Chapter Nine
Jacob’s wolf prowled just beneath his skin, restless, hungry, aching with the need to claim what was his.
Watching Liam buried deep inside their mate, watching her writhe and cry out, had nearly broken him.
He was proud, so fucking proud of his brother, but the ache in his chest—and cock—was almost unbearable.
When Liam finally eased back, eyes dark with satisfaction and looking toward him, Jacob nearly came undone.
His hands trembled as he reached for Willow. She was flushed, her lips swollen from kisses, her skin glowing with sweat and release. And still, she opened her arms for him, her smile tender and trembling. His heart lurched.
Jacob bent, cupping her face in his hands, kissing her slowly at first. But restraint slipped almost instantly, because the taste of her, mixed with watching the scene that had played out before him, sent fire roaring through his veins.
His tongue tangled with hers, his kiss deep and consuming, until she was moaning and clutching at him with frantic need.
“Jacob...” she whispered against his lips, her eyes fluttering open. “Please.”
He pulled back just enough to truly look at her.
His mate. Their mate. Her hair fanned across the cushions, her body stretched open and waiting, glistening with arousal.
His cock pulsed with the force of his desire, but he needed her to hear the truth.
“Sweet, I’ve waited too long for this. Too many lifetimes.
You feel like salvation to me. Like fire and silk and sin all wrapped up in one.
And I’m going to show you exactly what you do to me. ”
Her lips parted, a whimper spilling free and Jacob’s control snapped.
He slid down her body, kissing a hot trail over her breasts, sucking one nipple into his mouth until she cried out.
His hand toyed with the other, pinching and rolling it as his tongue flicked and soothed, worshipping her with reverence and hunger both.
She arched beneath him, gasping, clutching at his hair.
“God, Jacob,” she moaned, her thighs parting instinctively.
“That’s it,” he growled, his voice thick and rough. “Open up for me, sweet. Let me taste what’s mine.”
His mouth claimed her next, burying his face between her thighs.
He licked and sucked with fierce precision, rougher than Liam had been, dirtier.
He groaned into her as he devoured her, tongue circling her clit in relentless patterns, fingers stroking inside her until she was thrashing, sobbing his name.
“Jacob—oh, fuck! Please, please!”
He pulled back just enough to rasp against her soaked flesh, “You taste like heaven and sin. Like you were made to be on my tongue. I could eat you for hours, sweet and never get enough.” Then he sucked her clit hard, tongue flicking fast, until she screamed, her orgasm tearing through her in violent waves.
Her body trembled, but he wasn’t done. He kissed up her stomach, her chest, her throat, until his mouth found hers again, his cock grinding against her slick entrance. He groaned, barely holding himself back. “I need you. Now.”
“Then take me,” she whispered, voice ragged with need.
He thrust into her in one deep stroke, burying himself to the hilt. The sensation wrenched a guttural sound from his chest. She was so tight, so hot, clenching around him like she was made for him. Which she was. “Fuck, sweet... you feel like you were carved to fit me. Every inch of you, mine.”
Her head fell back, a cry bursting from her throat as he set a punishing rhythm, hips slamming into hers with raw desperation. “Yes, Jacob, yes!”
“That’s it, scream for me,” he snarled, sweat dripping down his temples as he drove into her harder, faster. “Let me hear you. Let me feel every fucking bit of you.”
He bent to her ear, his voice rough and dirty. “You’re squeezing me so damn tight, sweet. Every time I push in, it’s like your body is begging me to never let go. And I won’t. I’ll fuck you until you can’t remember your own name, until all you can think is mine.”
Her nails raked his back, dragging down hard enough to sting and his wolf howled in approval. She met his thrusts, wild and reckless, her cries echoing into the night. He kissed her fiercely, biting at her lip, groaning against her mouth.
When she shattered again, clenching around him in hot, desperate pulses, Jacob lost it.
He roared her name, slamming into her one last time as he spilled inside her, his entire body convulsing with the force of it.
He kept moving, grinding deep, wringing every ounce of release from both of them until they collapsed together, panting and trembling.
Jacob pressed his forehead to hers, cupping her face as he whispered raggedly, “Mine. Forever. You fucking own me, Willow.”
Her answering smile was radiant, her whispered, “Yours,” the sweetest benediction he’d ever heard.
