Frustrated was an understatement for how Ayla felt in that moment.
Motivated, yeah, she was motivated.
If anything, pushing her to the brink of letting him take her over entirely just to leave her wanting him more than she ever had was enough to drive her drunk with desire.
That was his way of getting revenge for the night before.
Now that he had done that and she had bitten him again, pushing their link to the fullest, he could feel it.
Just how much she wanted him.
Before he had a chance to make it any worse for her, she shifted back into her wolf and used the newfound energy and bolted into the woods to find the 'dinner' for the group that he had suggested.
It was with a little added aggression as she parted ways with him, though.
"The nerve," she thought to herself as she ran off, trying to stick close to the water source but get as far away from Titan as she could.
It didn't take her long to pick up the scent of a hog that was rooting around close by.
"That will absolutely do," she thought as she headed towards it.
As she got close, ready to pounce on it, a large grey wolf darted across her path and struck the neck of the boar.
Fast and hard with deadly precision.
He almost appeared to look back and smirk at her.
It was a game to him, and he was making it clear.
She knew instantly that the formerly bronzed skin, muscular man with dark brown, curly hair was the majestic grey wolf standing before her, claiming the animal she was seconds away from attacking.
'Game on, Titan,' she thought to herself, 'Game on.'
Since he stole the boar, Ayla would find something else.
Something better.
Turning her nose up and heading in a different direction, she was determined to find something that would make the pig look like an appetizer.
Wolves weren't known to waste, but that might not be the case that night.
Searching with every bit of her wolf senses, she scoured the forest with everything she had in her.
Finally, she came across a large bear.
It was the first time she had come across one, but she wasn't one to back down.
He was ferocious.
Swiping his paws at her, roaring at her, and standing to show his dominance over her, the small wolf.
Ayla was ready to win and be superior, though, not just over the bear, but Titan too.
As she circled him, waiting for the right moments to bite and nip at his weak spots and neck, she worked him down, blood running down his legs and neck.
One of the last times she went in to get a good bite, she didn't anticipate him being ready, and his paws swiped down her back, landing and slicing through her fur.
A loud yelp left her jaws as she receded from her attack.
She was so close, she knew she couldn't give up.
All Ayla had to do was land one good latch on his throat, and she could rip it clean.
Then she could carry the best meal back to the campsite for the others to indulge in.
Just when she thought it would never happen, the bear lifted his head to roar one more time.
Latch.
Shake.
Rip.
Blood sprayed everywhere as he fell to the ground.
Within a few minutes, the bear was finally ready to be dragged to the group.
Even though she had been injured during the fight, she was determined to be the better wolf between her and Titan.
These were her friends, and he was not going to show her up, not after what he had just done to her.
With every bit of strength she had left, she locked her jaw on the massive bear and pulled him all the way back to where they were resting.
"Ayla. What the hell?" Titan belted when she came into view.
He could sense when she had gotten pelted with his paw.
Even heard her yelp.
At the same time, he could feel the adrenaline surging when she was fighting, but he didn't want to interrupt her or distract her.
In the little time he had spent with her, he had learned that her independence was one of her largest traits.
As she backed toward them, he could see the blood on her back and the large mass she was dragging with her.
"Really! Was it that important to get even with me? It was a pig. Your stubbornness is going to come back to bite you."
"RRRRRR."
The others were merely looking at the scene unfolding and then back and forth at each other.
Phoenix finally spoke up, "Are you okay, Ayla? Do you want any help?"
She finally dropped the bear and shifted.
"Here it is. Food. There is water down the way if you still need it. Eat, drink, rest. We have to get moving before too long."
They were all more concerned with the gashes on her back.
Rhae tried to walk over and look at them, "Ayla, these look bad. Let me help you."
Ayla turned them away from her, "They will be fine. It's just like when I had them on my side. By the time we head out, they will be gone."
Rhae looked at Raphael with worry filled in her eyes.
She hadn't seen the other wound, but she wasn't so sure it was the same.
