Sorin
My favourite part of the day was bedtime. Aliana slept peacefully while I got to hold her. By all accounts, she should have been asleep by now. Ember had assured me her foray with the wax only lasted a couple of minutes. We healed fast, but she still seemed upset.
She tried to turn away from me. I hooked my leg around hers and tightened my hold on her waist. Her body sagged, and she sighed.
“How can you lie with every woman on the compound except me?”
My jaw fell open at her words.
“Is that what you think?” I reached over to switch on the lamp. “I haven’t been with a single woman since I laid eyes on you.”
I racked my brain—we hadn’t known she was our mate at first.
You didn’t. You idiot, Malakh said.
Her face was turned away from us.
“I—You died three days ago,” I said, trying to turn her face back to mine.
“I’m here now. Almost ready. If I can just sort out the mess down there,” she said, turning, her brow knit tight. “It’s all kind of lopsided right now.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I murmured.
I closed my eyes, swallowing hard as I remembered her last gasp, the moment life drained out of her in my arms.
“I watched the life leave you. I held you while it happened,” I whispered.
She turned into me, pressing her body against mine.
“But your dick won’t kill me,” she murmured, tracing a finger along my neck.
I smiled despite myself.
“One more day of recovery. Check in with the doctor tomorrow. Then I will part my pantaloons for you.”
She chuckled, her breasts jiggling against me.
I grimaced at the thought of losing control with her during her first time. She deserved better, but I didn’t trust myself, and now I had twenty-four hours to prepare for it.
I didn’t fall asleep until close to dawn. There was no comfort waiting in my dreams.
? ? ?
Gerald was crouched in the corner of his cell.
One might almost feel pity for him—until you stacked up every violation against his own family.
His child. His progeny. As a wolf, I could not comprehend such abhorrent cruelty against my own pup.
If my sons ever required discipline, it would be carried out on the training fields.
As for my daughters, such perfect creatures would never require discipline at all.
I slid the hatch shut before I could go in there and give him a few additional stumps.
Deeana and Cora were held in isolated cells. It was too late for Cora—living beside a viper had warped her entirely. Cruelty had become second nature to both women.
Their confessions had stung, if only because Aliana had never spoken of any of it. It ached in my chest, thinking of my mate carrying that silence alone. Her friendship with Ember was the first healthy bond she’d had with another woman since her mother died.
Now these women were collared and stripped of every freedom they’d once enjoyed.
I smiled and left the cells. I would be back tomorrow.
? ? ?
A clean bill of health. The healthiest she’d ever been. Blood tests, urine samples, every test complete.
Did I drag the doctor aside to discuss hymen care? Yes.
Did I ask Marianne to pray for my Luna? Absolutely.
The evening meal was served in the privacy of our bedroom.
A dangerous move—but my Luna had insisted.
Four days since our mating ceremony, and my Queen deserved to be treated with care and respect. Which was the issue. I was a beast in the battlefield and in the bedroom.
Deep breaths. Like the doctor woman said, Malakh muttered, though I could feel his disgust radiating through me.
The bathroom door opened. I glanced up, and my entire life flashed before me. It made me wish our eyesight wasn’t quite so powerful. Black straps, lace, stockings. Every detail only drew my eyes back to her face, crowned by thick ringlets.
“I dressed for dinner,” she said, approaching me.
She fixed the lopsided issue, Malakh hummed.
I didn’t fall for either of their tactics. My eyes remained on her face.
Her scent slammed into me like a sledgehammer. It had matured like fine wine. I could feel myself drawing it in through my nostrils, and my lips parted—I could have sworn I tasted her on the air. There was no way I could keep up this pretence of a monk.
Not with her.
Never with her.
Her soft body settled onto my thigh, finding balance.
The position I’d once teased her with was now being weaponised against me.
Finally, Malakh murmured.
Fuck off, I replied, trying to remember what the doctor had said about breathing.
When he started up again about breeding her, about filling her belly with pups—
This time, I saw it. In my mind’s eye.
Our mate.
Full.
Round.
Stuffed with our pup.
Our offspring.
With the love of my life.