Chapter 34
Adea
The world came back in pieces. It leaked through the seams of my eyelids, a slow, toxic drip of reality.
The scent of copper and burnt pine. The suffocating heat against my spine.
The blinding throb in my neck and shoulder, and the curve of my breast where canines had repeatedly torn into my flesh, pulsing in melody with a second heartbeat inside my head.
I opened my eyes as sunlight cut through the drapes.
The bedroom was the silent carcass of a war zone.
Glass from the shattered vanity littered the floor like fallen diamonds, and the heavy mahogany bedposts were gouged with deep, splintered claw marks where the wood had failed to withstand Ethan’s rage.
Yet now, in slumber, he looked like a fallen angel.
He’d returned to his human form, his tousled dark hair shadowing his forehead, his lips entirely too innocent—as if they hadn’t just parted hours ago to give way to the massive canines that had repeatedly punctured my skin.
I was pinned to the mattress by the crushing weight of a man who looked like he had died and dragged himself from the depths of hell.
I tried to inch out from beneath him, and a low rumble vibrated its warning through his chest. Heavy thighs locked tighter over my hips without gracing me with his eyes—and I wondered if they would be stormy green or gold when they finally opened.
Every muscle in my lower half screamed, inside and out; a deep, bruising ache radiated from the center of my pelvis where his knot had ruthlessly claimed me until my consciousness fractured.
The memory of Shane’s trickery was a film of grease on my skin, but Ethan’s merciless reclamation was the anvil that crushed me into the mattress.
The shame pulsing through me was a living thing, eating its way through my soul.
My skin felt too tight, too dirty. The urge to simply curl up and bed rot for the rest of my life weighed heavily on my chest.
I’d refused to back down, but the events of the last twenty-four hours threatened to break me.
Barbed wire wrapped around my throat in a cold vice; my lungs refused to suck in air, and Ethan’s mark was the only thing stopping me from shattering entirely.
I couldn’t erase what happened, and I couldn’t trust myself to deal with it now.
It had to be buried beneath the weight of what came after.
With slow, trembling fingers, I found the raw, unhealed craters on my neck, then my shoulders and chest. He hadn’t licked these; they were open, burning wounds.
The flesh was tender beneath my touch, humming with a roaring, molten echo of him beneath my skin.
The true mate bond was a live wire. Through it, his subconscious bled into mine—a bottomless depth of possessiveness that lay sleeping yet hostile behind his mental walls, a dark current that left me entirely breathless.
Ethan stirred, and I cracked an exhale as green eyes met mine. They weren’t gentle; they were the eyes of a King who had looked into the abyss and watched it smile back.
“Adea,” he whispered, his voice hoarse and scratchy, like he’d swallowed a mouthful of glass and it had torn through his throat.
His jaw was clenched so tightly I worried it would crack.
His cheek twitched as he reached up, his large hand hovering over my cheek, hesitant.
“Are you…” he trailed off, inhaling deep.
“Are you okay?” His gaze drifted down my body, taking in the bruises, the marks, the dried blood where Erebus had cut me.
I looked at him, seeing my mate for what he was—a mad king, permanently split between man and beast. I’d come too late.
Would things be different had I come earlier?
I think they would, but it wasn’t possible.
The Moon Goddess had written my story and dropped me into this den of monsters with no alternative, and I had to accept that the only way out of the ashes was to survive them.
I had to learn how to stand beside a monster without letting his darkness consume me completely.
“I have wanted you for years,” he murmured, his voice cracking.
“You were my answer to everything, but when I came home and found you like that—I lost control. I… I didn’t mean to force that part of me on you.
I’m sorry. It will never happen again. I swear to you on my life.
” Even as he said it, I wondered if it was a promise a man like him could keep.
I felt his truth through the bond. The shame that burned in me was reflected in him, but beneath his, there was a harder, colder resolve that regretted nothing. I had summoned that monster—needed him to wash Shane’s touch away.
“It’s okay,” I said, my voice steady, leaving no room for doubt. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I wanted it, Ethan. I wanted your beast.”
A pained breath escaped his lips, relief warring with the lingering torment in his gaze. He leaned down, burying his face into the crook of my neck, inhaling right over the wounds, desperate to ensure I was his now, desperate to erase Shane’s lingering scent.
