Come Here, Kitten (God of War Book 1)

by Emilia Rose

  I furrowed my eyebrows and whimpered for my mate, all sense of control gone. All Mars had to do was surrender to Ares, and I submitted to his every touch. It was so dangerous but so thrilling.

  “I bet you’ve been thinking about me filling you up with my cum and letting it drip out of you when we’re finished.” He kissed just below my ear. “Or maybe … thrusting it deeper inside of you and making you bear our pups.”

  Something about the power he had over me made me feel so fucking good. No, I didn’t want pups right now, but just the mere thought of it made my wolf crave him. My pussy pulsed even more intensely on his fingers as I just waited for him to fill me up, for him to make me come over and over, like he had the other night.

  I hadn’t gotten over the feeling of him being inside of me. I didn’t think I ever would.

  “Does my Kitten want that?” he asked, fingers pushing into me and pulling back out, so agonizingly slow. I nodded at him, my head in such a daze, as the pleasure coursed through my entire body. “Use your words.”

  “Yes, Ares.”

  He growled lowly, crawled next to me, and pushed me onto my side, my back against his chest. He brushed his lips against my ear from behind and lifted one of my legs into the air, positioning the head of his cock right at my entrance. He spread my legs wider, his hand slipping down my thigh to rub my clit. “Beg,” he whispered in my ear. “I love it when you beg for me, Kitten.”

  My mark burned with pleasure every time he pressed against my wetness. “Please, Ares,” I begged.

  He pushed himself harder against my core.

  “Oh Goddess, please, I need it.”

  After slipping his arm underneath my neck and cradling my head, he brushed his fingers against my lips. “Please what?”

  “Put your cock inside of me.”

  Without speaking another word, he drew me closer to him, kissed my mark, and plunged himself inside of me. My whole body jerked up, but Ares held me to him.

  “I love the way your pussy wraps around my cock.” He rubbed my clit harsher, pumping in and out of me. “The way your tits bounce every time I thrust into you.”

  Pleasure rushed through my body.

  “Your purrs,” he whispered in my ear. “Goddess, I love the way you purr for me, Kitten.”

  My pussy clenched harder on his cock, and I moaned out his name, unable to hold myself back. All I could feel was him pulsing inside of me and the surge of delight I felt from it. I arched my back and came hard.

  Wave after wave of ecstasy rushed through my body, making it tingle with delight. He slowed his pace, came inside of me, and groaned deeply into my ear. I could already feel his cum coating my pussy lips.

  After he pulled himself out, I rolled onto my back and stared over at him, my breathing heavy. The moonlight bounced off his sculpted face so perfectly, and my heart warmed. So many things had happened since the last night we had been together, yet I felt even closer to him.

  We stayed quiet for a few moments, and then he pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear. “My dad invited us to dinner tomorrow night. Do you want to go?” he asked nervously.

  While I hadn’t had one simple night here to relax, I wanted to meet his family. It would be a good time to figure out who Ares really was, what had happened to his mother, and why Charolette was the only one I could ask about the stone.

  “Only if you take me back to the pack house and feed me some more of those pretzels with cheese tonight,” I said, giving him the best proposition he’d ever get from me.

  He chuckled against my lips, picked me up right off of the ground, and carried me home. “Anything for you, Kitten.”

  Chapter 31

  Aurora

  I dumped my gym bag onto the ground at the edge of the training field and tugged my hair into a high ponytail, so everyone could see Ares’s mark on my neck. Though he had marked me less than two days ago, his teeth had sunk so deep into me that my mark was still red and swollen. People from his pack gazed over at me, eyes lingering longer than they usually did.

  The warriors and members in his pack weren’t the most personal people, but they were getting used to me. Some even smiled at me this morning. But since I’d been here, they all seemed like something was haunting and hurting each one of their hearts.

  At the front of the pack, Ares stood with Marcel and sneaked a gaze at me when Marcel instructed the pack through warm-ups. Marcel was definitely the biggest asshole I knew, but he was one of the strongest wolves in this pack. It was just weird that he never went on hunts with Ares and just kind of … babysat Charolette.

