Chapter 20
TWENTY
THALRIC
They reached the terrace, and Thalric grabbed one of the towels he always kept there for his evening swims. He wrapped it around his waist, but not before catching the way Navira’s eyes lingered on the water droplets trailing down his chest and abs.
“Can I...” She cleared her throat, vulnerability creeping into her voice. “Can I stay with you tonight? I’m too shaken up to be alone.”
The request hit him unexpectedly hard. After everything—the disastrous dinner, her panic attack, the attack in the water—she was asking to stay with him.
“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “Of course.”
Thalric grabbed another towel and draped the soft fabric around Navira’s shoulders, his fingers brushing against the damp skin of her neck. The simple contact sent electricity shooting through his system, his wolf surging forward with primal satisfaction.
Mine. Safe. Claim.
The beast pressed against his consciousness, demanding he complete the bond that had been building between them since the moment their hands first touched.
Not yet, he told his wolf firmly, though his hands lingered a moment longer than necessary on her shoulders. She needs honesty first. She needs to choose.
He guided her through the estate’s corridors, acutely aware of her bare legs, and the way her wet hair left droplets on the marble floors.
The silence between them hummed with tension—not uncomfortable but charged with possibility.
When they reached his private chambers, Thalric paused at the threshold, suddenly struck by the significance of this moment.
No woman had ever crossed into his personal sanctuary.
Not once in his thirty-five years. There had been encounters—brief, meaningless affairs conducted in neutral territory that satisfied his wolf’s physical needs without risking emotional exposure.
But this space, with its deep blue walls and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the pink ocean, had remained his alone.
Until now.
He pushed open the heavy oak door and stepped aside, watching as Navira entered his most private domain.
Her eyes swept across the room—the massive four-poster bed with its dark blue linens, the leather sofa positioned near the stone fireplace, the shelves lined with strategy texts and maritime histories.
Everything here reflected the controlled Alpha he’d built himself into, yet somehow her presence made it feel more real.
“I’ll get a fire going,” he said, moving toward the stone hearth. The familiar task grounded him, gave his hands something to do while his mind raced. “You can grab a shirt from the dresser, so you can get out of that wet suit.”
He knelt before the fireplace, stacking kindling with methodical precision.
Behind him, he heard the soft sound of her footsteps on the hardwood, and the quiet slide of a drawer opening.
He struck a match and touched it to the tinder.
Orange flames licked to life, casting dancing shadows across the walls.
He crossed the room and pulled a pair of black shorts from his dresser, turning his back to give her space as he dropped the towel and slipped into the garment. The simple act of dressing with her in his room felt strange—intimate in a way that had everything to do with the quiet domesticity of it.
When he finally turned around, his breath caught in his throat.
Navira stood there in one of his white t-shirts—soft cotton that hung loose on her smaller frame, the hem falling to mid-thigh. The sight of her wearing his clothes caused something fierce and possessive to roar to life in his chest.
My mate. In my shirt. In my space.
The rightness of it threatened to shatter every carefully constructed wall he’d built around his heart.
She looked like she belonged here, like she’d always been meant to stand in his private sanctuary wearing his clothes.
His wolf howled with satisfaction, pressing against his control with renewed urgency.
Claim her. Now.
Thalric forced himself to breathe steadily, to maintain the composure that had served him well as Alpha.
But inside, he was coming apart at the seams. Every instinct screamed to close the distance between them, to lift her into his arms and carry her to his bed, to make her his in every way that mattered.
Instead, he gestured toward the leather sofa positioned before the fireplace. “Come sit. You’re still shivering.”
She settled onto the cushions, tucking her legs beneath her. Thalric joined her, pulling a thick wool blanket from the back of the sofa and draping it over both of them. The shared warmth created an intimate cocoon, her citrus and vanilla scent mingling with the smoke from the fire.
“I need to get something off my chest,” he said, his voice roughened. “Something that’s been bothering me since dinner.”
She turned to face him fully, her blue eyes reflecting the firelight. “Thalric—”
“Please. I need to apologize for my words earlier—they caused you to have a panic attack, and that was never my intention.”
Navira shook her head. “It wasn’t entirely your words that triggered the attack.” Her voice dropped to barely a whisper. “It was my fear of getting too close to someone again. Of getting my heart broken. I can’t bear that pain again.”
The admission hit Thalric like a punch to the gut. This incredible woman—strong enough to train his warriors, brave enough to face down Luthira in the ocean—was afraid of loving him because someone had shattered her trust.
“I would never break your heart,” he said fiercely, his hand coming up to cup her cheek. “I just want to make you happy, Navira.”
She leaned into his touch, her eyes closing for a moment.
When she opened them again, vulnerability shone in their depths.
“Five years ago, after my injury stalled my competitive career, my boyfriend at the time—Jeremy, well, my fiancé actually—he grew cold and distant. I was struggling to figure out who I was without competitive swimming, and instead of supporting me, he...” Her voice cracked.
“I discovered he was cheating on me. Had been for months. Things ended badly, and I just... I can’t have that happen again. ”
Rage flooded through Thalric’s system, his wolf snarling at the thought of anyone hurting his mate. His hand found hers, his eyes flashing with protective fury.
“I would never be cold to you or cheat on you,” he said, his voice holding the absolute conviction of an Alpha’s vow. “I would never do anything to hurt you intentionally. I want to prove that to you in any and every way possible, if you’ll just give me the chance.”
He moved closer, both hands holding hers now.
“Yes, I hired Gerri to find my fated mate because I thought it would solve my leadership problems. I thought having a mate would make the pack see me as legitimate, as worthy of the position I inherited rather than earned by blood.” His thumbs brushed across her knuckles, his touch reverent.
“But the moment you walked into my office and shook my hand, I realized you were so much more than any strategic alliance. You’re someone who could stand beside me, yes, but more than that—you make me want to be a better Alpha and a better man.
You make me want to be authentic instead of perfect. For you.”
The words hung between them, raw and honest in a way that left him feeling stripped bare. This was it—the moment when she would either choose him or walk away.
Before he could say anything more, before he could explain the depth of what the mate bond meant to him, she leaned forward and kissed him.
This wasn’t the tentative kiss from the ocean, born of surprise and desire. This wasn’t desperate or uncertain. This kiss was deliberate—full of hunger and longing, slow yet fierce, a kiss that spoke of surrender and choice and maybe, just maybe, the beginning of forever.