Her Chosen Mate

Part 20

(POV - Marcus)

They both lay on the floor of the gym, chests heaving, completely spent after a solid hour of sparring.

Jaden had tapped out, his voice coming out in a weak wheeze.

"I'm- I'm done, Marc," he gasped, his head thudding against the soft mat beneath him. "How the hell are you still standing?"

Marcus let his body collapse to the floor next to his Beta, a tired grin on his face.

"I have incredible stamina and you're weak," he said matter-of-factly. Jaden clicked his tongue and chucked one of the bloodstained straps at Marcus.

"You're just an ass, I think," he grumbled, still sounding winded and completely exhausted. "How am I supposed to run this meeting today when my legs won't even hold me upright for longer than a minute?"

Marcus pushed himself off the floor and got to his feet and, yeah, he was kind of showing off that he could get up without wincing.

"Sparring with me was your idea, Beta."

"You're an ass," Jaden repeated. Marcus only laughed at his obvious discomfort, stretching his arms high above his head to get rid of the knots that had built up along his spine.

The spar had helped a little, and had taken a bit of the edge off, but it was nowhere near enough to completely sate him. He could already feel the way his blood roared in his ears when he heard some of his packmates bustling around just outside the door. The females that passed by stirred his wolf from its slumber and Marcus wanted to cringe at the way it raised his head in obvious interest.

"I'm guessing from the way your scent just spiked that our little spar did nothing to help."

It wasn't a question, just a statement, but Marcus answered anyway.

"Not really," he said sheepishly. "But I'll be fine, I just need to keep training."

This time, Jaden pushed off of the floor with a grunt and climbed to his feet.

"That is bullshit, Marc, and you know it."

He stood almost toe to toe with Marcus, refusing to back down even when Marcus raised both brows in disbelief.

"Excuse me?"

Jaden took a steadying breath and poked him in the chest. "Last year, you almost killed Mercucio. Who knows what might happen this time around. You can't keep suppressing your ruts like this, you're going to snap someday and you'll regret whatever happens when you do."

Marcus stared at his Beta, at a loss for words for the first time in months. He hadn't expected Jaden to be so up front about his rut.

He definitely hadn't expected Jaden to be so protective of Mercucio. It raised suspicion, but he set it aside, deciding to pick it up later for closer inspection.

"I know, Jay," he sighed. "Fuck, I know I can't keep going on like this, but there's nothing I can do."

Jaden sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"There is," he said. "You could come with me this time around."

Deciding to play dumb because he wasn't ready to revisit that particular conversation just yet.

"Where exactly are you planning on dragging me to while I'm too unhinged to even be in the packhouse?"

Jaden rolled his eyes again and Marcus had to take a few deep breaths to keep himself from tearing into his Beta for something as insignificant as a roll of the eyes.

"I told you last time," he said in exasperation. "There's a sex club that is literally the solution to your issue."

"I'm not interested in whoring myself to some random female just because my rut sucks, Jay," Marcus grunted.

"Marc, please spare me," Jaden retorted. "You're not whoring yourself out. Stop being so melodramatic. It's literally a part of your biology. And what if you end up actually killing Mercucio the next time?"

He didn't have an answer for that.

Because rehashing the fact that it

would be akin to cheating on his

dead mate would only end up with

him listening to another long-winded

lecture from his Beta that he was

way too wired to sit through.

"Jay, please," he said instead, turning away from Jaden's burning gaze. "I can't go over this again."

"No, Marc, that won't cut it this time. We need to do something before you kill someone, and this is the best option we have right now."

"What about Helena?" he growled.

"Helena would have beaten you half to death despite hating violence before she let you torture yourself like this!"

The silence hung in the air for a few tense moments before Marcus' shoulders dropped in defeat.

He was right. Marcus knew it.

With a long sigh, Marcus hung his head low.

"Fine," he conceded. "I'll go to the sex club."

"Thank you!" Jaden said, the relief so obvious on his face that Marcus was taken aback by how important this was to Jaden.

"Listen, I can't promise I'll end up bedding anyone," Marcus pointed out, grabbing his vest off the floor and getting ready to head back upstairs to shower. "But I'll go with just to give it a shot. What's the worst that could happen?"

"That's the spirit! Well, it's not exactly the enthusiasm I was going for, but we can work on it."

Marcus shook his head, resigned to his fate. He really couldn't bear to dishonor the memory of his mate by giving in to his more base urges just because his body was caving under the intensity of his fucking rut.

They both left the gym, parting ways to shower and clean up before the meeting that would take place in a few hours. Marcus walked back up to the room he'd taken residence in. He nodded his courtesies when pack members passed him in the halls and greeted him happily. It was difficult to revert back to the cold, distant wolf he'd been when Jaden had brought him back to the pack. He was so used to being the Alpha that knew everyone's names, who smiled and was happy to help anyone who asked. But for their own safety, it was better that he stayed quiet, avoided contact and kept to himself. At least until he managed to get through his rut without accidentally murdering someone he should have been protecting.