Fake Mate of the Enemy Shifter (Red Oak Shifters #2)

4. Cassia

Chapter four

Cassia

M oonlight guides me as I sneak out of Everblade’s grand castle. I toss a few looks over my shoulder, spotting silhouettes near the Red Oak Forest as one of the patrols make their way in that direction. I have no interest in messing with ancient magical trees and drawing even more negative attention to myself.

I just need to get away from everyone.

Frustrated, embarrassed heat still burns my face as I hurry along, straying from any paths and cutting through the wispy grass. Small hills adorn Everblade’s land, and I’m quick to find the slanted incline of one to hide against out of sight from the castle.

With a defeated sigh, I lean my back against the slope, gazing up at the stars as they twinkle in the dark night sky. My eyes shift to the crescent moon, a light buzz of power radiating beneath my skin. It’s comforting in a way, but the moon also reminds me what I’m tied to.

Morgana and Lucian.

My teeth grind together as the memory of dinner breaks into my mind. My conversation with Grey. Laughter ringing between us. Morgana chastising me in front of him.

No matter what I do, it’s always wrong . Because I’m not a true Moonveil witch, I’ll never be good enough for them. Yet, they’ll gladly use me for their twisted plans, stretching me thinner and thinner.

The glowing buzz of lunar power fades, growing darker. Burning hotter. My teeth grit as fiery power surges through my veins, all glowing light now being consumed by a dark, hot sensation. The heaviness of it weighs on my lungs, weakening my breaths.

I dig my fingers into the cool grass on either side of me, using it as an anchor as I pull myself out of the darkness with a weak gasp. The sizzling warmth beneath my skin cools down, making goosebumps rise on the back of my arms.

What the hell was that?

My heart pounds wildly as I blink my eyes hard a few times, trying to process the feeling that took hold of me. It wasn’t me . It couldn’t be.

Whatever dark sensation that was… I don’t know where it came from. Maybe it’s just my own anger and sense of loss. Maybe…

“There you are.”

I nearly jump out of my skin as Grey suddenly steps in my line of sight with a smirk on his face. My hand presses against my chest over my racing heart, a shaky exhale bursting from me. “What the hell are you doing?”

Grey crosses his arms over his chest as I sit up straight. “I could be asking you the same thing. The rest of your coven is in their guest rooms. Yet, you snuck out of the castle to come here. Why?”

I stare up at him, the moonlight glowing behind his head like a radiant halo. As if he doesn’t seem divine enough. “I just needed some air. It’s been a long day.”

That’s not a lie. It has felt like the longest day of my life and being anywhere near Morgana and Lucian is suffocating and soul-sucking. I’m just ready to go back home, but, even there, I will never know peace.

My coven will always push for more and more, and Everblade is next to be consumed.

“Mind if I join you?” Grey asks.

My eyebrows lift in surprise. I thought he would send me back to the castle with the others, but it seems like he wants to escape as much as I do. “Sure.”

Grey grins and drops down into the grass next to me, his back hitting the incline. He folds his arms behind his head and takes a deep breath, his broad chest rising and falling. “There’s something I want to ask you.”

My heart jolts to a stop. What in the world does he want to know about me? I have far too many secrets to hide from him already.

“Are you related to Morgana and Lucian in some way?” Grey asks me as his eyes move to mine.

I remain sitting up, unable to relax just yet, especially after being asked that question. “Why?”

Grey shrugs, his brow furrowing in thought. “Just seemed like there was something deeper between you guys besides them being your leaders.”

I hold his gaze for a few moments, trying to figure out what to say. I’ve already been lying to his face since stepping foot on his territory. What’s one little dab of truth?

“They’re kind of my aunt and uncle,” I explain as I slowly lower myself onto my back next to him. I shouldn’t be talking to him like this. I should be preparing for the plan, but the last thing I want to do is go back into the castle.

Grey chuckles. “Kind of?”

“Their little sister took me in and raised me as her own. One of their cousins is my actual mom, but she died during childbirth,” I continue, feeling a slight stir of sadness in the depths of my chest.

I should feel sadder about the death of my mother, but I barely know anything about her. Even the whereabouts of my father are unknown. The only true family I know is Gliselle, and without her, I would truly feel all alone in this world.

Grey’s face softens. “Are they usually that strict with you?”

Why does he even care? No one but Gliselle seems to care when Morgana and Lucian jump down my throat at home. Grey doesn’t even know me!

“They want to leave a good impression,” I lie right through my teeth. Morgana and Lucian could probably care less about what Grey thinks of us.

“You’ve already left a good impression on me.”