Ayla glanced over at Titan and walked toward the pig.
"A bit small, don't you think. You could have gotten something bigger for the group. The three of you men could finish that alone and still be hungry."
After she finished her jab, she walked off toward the water hole.
Ayla knew she was just pissed because he took the pig from her, and so did he.
All he did was let out a little laugh and shake his head.
Before he went off after her, he pulled off a leg to make sure she had something to eat when she was done soaking in the waters.
He knew what her intentions were when she headed toward the shallow spring, but he was doubtful it would yield the results she was after.
Once she reached the water, she wasted no time getting in.
The water didn't feel as soothing as the one that Titan had taken her to before.
It was cold, and it didn't make her feel as warm and refreshed as that one had.
In fact, her wound was stinging, and it was the first time she actually realized how bad it really was.
All of the adrenaline and anger washed away as the water hit her open back.
She looked up to see Titan standing there, holding the stupid boar's leg.
"You going to just stand there, or are you going to come and give me that and help me out. This hurts more than I realized. This water is useless, too."
Titan shook his head.
"Stubborn to the death. This isn't the same water. It isn't connected to the mountain. The one I took you to before was connected to my pack, which helps the people of our pack typically. There's more to it, but we can talk about that later."
He got into the water and handed her the hunk of meat as he looked over the wound and traced his finger over it.
She turned her back to him as she began devouring the leg as if she hadn't eaten in days.
"That bear did a number on you. Why the hell would you take a bear on by yourself? I mean, it's you, that's the obvious answer. You did kill it, so you have skill, but why?"
Ayla turned her head to look at him with a raised eyebrow and an unamused look on her face.
"If you hadn't stolen my boar, maybe I wouldn't have gone after the bear."
She then turned back to look away from him again and continued eating.
He took that chance to pull her close and embrace her, wrapping his arms around her, trapping her arms under his.
With his chin resting on her shoulder, he whispered into her ear, "You know I can make this go away, but only if you want me to. I don't want to do it here either."
Ayla could sense the desire running through him, but she couldn't tell if it was a desire to help her or have her at that point in time.
"No funny business then? Same deal as last time."
He smiled, "Not until you are begging me."
The thought made a sensation stir in her that made her not want to leave the water just yet.
Titan could smell when she was aroused, and she was deeply aroused after he said that.
What she didn't know was that he could smell it in other ways, not just from her sweet spot.
Now, he could feel it through her bite, too.
He grabbed her hand and guided her out of the water after she had eaten a few more bites of the leg that he had brought her.
Since he had grown up running around in the two mountain territories, he knew a lot of the surrounding areas.
That also meant that he knew what they held in them and the surrounding forest.
All the hidden treasures, like the caves.
Titan wanted to be able to have her lie down so he could have full access to her back, in order to get to all of her wounds the way he needed to.
At the same time, he wanted to make sure they were safe while he did what he needed to and had a little privacy.
He also knew that the others would be distracted with full bellies after the bear and boar that had been delivered to them, and resting, so he had plenty of time to tend to her properly.
Pulling her forward, guiding her in the direction of a dense area that just merely looked like a thicket, and seemed to have some rocks around at a decent height, but not too much to it, he continued forward.
There was a hidden split that lay within the shrubs and trees that only those who knew about it would be able to find.
It was as if he had been there more than once before as he walked her through it with ease.
While holding her hand, they found themselves stepping into a small, cozy, shallow dwelling that was just big enough for the two of them to lie down in and not feel confined.
After he gestured for her to do just that, lie down, there was just enough space for him to lie down next to her and start soothing her wound with his touch.
That was his intent anyway.
His touch only reminded her of how bad the bear had sunk his claws into her back as the tips of his fingers caressed the splits that now found themselves in her skin.
As she winced and tensed, he knew that merely touching her wasn't going to work, not to start with, as she scooted himself down to where he would be able to lick and kiss her affected skin.
With his saliva now coating the open lines, entering her wound and mixing with the blood, her healing was kicking into high gear, and so were her intense desires.