Liam’s low, satisfied laugh rumbled from nearby. Jacob turned his head just enough to see his brother sprawled against the cushions, his cock still hard, his eyes dark and heated as he watched them. Pride and hunger shimmered in his gaze and Jacob knew this was just the beginning.
Their mate had given herself to them—and together, they would never let her go again.
Time passed in a haze of pleasure and intimacy.
Willow, gloriously flushed and grinning, took her turn lavishing them with her mouth, drawing shudders and curses from both brothers until they were undone all over again.
Afterward, she fed them pieces of food from the spread she’d prepared, laughing softly when their fingers lingered over hers, when their mouths brushed her wrist in teasing thanks.
Wine loosened the last threads of tension, filling the rooftop garden with warmth and a strange sense of peace.
Later, tucked beneath blankets on the massive pallet, the three of them lay tangled together.
The city stretched below, its noise dimmed by Ursula’s wards and above them the stars shone faint but steady.
Willow traced idle shapes on Jacob’s chest as she finally spoke of the curse, of what Ursula had told her—that the key would come at dusk, with the setting sun in the west, when their bond could be made unbreakable and Matthew rendered mortal.
Jacob and Liam exchanged a long look over her head, the weight of her words sinking in. “Then we’ll break it,” Liam vowed, his hand covering Willow’s. “We will not let this cycle continue.”
Jacob pressed a kiss to her temple, his voice rough with conviction. “Sweet, you are ours. This fate is ours. And no prophecy, no curse, no fucking warlock will ever take you from us again.”
Her eyes glistened, but her smile was steady. “Then we fight together. Until it ends.”
They tightened their arms around her, three hearts beating in rhythm, vowing silently and aloud that this time, fate would not be denied.
Silence lingered, heavy but comforting, until Willow sighed. “Tomorrow, I have to face him again. At the police station.” Her voice was steady, but Jacob felt the tremor beneath it. “He won’t stop coming for me.”
Liam shifted closer, his chest pressing protectively to her back, his arm curling tight around her waist. “Then we’ll be there, one way or another. He won’t touch you again.”
Jacob cupped her chin, tilting her face toward his. “Sweet, you’re not alone anymore. You face Marcus, you face Matthew, you face the whole fucking council if you must—but you face them with us at your side.”
Her breath hitched, but she nodded, resolve flickering in her eyes. “Then let’s end this. Together.”
****
Jacob prowled in the void, restless, his wolf clawing at the barrier that held them beneath Willow’s skin.
Every sound she made, every breath she drew, echoed through him and Liam both.
The bond between them had always been fierce, but now?
Now it was something else entirely. Stronger.
Sharper. They weren’t just tethered to her—they were beginning to merge with her in ways that defied everything he’d ever known.
“I can hear her clearer now,” Liam murmured in the dark. “Every word, every thought. The bond is strengthening.”
Jacob growled softly in agreement. “And yet we’re still trapped in this fucking limbo while she faces him alone.” His fists clenched, useless. “Our mate is walking into danger and we can’t surface to protect her.”
Then Willow’s voice came—soft, uncertain but unmistakable. I can hear you. Both of you.
Jacob stilled. “Sweet? Is that you?”
Yes. I don’t know how this works, but... I can hear you in my head. And you can hear me.
Liam huffed a ragged laugh, relief cutting through the frustration. “The bond grows even stronger. She’s with us, Jacob. Even now.”
Jacob swallowed the ache in his chest. “Then hear this, Willow. We will never stop fighting for you. No matter the curse, no matter the chains.”
I know. Her reply was faint, trembling. But I’m scared.
Rage rolled through Jacob, his wolf snarling in the dark. “We will tear his fucking throat out for making you feel that way.”
And then, it happened.
The conference room door opened, and Marcus stepped inside. Through Willow’s eyes, Jacob saw the two cops at the table go utterly blank, their gazes glassy, their movements mechanical. Without a word, they rose and left, leaving their mate alone with the monster.
Jacob slammed against the barrier, howling in fury. “Willow, don’t let him near you!”
“Love, stay strong,” Liam urged. “We’re with you.”
She sat frozen, fear pounding through her so loudly Jacob swore he could taste it.
Marcus smiled—cold, cruel, familiar. “This is what’s going to happen,” he said, voice calm as poison.
