Come Here, Kitten (God of War Book 1)

by Emilia Rose

  Though my heart raced in excitement at the thought, I couldn’t let him do it.

  I placed my hands on his chest, gathered all my strength, and pushed him away. “No.”

  He tensed, his brown eyes fighting to stay their natural human color but eventually surrendering to their wolfish golden suns. “No? You don’t want me to mark you?” There was the usual mix of shock and fury in his voice, as if after everything, he’d thought I’d submit to him.

  It should’ve been an easy decision. I should’ve pushed him back further, thrown his savage smirk right back at him, and told him he’d never mark me. At least, that way wouldn’t end in my heartbreak. But instead of doing any of that, all I said was, “No, not yet.”

  After the words left my mouth, Ares slumped his shoulders forward slightly and frowned, golden eyes still intense but filled with anguish, almost as if he were a whole new person.

  “Do you want to mark me?” he asked softly, taking my hands in his larger ones.

  “Ares—”

  “Mars,” he said. “I’m Mars now.”

  “Mars,” I whispered, correcting myself. It was going to be difficult, separating the man from the monster, but they were both my mate, and part of me wanted to tame each of them.

  “I want you to mark me. I want to be yours,” Mars said.

  Mine.

  The god of war wanted to be mine without knowing that I was the woman who had the one thing he’d killed hundreds of werewolves to find.

  “Not yet.” I brushed my fingers against his stubble. Lips curled down in a frown, he looked ashamed that I’d refused to mark him. A wave of guilt washed over me, and I grasped his hands. “I want to get to know you, and I need you to know me.”

  It wasn’t a lie, but it was an excuse to stall. Stall because I wasn’t strong enough to tell him the truth. And I hated myself for it. But I didn’t know how to control that more demonic, hellish side of him yet. I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to control Ares. All I knew was that he’d kill for the stone.

  After giving me his best half-smile, he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my body. Although we were still soaking wet and dressed only in our towels, he led me to the kitchen and sat me on the counter.

  “I wanted to run with you tonight. Your wolf and mine in our forest, but after the hound attacks, I don’t want to risk it. So”—he opened the pantry, which must’ve had ten bags of Ruffles chips inside of it, all different kinds—“I’m going to make you dinner.”

  My eyes widened. “Why are there so many bags of chips in your pantry?”

  He gave me a prideful grin. “I saw that you had them in your backpack, and I wanted to have a snack that you enjoyed here.”

  I pressed my lips together to try to suppress a grin, but I couldn’t help the warmth I felt in my heart because of his thoughtfulness. If he only knew that it wasn’t me who enjoyed those chips, but Ruffles. That cat would find all those bags and eat them within the next week if he didn’t hide them well. She had a nose stronger than a werewolf’s sometimes. She’d catch a whiff of them, find a way out of her room, and chew right through the plastic.

  “So,” I said, kicking my legs back and forth, “what’re you going to cook for me?”

  He shut the pantry door and opened the freezer, which was packed with so much food that I swore it could feed about twenty growing pups. “What’re you feeling?” He pulled out a sirloin steak and a box of frozen pretzels. “Steak or pretzels with cheese?”

  “You’re going to cook me pretzels with cheese for our first meal together?” I asked, arching a brow and smiling.

  His cheeks flushed the lightest shade of pink, and my heart warmed.

  I never thought I’d see the god of war blush.

  “Let’s have the pretzels,” I said.

  “We can have the steak if you want. I’m just—”

  “No.” I hopped off of the counter, tightened my towel around my body, and grabbed the black box from him. “I want the pretzels, but on one condition.” I poked a finger into his bare chest and stared up into his soft, inviting eyes. “You promise not to lick the cheese off of me when we’re finished.”

  “Oh, Kitten, you’ve got some pretty weird kinks there.” He smirked. “But I can’t keep that promise to you. I’d lick anything off your body, sprinkle some salt on you.” He grabbed the box and gazed at the directions to cook the pretzels. “Bake you at four hundred twenty-five degrees until you’re golden brown.”

