Mated to the Warrior Beast
Chapter 262 262: [Bonus chapter] NEXT GEN: Mated

~ ZANE ~

The males both gaped at me as I realized what had come out of my mouth and whipped my head around to look at Lia over my shoulder. I'd positioned myself so she was behind me as I removed that fucker's hands from her.

Her eyes were wide. So wide, I could see the whites all the way around. And her mouth made a little O.

Mate.

My mate.

Lia was my mate.

How the hell—?

"Zan?" Her voice was tiny. Thin and tremulous. Not like her at all. And that broke my heart.

While Lia wasn't quite as forward as her fiery mother, thanks to the influence of her much quieter and more thoughtful father, she wasn't a timid female. At all. If anything, her quieter nature made her fierceness even more intimidating than her mother. The Queen wore her heart on her sleeve. You always knew where you stood with Elreth.

But Lia…

She closed her mouth with a snap of her teeth. I couldn't tell if her face looked pale because she was upset, or the bright light behind me just washed out her features. But it didn't matter because her eyes were veiled, her face suddenly tense and blank. Utterly blank. Expressionless.

How did she do that?

"I think we'll let you two talk," Khush said. I could hear the smile in his voice, but didn't respond except to nod without taking my eyes off of Lia, who was still staring at me like she didn't understand me.

Like she didn't trust me.

That cut deep.

By the time their footsteps faded into the house and the door closed, I'd turned to face her, stunned, head spinning.

Mate. My mate.

Lia was my mate? How was it possible I hadn't seen it before? How could I have missed—

"Is this a game to you?" she whispered. "Are you doing this just so you can—"

"No. No, Lia, no. I would never…"

I stepped forward, reaching for her, swallowing hard because my whole body was suddenly alive with a strange, urgent joy that wanted to erupt out of me.

But it died when she stepped back, out of my reach, staring at me, her forehead pinched with mistrust.

We stared at each other. There was a strange buzzing in my head, but the moment she started to turn away as if she'd walk, as if she'd leave, as if she would deny me, everything pulled together in a single, insistent need.

"My mate," I breathed and caught her waist, pulled her into me, cupping her face with my other hand and taking her mouth in a deep, urgent kiss.

She gasped and went rigid in my arms.

I growled and tilted her head, delving her mouth, tongue teasing, probing, needing.

Her hands came up to my shoulders, gripping me and for a second as they tightened I thought she would push me off.

Inwardly, I pleaded with her… put myself to my knees and begged.

Please. See me… feel me… please…

And then she sucked in and her body softened. Her back arched and she pressed herself against me as she plunged her hands into my hair and held me to her, her kiss a velvet welcome.

It was as if my chest expanded and suddenly there were two hearts within it—and somehow I'd lost mine as well. My heart cracked open. My soul sang.

I clung to her, pulling her hard against my body, trembling, startled and overwhelmed and overjoyed.

And when we finally broke apart neither of us moved much, just opened our eyes and drank in the sight of each other.

Lia lifted her hand to stroke my cheek, her eyes shining. "Finally," she breathed.

My head jerked back a little and I gaped at her. "You knew?"

She rolled her eyes and muttered something about Alpha males that wasn't complimentary. But when she smiled, she beamed. "I've known for months."

"Why didn't you say anything?!"

Her face went nervous then. "Because I knew you weren't sensing it and… you seemed like you wouldn't be super excited about the idea."

Though I didn't want to admit it, she wasn't wrong there. If someone else had proposed this I would have laughed in their face.

Creator's fang, what an idiot I was.

I kissed her again for far longer than I should have, but there was a sudden, thrumming need, low in my guts that made demands I didn't want to deny. And the longer we locked together, the more our bodies melded, the softer she became under my hands, the more insistent the demands.

I finally broke the kiss because if I didn't I was going to strip her naked right there and take her.

But I didn't let her go. I stared down at her with befuddled wonder.

How could I have missed it? How could I have denied that she was the most alluring, the most—

Suddenly her eyes went wide again. "Shit!"

I froze, looking around, scenting the wind for a threat, but found nothing. "What? What is it?"

"Zan, look at me! Don't you realize what this means?" She'd gripped my chin and pulled my face down so I was staring at her again.

I frowned. "I… what?"

"Our mothers were right and they are never going to let us live this down!" she wailed.

Adrenaline flooded my system, but it began to drain away when Lia broke into delighted giggles and buried her face in my chest.

Chuckling with relief myself, I wrapped my arms around her and breathed in her scent, feeling it curl through me like the most delicious aroma, reaching all the way through my bloodstream and into my toes.

Holding her there felt impossible. Incredibly right. as if our bodies had been made to fit together.

It was true. It was really true. I had found my mate.

I was about to kiss her again when another image flickered in my head and I froze, one hand cupping the back of her neck, the other almost cradling her ass.

"Zan?" she breathed, her beautiful eyes wide, her forehead pinched. "What is it?"

"It's not our moms we need to worry about," I whispered, then swallowed. "Your dad is going to fucking kill me."

Lia sucked in and her eyes widened further.

And they said the Creator had no sense of humor.

*****

Thanks for joining me for this little extra! I haven't decided yet if I'll turn this into a full volume, but I wanted to share this little story with you on what happened in the next generation of Anima and Chimera. I hope you liked it!

If I have time, I may add to this adventure here and there, so keep the book in your library!

(Message added after publication so you aren't charged for the words)