Chapter 32 Lina
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Lina
The house was finally quiet after the attack.
The kind of quiet that felt wrong after so much chaos, where every small sound made me tense up waiting for the next disaster.
Cole had returned to the pack house to keep everyone calm and coordinate cleanup efforts.
Hunt was outside somewhere, reinforcing security measures and probably scaring the hell out of any wolf who dared approach Noah’s property without permission.
Only one window had been damaged downstairs during the attack, and Hunt had already covered it with sturdy boards. The door was still locked and in one piece, the rest of the house surprisingly intact considering rabid wolves had tried to break in. Small mercies.
Knox sat on the couch with my phone in his hand, typing carefully. His own phone was still at the wedding where he’d left it when the attack started. I watched him frown at the screen, those focused lines appearing between his eyebrows.
“Noah’s not answering calls,” he said, showing me the text he’d just sent. “But he read this at least.”
The response came through almost immediately, typical Noah brevity: “Fine. Following a lead.”
“Following a lead during a crisis,” I muttered. “That’s either very good or very bad.”
“With Noah, usually good. He doesn’t chase shadows.”
The twins hadn’t left our sides since the attack ended.
Thea was practically welded to my hip while Rowan kept one hand on Knox’s arm at all times, as if letting go might make him disappear.
Can’t say I blamed them. After watching rabid wolves break into what should have been a safe space, they needed the reassurance of touch.
“Bedtime,” I announced, though it was barely eight o’clock. Normal rules didn’t apply after your children hid in a closet while their mother fought monsters.
“Can we sleep with you?” Thea asked immediately, already knowing the answer.
“Of course, baby.”
We trooped upstairs to Knox’s room since it had the biggest bed. The twins climbed right into the middle, creating a little nest of blankets and stuffed animals they’d retrieved from their room. I settled on one side while Knox took the other, bracketing our children between us.
“Daddy, will the bad wolves come back?” Thea whispered against Knox’s chest.
The word made us both freeze. Daddy. They’d been getting used to calling him that lately, even though no one had ever confirmed he was their daddy. Just started using it naturally, as if they’d always known.
I held my breath, waiting to see how he’d react. His eyes found mine over their heads, so much raw emotion swimming there that my chest got tight. He looked stunned, hopeful, and terrified all at once.
Rowan nodded solemnly before Knox could respond. “You scared them away, Daddy. You’re the strongest.”
“No one will hurt you again,” Knox promised them, his voice rough. “Not while I breathe.”
“Promise?” Thea asked, tilting her head up to look at him.
“I promise, little wolf. Daddy will always protect you.”
The casual use of the title they’d given him made my heart squeeze. The twins relaxed at his words, the tension finally leaving their small bodies. Within minutes, their breathing evened out into the deep rhythm of exhausted sleep.
Knox and I lay there for a while, just watching them. Our babies, safe between us, calling him Daddy without prompting or explanation. It felt like a gift neither of us had expected.
Once I was sure they were deeply asleep, Knox carefully extracted himself from Thea’s octopus grip. She mumbled something about unicorns but didn’t wake. He moved around the bed to my side, offering his hand to help me up.
“Basement,” he mouthed, not wanting to risk waking them.
I followed him downstairs to what had become our unofficial conference room. The basement with its concrete walls and distance from the bedrooms meant we could talk without worrying about wolf hearing. Plus after earlier today, I knew it had other amenities that might be useful.
The door clicked shut behind us, and Knox immediately turned to face me.
“We need to talk about Mary.”
“I need you to know Mary lied,” Knox said immediately, the words rushing out as if he’d been holding them back. “When the attack started at the wedding, I shifted instantly. Fought the rogues there. When I saw some heading this direction, I took off running. Left everything behind.”
He ran his hands through his hair, agitation clear in every movement. “My clothes, shoes, wallet. My phone was in my pocket. She must have grabbed it from the pile after I shifted.”
“I know,” I said quietly. “I believe you.”
The relief on his face broke my heart. How could he think I wouldn’t believe him after everything? After he’d crashed through a window to save us, after our children called him Daddy, after all we’d been through?
