32. Taken

Sona walked past Arden in the living quarters’ hallway. Taos’ arm was brushing hers; she didn’t notice until her childhood friend, the male who had loved her since, the wolf who helped her escape at the risk of death, who made love to her when she needed comfort.
And how was she repaying him?
He stopped in his tracks in the spacious hall, his familiar green eyes flicked to the skinship immediately. The look went from unworried to something flat. Sona jerked away from Taos, ignoring his low grumble of warning, and took a step toward him. “Arden. Is it true—”
“That we’ve both moved on? Seems so.”
Her heart clenched. “That’s not true…”
“For you maybe,” Arden said coldly, stalking up to her, also ignoring Taos’ growl. “What Cerise said was true. We’ve claimed each other.”
Sona dreaded his answer when she asked, “In what way?”
“I’ve joined her harem and promised to make love to her at the end of her next heat.”
Taos’ bellow slammed her eardrums. *“You’re doing fucking what?!”*
Arden turned a fearless, venomous look at the Redbone Alpha. “Exactly. I’m going to fuck her. She asked me first.”
“She *what*?!”
Sona noticed his outfit for the first time—the same red pants that Cerise’s male consorts wore, a bone necklace, and a piece of his white hair braided with a red string, a tooth at its end. If not for his hair and eyes, he could easily be mistaken for a werewolf of the Redbone pack.
Within a week, Arden Roshan the Beta and heir to the Moonvalley pack was no longer. The male she’d known for more than half her life was unrecognizable.
“What does it matter,” he continued, gaze snapping back to Sona, “when you’re marrying him? You’re going to fuck him eventually.”
*What a fucked-up situation to unravel. Best not think too much about it.*
“Yes,” Taos snarled, hooking his arm around Sona’s waist and yanking her against him. “She is to be my wife to save your ass. Did you fuck loyalty yet?”
Arden’s lip started to curl. “I swore loyalty to Cerise.”
“Likely you swore loyalty to her,” Taos continued savagely, holding Sona tighter—possessively.
*Alphas protected what they thought was theirs*.
“Are you retracting it? Exchanging it for my sister?”
“I’m not exchanging anything,” snapped Arden. “I’m moving on. Sona, I will always love you—”
“That’s what Conri said to me,” Sona rasped. “And you saved me from him. He doesn’t love me now. You’re my best friend, Arden. I trust you with my life—”
“I know.” Arden’s voice quieted. “So I’m asking you to let me be with Cerise. You can be with…him,” he said scornfully, “and we move on together. I’m glad I saved you because you’ve saved me. You saved me every day, Sona, and I’ve given my all to you. You’ve given a lot to me…but not enough.”
Sona’s throat thickened. One by one, she was losing everyone she loved.
“Good luck at the meeting. I’ll see you at the wedding.”
With that, Arden pushed past her and walked around the corner.
“What a heartbreaker you are, trinket.”
Taos’ voice was light; as if they could just brush off what just happened. Sona ripped free from his grip and glared. “If you’re trying to make me feel better, try again. Do you know what I just lost?”
She turned to storm toward the entrance with the mindset of *let’s just get this over with*, but Taos caught her upper arm—and twirled her around to pull her chest flush against his. “What the hell—”
“Friends or lovers,” Taos said, his face mere inches from hers, “who are genuine do not leave so easily.”
“Don’t you dare tell me to forget about him.”
“No. just do as he says: move on.”
“To?”
“Your future.” Taos’ eyes roamed from her eyes to her lips to her near-exposed breasts and back.
“With you.”
“With me.”
“Why should I,” Sona asked, only managing a rasp, utterly still as Taos rested his forehead to hers, “when all you’ve done is take from me?”
“I have given you chances. Choices. Opportunities. Trinket…Sona… You are my chance. My choice. My opportunity. You will be my everything.”
“You barely know me.”
“That’s why I said ‘will.’ The future is mine—ours—to take, tooth and claw.”
Sona’s thoughts were funneling through a dark tunnel; only certain ones could get through, and they felt irrational. “You’re not telling me something.”
Taos’ hunter’s gaze that had somehow softened turned sharp again; it only made him cling to her tighter. Sona found it suddenly difficult to tell whose heartbeat was whose. “Your intelligence is both entertaining and irksome, trinket.” A pause. “Keep doing it. It’s arousing.”
Sona looked down. His bulge was almost rubbing against her thigh that was bared by the dress slit. “You’re so godsdamned inappropriate.”
“Then why are you not pulling free?” Taos challenged with his smirk. She was well aware that his hands were dangerously near her backside. If given the chance, he would likely smack her ass again. “Do you want me to keep touching you, Mistress Mai?”
She didn’t know how to respond or act. She’d only been involved with Conri, so she wasn’t sure what to even say, or even predict what Taos would or wouldn’t do.
She only knew that he took her silence as a resounding yes.
“What if we,” Taos murmured, tilting his head to the side, “continued where we left off?”
*We were about to kiss. I was about to let Taos Redbone, a cruel, bastardly murderer, kiss me*.
*Because I wanted him to*.
The dream rushed Sona again; it felt like an entity entering her body and trying to control her actions. She caved in to it. She melted in Taos’ arms, letting her upset thoughts melt, too, wishing, wanting, waiting for the real Taos to resume dream Taos’ trail of kisses. She was exposed enough that—
Taos released her all at once and stepped away.
Sona gasped, stumbling for balance without his support. Cold rushed in where his warmth used to be. “Why did you stop?”
He was nothing but carnal. “Because if I don’t, I won’t be able to stop until I’d taken you completely.”