for stroke, their teeth occasionally scraping in the reckless hunger of it, neither willing to surrender control to the other.

She literally forgot everything. The arena, the music, the roommates who had abandoned her minutes ago, Rhydian, the fight waiting beneath their feet—none of it existed anymore. There was only Maverick and the relentless hunger of his kiss, the heat of his body surrounding hers and the answering ache gathering low and hot between her thighs.

His hand splayed wide against her lower back, crushing her flush against him. Aria moaned shamelessly into his mouth as her hips rolled forward on pure instinct, grinding against the hard, unmistakable evidence of exactly what she was doing to him.

Maverick’s answering growl came from somewhere deep in his chest, rough enough to send a shiver racing down her spine. His fingers tightened even more against her back, encouraging her to do it again. And Aria did, the bond screaming the same maddening command through every nerve in her body.

Closer.

They only broke apart when their lungs finally demanded it, their mouths separating on a shared, ragged gasp. Aria’s chest heaved violently, air refusing to fill her lungs fast enough, her entire body trembling as if she’d just sprinted for miles rather than simply kissed the man in front of her.

Maverick didn’t release her. His hand remained firm against her back, holding her against him while he stared down at her with eyes that looked far too much like Feral’s for comfort.

It took several long seconds for the haze to clear enough for coherent thought to return.

Then Aria registered the silence.

The music had stopped. So had the laughter, conversations and drunken shouting that had filled the Outer Ring only moments ago. An entire arena packed with beasts had fallen completely silent around them.

Slowly, Aria turned her head, and whatever remained of the heat in her face became pure mortification. Every eye in the arena was locked onto her. Beasts stood frozen mid-conversation, drinks suspended halfway to their mouths, expressions full of disbelief.

Not everyone looked shocked, though. A boy and girl with rainbow-colored hair watched them with such open fascination that they were practically grinning. They looked as though they’d just witnessed the greatest scandal Bestiaris had produced all year.

Her heart dropped.

Oh, fuck.

Except while Aria was internally panicking, Maverick didn’t seem the least bit bothered. His arm remained possessively locked around her waist, holding her firmly against his side as he faced the staring crowd without an ounce of shame.

He didn’t regret a single second of it.