Chapter 12 Karina #2
Something inside me cracks open—something I've kept locked away my entire life. The part of me that always wanted to belong somewhere. To someone. My wolf howls with joy, pressing against my skin like she wants to break free and roll around in his declaration.
And I'm terrified because I feel the same way.
I've known this man for two days. Two. Days.
I should be running for the hills, not melting at his feet.
This isn't me. I'm practical. Cautious. I research minor purchases for weeks before buying.
I once spent three months deciding on a coffee maker.
And yet here I am, ready to bind myself eternally to a man who kills people for a living, all because my body hums when he's near?
I'm losing my mind. There's no other explanation.
But even as I think it, I know it's a lie. This feeling—this pull between us—it's more real than anything I've ever felt.
“Kitten, you still with me?”
I blink, refocusing on his face.
“Yeah,” I breathe. “I'm here.”
“Where did you go?” His thumb drags slowly across my bottom lip, deliberate, almost punishing in its restraint. The touch makes my body ache to lean into him. “I could feel you spiraling.”
Of course he could. It’s impossible to breathe, this constant exchange where my emotions bleed into his and his into mine until the edges blur and I can’t tell where I end, and he begins.
“I was just… thinking.” The words scrape out of me, uneven.
“About how insane this is. Two days ago, I was crying over a breakup, and now I’m in your cabin, letting you touch me like I already belong to you.
I’m shaking because all I want is for you to finish what you started this morning, and I hate myself for wanting it so badly.
Because I’m terrified.” My chest seizes, the confession spilling too fast to stop.
“Terrified that I’m falling for you, and I don’t know if it’s this link making me crave you…
or if it’s real. Everything I thought I knew about myself, about what I wanted from life, is shattered into pieces.
I had plans. A promotion at work. Maybe buy a house someday. Normal things.”
He studies me for a long moment, his thumb still brushing against my mouth, steady as if to anchor me. “Even if we complete the ritual, I won’t stop you from working, Karina. As long as I can keep you safe, I won’t stop you from…”
“I work as a patient advocate for the local hospitals. From home.”
“You can keep working if that makes you happy. Though truthfully, if you didn’t want to work, you don’t have to.”
I frown at his words, something sharp cutting through me. “And what makes you think I'd ever be comfortable just living off you? I've been independent my whole life.”
“Not independent,” he corrects me. “Alone. There's a difference.”
The observation stings because it's true. I've been calling it independence, but really, I've been isolated. Living in the shadows, hiding what I am, keeping people at arm's length.
“Besides,” he continues when I don't respond, “the Marek pack has more money than anyone could spend in ten lifetimes. My father may be many things, but financially irresponsible isn't one of them.”
“So, what. I'd just be your kept woman?” I cross my arms over my chest. “I don't think so.”
“That's not what I meant.”
“Then what did you mean?”
“I mean that you have choices.” He steps back, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “Something I've never had. Something I'd never take from you.”
“I'm sorry,” I say, softly. “I didn’t mean for it to come off that way. I am just so confused. I thought I had what I wanted in life. Now I'm wondering if I ever really wanted those things, or if I was just going through the motions because that's what humans do, pretending to be happy.”
His thumb traces my cheekbone, the calluses rough against my skin. “Were you? Happy?”
The question hits me harder than it should. Was I happy before Damien crashed into my life? Certainly not the last few months with Travis. But before I knew what it felt like to have someone look at me the way he does, like I'm precious and necessary?
“I was...content or I thought I was.”
Damien's eyes soften as he steps closer, his hands coming up to frame my face. “Then let me make you happy, Karina. If it's within my power to give you what you need, whatever you need, to be happy with me, I'll do it. Just tell me what you want.”
“I want—” My voice catches, and I have to clear my throat. “I want to complete the bond.”
His pupils dilate, his scent spiking with desire and hope so powerful I can taste it on my tongue. But I place my hand against his chest, keeping a small distance between us.
“But I need you to understand something first,” I continue. “We're in this together. Equal partners. I need you to be open with me—about everything. No more surprises.” I take a deep breath. “You're not the heir to some other kingdom too, are you?”
The question draws a genuine laugh from him, the sound transforming his face into something so beautiful it makes my heart ache.
“Just one as far as I know,” he promises, his thumbs drawing slow, steady circles against my cheeks.
“I’ll be open with you. I don’t want someone silent at my side.
I want a partner who stands beside me, who’ll call me out on my bullshit when I need it, who won’t flinch at the shared responsibility of this life. Think you can handle that?”
The words hit deeper than I expect, settling heavy in my chest. A partner, not a possession. An equal, not an ornament.
Can I handle it?
My pulse stutters, caught between fear and longing. Because part of me already knows the answer…and it terrifies me.
“I don't know,” I answer honestly. “I've never led anything more complicated than a book club, and even that fell apart after three meetings.”
His lips quirk up at that, and I feel a flutter in my chest at making this man smile.
“But I want to try,” I continue, surprising myself with how much I mean it. “I want to learn. To be what you need.”
“What I need is exactly what you already are.”
The warmth in his tone wraps around me, steadying the doubts still swirling in my chest. For a moment, I let myself sink into it—into him—and believe that maybe I could be this woman he sees. His thumbs still against my cheeks.
But then his expression changes as if a thought has pushed its way between us.
“That being said, I have to do something tonight for Anselm.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“I'd be lying if I said it wasn't. I still have a job to do. There's a meeting. Businesses that are considering switching their allegiances.” His jaw tightens. “I need to remind them why that's a bad idea.”
I think of the man I saw executed at the club, the casual violence with which Damien put a bullet in his head.
That's who he is—what he does—and no amount of electric chemistry between us can change that fundamental truth. He’s a killer, though my discomfort with that idea isn’t as black and white as it was before all this happened.
“I want you to stay here at the cabin,” Damien says, leaving no room for argument. “I’m going to have Elias come stay with you.”
“Elias?” I blink, surprised. “After what happened at breakfast, you trust him?”
Damien’s mouth curves slightly, but it’s not amusement, it’s more like he’s remembering the scene in detail. “That was Matthew and Leo running their mouths, not Elias. He kept quiet for a reason.”
I think back to the table, the way Elias had simply watched while his brothers provoked and needled. His silence unsettling in its own way.
“I trust him more than his brothers,” Damien continues, leaning back in his chair, stretching out like he’s claiming every inch of space between us. “Elias won’t let anything happen to you.”
“And what if something happens to you?” The words slip out before I can stop them.
His head tilts, that faint smirk appearing like he’s caught me in a truth I didn’t mean to reveal. “Worried about me, kitten?”
“I’m worried about being stuck here if you get yourself killed. What happens to me if you don’t come back?”
“I always come back.”
“That’s not an answer.”
His smirk fades. He leans forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “You’ll be protected if I don’t come back. Elias is a good guy. He will get you out if it comes down to that.”
I want to argue, to tell him that’s not good enough—that it’s not the same as him walking back through that door—but my throat feels tight. His certainty is unshakable, but I’ve seen enough to know that even men like Damien aren’t invincible.
He must see something in my expression, because his voice softens, losing its edge. “I’m coming back to you, Karina. There is nothing in this world that would keep me from you.”
God, I hope he’s not wrong because I’m not sure I can survive this new world without him.