Chapter Eleven
Silas
Aria is covered in blood.
Hunter blood. Her own. Pack blood I don’t recognize.
None of it matters except the way she stands—tall, breathing hard, eyes bright and alive in a way I haven’t ever seen.
And her lips on mine. When she pulls away her chest heaves.
Her hands keep curling into fists like she can’t quite believe the power in them.
Smoke curls around her legs in lazy spirals.
She just fought off Hunters.
She just protected Peyton.
She just became everything her leopard needed to be.
My heart is too full to hold it all.
Mate.
My dire wolf is pacing so close to the surface I feel every brush of his fur. He’s vibrating with pride and something dangerously close to awe.
“Aria,” I whisper, stepping closer through the settling dust.
Her eyes, goddess, those eyes burn gold in the scattered light. She looks fierce. Beautiful but shaken. I stand right in front of her but don’t touch. Not yet. She needs space to choose. She needs the moment to settle inside her bones.
Her breath trembles. “Was ... was that, okay?”
“It was everything,” I choke out. “But you can’t do that again until we are alone. I only have so much self-control.”
She looks around, like she is only now realizing we are still surrounded by people. Behind us, the pack tends to wounds. Peyton is being helped to her feet by Caine, who mumbles something about “reckless stubborn idiots” while wiping blood off her cheek.
“We’re alive because of you,” I say softly, needing her to know that she made a difference.
Aria’s eyes widen. “I wasn’t thinking. I just moved.”
“That’s instinct,” I murmur. “That’s your leopard.”
She looks down at her shaking hands. “I killed people.”
“The right people,” I say. “The ones who would’ve killed Peyton. Or you. Or any of us.”
Her throat works with a hard swallow. “I thought I’d freeze again.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No,” she whispers. “I didn’t.”
I can feel the shift inside her, subtle and growing, like a seed cracking open after a long winter. The pack gathers around us, a soft semicircle of fur and exhausted limbs. No one stares at Aria like she’s fragile. No one looks at her like she’s an outsider.
They look at her like she’s one of us.
Marc limps forward and grins. “Damn, cat woman. Remind me not to get on your bad side.”
Peyton smiles weakly from Godrick’s arms. “She saved me.”
A ripple of energy moves through Aria’s shoulders, pride, fear, and hope all tangled together. The pack feels it too.
And for the first time since she arrived ... they bow their heads to her.
Respect.
Recognition.
Her breath stutters, eyes glistening.
I step closer. “Come home with me.”
Aria looks up slowly. “Your ... home?”
“Yes.” My voice drops low, deep. “Mine. If you’ll come.”
There’s no hesitation before she nods.
****
My home is nestled at the edge of the woods, a sturdy log cabin reinforced with steel plates and old pack magic. It smells like cedar, smoke, and the faint lingering scent of my dire wolf.
Aria steps inside with cautious curiosity.
I watch her as she walks through the doorway. Her shoulders rise and fall like she’s adjusting to air that tastes different.
Safe air. My air.
“This is...” She looks around slowly. “Warm.”
“It’s yours if you want it,” I say softly.
Her breath catches. “Silas...”
“I mean it.”
She moves deeper into the cabin. Touches the back of the couch. Brushes her fingers over the bookshelves. Stops beside the fireplace, running her fingertips along the stone. Every brush of her skin against my space sends pulses through the bond.
Soft and warm but growing.
When she turns to face me, her eyes are bright. “I don’t feel afraid in here.”
I swallow hard. “Good. This is your home, too, and you should never be afraid in your own home.”
“I feel...” She hesitates, searching for the word. “Safe.”
My breath leaves my chest. Her next words land like a blow and a blessing all at once.
“And I feel like you’re proud of me.”
“Aria.” My voice cracks on her name. “I’ve never been prouder of anything in my life.”
She steps closer. Slowly. Carefully. She stops just inches from me, looking up with a vulnerability that slices through every wall I’ve ever had.
“I want...” She swallows. “I want to feel the bond again. Fully.”
My heart stumbles. “Aria, you just fought. You’re exhausted. We don’t have to...”
“I know.” She lifts her chin. “But I’m choosing this. You said I could choose.”
“I did.”
“And I’m choosing you.”
My wolf surges. A deep, ancient sound rumbles in my chest before I can stop it.
“Then you lead,” I whisper. “Every move. You decide everything.”
She exhales shakily. “I ... don’t know what I’m doing.”
“That’s okay,” I murmur. “I’ll follow.”
My hands stay loose at my sides. Not touching. Not pushing. Waiting. Aria lifts her hand slowly and places it on my chest sending heat shooting through me.
I inhale sharply, biting back the instinct to grab her, to pull her close, to claim her. My cock is a lead pipe, begging for her touch but she needs to take this at her own pace.
Her fingers slide over my heartbeat. “You feel ... warm.”
I let out a slow breath. “You make me that way.”
A soft sound escapes her—half-nervous, half-wondering. She steps closer until her forehead rests against my sternum, and I close my eyes and soak it in.
“Silas?” she whispers.
“Yes.”
“I want you to kiss me.”
My control frays. “I need to hear it clearly,” I say, voice low and strained. “Tell me exactly what you want.”
She lifts her face to mine, lips parted, eyes bright and certain.
