Chapter 25 Riley
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Riley
Everything happened at once.
“What have you done?” Thessa whispered, her voice cutting through the chaos. She was glaring at Aedan, her expression a mix of horror and accusation.
Aedan was shaking his head frantically. “No, no, it’s not...”
“Did you take advantage of her?” Caelan’s voice was barely human anymore. A growl, a snarl, feral and dangerous. His eyes were glowing full amber, his claws fully extended, his body coiled to launch himself across the room. “Did you take advantage that I was gone and seduced her...”
“SHE’S IN HEAT, ASSHOLE!” Aedan yelled. “Because you claimed her and then LEFT HER for two months, you idiot.”
The words ripped out of him, more growl than speech. Every wolf in the room went still.
Caelan’s face went white.
“What?”
“You claimed her. Did you forget that? And you left her alone, without you, while you played war hero.” Aedan’s voice was accusatory. “Her body can’t handle a heat without her mate. She was dying, Caelan. Dying. Because you weren’t there.”
I was dying because I needed sex.
Being a werewolf was definitely... not for the weak.
I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. Would have laughed, if I weren’t currently shivering in Aedan’s arms, my body screaming for the one person who could help. My mate. My idiot, absent, desperately-missed mate who was currently about to murder his best friend over a misunderstanding.
“I didn’t... I didn’t know...” Caelan moved so fast I didn’t see it. One second he was across the room, the next he was pulling me from Aedan’s arms, gathering me against his chest. His hands were everywhere, checking me for damage, pulling me closer, closer, never close enough.
“Riley. Riley, I’m here. Hi, baby. Hi.” His voice cracked. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. But I’m here now. I’m right here.”
He was kissing my face. My cheeks, my mouth, my eyelids, everywhere he could reach. Each kiss was an apology, a promise, a declaration.
The moment he touched me, the pain receded.
Not completely. The heat was still there, pulsing under my skin, demanding more. But it was bearable now, manageable. The edge taken off, the fever dimming to something I could survive.
“I thought I was going to die,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around his neck, burying my face in his throat. He smelled right, safe. Everything I’d been missing since he left.
His arms tightened around me until it almost hurt. I didn’t care. I wanted him closer. Needed him closer. Wanted to crawl inside his skin and never leave.
“I’m so damn sorry,” he grunted against my hair. He was trembling. I could feel it, the fine vibration running through his entire body. Whether from barely restrained desire or overwhelming emotion, I couldn’t tell. Probably both. “Fuck. I should have... I never should have...”
“Apologies later,” I managed. “I need you now.”
His pupils dilated. I watched them expand, swallowing the amber, leaving nothing but black ringed with gold.
“What is the meaning of this intrusion?” A booming voice cut through the chaos. I forced my eyes to focus and saw a man, massive, intimidating, gray-haired but powerful, standing at the other end of the table. He was an older version of Caelan. Of Patt.
The king. Caelan’s father.
“Father...” Caelan started.
“Is that the human mate you’ve been mooning over? The one you left behind for her own safety?” The king’s voice dripped with irony. “She doesn’t look particularly safe to me.”
“She’s dying,” Aedan snapped. “Or she will be, if someone doesn’t...”
“I’ve got her.” Caelan’s voice dropped into command. He looked up, surveyed the room of very interested observers. His jaw set. “Everyone out.”
“Excuse me?” the king said.
“But...” Patt was staring at me with open curiosity, clearly trying to piece together what was happening. “Is she... this is her? Your mate?”
“Your Majesty...?” Another man started to speak, some noble I didn’t recognize.
Caelan’s head snapped toward them, and he roared.
“EVERYONE OUT OF THIS FUCKING ROOM. NOW.”
The walls seemed to shake. My ears rang. Several wolves flinched back.
No one moved.
“AND CLEAN YOUR FUCKING NOSTRILS OF MY MATE’S SCENT.”
It was full alpha voice. Power and command ringing through every syllable. Even the king raised his eyebrows, though whether in surprise or approval, I couldn’t tell.
That did it.
“You heard my son,” a deep voice rumbled. The king was moving toward the door, his hand on the back of a gorgeous woman with silver-streaked dark hair. The queen, presumably. “Come on, hurry. Or we’ll witness a scene we’ll never forget. Not in a good way.”
The room emptied.
Wolves filed out with impressive speed. Some cast curious glances at me, others very deliberately not looking. I saw the expressions shifting on their faces as they passed. Hunger, quickly suppressed. Curiosity, carefully hidden. Recognition of the primal thing I was broadcasting.