I swallowed hard, my fingers tangling in his dark hair as my eyes stung. “Are we going to talk about what you turned into last night?”
Ethan froze, his entire body going rigid against mine.
The hum of the bond grew loud, and a darkness spread through my chest. “That was Erebus,” he murmured, his breath hot against my damaged skin.
“I’m of Lycan descent. I didn’t think I could take that form, but with the way his presence had been clawing at the forefront of my mind lately, growing heavier with every boundary breach…
it makes sense now. I’d been suppressing that side of my form to stay civilized, not knowing how deep the corruption went. But when I smelled another man on you…”
Before I could press further, he continued.
“Sabine has been dealt with. Enforcers removed her. She has been placed far away from our home in the lower city limits. They are guarding her while I figure out how she’s connected to Shane’s ability to enter the penthouse. For now, she’s out of your sight.”
I nodded slowly, swallowing the bitter taste of shame that rose in my throat.
It wasn’t simple jealousy—it was the sickening realization of how deep the betrayal ran in our own home.
I was hollowed out by what Shane had done, but knowing her shadow was finally gone from the Citadel was a small light in the dark.
“How did I not know, Ethan?” my voice broke, the shame finally leaking out, dripping from my tongue like acid. “He was in our home. In our bed. Why did my soul not recognize that it wasn’t you?”
Ethan’s green eyes flashed to gold for a second, his jaw clenching so hard a warning vibration rattled through the bond.
“Foul play. We found the remains of your tea. It was laced with nightshade—something meant to cloud your senses, dull your instincts, and drug you. You didn’t fail us. You were poisoned.”
His eyes bled to white as his jaw twitched.
“It’s the last thing I want to do, but I need to leave you briefly,” Ethan whispered, his lips brushing my jawline.
“Odis and Olivia are waiting downstairs with the Enforcers. There’s an emergency at the perimeter gates.
Stray rogues are testing the boundaries after last night’s breach, and I need to ensure our security lines are holding. I want you to stay here and rest.”
He wanted to keep me safe. After what happened, I could understand his primal instincts to protect me. A part of me wondered if they’d caught Shane, and if he was going to execute him. Would he lie to me?
His thighs finally released me.
“Ethan,” I croaked as he began to sit up. “I need to see Gabe.”
He froze, his shoulders tensing. He didn’t want me near Gabe—not because of jealousy, but because Gabe was a walking scar.
“He’s awake,” Ethan said carefully. “But he’s weak.
I know you might not believe me after what’s happened, but this is the safest place for you. I don’t want you leaving the Citadel.”
“I’ll only go down to his room,” I insisted, reaching for his arm and giving it a firm squeeze. “Please.”
He kept his eyes closed, his jaw working, feeling the unyielding line of my thoughts through our connection.
I hadn’t bitten him, and without a wolf, I wasn’t sure I ever would.
Finally, he let out a harsh breath, giving in.
“Fine. But under no circumstances are you to leave his residential floor. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
He kissed my forehead before pulling himself away to dress.
Only when he was gone did I get up to dress.
My shoulders, collarbone, and neck were covered with unhealed bites and bruises.
Lower down, my hips were already turning a deep black and blue, blood caked where the sharp curve of his claws had anchored Erebus to my flesh.
The inside of my thighs ached, purple bruising littering both sides.
I grabbed a turtleneck from the clothes I’d been gifted.
I wanted soft material for my pants; I knew I should shower, but if I did, the weight of the water would trap me here.
I’d take one when I got back. Once I slipped into the soft layers, I forced my body down the hallway toward the elevator.
When the doors pinged and I walked out onto Olivia’s floor, I flinched with each step, my pelvis aching under the strain.
I made my way into her quarters, and the sight of him sitting at the table made my chest tighten. He was shirtless, his back wrapped in heavy gauze, but the linen couldn’t hide the metallic scent of blood. Olivia’s coffee scent still lingered in the air.
His head snapped to me, his arrogant smile faltered instantly. His gaze swept over my posture, the subtle wince in my stride, and the way I kept my arms guarded against my ribs. My best friend’s eyes darkened.
“Adea,” he breathed, his voice rough, threatening.