“I want my mate.”
Every muscle in my body tightens. “Aria...” I breathe.
She rises on her toes and brushes her mouth over mine again, barely a touch, just a breath of contact, but it detonates through the bond with quiet, devastating intensity.
I’m trembling and she can feel it.
“Is that okay?” she whispers, nervous now.
I cup her cheek gently, so gently I barely touch her at all.
“You’re perfect,” I murmur. “You’re brave. You’re in control. You’re leading beautifully.”
Her cheeks flush. She kisses me again, slightly firmer, slightly braver. I still don’t move.
Her arms slides around my neck, pulling me down. Her lips part, inviting, trusting. And that’s all it takes. I kiss her back. Slow, deep, and reverent. Like she’s made of starlight and second chances.
A soft whimper breaks from her throat, and I pull back instantly, checking her, grounding her. Terrified I will do something that sets her back into her fear and panic.
“Are you okay?” I whisper.
She nods, breathless. “More.”
I kiss her again, letting her control the pressure, the pace, and the closeness. Her fingers tangle in my hair. Her body presses against mine, her breast to my chest, my erection brushing against her abdomen. Her heartbeat stutters against my chest like wings.
Every sound she makes pulls praise from my lips without thought.
“Good girl. You’re so brave.”
Her whole body shivers. “Can I touch you?”
“Anything you want, sweetheart.” The words are a broken growl as they fall from my lips.
Her small hand trembles as it traces down my stomach before circling around my rock-hard cock, drawing a hiss from my lips. Her gaze collides with mine, questioning.
“Your hand feels good on me,” I clarify.
“Oh,” she blushes, stroking gently, watching my reaction.
“Fuck,” I hiss between gritted teeth, thrusting shallowly into her hand.
“What now?”
“Whatever you want.”
“I, I want you to touch me.”
I pull her to me, my control slipping as I kiss her deeply, harder than before. She moans in the back of her throat, tightening her grip on my cock. My hands find their own path on my mate’s naked body, one caressing her ass while the other learns the curve of her full left breast.
Her whole body shivers.
“Silas,” she whispers against my mouth, “I want you.”
“Aria...” My voice cracks.
“Is something wrong?”
“I’m ... afraid,” I say softly. “I don’t want to do anything that will trigger you or make you feel unsafe.”
She smiles. The first true smile I’ve ever seen and it lights up her face and my entire world. “Nothing you do could ever scare me, Silas. You are my anchor.”
Her words wash over me and calm the raging war inside me. “Will you to tell me to stop if it’s too much?”
“Yes.”
The moment the word leaves her lips, I lift her into my arms and carry her to my bed. I don’t drop her down but softly lay her in the center. This first time, when we are still learning each other and setting our bond will be slow and gentle. Next time, I will rut her like my beast demands.
I stare at her for long moments before I dip my head low and suck one of her nipples into my mouth. Her back arches off the bed as a moan falls from her lips. I taste the coppery tang of blood and sweat on her skin and all it does is make me crave her more.
I lick and kiss my way across her stomach until I reach the apex of her thighs, pushing her legs apart to stare at the patch of hair covering the thing I crave most. My knees hit the wooden floor with a harsh thud as my lips cover her sex.
She moans wantonly as I explore her pussy at leisure, her hands tangled in my hair.
“Please, please!”
I push a single finger inside her, pumping shallowly as I suck on her distended clit, sending an orgasm crashing through her. Her entire body shakes with pleasure as I kiss back the same path until I reach her lips.
“Look at me sweetheart,” I demand, waiting until she opens her eyes.
Slowly, I push into her still spasming pussy, watching her closely until my cock is fully seated.
There are no words between us, as she turns her head to the side and offers me the column of her neck.
I feel no hesitation as I sink my teeth into her flesh and allow the bond to finally, fully flare to life and settle between us.
A second orgasm rips through her and almost takes me over the edge as well, but I fight to remain in control. I will not have our mating end this quickly.
I wait for her to get her breathing under control before I start moving, shallowly thrusting at first.
“Silas,” she calls out my name on a moan.
I push her thighs apart and rise above her, watching as my cock moves in and out of her.
“Look at you,” I murmur, “Taking my cock so beautifully.”
My words of praise send a shiver through her body, and I use my thumb to rub her clit, demanding another orgasm from her. I can feel my own cresting, but I want her to go with me when I set my knot inside her.
Aria gasps, her eyes rolling shut as the warmth pours through her veins. “Silas...”
“I’ve got you,” I whisper, kissing her temple, her cheek, her lips. “I’ve got you, mate.”
She shivers. “I feel...”
“Perfect.”
We reach our peak together. My knot swells and locks her to me as pleasure overwhelms us both. I lose myself in the feeling and almost don’t register the moment she flips us over. She leans over me, glorious in her nudity.
“My turn,” she says softly, her hooded gaze watching me.
I turn my head to the side and a moment later her teeth sink into my flesh. The bond flares even brighter than before, a band snapping into place as a second, unexpected orgasm crashes over me. My hips jerk and my mate moans as our bond is finalized.
She collapses against me, boneless and safe, her breath soft against my neck.
I hold her long after. Because she chose me. Because she chose the bond. Because she chose herself. And I will spend the rest of my life earning that choice.