Holy mage!

“You’re mine,” he whispered, his lips brushing my skin. “All mine.”

“Yes,” I panted. I was his. I could feel that in my very core.

This time when he captured my lips, his kiss was fierce and dominating. He nipped my bottom lip between his teeth, and I parted them. Our tongues tangled as he pressed me back against the wall, our bodies fitting together as if made for one another.

All alone in this magical little nook, the world around us fell away. Nothing else mattered.

His hand pressed between the laces of my dress on my back, nudging me closer. I couldn’t get enough of him. I couldn’t be close enough to him. His hips rotated, and I clung to him, throwing my head back to give him better access. He kissed my neck, sucking and biting as he pressed against me. I moaned, begging for more because this … was … magic.

“Mine,” I growled, my wolf rising to the surface as instinct took over. I needed to stake my claim, to mark him as mine and make sure any female who got near him would know he was taken.

Searing heat flared beneath his palm, and I arched my back as the warmth became an inferno. Need, passion, and fire swirled around us, building and expanding, consuming us.

“What is happen—?” My question became a cry, and I clung to him to stay upright as the burning sensation tore through me, an explosion of pain and pleasure. His hand came up, fingers lacing through mine as all of that pain weaved through my body and wrapped around our encircled fingers. When I felt the final bolt of stinging flesh on my left ring finger, I gasped.

Looking at our clasped hands, I stared at fated mate marks on our ring fingers, a glowing white swirl pattern in place of where a human couple might wear rings.

Holy mage.

I spun out of the alcove, switching places with him as I wrestled with my wine-soaked senses. His green eyes were wide with shock. His gaze bore into me. His chest heaved. But he didn’t let me go, didn’t give any indication he regretted this.

Green-eyed secret garden kisser was my freaking mate! I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe— Fated mates? The phenomenon was rare, but not impossible. Except—

A hefty hand landed on my shoulder, and then I was ripped back, away from Green Eyes and our little alcove, and pressed into the chest of another man as his arm encircled my waist.

“Hey,” a man snarled, his voice faintly familiar. “She was mine first.”

The dude I’d been trying to kiss from before growled, and his grip tightened as he hauled me into the crowded living room where people danced around us.

Oh, Cursed High Mage Council.

The murderous look in Green Eyes’ gaze told me shit was about to get real.

I felt, rather than saw, my mate’s movement. My stomach lurched as I was ripped from Yellow Eyes’ grasp and tucked back into my fated mate’s embrace.

“You’ll die for that,” Green Eyes seethed. He released me, and the sound of bones cracking behind me alerted me to exactly how my mate intended to enforce his claim.

Oh frick.

His physical presence behind me dropped, and when my hands fell to my sides, my fingertips brushed against the soft fur of a … wolf. His wolf.

Shock fried my brain; my saliva turned to cotton. I blinked and tucked my chin to stare down at … a jet-black wolf. Baring his teeth, he snarled, a low rumbling that sent a thrill through me.

My mate is badass.

Yellow eyes grabbed my upper arm and squeezed. “Get back over here and dance with me.”

Hard.

Oh, hell no.

The rest of the room swam in my periphery, and I swiveled my head to the left, looking up to meet the yellow-eyed gaze of the dude holding my arm.

“Let go.” Fur rippled down my arms as my wolf sprang to the surface. She had an iffy record of coming out in times of need, but it looked like this time, she was ready to go.

Before he even had a chance to follow my command, the black wolf lunged, ripping into the guy’s arm and tearing him away from me.

Holy mate-shifters!

“Don’t kill him!” I yelped, afraid of what might happen to my mate. With my luck, someone would tell the king, and my mate would get the boot from the island. I lunged after the black wolf, trying to get him to calm down. “I’m okay.”

The music ground to a halt, and people spun to stare at the black wolf snapping at the yellow-eyed dude’s throat.

“That’s it,” another guy shouted from behind me. “Party’s over.”

“Everyone out!” bellowed another dude, both in matching tuxes with black, gelled hair. “Now!”

People fled the garden, running past the pool and back inside where we were. Several women screeched, darting out of the rooms half-dressed and into the hallway. It didn't take a genius to know that the impromptu liaisons upstairs were coming to an untimely end. Yellow Eyes fled, and my black wolf looked back at me as if deciding whether to go after him or stick with me. I tried to inch away toward the door, and he moved with me, growling at anyone who approached within two feet of me.

My little, sexy kisser was being possessive as hell. Just like a newly-mated male would be, except…

This couldn’t be happening. Fated mates were always from the same pack. Always.

Until now … because this obviously wasn’t Nolan. Thank the Mother Mage for that blood spell.

I reached down and dug my fingers into his fur, my tension dissolving as I stroked my mate’s neck and then behind his ears. As soon as my hand landed on his head, he tipped his muzzle up and rubbed it against my leg.

“So that was quite a display,” I said in my most soothing voice as people ran around me to the exit. “But I’m not hurt.”

I’d been in a pack for a long time and recognized all the signs of a protective mate. His wolf came out when that guy grabbed me. He was protecting me, not knowing if I could protect myself. It was sweet. My heart fluttered with the thought. I had a mate … a fated mate … who would apparently rip off the head of any male who touched me. There were only two fated mate pairs in Crescent Pack. They were rare. Less than one percent.

He licked my hand, tasting my fingers before growling at the others still in the living room.

Unfortunately, his wolf was out now, and anyone who came near me would be a threat.

“Hey, blue girl,” one of the tux-clad-clones who’d kicked everyone out said, waving to me. “Tell the wolf you have to go,” he said, eyeing the mate marks on my left hand with alarm. “If you do, he’ll let you leave and be able to calm down enough to shift back to human.”

I ran my fingers through his fur. “I don’t want to leave him.”

The mage wine was still hitting me, but the adrenaline rush had dissolved a good bit of it. Still, I wanted to stay here with my soft wolf-mate forever. I didn’t want this night to end.

The guy cocked his head. “Do you want him to rip out the throat of every man in this room?”

I gulped. “You don’t have to be so condescending—”

My wolf-mate bared his teeth at the guy, hackles raising. Then, he stalked toward the man.

Oh, wow.

My irritation evaporated. “Hey, Green Eyes,” I called to my mate. “Come back over here, and don’t hurt the dude.”

Well, whaddya know … the wolf listened, padding back over to me, sitting by my feet. Ha. I could get used to this.