Chapter 25
ONE THRUST
Lumi-
Maybe calling him a hamster wasn’t my finest move. He looks a little offended. Is this the monster equivalent of telling a dude his dick is small?
“What was that, snowdrop?” His mouth quirks at the corner.
Oh, he’s not offended; he thinks my being a smart ass is entertaining.
His hand slides up my thigh, and my breath hitches.
“I could break this bed with one thrust,” He hums. “One thrust,” he repeats darkly, as he holds up a single clawed finger.
“Too bad someone’s too scared to seal the bond, huh?” I tease, flicking my gaze to the very intact bed frame. “So I think this bed’s going to be just fine.”
He smiles so wide I see his fangs—stupid, sexy fangs.
I prop myself up on one elbow and meet his gaze head-on.
“You talk a pretty big game, Bambi. But which one of us was just rubbing their face between the other’s thighs like a cat in heat?”
He guffaws and rolls his eyes.
“I should smell like my mate, especially when she’s fertile.”
“You’ve never even had a mate. Maybe the bond is wrong. Maybe you smell like someone else’s mate now.” I shrug my shoulders and feign a yawn.
His hands seize my ankles and yank—suddenly I’m at the edge of the bed, heart caught in my throat.
“I have never been more certain of anything in the centuries I’ve walked this earth,” he growls. “There is no confusion. No mistake. You are mine. You have always been mine. I was just waiting for you to remember.”
My heart stutters.
I wanted to play with him, but all that comes out is a soft gasp. He lowers his head to my hip.
“Let me stay here, just a little longer.”
I nod and thread my fingers through his hair.
“Since you're already between my thighs, and not planning to move—how about a game of twenty questions?”
He squeezes my hip in agreement.
“Okay, I’ll go first,” I say. “How old are you really?”
“Older than either of us knows. I quit counting long ago. There was no reason to keep track of endless days and nights, until I had something that made them worth remembering.”
I pull his head toward mine and place a kiss on his forehead.
“How old are you, Sael?n?”
“Practically the same age. 32”
That makes him chuckle. “You’re basically ancient,” he teases.
“Don’t remind me,” I wince.
“What’s your favorite food?”
“I don’t need to consume food like humans do. I can eat a large quantity and then go weeks without needing to refuel. I’ve never really eaten because it was something I enjoyed. I did it because it was a necessity.”
“You don’t like food?!” I exclaim.
“I think it’s fine. I don’t really have cravings or favorites like you do,” he clarifies, “But if you want to know the few things I enjoy more than others, it’s usually fresh berries and red meat.”
“Ew, that sounds terrible. I couldn’t live without bread, and pasta, and pizza, and potatoes… oh, potatoes are so good, Andrik!”
He chuckles again.
“What’s your favorite season?” He asks
“Definitely fall. There’s something magical in the air when the leaves start to change colors. I love the decorations and the spicy, warm scents,” I tell him as I think about all my candles back at my apartment.
“I love having scary movie nights and snuggling up in the chilly weather. Fall will always be my favorite... but I’m coming around to winter.” I wink at him.
“You’ll be coming for winter very soon, Lumi.” He flashes those damn fangs at me again.
“Okay, that’s not exactly what I said.” I roll my eyes while I try to hide my smile.
Andrik-
She’s warm beneath me, legs tangled around my waist, fingertips caressing my fur.
I could lie here forever. Her scent in my lungs. Her heartbeat under my cheek. The sacred hum of the bond echoes through my bones.
Her voice breaks the quiet first.
“Have you ever been in love before?” My eyes stay closed, but the answer spills out of me immediately.
“No,” I say softly. “But I’ve spent my entire life feeling haunted by something I can’t name. I look at the stars and feel homesick for a place I’ve never been. I hear lovers laugh, and I ache, because some small part inside of me keeps screaming that I once had that too.”
She’s quiet while she continues stroking my hair.
“And when I met you, Lumi... that ache finally stopped gnawing at me, and started burning instead.”
I gather her wrists in my hands, “Even before I had a name for you... I was already searching.”
I open my eyes and see that she’s studying my face.
“Your turn,” she says, voice smaller than usual. “Ask me something.”
“Have you?” I ask.
“Have I what?”
“Been in love?”
She breathes out through her nose, not quite a laugh, not quite a sigh.
“No... I don’t think so. I’ve cared about people.
I’ve been held, kissed, talked about futures that never happened.
” The thought of her being with others twists something in my gut, but I force it down.
