The One He Claimed by Cooper

Chapter 101: Scouts Margot

There is absolutely no grey area between how Joshua kissedand how Ezra kisses me. Their kisses are as

opposite as you can get. Joshua always kissedas if he was remindingthat he was in charge, that he was

in control. Ezra's kiss was... inviting. It was soft and warm, gentle and sweet. | had waited for him to push me, to

take control and force his tongue into my mouth like | was used to with Joshua, but that wasn't how he kissed me

at all. It was almost as if he was askingto kiss him back. And once | did, it felt like | melted into him.

| wouldn't think that his scent of eucalyptus and cedar would translate to a taste that I desired, but it does. It's

masculine and fresh, much like him. I had been teasing him when | said he needed a shower, not because he

smelled bad, but because the scent of the dried sweat on his body from our sparring only increased his scent

making it hard forto think when he was that close to me. And my body had never, ever responded to Joshua

the way it responded to Ezra's when he whispered in my ear. His deep voice, his warm breath, his scent swirling

around. us had made my body feel alive for the first tin my life. But | can't let that distract me. Ezra seems

like a good man, a really good man. | know he lost a mate and that he blames himself for that, which is probably

why he's trying so hard with me. But it's a lost cause. | can't give him what he wants and while I'm sad to know

that what we could have had might have been able to turn into something positive over time, | won't be around

to find out. | have no intention of letting Joshua live and

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I know that it will kill me. | may be getting stronger, but I'm not that strong, not yet and maybe not ever.

| know my ex-mate. He'll be doing everything he can to weakenso that he can punishfor rejecting him. |

may not be able to feel him cheating on the bond, but | know that my wolf, Reyna, should be healing faster than

she is. Our bond isn't

completely broken so anything he does with another woman will weaken her.

| wonder what he felt when Ezra kissed me. That, more than anything, will bring him to Hunter's borders.

These are the thoughts running through my head as Ezra and | run across no man's land to get to Owen's old

pack. Reynal loves the run, but I've realized that Ezra is right, not that I'll tell

him that. He somehow seems to know just how far to push her so that it works out the tightness in our muscles

but doesn't overwork them.

When he slows, turning his head to givea soft woof, Reyna slows as well.

‘Reyna, what is it?' | ask her.

She lifts her head in the air, trying to smell what Ezra is smelling. His wolf, Thorin, is at full strength, so we take

our lead from him. He would smell something, even if we don't. Ezra made a point to run closer to where | told

him the hiding spot is at the top of the mountain. It may take us a bit longer to get to Owen's pack this way, but

he was more worried about keepingsafe.

That's something else that feels different between Joshua and Ezra. Ezra is very protective of me, worried about

me, constantly -thinking about me. In the last year, Joshua only seemed to care 22.52%

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about one thing, that | couldn't get pregnant. Little did he know, that was intentional.

Thorin sniffs around on the ground, beginning to run around, sniffing all over. Reyna lowers her head and | hear

bones snapping as Ezra shifts. He kneels beside her, wrapping an arm protectively over her.. "Do you smell it,

Reyna?" he asks.

We smell it, but | don't know what we're smelling. There are a lot of scents criss-crossing in this area. Ezra stands

and turns, looking in the directions where the scents move off to, before looking back at us. "Scouts. Do you

recognize the scents?"

Reyna lowers her head and begins sniffing again. When she's done, | shift so | can answer him.

"Sare familiar. Sfrom my father's pack, sfrom Joshua's, but s| don't recognize," | tell him.

He's looking around, hands on his hips. It's hard fornot to notice how magnificent his body is, tall and lean,

and very muscular.

"Margot, stop thinking whatever you're thinking," he growls. through gritted teeth before looking atover his

shoulder. His nostrils flare and | realize that I'm aroused by the sight of him, and he can smell it. That's

something else that never happened with Joshua. My body never responded to him, not like this..

| feel my cheeks flwith embarrassment, and I look away quickly. | hear Ezra huff before he pulls the bag that

he uses to

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carry our clothes around to the front of his body. It's large enough that when he shifts, it fits Thorin. It's actually

very smart. I'd consider getting one, if | wasn't planning on dying

soon.

Ezra pulls out his phone and hits speed dial.

"Is everything okay, Ezra?" | hear Hunter ask.

"| found a scout trail. Margot says sof the scents are familiar to her father's or Joshua's pack, but not all of

them."

"Koden," Hunter says.

"That's my take."

"I'll send sof my warriors. Where are you?"

Ezra looks around and gives him the general idea of where we

are.

"They'll know it when they find it. It looks like this is where they are congregating and then from here, they are

spreading out to the other packs, Carter's and Kayce's as well." "I'll call them, have them send warriors to check

it out too."

"If | can't get Margot back before dark, I'm going to stay the night in Owen's old pack. | won't put Margot at risk

with this many wolves in the area," he says, looking at me. "Understood. Letknow if you need anything."

Ezra hangs up and turns to me. The moment he does, | see his very large length standing at attention.

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He comes over and cups my cheek, stroking this thumb over my cheekbone and practically making Reyna purr.

"I want you to know that I don't mind you looking at me, and I'm thrilled that you findattractive, but | would

much rather drown in your scent when | have tto make sure that both of us enjoy ourselves. And out here, in

the open like this, is not the time. What | said was not a rejection, it wastrying to get control of my arousal

for you," he says.

I nod, unable to say anything with his length pressing between us and his eyes dark with desire for me. |

recognize the look, but with Ezra, it's different. The heat of his desire, the care that he's taking to explain himself

to me, is making my own body heat.

"Dit, Margot, you're doing it again," he grits out, his nostrils. flaring as he takes a deep breath,

"Sorry?" | say, but it's more of a question. He raises an eyebrow

at me.

"Are you?"

I decide to be honest. He's been honest with me, and he's been careful with me. It's the least | can do to

hopefully make things. easier for him later when I'm gone. "I'm not used to my body responding like this. I'm

unaccustomed to feeling arousal," | tell him, keeping my eyes on his.

He leans in, kissing the corner of my mouth before running his nose across my jaw to my ear. "Someday, when

you're ready, this will only be the beginning." 78 27%

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His promise sends shivers through my body, the anticipation of what he could do to make my body respond to

him. But | pull back and look away.

| can't accept those sorts of promises. | won't be around to collect on them.

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