  I playfully shoved my shoulder into his, letting tingles rush through my body. Why hadn’t anyone told me about this side of him? The gentler side, playful side, the side that might or might not have a pretzel kink.

  Maybe I had just been too blinded by hateful rumors to notice.

  “I’ll be waiting in your bedroom for our five-star meal.”

  Before I could leave the kitchen, he said, “Aurora, don’t leave this house.”

  “You sound like my mom.” I hurried down the hall, wanting to set up Ruffles’s bedroom before she got home and before Mars could ask what I was up to. I wanted her to be comfortable, which meant making the bed smell like me and bringing her favorite pillow so she could lie on it.

  “If you leave, I’ll hunt your cute little ass down and—”

  “I’m not going anywhere, Mars.”

  Not yet.

  I grabbed the pillow from my suitcase, dressed myself in one of Mars’s shirts, and walked into Ruffles’s new room. Perched on a heap of Mars’s clothes, which were lying on the bed, Ruffles sat and smiled at me like she was a queen.

  I shut the door behind me, eyes wide. “Ruffles! Charolette brought you home already?”

  Oh Goddess, Charolette probably heard us in his bedroom.

  Ruffles’s litter box was set in the corner of the room, and there were three different toys on the ground. A ball with a bell inside of it, a stuffed wolf that Ruffles had nearly torn through already with her teeth, and a laser pointer. A food bowl was filled on the ground near the door.

  Ruffles stood up and arched her back to stretch, her little booty in the air. “Meow.” She walked over to me and brushed her small, fluffy body against my leg.

  I knelt down and frowned at her, petting her head just where she liked it. She rubbed her face against mine and purred some more.

  “I’m glad you’re okay too, girl. That hound was scary, but you did so good.”

  When I stopped petting her, she bit my finger and sashayed back over to Mars’s clothes to lie on them.

  I placed her pillow on the center of the bed and plopped her right onto it, but almost immediately, she stood back up and walked to his clothes.

  “Ruffles, I know that he smells good, but he’s allergic to you.”

  I put her on the pillow again, and she did the exact same thing—but this time, she bit the pillow, took it in her mouth, and dragged it to Mars’s clothes, laying it right on top, hopping onto it, and plopping right down.

  “Kitten,” Mars called.

  I gazed at the door and crouched down to Ruffles’s level. “This isn’t over. I’m taking his clothes away from you tomorrow,” I said.

  She closed her eyes with her fuck you attitude and turned her head toward the dark glass window.

  “Coming!” I shouted.

  I shut her door behind me and hurried to his bedroom.

  Lying on the bed in a pair of gray sweatpants with a plate of warm pretzels and hot cheese on his lap, Mars stared at me with a soft smile. I crawled onto the bed with him and grabbed a pretzel.

  “Five-star worthy?” he asked, brow furrowed in an attempt to look smooth … but I could see the worry and anticipation in his eyes.

  “Hmm …” I dipped the pretzel into the cheese and stuffed it into my mouth. “I give it a four-point-five.”

  “Four-point-five?” He sat up and grabbed another one. “What if I feed it to you?”

  I almost snorted. “Are you going to say choo-choo when you feed it to me too—”

  He stuffed it i
nto my mouth and pressed my lips together. “Choo-choo, Kitten.”

  I chewed and playfully slapped his chest. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “A lot of things.” He cracked a smile, placed the pretzels between us, and turned onto his side to face me. Unlike earlier, when he had torn through the entire pack of hounds in the woods with the vicious look in his eyes, he looked so boyish and innocent. And all I wanted to do was protect him with everything I had. “Which do you want to hear about first?”

  My wolf purred for him, wanting him, needing him.

  “Tell me about all of it, Mars.” I rested my head on his pillow, pushed a strand of hair from his face, and smiled at him. Moonlight flooded in through the windows, hitting his face, sculpted perfectly by our Goddess. “What goes on in that head of yours?”

  “Bad things, Aurora. Bad … bad things.”

  “Am I one of them?” I asked teasingly.

  He brushed a finger under my chin, lifted my face to meet his, and cracked a smirk. “You’re all of them.”