  Charolette bounced on her toes next to me, smiling wide. “Morning.”

  After fiddling with my fingers a few times, I mustered up my best smile. All night, I had stayed up, trying to think about how I was going to ask her why Ares needed the stone. The last time I had asked her and Marcel, she had been so hesitant to say anything. And I had a bad feeling that Ares needed the stone because something had happened with her.

  “Three-mile run around the property. Take our usual route,” Marcel said.

  Everyone shifted into their wolves, except Ares, Marcel, Charolette, and me.

  Marcel cocked a brow at us. “Even you two.”

  “I’m not running in my wolf,” I said with confidence, so nobody would suspect a thing.

  Ares was the only person here who knew about me not being able to shift easily, and I wanted to keep it that way until I was comfortable.

  He would protect me any way he could, but he couldn’t stop the way people would look at me. They’d judge me for being an alpha and their luna who couldn’t shift. How could I be the god of war’s mate? How would they respect me once they found out?

  I could snap any one of their necks in my human form, yes … but I wouldn’t do that just because they judged me for it. I didn’t want to lead by fear. I wanted them to respect me for me, and I had to earn that respect, even as an alpha.

  “She’ll run in her human form.” Ares nodded to the woods. “I’ll run with her.”

  Marcel grunted. “No. She needs to run, and so do you.” He stepped closer to Ares, lowering his voice. “You need to be strong for when we find that fucking stone.”

  Charolette looked between us and stepped forward. “I’ll run with Aurora.”

  Marcel shook his head. “You run with me.”

  Ares growled. “She will run with Aurora for today. They need to talk.”

  I straightened my posture and clenched my jaw. “Go,” I said, not wanting to draw attention to myself.

  After a couple of curse words from Marcel, they shifted and disappeared through the woods.

  Charolette and I jogged in our human forms on the same sunny path.

  We got about a half-mile into the woods when she asked, “Why don’t you shift?”

  My eyes widened, and I slowed down just a bit. This was not how I’d wanted or expected this conversation with her to start. I’d wanted to figure out about the stone and Ares’s need for it before I told her anything.

  “Um …” I hopped over some branches. Birds chirped softly above us, flying low overhead. “I just … don’t like to shift.”

  She furrowed her brows, her breaths becoming uneven, as if she were almost out of breath already. “I can see if you don’t like it when we practice—because shifting takes so much energy—but … you don’t even shift when there’s danger.”

  I parted my lips and swallowed hard. Shit. Shit. Shit. Had Ares said something to her? Had he told her that I couldn’t shift? Had he told anyone else that I couldn’t shift? If he had … Goddess, there would be so many people who might try to challenge me for my place as luna. Though challenging an alpha or luna for leadership didn’t happen often and I didn’t think that Ares would allow it, that didn’t mean I could just walk around his pack and think I was safe.

  There was a hierarchy. Only the strong survived. And I was weak.

  “Come on,” Charolette said. “You can tell me.”

&
nbsp; I parted my lips. “If I tell you the truth, will you tell me something?”

  A smile broke out on her flushed face. “Anything.”

  After hoping that I could trust her, I slowed to a walk and rubbed my hands together. Charolette stopped, still breathing heavy.

  “I …” I started, fumbling with the ends of my dry-fit shirt. “My pack was attacked by hounds a long time ago. My brother died during an attack, and I was paralyzed from my neck down, so it’s difficult for me to shift.”

  Almost immediately, her eyes filled with tears. “But … how? Why? Wh—how are you still walking? How can you be walking?”

  I gnawed on the inside of my cheek to hold the tears back. It had been bad enough, telling Ares about this last night. It would hurt me so much more, trying to tell someone else about how shitty my life had been since Jeremy passed.

  But the truth felt so freeing sometimes. I wanted Charolette to accept me the way that Ares had. I didn’t want her to judge me or try to make my life easier because of this disability. She was my only friend here.

  “Half of the Malavite Stone is in my back,” I whispered.

