Euphemia
He kept his promise and came for me in the dead of night. When the gentle yet persistent tap sounded at my window, I was ready. My clothes and shoes had been donned earlier in the evening. I swallowed my excitement and focused on moving as quietly as a mouse as I slipped outside.
You mean as quiet as a wolf, Madadh corrected as I reached the door.
Yes, I replied. We’ll need to be back before anyone wakes.
The moment the door opened, we scented him before we saw him. He didn’t hesitate—lifting me from the ground and crushing me to his chest, nuzzling his face over his mark as though he needed the reassurance as much as I did.
“Euphemia,” he whispered, the word heavy with longing and pain.
We felt it through the bond—from both man and wolf. Madadh flinched at the intensity, not repelled by it, but answering it with a deep ache of her own. One she had hidden from me.
I buried my face in his scent and held him tighter, as though that alone might steady us both.
He didn’t say a single word as he slipped an arm beneath my legs and carried me toward Eilidh House. As we drew closer, the warm glow of candlelight spilled through the windows. I was already preparing to chastise him for being wasteful—until I saw the tree.
I kicked my legs until he set me down, then shoved the door open and raced into the parlour.
I had heard whispers that the English king had brought strange Christmas traditions north, but nothing had prepared me for this. The room looked… magical.
Thaddeus must have chosen the largest tree he could find. Candles were fixed to its outward branches, their small flames flickering and glowing in the dark. Other decorations caught the light and sparkled softly. I gasped, reaching out to touch the dried fruit pieces that dangled from the boughs.
He came up behind me, his arms sliding around my waist and locking me gently in place.
“Do you like our first Christmas tree?” he murmured.
I nodded, suddenly overwhelmed by emotions I didn’t yet have names for.
Instinct made me turn to him. I reached up and cupped his face, and when Wulfric’s eyes flashed, I pulled him close until our mouths met. I smiled into the kiss as a deep, low growl rumbled in his chest. Madadh answered it instantly, and our hungry mouths clashed.
Thaddeus groaned, his hands sliding from my waist to my buttocks, gripping me hard as he ground his cock against my belly. Our scents thickened between us, deepening until the hunger became unbearable—until it drove me to claw at his breeches.
He didn’t stop me. His eyes blazed as he pulled the scarf from my head. I found the buttons while he stripped me of my coat, shaking my arms until the fabric slid free before I returned to his cock, sighing as my fingers worked down his length, freeing him.
The fire flickered in the hearth, candlelight warming the room, yet none of it compared to the heat radiating from his swollen knot.
I gripped him with both hands as he shrugged out of his jacket. He tugged my dress up and away, and I sank to my knees, remembering the way he had once teased me with his mouth. He didn’t protest—he simply offered me more.
His fingers curled around his thick cock as he guided the smooth, dripping tip toward my lips. My mouth parted without hesitation, starved for his taste.
“Lick me clean, little mate. Use that mouth and suck,” he snarled, pushing his cock into my waiting mouth.
I swallowed, tasting him on my tongue—salty and sweet, sweet enough to remind me of a caramel I’d once savoured. I sucked harder, careful not to graze him with my teeth.
His fingers twisted in my hair, guiding me, moving me back and forth.
“Open wide, Euphemia. Take me deeper,” he growled, and the ache inside me sharpened in response.
I clutched his breeches and tipped my head back, opening myself fully to receive him.
My mate. My wolf. My man.
“My good girl,” he hummed, rocking his hips. “I missed you. I missed us—this.”
He dragged my head back and forth along his length, stopping each time he hit the back of my throat—pressing a little harder with every thrust until the urge to gag faded.
“Open up,” he murmured.
He moved faster, pulling my head down until I was forced to swallow him fully. I hummed in response, savouring him, my tongue tracing beneath his length until I felt the bulge of his veins.
“Yes,” he hissed. “Just like that. Take me.”
I looked up at him. His eyes were wild as he began to thrust—harder, deeper—until my neck stretched wide to accommodate his girth.
The wet sounds made my thighs clench, but he didn’t stop, inching his way down my throat until his swollen knot brushed my lips.
“I can feel your need through our bond, little wolf,” he rasped, holding my head in place as I blinked the tears away. “You need my knot stuffed inside you, don’t you?”
I released my grip on his breeches and cupped his knot, squeezing hard enough to draw a sharp gasp from him. With a groan, he pulled free of my mouth, his glistening cock bobbing before me. I barely had time to take him in before he hauled me to my feet and marched me toward the chaise.
He yanked my underwear down and forced me to kneel on the velvet seat.
“Look at you,” he hissed, pulling my thighs apart. “You are drenched. Your needy cunt is begging for me.”
Madadh growled—impatient, demanding.
Wulfric answered her with a low purr, the sound soothing us instantly. Thaddeus, however, dragged his cock along my heated flesh, slow and deliberate. With each stroke, I felt just how wet I was. I whimpered, pushing back, desperate to capture him.
His fingers curled around my throat.
“Good girl,” he crooned. “Offer yourself to me. Give me what belongs to me.”
I panted, still struggling to catch my breath. My hands tightened on the carved wood of the seat, grounding myself before I began to rock back against him. My insides clenched as I rubbed myself along his hard length, need sharpening with every movement.
At last, he guided the blunt head to my opening and pushed forward, spearing me with his staff. I moaned—half cry, half plea—as he filled me. It felt as though my heat had claimed me all over again.
“That’s my girl,” he growled, thrusting deeper. “Take my cock. Take every last inch of me.”
His fingers tightened around my throat while his other hand moved to cup my breast.
“Take us both—man and beast,” he rasped, plunging back and forth, giving me exactly what I needed.
His thighs slapped against mine, slow at first, then harder. My toes curled inside my boots, but I didn’t care. I pushed myself onto him, impaling myself deeper until his knot began to strike home.
“Yes,” I howled. “Gi’e it tae me.”
He muttered something under his breath, his hand leaving my throat to claim my other breast. He used them like handles, fingers biting in as he grunted, pounding into me with feral abandon.
Brutal. Hard. Uncontrolled.
His knot pressed deeper, and I pushed back, chasing that beautiful stretch—the burn I’d missed. I wailed as my body shook, the tension in my belly cresting.
Like a dark storm smashing against the cliffs, I shattered—letting go as he drove his knot in and out of me.
His roar followed as he slammed his knot into me one final time. I clenched around him, my muscles contracting harder as his hot seed filled me once again. The relief was devastating—and the peace that followed made me realise we could never be apart.
Not from the mating.
Not from each other.
The bond met and merged in the aftermath—soft, tender—as its tendrils locked together.
Tears rolled down my cheeks.
He lifted me gently and turned to sit, holding me on his lap.
“Hush, my love. Our bond can never be severed. It will only grow,” he murmured, kissing my shoulder as his hands rubbed soothing circles over my chest and belly.
And for the first time, I understood—I could already be with child.
I rested my hand over his. Our children would never know bitter cold or hunger.
Man or wolf, neither of them would fail us.
Madadh agreed.