  Chapter 18

  Mars

  Aurora lay in my arms, one leg sprawled over my thighs, her head on my chest, sleeping. I closed my eyes and stroked her hair, letting myself get lost in her lemony scent. From a distance, I heard Ruffles meow, and I smiled.

  Never had I thought that I’d have a cat in my pack house or a strong alpha mate in my bed. The Moon Goddess had blessed me, yet I didn’t think I deserved Aurora. She was one of the smartest wolves in all of Sanguine Wilds—that was what my scouts had said about her after infiltrating her surrounding packs to gather information about that stone.

  Someone knocked on my bedroom door. “Ares?”

  I growled at the name. If it wasn’t for Ares, maybe Aurora would’ve let me mark her tonight, or maybe she’d have wanted to mark me. But she was terrified of him, and I couldn’t blame her.

  Using blood as cologne, collecting canines as trophies, leaving packs in ruins, Ares was a ruthless, savage, and feral animal who lived up to his reputation.

  At least, that was what he wanted people to believe.

  Whenever he took control of me, I couldn’t stop him, couldn’t talk him down, couldn’t tame him. Only Aurora had been able to so far. And maybe, one day, she would, but until then, I’d use him as a shield to protect her from the hounds and to hide us both from my past.

  Liam knocked again. “Ares.”

  “What?” I asked through clenched teeth.

  The door opened, and he peered into the room. I pulled the blankets over Aurora’s body and tugged her closer to my chest. He glanced at her for a moment and then back at me when I growled at him for ogling my mate.

  “I have information.”

  I waited for him to continue, not wanting to leave my mate and feeling Ares stir inside of me … but I didn’t want to give up control to him again. He took too much energy out of me, made me feel so weak some days. Sometimes, it wasn’t even physical, just mental.

  Liam leaned against the doorframe. “The rogue doesn’t know anything. No names, just that a wolf with a scar down the side of his face had the Malavite Stone at some point,” he said.

  My entire body tensed. She had told me the same thing the other day, but I’d brushed it off because I didn’t want to believe that he was back. Hell, I didn’t even know if it was him. It could be someone different.

  “Do you think it’s him?” I asked.

  “Him, as in the hound who rap—”

  I let out a low growl. “Don’t finish that sentence.” After taking a deep breath, I nodded. “But, yes, him.”

  “Thought he had two scars crossing in the middle of his face?”

  “He does,” I said. I just couldn’t have him around now, especially since I had Aurora with me.

  Liam pushed himself off the doorframe. “I’ll ask around, see if anyone else knows a wolf with that scar, and get back to you tomorrow.”

  He shut the door, and I stared up at the ceiling with wide eyes, nerves racing through my body.

  I prayed to the Moon Goddess that it wasn’t him, but with the two hound attacks in the past few days … I didn’t think she’d answer my prayers. Something in my gut told me that the man in my nightmares was back, but this time, he was coming for my mate.

  Chapter 19

  Aurora

  The morning sun beat down on me as I stared out at the open training field. Hundreds of warriors sparred on the grass, throwing punches, dodging kicks, doing takedowns and judo throws. I watched Marcel jog over to Ares and me, a Dri-FIT navy-blue shirt plastered to his body.

  Last night, we’d stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, talking about how he always wanted a strong female mate, one who could put any other she-wolf to shame, one like me.

  But he didn’t know me.

  I shouldn’t keep the stone a secret or lead him on. I should’ve told him about it last night. Hell, I’d tried to tell him last night. I really had. But … with the way he’d kept smiling at me with so much love, I hadn’t wanted to ruin the moment.

  Whatever was happening between us was happening faster than I wanted it to. Ares and Mars were different people … and part of me was falling for both of them already. It scared the living hell out of me how I just wanted him to be happy for a little bit, how I wanted to clear his head of all his insecurities, how I wanted to feel wanted—not by my parents, not by Tony, but by Ares or Mars.

  But my wolf wouldn’t let me tell him anyway.

