Chapter 30
Flowen slurred, I’m fine. I can walk, I have legs.
You have them. Ash said dryly, but they’re currently decorative.”
Daxon looked at me, mouth twitching with a grin. “Thanks for watching her.”
‘Anytime,” I said, holding in a burp. She didn’t bite anyone, so I call that a win.”
Rylen’s hand brushed mine as he stepped past, and I swear something deep in my bones whispered, soon.
Zuki? Zuki was already planning the wedding.
Rylen POV
Night. Somewhere between the Stormclaw firepit and fucking emotional chaos after we left Elowen with Daxon and Ashrian.
I’m losing my damn mind,
I mean that literally. I’ve taken hits to the skull that made more sense than this.
Taya’s laugh echoes behind me as we leave the fire, and Anton is pacing inside my chest like a rabid beast in heat.
Anton: “Mate. Ours. Touch her. Smell her. Bite her.”
Me: “She’s not eighteen yet, dumbass.”
Anton: “She will be in three days. We can wait three days. But we can kiss now. We can taste.”
Fuck.
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I rub a hand over my jaw, trying to breathe through the burn under my skin. I’ve never reacted to someone like this. Not in all my years
in this pack. Not ever.
Fated mates?
They were damn near a myth. The last one in our territory was over a hundred years ago, our Alpha King Draven and his Luna Queen Aelira. Everyone else? We got ‘compatible bonds” or “spiritual ties.” Close enoughs. Safe choices. Chosen mates.
But this?
This feels like my soul got branded and she’s the only one who can read the mark.
When her fingers brushed mine back at the fire, I felt it in my fucking spine.
And now, as we slip into the woods, giggling and warm with firelight and liquor, I can’t stop watching the sway of her hips or the way Zuki’s presence brushes against mine like a challenge.
1/3
12:01 Mon, Sep 22
Chapter 30
She glances over her shoulder. Her red hair’s wild, cheeks pink from the run, eyes glowing like she knows what I’m thinking.
“Wanna sit for a sec?” she asks, voice soft but sure.
“Sure, I say, somehow hoarse and confident at the same time.
We settle against a mossy boulder in a small clearing, just far enough from the Keep that I can pretend I don’t have responsibilities or
rules for a few minutes.
And then she shivers.
I don’t even think…my jacket’s off and wrapped around her shoulders before she finishes blinking.
She looks up at me from beneath thick lashes and my entire nervous system lights up like someone struck a match inside my chest.
Her hand brushes mine. And I snap.
One hand slides into her hair, and I press my mouth to hers like I’m dying and she’s the cure. She gasps against me, lips parting, and fuck me, she tastes like danger and heaven. I groan into her mouth and pull her closer, her body melting against mine like she was made to fit
there.
My other hand finds her hip, anchoring her to me as I kiss her deeper. Tongue, teeth, need.
She moans into my mouth and my knees nearly buckle.
Anton: “Mark her. Bite her. Now. RIGHT NOW.”
Me: “We. Wait.”
I nip her bottom lip, dragging it gently before pulling back just enough to see her flushed face.
“You’re gonna kill me,‘ I whisper.
She smirks, breathless. “Not before I ruin you first.”
My growl is not voluntary.
She grabs my shirt and pulls me back in, climbing into my lap like it’s her goddamn throne. My hands find her thighs, then her waist, sliding under the oversized shirt she borrowed from Elowen.
Her skin is soft. Warm. Addicting.
She grinds against me once, teasing, testing.
I bury my face in her neck and groan like a dying man. “Taya…fuck, I… I want you.”
‘I know,” she whispers. ‘Me too.”
I kiss her again, slower this time. Deeper. Worshipping her mouth like it holds all the answers.
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L
12:01 Mon, Sep 22
Chapter 30
I don’t let it go farther. I can’t. Not yet.
But gods… when her birthday comes?
I won’t just claim her.
I’ll devour her.
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