Chapter 46
The witness POV-
She’s shivering.
Even in the soft, golden flicker of the firelight, I can see the tremors racking her small frame.
She pulls my tunic—his tunic—tighter around her, her knuckles white as she clings to the scent of him.
She’s soaked from the forest, her hair clinging to the pale curve of her neck in dark, damp strands.
My little dove. Finally in the nest. Finally mine.
My chest burns with a pressure so intense I can hardly breathe. I want to throw off this mask, pull her into my arms, and bury my face in her hair.
I want to tell her that I’ve loved her since the first time I saw her. That I’ve waited lifetimes for this moment. That she was always meant to be here—with me.
But I have to be him if I want her.
“You’re freezing,” I say softly, keeping my voice low and steady. “Let me draw you a bath.”
She blinks up at me, eyes clouded with exhaustion.
“Okay,” she nods.
I move to the bathroom, my limbs moving with an unfamiliar grace. I fill the tub with steaming water, and the vapor rises, coating the mirror. I add the herbs I prepared—lavender, chamomile, and rose petals.
All I want is for her to be comfortable here.
When I return, she’s standing by the fire, staring into the flames. She looks so fragile, it makes my heart ache with twisted guilt, but I know I’m the only one who can keep her from breaking.
“It’s ready,” I say gently.
I turn away as she slips out of my tunic. Even now—when every primal instinct in this borrowed form is screaming to turn around, to touch, to claim—I hold back.
I love her enough to wait. I love her enough to play this part, to wear his skin, if it means she never has to feel the pain of that false bond ever again.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
I linger in the doorway, watching the tension leave her body as she sinks into the warmth.
She is breathtaking.
“I’ll be right outside,” I murmur. “Call if you need anything.”
She hums a soft, sleepy sound that sends a jolt of desire through my veins. I close the door and lean against the wall, my knees nearly giving way.
She’s here.
After all the years of watching from the outside, after the meticulous planning and the agony of the transformation, she is finally where she belongs.
With me.
I just have to keep the mask from slipping a little longer. Just until the bond is sealed. And then
And then—she’ll see.
She’ll finally understand that it was always supposed to be me.
Lumi POV-
As I sit in the warm water, a thought occurs to me... I think I’ve taken more baths since knowing Andrik than I have my whole life combined.
By the time I pull myself out of the tub and reach for a towel, the relief is already melting away. The heat is already creeping back, coiling beneath my skin like something living.
I barely make it out of the bathroom before the first cramp hits.
It doubles me over, stealing my breath. My hand flies to my lower abdomen, pressing hard against my pelvic bone, but it’s useless. The pain is sharp and twisting, as if my very soul is trying to dig its way out of my skin to find its match. It’s never been this bad.
“Lumi?”
Andrik is at my side in an instant. His hands are steadying, and while they’re gentle, the mere contact sends fire racing through my veins.
“I can’t,” I gasp. “It hurts, Andrik.”
Concern darkens his features. He lifts his palm to my forehead.
“You’re burning up again.” His jaw tightens, the muscles flexing under his pale skin as he guides me to the bed.
“The blood moon... it’s amplifying everything. The cycle, the heat... it’s all peaking at once.”
I collapse onto the mattress, curling into a ball as another vicious cramp tears through me. My pulse is throbbing between my legs, a heavy ache that beats in time with the frenzied thudding in my chest.
“Make it stop,” I beg, my voice breaking. “Please, Andrik, I can’t—I can’t breathe.”
“I’m here. I’ve got you,” he rasps. “Let me help you.”
His hands settle on my shoulders, and a whimper escapes my throat. Even through the fabric of the towel, the contact is overwhelming—too much and not enough, all at once.
“I’m going to try and ease some of the tension,” he says quietly. “Tell me if it’s too much.”
I can only nod, burying my face in the pillow. He works slowly, with the agonizing patience of a man who’s waited forever. He kneads the knots in my shoulders, his fingers skating down my spine in slow, firm strokes that leave trails of sparks in their wake.
It feels so good. But it isn’t enough. The heat builds with every pass of his hands, every breath he hitches against the back of my neck. My skin feels hypersensitive and raw, aching for friction a massage can’t provide.
My breath fills the quiet cabin in short, ragged gasps.
“Andrik,” I choke out.
“I can feel how much you’re hurting, Sael?n,” he groans, his face lowering until I can feel his breath. “What do you need?”
His hands slide lower down my sides, thumbs brushing over the curve of my ribs. He stops just short of the heat, an inch away from where I’m burning.
“Please, don’t stop,” I sob, fingers clutching at the blanket. “I can’t go through this all night.”