  “There she is,” Marcel said, his silver hair blowing in the early morning breeze. “Has Princess decided that she wants to join us warriors for practice?”

  “Don’t push it,” Ares said. He tore off his shirt and threw it to the side. “Train her like you train Charolette. They should both be training harder than any of the other she-wolves here.”

  After Marcel fake-saluted Ares, I watched Ares jog toward the other warrior wolves to start training.

  Marcel turned to me with a smug smirk on his face, eyes twinkling a psychotic blue. “Long night last night? I’m sure Ares kept you up.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “What’s your problem?”

  He stalked around me, looking me up and down. “Not getting enough sleep weakens your reflexes.”

  “My reflexes are fine,” I said.

  He lunged at me, and I easily stepped out of the way and slammed my fist into his ribs.

  “Like I said, my reflexes are fine.”

  He stumbled back and chuckled. “Feisty.”

  “Yeah, well, she’s about to be intrusive, too, when she puts her fist up your ass, especially if you keep messing with her,” Charolette said, throwing her gym bag down on the ground next to me, bumping her hip against mine. “Hey, girl.”

  Marcel clenched his jaw. “Charolette, what are you doing here?”

  “Keeping Aurora away from your disgusting, flirtatious remarks.”

  The expression on Marcel’s face changed from playful to annoyed in less than a second. Nostrils flared, he gave her a pointed stare. “If you’re staying, you’re training.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and raised a brow at him. I could just feel the tension between them, and I didn’t know if they had been together before or were itching to sleep with each other.

  “Well, big shot, show me what you got against an alpha like Aurora,” he said to her.

  She humphed in his direction and pulled me onto some softer grass, so we could fight. Though she was small, she was fierce. Running at me, almost faster than I could react. Landing punch after punch on my abdomen. Taking me down once.

  I let her.

  I let her because I didn’t know how much she could take and because I didn’t want to give away that while my abilities far surpassed hers, they weren’t available in my wolf form. Only my human. If I showed off too much, they might expect more of me. But if I didn’t show off enough, they’d know something was up.

  After fifteen minutes of Marcel critiquing our forms and giving me tips t
hat I’d already known, he crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay, let’s run.”

  Heaving to catch her breath, Charolette disappeared behind a tree and returned as a petite wolf. Unlike her blonde hair, her fur was a deep brown, similar to Ares. I looked at her, then at him, and then at Ares watching me from across the field.

  Liam whispered something into his ear, and Ares let out a ferocious growl. Thick muscles glistening with sweat, he stormed toward me. I turned away from him and back toward Marcel.

  Marcel cleared his throat. “Aurora, shift.”

  I glanced back at Marcel, an uneasy feeling building in the pit of my stomach. Thank the Goddess that Ares was about to blow up about something because I wasn’t about to shift just to run.

  “We have insight on the stone,” Ares said to Marcel but didn’t take his gaze off of me.

  I parted my lips. Oh Goddess, please don’t tell me that he knows about me already. I hadn’t been here for a few days yet.

  “Alpha Elijah had half of it.”

  Shit.

  Shit.

  Shit.

  He stared at me with eyes so golden that I thought they’d burn right through me. “Did you know about this?” he asked, jaw clenched. “The Darkmoon Pack’s closest ally is Elijah and his pack.”

  My heart pounded in my ears, my chest tightening. Someone had found out about the stone, about the doctor from Elijah’s pack who had put it inside of me, and now, someone would die in Ares’s hands for it.

  And that someone would be me.

  I tried to think of the best-case scenario when Ares found out about the stone, my back, and my inability to shift easily into my wolf. I tried to remember how much love he had shown me last night, when we had a stupid-cute dinner in bed. Pretzels and cheese. His smile lighting up the whole damn room. Those beautiful, soft eyes.

  “Aurora,” Ares said my name. Not Kitten. Not mate. Aurora with distaste.

  “Ares, I-I didn’t know.” My fingers shook.

  This was my mate … but this was not the gentle Mars that I had seen last night. This was the terrifying side of my mate. Ares. The side that would kill for power and for that stone.