He crossed the space between us in two strides, pulling me into his arms and breathing me in as if I might disappear. “I thought... when you looked at me upstairs, I thought you believed her.”
“Never again,” I promised against his chest. “No more doubts between us.”
His arms tightened around me, and I felt the last of his tension drain away. We stood there for a moment, just holding each other, letting the reality sink in. We’d survived. Our children were safe. Mary’s manipulations hadn’t worked.
My eyes caught on the small room off the main basement area. It had its own bathroom and even a small bed, probably meant as a guest space or safe room.
“I need to shower,” I said, suddenly hyperaware of the blood and grime still covering me. The enhanced healing had closed my wounds, but I was still a mess from the fight.
I pulled back enough to look up at him. “Stay?”
The question hung between us, loaded with more than just a request for company. After nearly losing everything tonight, I needed him close. Needed to feel alive and whole and his.
“Always,” he answered without hesitation.
I headed for the small bathroom while he jogged upstairs to grab clean clothes. The water was already heating up when he knocked softly.
“Leaving them outside the door,” he called.
I opened the door instead, steam already starting to billow out around me. His eyes darkened as he took in the state of me: naked, damp from the steam, skin flushed from heat and need. His jaw clenched and his fists curled. I could see his cock straining visibly behind the fabric of his pants.
“Lina...”
“I said stay,” I whispered.
He hesitated. “Are you sure? You’ve been through-”
“Please.” The word came out more vulnerable than I’d intended. “I need you. Need to feel alive.” I needed to feel like his.
He stepped inside, and I immediately reached for the shirt he’d donned at some point.
My hands were steady as I pulled it over his head, letting my fingers linger on his chest, tracing the hard muscle.
My palms smoothed over the ridges of his abs.
He shuddered, his cock twitching beneath his jeans, and I smiled faintly.
“Lina,” he groaned when I started on the button of his pants.
“Let me,” I said. My voice was steadier now. “I want to undress you.”
I pulled his jeans down slowly, dragging them over his hips, my hands deliberately brushing over the length of him. He was already hard and thick. The moment I freed him, he groaned.
I stepped back into the water and pulled him in with me. The spray hit our skin and ran in rivulets down his chest, over his cock, across the curve of my breast.
“You’re killing me,” he breathed as his hands rose to cup my face. His thumbs brushed my cheekbones with heartbreaking gentleness.
“Good.” I whispered.
“I could’ve lost you tonight,” he said, voice raw as his forehead touched mine.
“But you didn’t,” I whispered, moving closer until the heat of his cock pressed against my stomach. “We’re here. We’re alive.”
I looked up at him, drenched and trembling. “Show me. Make me feel it.”
His mouth crashed onto mine like I was the only thing keeping him alive. And maybe I was. I met him with teeth and tongue and gasping need, kissing him like I was afraid he’d disappear if I stopped. He devoured me.
Under the hot spray, his hands slid down my body, cupping my breasts, thumbs circling my nipples until I gasped against his mouth. He started to move lower, but I caught his wrist.
“Not yet,” I breathed against his mouth.
He blinked. “Lina-”
He made a sound of protest that turned into a gasp as I dropped to my knees, water beating down over my back, hair slicked against my shoulders. I reached for him, wrapped my hand around the thick base of his cock, and watched his face twist with need.
“You don’t have to-”
I cut him off by taking him in my mouth, and whatever he was going to say dissolved into incoherent pleading. I sucked him deep, swirling my tongue around the head before dragging my lips down the shaft. The taste of him, salty, male, mine, made my thighs press together.
I wanted to take all that control, all that Alpha strength, and strip it down to this.
He groaned when I hollowed my cheeks and took him deeper, my hands braced on his thighs, feeling the muscle tremble under my palms. He was so hard it was almost painful, his cock twitching every time I dragged my tongue over the sensitive underside.
“Your mouth…” he choked out, voice wrecked. “Christ, Lina. You feel so good. You’re gonna make me-”
I hummed around him and his hips bucked forward, shoving deeper into my throat. His hands flew to my head, fingers tangling in my soaked hair. Not to force me. Just to hold on.
