Waist-deep in the lake, he grazed a hand down his abdomen, and my eyes followed.

"Show you who I am?" he asked, brow cocked.

Maybe I got ahead of myself. That was a big statement for someone who was supposed to hate him at that moment, for someone who was supposed to not want anything to do with him at all.

His golden eyes raked down my body, and he smirked. "Take off your clothes and come to me, Kitten. I'll show you who I really am."

My heart pounded in my chest. Moon Goddess, help me.

"Don't make me say it again," he said.

"And if I want to make you say it again?" I whispered.

He chuckled lowly, beads of water running down that perfect chest of his. All I wanted was his hand around my throat, his fingers inside my pussy, his lips devouring mine. Like I was his to claim. "Try me," he said, stalking closer and closer to me. The water rippled around him.

I gave him a once over and forced myself to turn around. If I looked at him for one more second, I would break. I would jump right into that lake with him and have no regrets. I would do anything that he told me to without thinking it through.

The water was silent behind me, and I didn't want to turn around for my own sake. My heart pounded against my chest. It was too quiet. Too fucking quiet.

Suddenly, Ares's hand snaked around my neck, and he pulled me to him. "Take off your clothes," he said against my ear, raking his fingers over my breast. I shivered at his touch, my nipple immediately hardening against my bra. "Now."

I curled my fingers under the hem of my shirt and tugged it over my head. Yes, Alpha.

"Good girl." He lightly groped my breast in his hand and brushed his lips against my neck. "Now this." He looped a finger in my bra cup, tugging on it.

I unclipped it from behind. My wolf was purring, wanting more of him. Moon Goddess, she wanted him to devour us like he had promised he would earlier. Ares tore it off of me and groped my breast firmly in his hand. He ran his palm over my nipple, and I clenched.

Mate. Mate. Mate. Mate. Claim us.

He plunged a hand into my leggings and rubbed my clit through my panties. "You're always so fucking wet for me, Kitten."

Sucking my bottom lip between my teeth, I brushed my fingers against his hard cock. "Let me finish what I started before," I said. I couldn't take this anymore, hadn't really stopped thinking about earlier since we left the packhouse.

"Needy, are we?" He chuckled against my lips and rubbed me harder. "Take off your panties. It's my turn."

My eyes widened, and I grasped his cock, stroking it slowly. "Your turn?"

His lips were against my own, and he was staring down at me--knowing that he had full control over my every move. "Take them off and hand them to me."

My pussy was pulsing wildly. I just wanted him inside of me, thrusting his huge cock into my tight pussy, over and over until I was begging for him to stop. I kicked off my pants and slowly stepped out of my underwear. He held out his hand, and I placed them onto it.

He pushed two fingers against my clit, rubbing gently. "Tell me how bad you want it, Kitten. Tell me how much you wish my face was between your legs, my tongue was on your sensitive little clit, my fingers were inside of you." His fingers slid down my folds to my opening, and I suppressed a moan. "Come on, Kitten. Don't be shy."

"Ares," I said softly, eyes closing. I gripped his wrist. Moon Goddess...

"What do you want?" He pressed his finger against my core, teasing me. "Tell me."

I furrowed my brows together, watching his fingers rub against my folds. "You," I said under my breath. "I want you."

He growled lowly, picking me up and plopping me down on the sand by the lake. He spread my legs apart, almost immediately, his breath on my pussy. He inhaled, eyes turning gold. "Fuck." He pushed a finger inside of me. "I've been waiting for this all fucking day." He pressed his lips to my folds, his tongue massaging my swollen clit.

I moaned and arched my back, thrusting a hand into his hair. Holy--

"You taste so good." He sucked my clit between his lips gently. "Better than I ever imagined."

My toes curled, and I tried to stop my legs from trembling. His tongue was driving me wild, sending pleasure through my body, making me crave more.

"Say my name," he said. "I want to hear my name on your lips."

I dug my nails into his shoulder. "Ares." The pressure in my core rose with each thrust. "Moon Goddess, you're so fucking good at that."

"If we were home..." He flicked my clit with his tongue. "I would eat your pussy all fucking night." He pressed his lips harder against my clit. He pinched my nipple, and my body jerked up. I moaned out, my whole body shaking.

Pleasure coursed through my body, making it tingle with delight. I curled my fingers into his hair. Wave after wave of pleasure rolled out of me. I took a deep breath, relaxing against the sand.

He gazed up at me, smirking, a mischievous glint in his eye. "I'm not finished with you, yet."

"I can't do what we did last night, Ares. My pussy is so--"

He picked me up, threw me over his shoulder, and walked toward the water. My eyes widened.

"Oh no, no, no, no, no, no."

"Yes." He wrapped his arms tightly around me, holding me to him as he submerged us into the water.

"Ares!" I yelled, my nipples hardening from the coldness of the water. "It's freezing!" I ran my fingers over his muscles, loving how smooth and big they felt under the water.

He pressed his body against mine, his arm wrapped around my waist under the water. He pulled me in closer, lips curling into a smile, and rested his forehead against mine. "Call me Mars, Aurora, please."

"Why?" I asked, lips brushing against his. He was close, so close. But I wanted him closer. My heart was racing, and my wolf was purring.

"Please," he said, voice laced with the smallest thread of vulnerability. "Mars."

"Mars."

After burying his face into my neck, pushing a lock of my wet hair behind my shoulder, and inhaling my scent deeper than he ever had before, Ares--Mars--picked me up and walked with me out of the water to the car.

I tugged on my clothes, peeked inside of my backpack to see Ruffles licking herself again, then waited patiently inside for him as he walked around outside.

My gaze followed him as he surveyed the woods, talking into his phone to Liam, and tugging a shirt over that brawny abdomen. Moon Goddess, I couldn't look away. I had barely known him for an entire day, yet I had learned more than any textbook could tell me about Alpha Ares.

Though an assohole, he was a fun fucking asshole and a cute asshole and a sweet asshole. Helping others when they shouldn't be helped. Pulling me into his chest when I didn't want to be close to him, when I didn't want to feel these feelings for him. It was... refreshing.

I wondered how many other girls fell under this spell so easily.

My wolf growled at the thought, and I soothed her by clutching my backpack to my chest, letting her and Ruffles purr at the thought of that handsome hunk sitting next to me in the car ride to his pack.

Mars clicked off the phone and slid it into his pocket. After staring at the moonlight bouncing off of the lake and rubbing his forehead, he got into the car with me. Totally pissed off.

About halfway down the dirt road, I sighed, needing to ask him about the stone. "Why do you really want that stone?"

His jaw twitched. "Not now, please."

"I just want to know." Because I have half the stone inside of my body and don't want you ripping it out because you have an insatiable thirst for power. I was terrified that, when he found out that I was useless to him, that I couldn't shift easily nor fight easily and I had the stone in me, he would tear me apart to get it.