Chapter 7 #2
Heat blooms low in my belly at his words. My wolf stretches, eager and wanting, while the human in me remains wary.
“Until then...” His hand slides up my arm, leaving goose bumps in its wake. “I’ll help you become comfortable with my touch.”
The water laps around us as I shift in his lap, uncertain but drawn to his heat like a moth to flame. “I don’t understand.”
His growl vibrates through me as his hands tighten possessively. “When I look at you, I see power waiting to be unleashed. I see curves that make my wolf want to howl.” He presses his forehead to mine, our breath mingling. “I see a mate who needs to be shown her own worth.”
“How?” The word is barely a whisper, but it hangs in the steam between us.
His lips brush mine, teasing. “By proving that every part of you is precious to me.”
The steam curls around us, making the moment feel dreamlike, detached from reality.
His hands move over my skin beneath the water, discovering places that make my breath catch.
When he finds a particularly sensitive spot at my waist, I arch instinctively, my body responding without permission from my mind.
“See?” His voice is rough with approval. “Your body knows what it wants. No hesitation.”
“It’s not that simple—” But my protest dies as his mouth finds my throat, teeth grazing the claiming mark. The sensation shoots straight through me, making my toes curl.
“It is that simple.” Power pulses through our bond. “You’re mine now. My mate. My woman. My wolf.” His hands tighten possessively on my hips. “And I protect what’s mine.”
“Even from your own pack?” I ask, thinking of the doubts I felt—still feel even now—through our bond during his confrontation with his wolves.
He pulls back enough to meet my eyes. “If necessary. But they’ll learn.” His smile holds predatory promise. “Wait until they see what you can do. What we can do together.”
“And that is?”
“Change everything.” He catches my bottom lip between his teeth, then soothes the sting with his tongue.
The contrast makes me gasp. “The old ways are dying. The civilized packs grow weaker with each generation. But us?” His hands slide up my back, pulling me closer until I can feel every hard plane of his body against my softness. “We’ll show them true power.”
The conviction in his voice makes me shiver.
Or maybe it’s the way his hands move over my skin, claiming every inch they touch.
I should be terrified of this feral alpha with his blood-soaked reputation.
I’ve seen what he’s capable of, felt his savage joy through our bond as he tore apart his enemies.
Yet instead of fear, I find myself melting into his touch, craving more.
“First,” he growls against my lips, “you need to finish cleaning my wounds. Then I’m taking you back to our den.” His eyes promise things that make heat pool low in my belly.
My heart thunders against my ribs. This is the Shadowmist alpha, the most feared wolf in five territories.
And yet...
The way he touches me is nothing like I expected. His hands move over my curves with reverence, not disgust. Where my old pack saw only weakness, he seems to find beauty. It makes my head spin—this contrast between his savage reputation and the gentle way he traces my softness.
But can I trust it? Trust him? Hours ago, he claimed me in violence. Now he speaks of pleasure, of worth, of change. Part of me wants to believe him, to sink into the heat of his touch and let myself be claimed in every way he promises.
Another part remembers years of shame. What if he changes his mind once the thrill of claiming me wears off? What if my gift isn’t enough to make up for my weaknesses?
Through our bond, I feel his response to my doubts—a surge of possessive protection that makes me gasp. His hands tighten on my hips, and I realize he can’t just smell my fear, he can feel everything I’m feeling. Every fear, every longing, every hesitant spark of hope.
“Stop thinking so hard, little mate.” His voice is rough silk against my ear. “Feel instead.” His mouth finds my claiming mark, and power surges between us like a living current. “Feel how much I want you. How perfectly you fit in my hands. How right this is.”
And I can feel it—his desire burning through our bond like wildfire. Not just for my gift, but for me. All of me. My curves, my softness, even my human form that can’t shift. He wants me with an intensity that steals my breath.
“Turn around,” he murmurs, nuzzling my neck. “Let me wash your hair.”
The simple request catches me off guard. This isn’t the savage claiming I expected. His fingers are gentle as they work through my dark strands, massaging my scalp with unexpected tenderness. No one has done this for me since I was a child, before my wolf failed to emerge.
“Your thoughts are too loud,” he rumbles behind me. “I can feel them spinning through our bond.”
