Chapter Chapter-23-

Her padded feet ate up the ground, putting distance between her heartache and pain and she wasn’t
surprised when she heard Tieran’s enraged howl but she didn’t care.

He could beg Serra to come back to him for all Cassandra cared. The exhilarating rush of freedom
soothed her ragged heart and she ran for miles.

Her pregnant belly didn’t slow her down and she much preferred this form at the moment than her
human body. When she was a beast, she reveled in the freedom to simply act naturally without
overthinking.

It seemed when she was in her human form, all she did was fret and worry about everything. Being the
Prophesied One was a heavy gig.

One she hadn’t asked for, by the way, but the time for crying in her beer was over. She had two pups
growing inside her and they were going to need her to protect them.

If Tieran was too much of an ass to realize she was the real deal, then, screw him. She broke into a
clearing and her senses picked up the scent of something gamey and delicious.

She swung around and spied a deer picking its way delicately through the dense overgrowth.
Cassandra’s muscles coiled beneath her fur and she launched herself straight at the deer’s throat.

Within seconds warm arterial blood gushed in her mouth as the deer flailed in one last ditch effort to
live and then went limp. In her human form she would’ve been sad at the loss of life; in her beastly
form, she simply accepted the fact that she was at the top of the food chain in the forest.

She sated herself with the deer, leaving behind precious little for the scavengers and then plunged
herself into the icy waters of the deep, fast-moving creek winding itself along the thick forest floor.

She emerged from the water, invigorated by the bitter cold and her full meal.



For the first time in weeks, she felt sated.

However, her senses went on full alert as her ears pricked at a foreign sound. Another beast emerged
from the shadows. She didn’t need to wonder or guess.

She growled, her upper lip curling in warning. She was still pissed…and hurt.

Tieran circled, giving her a wide berth, his gaze never leaving hers. She’d known he would follow but
she wasn’t ready to go back.

Certainly not after he basically told her that she was spinning her wheels in the love department when it
came to him. Her tail quivered and she caught the subtle scent of pheromone on the air. He lifted his
big, black snout and caught the scent she was giving off without realizing it.

His growl plucked at her biological strings, causing her to whine and shy away though her channel was
already slicking with ready moisture.

No! She forced herself to focus and snarled. She didn’t care what form she was in, he’d had his last
taste of what she had to offer.

She didn’t care if she had to run away and chain herself to a wall — she was not being with Tieran
again. Ever.

He advanced and she sent him a mental jab that said, back off! and he faltered, shaking his head.
Yeah, that’s right, I’m still pissed at you.

Although she desperately wanted to, aside from the mental warning, she kept out of his thoughts.

It seemed easier to slide into his head in this form than in her human form but the thoughts were
jumbled and didn’t follow a linear line.



Perhaps with time she could perfect the skill — currently, she was still clumsy in her attempts — most
of her success had been by complete accident and usually prompted by traumatic or emotional events.

Sort of like a psychic tripwire. But since she’d conceived, everything seemed accelerated, including her
learning curve. Perhaps the Mother Goddess had known she’d need some super skills in order to
survive whatever was coming.

Who knew?

Cassandra didn’t much care anymore about the whys and hows of everything. Tieran’s form shuddered
and with the snapping and knitting of bone and sinew he appeared in his human form, naked and
glorious — the beautiful bastard.

“You risk your safety with your foolishness,” he said sharply. “You will come back to the compound at
once.”

Cassandra allowed herself to transform into her human skin just so she could yell at him.

“Don’t you dare start giving me orders as if you have the right. I am not your wife or your girlfriend…or
even your friend. I am simply your baby mama. And I know you’re stuck in the dark ages still so let me
enlighten you: I’m not about to sit around at home content to be your plump and pregnant little woman
who is available for whenever you’re feeling like you want to bump uglies. Understand? I deserve better
and if you’re not willing to give it to me, I will find someone else who will.”

His eyes flashed dangerously and he advanced with a warning growl. “I would tear another man limb
from limb if he dared touch a hair on your head. I would rip out his still-beating heart and hold it before
his astonished eyes before allowing him to die,” he said, causing her to shiver in spite of her anger.
“You are mine. Always and forever. Do you understand?”



“Yeah?” She licked her lips, her heart rate speeding up as her skin prickled against the night air. “So
start acting like it then.”

He accepted her challenge with a quick-as-lightening movement that had her on the ground and on her
back within seconds.

His big body covered hers as completely as his mouth slanted across hers. His tongue stabbed into the
shelter of her mouth, plundering the wet depths as his cock ground against her pubic bone, taunting
her with the promise of pleasure.

She groaned and clutched at his back, desperate to feel him move against her, hungry for the weight of
his heavy body moving against hers.

She didn’t feel the rough ground beneath her backside nor did she care that they were out in the middle
of the open forest where anyone could happen upon their desperate grunts and groans — all that
mattered was the feel of Tieran in her arms.

Their tongues tangled and dueled as their passion built to a burning crescendo, raging around them in
a firestorm of need and want.

Cassandra gasped as he penetrated her with a single hard stab with his cock, shuddering as she
clamped around him. “Tieran!” she cried as he thrust inside her like a man possessed, milking every
last sensation from her body. “God, yes!”

Her whole body rocked with each hard thrust against her as he ground himself as deep as he could
possibly go and she felt her heart burst with an unknown emotion that shook her to her core.

He cried out with a hoarse shout as he found his release in a violent shudder and groan that echoed in
the still night. Cassandra quickly followed, tumbling into sweet oblivion beneath him.



Several moments passed before either could speak. The sweat began to dry on their bodies, yet
Cassandra was warm with Tieran still buried deep inside her.

Slowly, his cock began to soften and finally slipped from her warm and wet sheath. She stared into his
eyes, her anger spent along with her passion.

Only the hurt remained.

 


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