My scent. I was putting out pheromones they could all smell.
It would be mortifying if I weren’t so focused on the man holding me.
Now that the immediate crisis was fading and the pain was manageable, I found myself wanting to observe. To catalog. These were Caelan’s people. His family. His world.
I caught glimpses as they left. Patt, still looking bewildered. Aedan, relief flooding his features now that he was no longer about to be murdered. Thessa, her expression a complicated mix of worry and amusement.
And then...
A woman.
Around my age, maybe a year or two younger. Beautiful, in a cold way. Brown hair cascading over her shoulders, pale skin, piercing brown eyes. She wasn’t leaving with the others. She was standing near the door, staring at me with an expression of pure, undisguised hostility.
Who the hell was that?
Before I could ask, Thessa grabbed the woman’s arm.
“Come on,” Thessa said, her voice clipped. Not polite at all. “Now.”
“But...”
“NOW, Vix.”
Thessa yanked her through the door. She paused, caught my eye.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said softly. Then, to Caelan: “Don’t fuck this up more than you already have.”
I watched them go, confusion momentarily overriding the heat pulsing through my body. Who was that? Why was she looking at me with such hatred? Why did Thessa have to drag her out?
But then Caelan’s mouth found my neck, and all other thoughts evaporated.
“I should have been there,” he was murmuring against my skin, between kisses. “I should have come back. I should have checked on you.”
“You were fighting a war.”
“You matter more.”
“Your father was under attack...”
“You matter more.” His hands were sliding under my shirt, palms hot against my bare skin. “You will always matter more. I almost lost you because I was too focused on politics and battles.”
“You didn’t lose me.” I threaded my fingers through his hair, tilted my head to give him better access to my throat. “I’m right here.”
“You could have died.”
“But I didn’t.”
“Because Aedan saved you.” His voice was rough. “I owe him my life for that. Even if I wanted to rip his throat out when I smelled you on him.”
“That’s the heat talking.”
“That’s me talking.” He pulled back just enough to look at me, his eyes still glowing amber. “You’re mine, Riley. No one else gets to touch you. No one else gets to carry you. No one else gets to even breathe your scent.”
“Possessive much?”
“You have no idea.” He kissed me, hard, claiming, demanding. “It’s been two months? Fuck, I’m so sorry. I’d never willingly leave you for that long. Never.”
“I couldn’t feel your emotions through the bond.” I was gasping as his hands explored my body, relearning my curves. “Just knew you were alive. That was it. It was torture, Caelan.”
“Never again.” His forehead pressed against mine. “I’m never leaving you again. You go where I go. Always.”
“Promise?”
“Promise. You’re more important than any war. More important than anything.”
The heat flared again, and I gasped. His arms tightened around me.
“What do I do?” I asked. “How do I make this stop?”
His eyes darkened. “I think you know.”
I did. I pulled him down and kissed him. And finally, finally, I was home.
The heat crashed over me, and I stopped thinking.
I was aware of sensations. His hands peeling off my clothes, his mouth everywhere at once, his body pressing me back against the massive war table. Maps scattered. Figurines clattered to the floor. Neither of us cared.
“Need you,” I gasped, arching into him. “Inside. Please.”
“I’ve got you.” He was pulling at his own clothes, cursing when his claws made it difficult. “I’ve got you, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Hurry up.”
“I’m trying. These fucking claws...”
“Then retract them.”
“I can’t. You smell too good. My wolf won’t let me.”
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Welcome to being mated to an alpha.” Caelan rasped, his fingers fumbling with his pants until they gave way. He shoved them down just enough, and then his cock pressed against my pussy, hot and thick, the head nudging my slick folds. Exactly what I’d been craving for weeks. “Ready?”
“I’ve been ready since you left. If you don’t get inside me in the next three seconds, I’m going to...”
He thrust into me before I could finish the threat, his cock sliding deep into my pussy in one hard push, stretching me wide, filling every inch until his hips met mine.
The relief hit like a dam breaking. All that pent-up heat from two months apart poured out, turning into pleasure that almost felt like too much. My walls clenched around him, pulling him in deeper, and I gasped, head falling back against the war table.
“Fuck,” Caelan groaned, his forehead dropping to my shoulder, breath ragged against my skin. “Fuck, you feel... I forgot... How did I survive without this?”
“Move,” I demanded, my voice breaking. “Please move. Fuck me, Caelan.”