  “You have the stone inside of you?” she asked in disbelief. An expression that I couldn’t quite decipher crossed her face. She grabbed my hands and pulled me to the side of the path. “You can’t tell Ares about it. He … he’ll hurt you. He’s been searching for that stone for years. He’ll do anything for it.”

  “He already knows.”

  “He knows?” She frowned at me and let a tear fall down her cheek. Then, she threw her arms around me and pulled me into a tight hug. “He’s hurt so many people, trying to find the stone. I’m honestly … so happy that he hasn’t hurt you too. I’m so … so … happy for you—that you get to live your life to the fullest and aren’t paralyzed anymore. Ares needs a strong woman in his life.” She pulled away. “After Mom and now me”—tears rushed down her cheeks—“I think he might start to hurt himself ag—”

  I furrowed my brows. “What do you mean, you?” I asked.

  Ares’s mother had died, but Charolette was healthy.

  She stepped away from me and swallowed hard. “Aurora …” Her eyes widened. “Wait … Ares still hasn’t told you why he wants the stone?” She placed a hand over her heart. “Oh Goddess, what’s wrong with him?”

  “What’s wrong? What’s going on?” I asked quietly. My stomach tightened, and I wrapped my hand around the front of my neck.

  What could be so terrible?

  I thought back to all the times I had spent around her and the pack. She fatigued during our run. Marcel got her some kind of medication. Ares was so protective over her …

  “Aurora …” Her fingers trembled. “I have cancer.”

  My eyes widened, and I shook my head. No. No, she couldn’t. She was so healthy. She was so fucking healthy, so happy, so …

  More tears streamed down her face, and she let out another cry.

  “No,” I said, not wanting to believe it. “No, you can’t—”

  “Leukemia.” She gripped my hand harder. “I’ve had it for a few years, have been through chemo … and …” She squeezed her eyes shut.

  This couldn’t be true. I barely knew her, but she had quickly become one of my only true friends.

  “It’s not working,” she finally said, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “It’s hard for me to do so many things that I used to be able to do. I can barely run. I can barely fight. I’m just trying to live my last few days happy.”

  This was why Ares hadn’t wanted to tell me. He was in too much pain over Charolette. First, his mother had died, and now, Charolette might die too.

  She frowned and watched the warriors gather in the field through the trees. “My wolf’s fur is becoming thinner every day, and I’ve lost the hair on my head. That’s why I don’t shift in front of people. I don’t want them to see me without my wig … I always loved how I looked … and now … now, I’m nothing. I’m nothing,” she repeated, voice cracking.

  I pulled her into a hug and let her rest her head on my shoulders. She grasped on to me tightly, curling her fingers into my back.

  “It’s okay, Charolette.” I gently rubbed her back, trying to be strong for her.

  But it wasn’t okay. None of this was okay, and it never would be.

  “Ares thinks that if he finds the stone … he’ll be able to fix me …” She shook her head. “But … I don’t believe it. Nothing has been able to fix this, and nothing will ever be able to fix me. I’m broken.”

  Chapter 32

  Aurora

  Ever since Charolette had told me she had cancer this morning, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The word had been on my mind for hours, terrorizing me in the worst ways possible. Charolette was Ares’s only sibling, just like Jeremy had been mine. And I knew the pain and heartbreak he was feeling, knowing ahead of time that he’d lose her one day if he didn’t find the stone.

  We skipped the rest of practice—despite Marcel telling her she needed to train to be strong—and got ice cream at Pandora’s Parlor. She told me that doctors were giving up on her, that the money Ares had poured into chemo was for nothing, and that they thought she only had a few months left at best unless the Moon Goddess presented her with a miracle.

  When I got home, I locked myself in Ruffles’s bedroom and cried for the first time today. Ruffles hopped up onto my lap and rubbed her face against my cheek, knowing that something was wrong. I hugged her to my chest, my entire body shaking.

  We needed to find the other half of the stone as soon as possible. But even that was iffy. If we found it, could only half the stone treat her cancer and keep her alive? What if it didn’t?

