Page 44 of Rising Reign

I pushed harder, my muscles burning and my lungs heaving, but I gained. His smoky whiskey scent grew stronger, and it was the fuel I needed.

With one last push, I launched myself into the air. I caught Puck on the fly, the force of my leap taking us both to the ground in a roll. We landed just beside the creek on a mossy embankment.

I didn’t wait. My teeth pressed to the side of Puck’s neck, pressure without puncture. But I’d bite if I needed to.

Puck let out a low, frustrated growl. But then he shifted back to his human form, and a completely naked man was underneath me.

27

WREN

I tried not to let the golden skin and tan body distract me. My teeth stayed right at Puck’s very human neck as I growled.

Puck simply chuckled. “You got me. Shift.” His hands sifted through my fur as if wooing my human half back.

I was tempted to bite him just for the hell of it, but I still needed my human half to communicate with the bastard, so I began my shift. I felt the telltale pop and crack of bones, and before long, I was straddling Puck in my human form.

His green eyes flashed in the dark, his hands moving to cup my breasts. I smacked them away. “You haven’t earned that,” I growled.

“Birdie,” he cooed as if that would make me melt. “I need to feel you. Lose myself in you.”

I understood the urge. The physical was sometimes so much easier. A way to forget everything around you. But that wasn’t what we needed right now.

Grabbing Puck’s wrists, I held them over his head. He grinned. “Kinky. I like it.”

I let out a low growl. “I will bite you.”

“I’m into it.” He nipped my bottom lip.

“Not in a fun way,” I gritted out.

Puck pushed up, trying to kiss me.

“Don’t.” The single word cracked out like a whip as I released Puck’s hands and sat up.

“Birdie,” he whispered, losing the amusement.

“Tell me what’s going on,” I begged. That mask started to rise again, and pain flooded my system. My hands moved to Puck’s stubbled cheeks. “Don’t hide from me.”

A different sort of pain filled Puck’s expression, and I would’ve done anything to wash it away, to ease it by any means. My fingertips trailed over his cheeks, trying to bring comfort.

“I’m sorry,” he rasped.

“You don’t have to be sorry. You just need to let me in.”

Puck let out a shuddered breath. “I keep thinking about how I’ve let you down. How I pushed you away at first. How I let you get taken. Twice. How I haven’t protected you. And the threats are coming from all sides now. How the hell can I keep you safe?”

I stroked my fingers over his stubble. “Where is this coming from?” I knew we’d been facing a lot, but Puck had seemed good when I returned. Steady. His words now were filled with panic.

His jaw clenched, and the muscle there began pulsing wildly in a staccato beat I could feel beneath my fingertips.

“Puck, this is more than what happened recently. What’s going on?” I pressed. I could feel it now, sheer panic raking against my emotional shields.

“My sister called.”

I stilled. I remembered Puck telling me that he’d ceded leadership of his family’s pack to his younger sister after his brother and his potential mate betrayed him. He’d told me it was too painful to be there after he was forced to end his brother’s life. But I wasn’t sure how much contact he still had with his sister and parents. Apparently, it wasn’t much.

My hands trailed down Puck’s neck to his chest, finally coming to a stop over his heart. “Is that okay? That she called?”