A faint laugh breaks from me as I shake my head at his claim. “I haven’t done anything.”

Grey rolls onto his side and grins at me, his hand resting in the grass between us. “I don’t know. You just… intrigue me. You’re mysterious.”

My heart races as I feel his eyes on me. He shouldn’t wonder about me or want to know me. If he could see the truth, he would probably kill me here and now, and knowing how devoted he is to his family and kingdom, I wouldn’t blame him.

“And dangerously beautiful.”

His words coax me to turn onto my side toward him, less space lingering between us. “Dangerously?”

“That’s the word you latched onto?”

A light blush spreads across my face, my eyes lowering to avoid his. He’s so effortlessly charming, winding me up in a web of flirty words and intrigued looks. It’s hard to break free, but maybe I’m not fighting as hard as I should.

“What makes it dangerous?” I ask.

Grey breathes in slowly as his eyes shift in the direction of the castle. “I shouldn’t be so hooked on a witch from another clan, especially one who will be gone before noon.”

I lift my eyes to his, a strong surge of desire shooting through me. “Then, we should enjoy this fleeting moment while it lasts, right? It’ll be gone with the sunrise.”

That’s when the plan will go into action. That’s when he turns from a peaceful rival to a hostile one.

Grey scoots closer to me as a gentle breeze coasts over us and blows through my hair. As a strand lands on my cheek, he reaches out and tucks it behind my ear, his fingertips grazing my skin. “You know, I had a thought at dinner when Morgana and Lucian were asking me all those questions about myself.”

My blood runs cold, but I freeze my expression, not letting it show how nervous I am to hear that all their questions stood out to him. How they poked and prodded to try and find any weak spots they could expose.

“Everyone asks about my parents’ story,” Grey replies as his hand trails down my arm, leaving goosebumps in its wake. “But I want to make my own. My own great acts. My own decisions.”

My face softens a degree when I hear the longing in his voice. He has no idea how much I share that same sentiment. “What’s stopping you?”

Grey shakes his head. “I don’t know. I guess just doing everything my parents want me to or doing what I think my parents would do if they were in my shoes.”

“Do something they would never do,” I tell him as a spark of excitement lights up within my chest.

Rebel. Forge his own path. Choose his own destiny.

Do all the things I can’t.

“I would say kiss someone from another clan,” a sly expression crosses his face as his hand reaches mine, “but they already did that.”

My heart pounds and flutters, yearning for what I shouldn’t have. He has no idea just how much we truly are enemies, and he’s flirting with me. Wanting me.

I should run back to the castle and rejoin my coven before I get in trouble. Before I get attached.

But I can’t bring myself to pull my hand away.

“You’d think your parents’ story would make that more acceptable throughout the region.” Rules are still very much strict from clan to clan about getting involved with someone from the outside unless it’s arranged by both leaders.

Grey shrugs. “Perhaps, not every rule has to be followed at every second. How are great stories made if you live strictly by the rules?”

I gaze into his eyes, expecting to see pure humor and desire. Instead, I see a whole mess of emotions that he doesn’t outwardly express. Uncertainty. Nervousness. Defiance.

Where is all that coming from?

And why is it so inspiring?

I look down at our joined hands as he twines our fingers together, connecting us in a way that makes my breathing quicken. When he shifts his fingertips to touch mine, a gasp gets caught in my chest at the sensation of magic tingling between our hands.

Melding and mingling.

Intense and bold.

Grey lets out a faint laugh at the surprising sensation before our eyes lock through the spaces between our fingers. There’s a flash of bright green in his eyes before a warm, tingling sensation works its way up my arm and through the rest of my body.

An unsteady exhale breaks from me as the wave of lightly vibrating heat echoes low in my stomach and between my thighs. The sensation is so close to sheer pleasure that I can’t help but feel turned on. Not that it would take much for him to make me feel that way in the first place.

“Grey…”

“Cassia.”

Hearing my name within a deep, breathy whisper accompanied by another wave nearly coaxes a moan out of me.

Grey twines our fingers together again and pulls me closer, placing my hand on the back of his neck as he leans closer. Just as my fingers slip into his soft hair, he captures my lips in an intense kiss, both of us no longer breathing.

I grip his hair as our lips move and brush, every motion becoming more and more heated with each passing second. The tingling warmth is natural now, heat pooling between my thighs as our kiss intensifies.

Grey lightly groans as I tug on his hair, his teeth teasingly grazing my bottom lip. He pushes me onto my back and crawls over me, burying his face in my neck and breathing in the smell of my skin and hair. “I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist you.”