  I brushed my fingers across the slightly raised skin on my back, feeling the stone’s power vibrating through them.

  If half the stone didn’t work, then I would give her my half too. I had to; I didn’t have any other choice. I would not let Ares or Mars experience what I had when Jeremy died—the anguish, the heartbreak, the feeling of you could’ve done more to save him, but you just didn’t try hard enough. If I had to spend the rest of my life unable to walk or to shift, then I would do that for Charolette. Though I didn’t know her as much as I wished I did, she had helped me so much already—even if it was just hiding Ruffles for me.

  But until then, I would try my hardest to find the stone.

  I opened a bag of chips to distract Ruffles, picked up the phone as I listened to her little crunches, and dialed Elijah’s number. While I didn’t think he had any new information about the stone yet, I needed to talk to him because his doctor had put the stone in my back. Maybe I could convince him to put the other stone into Charolette once we found it. And if my stone was attracting the hounds like Ares thought, maybe we could somehow find the other half of the stone using this one.

  Something.

  Anything.

  Elijah didn’t answer, so I called him again. The second call went straight to voice mail.

  “Elijah, please answer. I need to talk to you about the second half of the stone. We need to find it now. Call me back.”

  Mars knocked on the door and peeked his head into the room. Dressed in a short-sleeved pink button-up that hugged his biceps perfectly and a pair of fitted white jeans, he smiled. “Are you ready? My dad wants us over at six.”

  I gazed at the clock, which read five fifty p.m. in glowing green numbers, and hurried to his bedroom, throwing on a baby-blue summer dress and a pair of red sandals. Mars snatched up my hand and led me out of the pack house and down the street.

  He stayed quieter than usual as we walked down the white-paved sidewalk.

  I crossed the middle of the street when I saw Mr. Barrett’s bright blue shutters and said, “Your sister is sick,” before I could stop myself.

  Stopping on the cracked pavement, Mars looked over, his eyes soft. “You talked to her?”

  “Yes …” Guilt hit me like a fucking train. I had judged him for something I knew nothing about
just because Mom had told me. “I’m sorry for getting angry with you and for calling you power hungry. I’m sorry for … for what’s happening. I didn’t know, but”—I grasped his hand tighter and tried to smile up at him—“I am willing to do everything to find the other half of the stone. And if we can’t find it in time, then I’m going to give her the stone inside of me.”

  All that softness in his brown eyes disappeared and was replaced with a hard, intense stare. “No.” He pulled me toward his dad’s house. “I won’t let you.”

  I yanked my hand out of his. “I’m not asking for your permission.”

  Mars let out a menacing growl and glared down at me. “You’re not going to give your life for hers. I appreciate your offer, but Charolette nor I will accept you doing that.”

  “If it’s life or death, Mars?” I shook my head. “I am going to do it.”

  Wind shook the trees above us, and a strand of Mars’s hair blew into his face. “I’m not going to fight with you about this. You will not risk your life. You’re the luna of this pack. You need to be strong and to stay strong for me, for when shit hits the fucking fan and I spiral out of fucking control …” He swallowed hard, eyes filling with terror that I hadn’t seen before. “You will need to lead this pack.”

  “Well, you need to understand that—”

  “Aurora!” Mr. Barrett smiled from the front door and held it open for us. “Mars! You’re here! Come on in.”

  Mars grabbed my hand and pulled me to the house, staying deathly quiet. When we walked in, Charolette was already sitting at the table with Liam, kicking her legs back and forth with a giant smile on her face.

  “Hi, A!” She smiled widely at me with a twinkle in her eye that had disappeared this morning. Mars nodded at her, and she scrunched up her nose. “I was talking to Aurora, not you.”

  Mars pulled out a chair for me. He sat next to me, his sharp jaw clenched hard, staring from me to his sister and back. I smiled at her and pressed my lips together, not wanting to say anything that would cause Mars to lose control. If we were back home, I would. I would fight him on this. But we were eating with his family for the first time, and I wanted to make a good impression.