“The new moon is in two days. Before it arrives, you will come to me willingly, or I will kill your witch friend.” His grin widened.
“And I’ll make sure your precious wolves are trapped between realms forever. ”
Jacob roared, the sound tearing through the void. And this time—Marcus heard him. The bastard froze, eyes narrowing as if the growl had brushed against his ear. “Interesting,” he mused. “So, the bond deepens. No matter. It won’t save you.”
Shock rippled between Jacob and Liam. If Marcus could hear him, then the bond wasn’t just growing—it was breaking rules neither of them understood. They were bleeding into her reality, step by step.
Willow’s hands clenched on the table. “You killed them before. You killed me, too. But I’m not the same woman you faced then. This time, you won’t win.”
Marcus leaned close, his smile a mask of hunger. “We’ll see.”
The door banged open before he could touch her. Ursula strode in, fury burning in her eyes, Saffie a step behind her, her anger like a banner of war. Ursula’s voice cracked like a whip. “Get the fuck away from her.”
Marcus snarled, power flaring around him, but Saffie stepped forward, gaze locked on him. “We’ve danced this dance before you and I,” she said coolly. “I enjoyed making you bleed out the last time we faced each other, care to give me the chance to do it again?”
For one long, tense moment, Marcus held his ground. Then he hissed like the cornered predator he was and stormed from the room, leaving the air heavy with menace.
Jacob sagged in the void, torn between fury and relief. “Sweet, are you all right?”
I’m... I’m okay. He hated that her voice shook.
Saffie stepped up to her and placed her hands on her shoulders. “What did that bastard say to you!”
Her voice wavered, her gaze flicking toward the glass where she knew they watched. “Um, shouldn’t we wait until we get back to Ursula’s to talk about this?” She shot the words with a sarcastic edge, but beneath it lay a trembling core that let Jacob breathe easier.
Saffie’s expression softened only slightly.
“Don’t worry about it. I froze every officer in this building where they sat, bent the tech in the room so the cameras show nothing but static and muted the audio feeds.
Right now, as far as the department is concerned, this room doesn’t exist. That’s the only reason I let him get as close as he did—I needed to be certain of what game he’s playing.
” She tipped her chin at Willow. “You’re not fully of our world yet, not consciously.
So, I’ll spell it out—I can bend the edges of reality here, buy us time and space. But it’s temporary. He’ll push back.”
Willow blinked at her, shaken but unable to stop a crooked smile. “Well, that’s... both reassuring and terrifying. Thanks for the clarity.” She drew a shaky breath, then added quietly, “We have two days. He told me when it happens—the new moon.”
Saffie cursed under her breath, a sharp, vicious word that made Willow’s skin prickle.
From the void, Jacob and Liam growled, their fury vibrating through her bones.
Ursula, however, only grinned—a wicked, satisfied curve of her lips.
“Marcus fucked up. He’s given us a date, a timeline.
That’s leverage we didn’t have before.” She glanced at Willow.
“But we need to get you out of here. Now.”
The redhead’s eyes flashed with steel. “I’m not taking any chances. He’s rattled and that makes him more dangerous. He knows the bond is pulling tighter. If he’s bold enough to flaunt threats in front of witnesses, he’s desperate. Desperate men are unpredictable.”
Jacob growled his agreement. “Listen to her, sweet. Don’t underestimate him.”
Willow’s throat worked as she nodded. “Then let’s go.”
Saffie snapped her fingers then turned her glare on the one-way glass. “Captain Riley, if you don’t drop every bogus charge you’ve cooked up against my client, I will see to it that your career ends before the week is out. Release her. Now.”
There was a click, then a voice over the intercom. “Ms. Anderson, we apologize for the inconvenience. You are free to go.”
Saffie exhaled and gave Willow’s arm a squeeze. “Stay close to us. I’ll hold the veil a little longer, but the second we step outside this room, we’ll be back on their grid. He’ll know you’re slipping from his grasp and that will only make him angrier.”
Ursula’s grin sharpened. “Good. Let him be angry. It means he’s off balance.” She threw a quick glance at Willow. “And when a predator’s balance falters, that’s when you strike.”
Jacob’s wolf snarled in approval. The fight wasn’t over. But tonight, they had won her back. And he swore to the fates themselves—they would never let her face Marcus alone again.