I pulled back and teased the head, tongue circling, lips pressing soft kisses to the swollen tip just to make him whimper.
“Fuck,” he groaned as I swirled my tongue around the tip. “Please. Please, Lina. I need you. Need to be inside you. I’ll do anything...”
That’s what I wanted to hear. Him as desperate as I felt. Him needing me the way I needed him. At my mercy.
I rose slowly, letting him see the mess of my face. Flushed, wet, swollen lips. He spun me around, one hand on my hip, the other sliding down between my legs.
“So wet for me,” he muttered into my ear, fingers teasing me open. “This pussy knows who it belongs to.”
“Knox…”
“Tell me what you want,” he growled, sliding two fingers inside me and rubbing slow, deep strokes. “Tell me exactly what you need.”
“You,” I gasped as he curled his fingers and rubbed my clit at the same time. “Inside me. Now.”
He pulled his fingers out and I whimpered at the loss, then moaned when I felt the broad head of his cock press against my entrance.
“Are you sure?” he asked one more time, ever the gentleman even when shaking with need.
Instead of answering with words, I pushed back, taking him in inch by inch, until he bottomed out and we both groaned like we’d been ripped open.
“Fuck,” he hissed. “You feel incredible. So tight, baby. So fucking perfect.”
He started slow, giving me a chance to adjust, but I didn’t want slow.
“Harder,” I begged, bracing my hands against the tile. “I won’t break.”
His grip on my hip tightened, the other hand tangled in my hair, pulling my head back as he fucked me harder, deeper, his cock slamming into me with obscene sounds drowned by the rush of water.
“Mine,” he growled, teeth scraping over the claiming mark. “You’re mine. My everything.”
“Yes,” I gasped, voice high and breaking. “Yours - always yours-”
His hand dropped between my legs again, fingers rubbing my clit with devastating precision, even as he kept thrusting into me, faster now. Every slap of his hips against my ass made me shudder. He hit the spot that made my vision blur, my knees weaken.
“Let go,” he whispered into my neck, voice dark and coaxing. “I want to feel this pussy squeeze me. Want to feel you come on my cock.”
And I did. I shattered around him with a cry, my body clenching tight, everything locking down as pleasure tore through me in waves. I heard him groan as he followed, cock pulsing deep inside me, spilling heat and need and ownership into my body.
We stayed there for a moment, both breathing hard, bodies still joined.
Then he carefully pulled out, turning me to face him.
The kiss he gave me was different. Slower, deeper, full of emotion rather than desperation.
I melted into it. Because no matter what came next, this was real.
The blood might wash away. The fear might fade.
But that kiss… that feeling… him, it was burned into me now.
After, he wrapped me in the fluffiest towel he could find, carrying me to the small bed despite my protests that I could walk.
“This is Noah’s meditation space,” he admitted as he set me down gently. “Don’t tell him we defiled it.”
I laughed, the sound bright in the dim room. “Our secret.”
He laid me down carefully, the towel falling away. The way he looked at me then, as if I was precious beyond measure, made my throat tight with emotion. His eyes traced over every inch of visible skin, cataloging old scars and new wounds with reverent attention.
“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he said quietly.
“Even covered in battle wounds?”
“Especially then. Every mark shows how fierce you are. How you protected our cubs.” His hand ghosted over a fading bruise on my ribs. “My warrior mate.”
The possession in his voice sent heat pooling low in my belly again. I pulled him down beside me, needing his weight, his warmth, his presence.
“I love you,” he said simply, the words falling between us with the weight of absolute truth. “I’ve loved you since that first night, even when I was too stupid to admit it.”
My heart stuttered in my chest. We’d danced around the words, shown it in actions, but hearing them now made everything real in a way that terrified and thrilled me.
“Knox-”
“You don’t have to say it back,” he rushed to add. “I just needed you to know. After tonight, after almost losing you, I couldn’t keep it inside anymore. I love you, Lina. I love our children. I love the family we’re building even though I don’t deserve-”
I silenced him with a kiss, then pulled back just enough to meet his eyes.
“Show me,” I whispered against his lips. “Show me how much.”