Another cramp rips through my core, and I cry out, twisting beneath the weight of his hands.
“I don’t want to lose control when you’re vulnerable.” His voice is a strained, guttural rasp.
“I don’t care anymore, Andrik.”
“Lumi—”
“If you won’t do it, let Rh?ven out!” I yell. “Let the beast take the pain away if you’re too afraid to!”
His hands still instantly.
The silence that follows is heavy and charged with electricity.
The towel is ripped from my body. So fast, I barely register the chill in the air before his hands find my skin.
I gasp, arching into his touch.
“Tell me to stop,” he breathes, his face hovering inches from mine.
His pupils are blown wide, nearly swallowing the ice-blue. “Tell me now, Lumi, and I will walk out of that door.”
“Don’t stop,” I whimper, my fingers tangling in the white fur on his forearms, pulling him back down. “Please don’t stop, Sael?n.”
His fangs graze over my pulse. I feel the vibration of the growl he’s trying not to let out. His hands slide over my hips, down my thighs, spreading them with infuriating slowness.
He drops to his stomach between my legs. His cool breath ghosts over my inner thigh.
“You’re trembling,” he murmurs.
“I need you.”
“You have me, baby,” he rasps, his voice rough with need. “All of me. Every thick inch. I’m going to stretch you, fill you, make you come on my cock until you can’t take anymore.”
His hand slides between my thighs, fingers trailing through my slickness, and I can’t control the sound that escapes me.
“But I’ve waited so long for this,” he groans. “I need to taste you first. I need to feel you fall apart on my tongue before I bury myself inside you.”
“Please,” I whimper.
“Fuck, Lumi,” he groans. “You’re soaked.”
“For you,” I moan. “All for you.”
“Is this what you need?” he murmurs, circling slowly, deliberately avoiding where I’m aching most. “Tell me. Use your words, Sael?n.”
“Yes, more please—want you inside, Andrik.”
“Veyr’nes kaelor vel’rin,” he breathes. (You’re perfect like this.)
Two fingers slide inside me, and I cry out, hips bucking into his hand.
“That’s it,” he murmurs. “Take what you need from me.”
His fingers curl inside me, rubbing against that spot that makes stars burst behind my eyelids. The pressure builds with each stroke, coiling tighter in my core.
“Andrik.” I claw at his shoulders, trying to pull him closer.
“I know.” His voice is ragged, barely controlled. “I can feel you clenching around my fingers, baby. So tight. So perfect for me, aren’t you?”
His other hand slides up my body to cup my breast.
“Kaelor’nes,” he groans, thumb circling my nipple, (So beautiful.)
His tongue drags along the curve of my breast before he sucks my nipple into his mouth. His hand tightens on my other breast, kneading roughly, like he can’t get enough.
“I’ve dreamed of this,” he murmurs against me. There’s something raw in his voice. Something broken.
His mouth trails lower, leaving wet kisses down the center of my stomach, pausing at my hip bone where his fangs tease against my skin, threatening to break through.
His fingers move faster inside me, building me higher while his mouth moves lower. His fingers slide free. I’m about to yell at him, but then his hands spread my thighs wider, and the groan that rumbles from his chest when he sees me open for him is purely animal.
“I need—” His voice breaks off as his hands wrap underneath both of my thighs, yanking me against his mouth. “I need to taste you now.”
He licks through my swollen lips, parting me with his tongue. He laps at me like a starved animal—like he’s trying to devour every inch of me.
“Fuck, yes,” he growls against me, the vibration sends shockwaves through my core. His tongue slips inside, then flicks over my clit in one torturous motion. His claws prick my skin as his grasp tightens.
I can feel him grinding against the mattress, his hips rocking in rhythm with each stroke of his tongue.
“So good,” He rasps. “So fucking good, baby.”
His fingers slip back inside me, curling, pumping, while he sucks my clit. The dual sensation has my back arching off the bed.
“Fuck, Andrik. Oh God—”
“Veyr’thrae nes kael,” he groans. (You taste like heaven.”)
My hands fist his fur, as my hips grind roughly against his face. I’m so close, the tension is unbearable. He pulls back suddenly.
“No!” I whine. My hips lift, chasing his mouth. “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop—”
“Not yet, Sael?n,” he murmurs. “I want you on top of me, I want to watch you ride my face.”
“You—”
Before I can finish my sentence, he’s flipping onto his back, craddling my hips as we turn. He lifts me over his face like I weigh nothing at all.
His hands grip my thighs, dragging me down against his mouth.
“Ride me, baby,” he snarls. “Drown me in you. Ruin me for anyone else.”