It was as if every minute, every second with him was making it harder and harder to resist him.
While he was helping her healing speed up, it was making it impossible to restrain herself, as each lick up her back drove her more and more insane.
Her back started to arch as his hands started to rub up and down her back, caressing her soft skin that felt like silk as he touched her.
All he could think was that he didn't want to ever stop touching her.
He hadn't realized that her wounds had closed as he began just kissing her, going up her spine to the back of her neck, grazing her with his teeth, teasing her with an innocent bite.
Afterwards, he trailed a mix of soft bites and kisses back down her spine until he reached her thighs, and grabbed them, squeezing them tight.
Unexpectedly, he flipped her over and kissed her up her thigh until her found where they met and teased her by kissing her lower lips.
Tasting her directly for the first time instead of having to use her fingers or his, and setting all of her nerves on fire instantly.
After a few minutes, he moved a hand between her legs and started to pleasure her with two fingers, finding that sweet spot inside of her that really made the juices flow as he devoured her, and she couldn't control the sounds coming from her mouth.
Once he was sure she was satisfied, he continued to use his fingers to pleasure her, as he kissed her up her stomach until he reached her mouth.
"You don't know how amazing you really do taste to me," he whispered to her as he kissed her.
Ayla didn't care what he said; she was lost in the feeling of everything happening.
Titan could have said the world was on fire, and it would have had the same effect on her in that moment.
She kissed him back with a passion she had never felt before.
Ayla wanted Titan; she wanted him to bite her.
Just when she was about to tell him, she climaxed and moaned hard.
"That will have to do for now. Let me see your back. Roll over."
There was no way he was just doing all of that to heal her.
"No funny business, remember." He whispered.
She could tell he wanted her just as much as he wanted him, and if she could feel how he felt, Ayla knew it worked the other way too.
What she didn't know was what kind of game he was playing.
The push and pull games were confusing her, and she didn't understand why he would push her to the edge and then stop.
With a little hesitation, she started by just lying there, but then he cocked an eyebrow at her.
"What's wrong, Ayla? I didn't do anything you didn't want. You got mad earlier when I didn't get you off, so I got you off this time, a few times, when the healing got you 'excited', so to speak. You don't want me to sleep with you, so I didn't. Especially when your effected by the healing. Now, roll over so I can check your wound."
Ayla couldn't argue with anything he said, but she wasn't one to just roll over on command either, so she raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.
At that point, she was just being a brat.
Titan knew what she was doing, so he grabbed her shoulders and sat her up, "Fine. You don't have to roll over. I can see your back just fine this way."
All the emotion dropped from her face instantly.
Maybe he would be her match, her equal.
Not someone that would stand under her, but beside her.
Challenge her.
Someone able to see her strength, her stubbornness, and match it.
Now that he had her in an upright position, he was able to see that the bear's attack was nothing but a distant memory in more ways than one for Ayla.
Her back was now back to looking as if it had never been grazed by its paw.
"Ayla, would you like to head back to the others with me now. Rest and eat a bit more before we keep moving."
She side-eyed him and then took in a deep breath, "Yeah. We can't keep disappearing from the group. Next time, someone else hunts, and we stay with everyone. They will start thinking something is happening between us."
Titan got a smug look, "Start to think that."
"Whatever. Let's go. We aren't making it any better."
He was on his feet and had a hand out to help her up.
As she took his hand, he couldn't help but speak what was on his mind.
"There is something between us, thought Ayla. You just keep fighting it. One day, you will give in."
Ayla refused to acknowledge what he said, but he felt the truth through her bite bond.
Once they got back to where they could see the camp, the others weren't sprawled about resting as they anticipated.
They weren't able to be seen.
Something happened, or there was something very wrong.
Very, very wrong.
Ayla looked to Titan with a worried look, and he instantly understood.
Titan and Ayla slowed down and went into stealth mode to find out what they could.
Where was everyone?
What did they miss?