I pull on his shirt as my cheeks flush, his words echoing in my ears. “Take off your shirt. I want to see you.”

Grey sits up on his knees to remove his black, fitted linen tunic, revealing all the lean, cut muscle I kept imagining in my own head. Yet, he somehow looks better than my own fantasies. He drops his shirt to the side and lowers his hands to help me unfasten my dress enough to tug it off, leaving behind only white panties.

Moonlight washes over my bare skin, my nipples hardening as the light breeze caresses my body. The grass dances on either side of me and cushions me from underneath.

“You look like a work of art, beautiful,” Grey tells me before kissing around my collarbones and the column of my exposed throat.

I know all about the sharpness and ferocity of a wolf’s fangs. He could so easily rip out my throat and kill me like his father did to Nyxara, but I, strangely, trust him.

All I feel radiating from him is desire.

Grey kisses and sucks on my sensitive nipples, teasing with his teeth. He swirls his tongue around each peak, making my breath hitch at the pleasurable sensation. His hand glides down my stomach before dipping beneath my panties, his fingertips caressing my clit.

“Oh…”

Grey rubs his fingers in slow circles as he sucks a mark on the side of my breast. Like he’s claiming me for himself without actually marking me. That’s reserved for his true mate.

My hips buck against his hand, encouraging him to slide his fingers down even lower. He slips one finger inside of me, groaning at how wet and slick I already am.

“You feel so good, amazing,” Grey whispers against my skin before working his finger in and out. Deeper and deeper.

I drop my head back against the grass, my eyes fluttering shut as I bask in the pleasure radiating throughout my entire body.

Grey pushes in another finger, making me feel even fuller. His lips make their way back up my body, caressing my neck and the shell of my ear. “More?”

I nod fervently and cup his face, crashing my lips against his. My moans are muffled as he thrusts his fingers a few more times before drawing them out.

Grey reaches down and undoes his pants, freeing his erection from their confines. He slides his cock through my folds, the head gliding over my clit.

My fingers sink into his hair just as he pushes inside of me, a strained whimper breaking from me at the size of him. I tighten my grip on him and arch, my thighs falling farther apart as he bottoms out.

Grey drops his forehead to my shoulder and breathes in deeply. “So damn good.”

As he starts to slowly rock in and out of me, pleasure starts to spark and burn, spreading to the tips of my fingers. But it concentrates low in my stomach, building up more and more with a pressure that I know will eventually burst.

Grey places one hand next to my head, using the leverage to thrust into me harder and deeper. The light of the moon radiates behind him, a dark, starry night painting the background. It just makes this whole situation that much more intimate to me.

Something familiar with something else wildly unfamiliar.

I slide my hands down the back of his neck to his shoulders and arms, feeling the shift and flex of his muscles as he moves. He looks so good above me, his brow slightly creased as bliss warps his expression. I can’t help but place my hand on his cheek.

Grey smiles at me and lowers his head, kissing me deeply as his thrusts pick up speed. Our breathing quickens. Adrenaline rushes. Pleasure thickens.

The pressure within me ramps up, tensing more and more like a knot in a rope being pulled tighter. I part my lips against his, my tongue snaking along his.

Grey groans, his free hand slipping into my hair to adopt a light grip. He snaps his hips against mine, driving in deeper and harder. “I can feel you squeezing me, beautiful. Don’t you dare hold back.”

His words spur me on even more, making my body tense and writhe beneath his as I get closer and closer to the edge. It only takes a few more deep thrusts for the rope to snap, pressure exploding in a fiery, pleasurable heat.

His name tears from my lips in a broken whimper, my entire body succumbing to shudders beneath his.

Grey tightens his grip on my hair, pulling me close as he buries himself inside of me one more time. A groan leaves him as he finishes, his chest heavily rising and falling with deep breaths.

Steadily, the heat and adrenaline simmer down into a warm glow that encompasses my entire body. My tired body. I melt into the grass, my eyelids already feeling heavier after such a long day. And an exciting night.

Grey rolls onto his back next to me and gives me a tired smile. “You’re so amazing, Cassia. I knew there was something about you… something I still don’t know.”

He must be so tired that he’s speaking nonsense at this point, but I still smile as my eyelids start to flutter shut. “I’m just going to lay here for a few more moments.”

Grey nods, his hand finding mine. “Me too. Just a few more moments.”

Feeling the warmth of his hand around mine only soothes me more, coaxing my eyes to fully shut. Weight settles over my body like a blanket, and I fall backward into comforting darkness. His breathing and the heavy thumping of my heart are the last things I hear.