“I’m not used to...” I gesture vaguely at his hands in my hair, at the way he handles me like I’m precious instead of broken. “People being gentle with me.”
“Gentleness?” His laugh is dark honey. “The Shadowmist Pack isn’t known for it. But a mate deserves careful handling.” His fingers find a knot in my neck, working it loose with firm pressure. “At least until she’s ready for something... rougher.”
Heat blooms in my cheeks at his tone. Through our bond, I feel his satisfaction at my response, the way my body betrays my interest despite my uncertainties.
His arms wrap around my waist, pulling me back against his chest. The hard planes of his body make my softness feel somehow right instead of wrong. Like we’re two pieces of the same puzzle, finally clicking into place after years of trying to fit where we didn’t belong.
“Everything about you calls to my wolf,” he murmurs against my ear. “Makes me want to protect and possess in equal measure.”
“And when the novelty wears off?” I can’t keep the tremor from my voice. “When I’m not new and exciting anymore?”
His growl vibrates through my back. “Not possible. Now, kiss me.”
I hesitate only for a heartbeat before turning in his arms, the mineral-rich water swirling around us. His gaze holds mine with an intensity that robs me of all thought. When my lips meet his, the claiming bond between us pulses with power, sending waves of warmth cascading through my body.
The connection between us flares open, no longer just a tether but a flood of sensation.
Through our bond, his desires rush into me, raw, primal, and overwhelming.
I feel his hunger, not just physically. Images flash through my mind—his fantasies, his intentions—of me standing beside him before the pack, strong and respected, of my body beneath his, our limbs entangled, of me heavy with his child, a tangible symbol of our union.
Beyond those visions lies something that shakes me to my core—his fierce pride in claiming me.
Not despite my human form, but because of everything I am.
I feel his fascination with my curves, so different from the lean-muscled females of his pack.
His admiration for my resilience after years of mistreatment.
His almost obsessive need to protect what is his.
Most startling of all, I sense his respect for my gift. He doesn’t see it as just a tool to be used, but as power in its own right. The Shadowmist alpha sees me as his equal in ways my old pack never could have imagined.
“You can feel it,” he murmurs against my lips, not a question but a realization. “What you do to me. What I see when I look at you.”
The kiss deepens, his hands finding their way to my face, cradling it with surprising gentleness from a wolf known only for violence. I feel the coiled strength in his body, the barely contained power of his wolf pressing against the boundaries of his control.
His fingers tangle in my wet hair, tilting my head back as his lips move from my mouth to trace the line of my throat.
“You belong with me. With us.” His teeth graze my neck, raising goose bumps along my skin. “The pack will learn, just as you’re learning.”
When he kisses me again, there’s a new urgency to it. His arms tighten around me, lifting me slightly in the water so that we’re perfectly aligned. The mineral bath laps around us, steam swirling. His hand trails down my spine, leaving fire in its wake as our kiss intensifies.
A growl builds in his chest, vibrating against me. I can feel his control slipping, his wolf pushing forward, demanding more. His breathing grows ragged as he pulls back suddenly, pressing his forehead against mine.
“Enough,” he says, his voice rough with restraint. “If we continue this here...”
The heat in his gaze makes me shiver despite the warmth of the water. Through our bond, I can feel his hunger, his wolf’s impatience, and his human side’s surprising determination to do this properly.
“Come.” He lifts me from the water in one fluid movement, his strength making me feel weightless. “I’m taking you back to our den.”
He sets me on my feet at the edge of the pool, reaching for the soft cloths we’d discarded earlier. With unexpected care, he wraps one around me, his hands lingering at my shoulders.
“Make no mistake, Kitara, I will claim you fully,” he says, his voice a low promise that makes my heart race. “As my mate. My Alpha Female. Mine in every way a wolf can be claimed.”
The possessiveness in his tone should frighten me, but instead, I find myself leaning into his touch, my body responding to the primal call of his.
For the first time in my life, my inability to shift doesn’t feel like a wall between me and the wolf world—not when Ryker looks at me with such hunger, such need.
“Yes,” I whisper, the simple word feeling like a pledge.
His smile is predatory, satisfied, as he wraps his own cloth around his waist. “Yes,” he echoes, taking my hand. “Now let’s go back to our den, little seer, before my control breaks entirely.”