“I’ve taken road-trips and made dumb little lists about how many kids I’d have, but no. I don’t think it was ever love.”
Her gaze lifts to the ceiling.
“I relate to what you said, though. There’s always been this feeling inside me... that I don’t belong here. That something is waiting for me—something I already chose. I swear my heart remembers a story my brain was forced to forget.”
I stay silent, but my soul howls.
“The closest thing I’ve ever felt to being in love was what I felt for Anna. I loved her more than anything in this world.”
I panic. I know her sister died, but I don’t know the details, and I’ve never known how to ask.
“Do you want to talk about it?
She doesn’t say anything, but her fingers stop petting me, her breath goes shallow. I feel it before she says anything, the way her whole body closes in around the memory.
She nods.
Thrahk, way to go. Vel’saev...kai’morin ves’thral. (Gods damn it, I'm breaking what's mine.)
“We don’t have to. There’s no rush, Sael?n. Whenever you’re ready.”
“Two years ago, on New Year’s Eve,” she sniffles. “My sister was spending the night at my house, while our parents were out partying—it’s what they did best. There was a fifteen-year age difference between us.
“I always felt like Anna was more of my daughter than my sister. I changed her diapers, fed her, and helped with her homework.
“When I turned eighteen, I left, but I couldn’t go too far, because Anna needed me... needed someone who loved her.”
My stomach drops hearing the pain in her voice.
“As Anna got older, she chose to be at my house any chance she could. Legally, she lived at home with my parents, but in reality, she was never there for more than a few hours at a time.
“We had planned to have a game night, watch some scary movies, and eat junk food until midnight. I had worked a twenty-four-hour shift the day before, and I was already lagging around nine o’clock, but it was so important to Anna that we took a selfie at exactly twelve—it was our tradition.
“I was actively dozing off at ten-thirty, but I made it to midnight... for her.”
At this point, there are so many tears flowing, I don’t know what to do.
“I told her I couldn’t keep my eyes open after taking our picture. We snuggled up in my bed, and I fell asleep listening to her giggle over K-pop TikToks.
“I woke up a few hours later to run to the bathroom, and as soon as I opened my eyes, I knew something was wrong. I felt groggy and realized I was lying in something thick and warm.
“I looked down and saw blood... everywhere. At first, I thought it was mine. I thought I was hurt, but the pain never came.
“I looked over to my side, and that’s when I saw Anna. She was already gone, her fingers still clutching my shirt like even death couldn’t convince her to let go.”
Etra’nai... thal’sae kai’morin. No... sacred one, mine to protect. If the gods gave me a chance to drag the soul of the man who did this from whatever pit he’s rotting in... I’d do it bare-handed, just so she could watch me rip it apart for her.
“I screamed. I begged. I prayed to every God I never believed in to bring her back. I blamed myself—I still do. I’ll never understand why I didn’t wake up.
“My sister was brutally murdered while she was lying next to me, and I didn’t even stir?”
My claws press into my palms. I can’t look away from her. At this point, she’s crying more than talking. I want to hold her tighter, but I don’t want her to stop. She needs to get this out.
“By the time the cops came, I had lost the only thing I ever cared about. I was completely numb. They kept insinuating that Anna had let the murderer in. I desperately tried to tell them that Anna was the kind of person who wouldn’t even walk to the bathroom by herself after watching a scary movie.
“There is no way that she opened the door for some stranger after midnight. They told me there were no signs of forced entry. Over the next few months, I called twice a day for updates, but the case seemed to grow colder day by day. So I took matters into my own hands.”
Veylr?n. Thrahking veylr?n. (Bastard. Fucking bastard.)
I brush her tears with the back of my hand. “You didn’t fail her,” I whisper. “You were the only one who didn’t.”
“I started training at a boxing joint. I was never going to be the victim again. I went every day for hours.
“Everything else in my life fell away. I lived and breathed training and looking for Anna’s killer.
“I noticed around the fourth month that a man at the gym had taken an interest in me. He never said anything, but I could feel him watching during my sessions. He looked so familiar, but I couldn’t place him.
“Around the sixth month, I was getting increasingly suspicious of him, so I snuck a picture of him after my session. That night, when I got home, I reverse searched the image, and after hours of looking, I found a creepy blog site.
“Obsessive poetry, cryptic posts, and then at the very bottom, I saw a picture of the man from the gym, standing on my street. My breath seized in my lungs. This was from over a year ago, so it was either a coincidence or this man had been watching me for much longer than I realized.”