Chapter 38 #2
He skidded to a halt, his claws dragging up earth as he whipped around.
This time, he came at me with the understanding I wasn’t an easy target.
I feinted toward the thicket, then doubled back, my tail lashing in defiance.
I felt Korra’s laughter ripple from my mind to his, a sound mirrored in the oxygen filling my lungs.
I stopped by the fallen tree I jumped earlier, turning to face him. I lowered my chest to the ground, my rear haunches held high in an invitation to play, my ears flattened playfully.
Erebus came to a stop. His head tilted, a low growl rumbling through the air—a challenge. He took one step, then another, his gaze triumphant because I had my back up against a wall.
Caught, his voice cocky.
Before I could dart away, he launched. The impact sent us both tumbling into the grass. He pinned me to the ground, his body a solid barrier, his breath hot against the fur of my neck.
He buried his snout into the side of my neck, right over the spot where his mark sat on my human skin, breathing me in as if he’d die without my scent. The monster was still there; the voices still whispered of ruin in the back of our shared bond, but in this moment, he was just my mate.
I pressed my forehead against his, a quiet, victorious hum vibrating from my throat. I was no longer the woman who ran, but the woman who embraced the darkness, and in the Mad King, I had found my freedom.
Eventually, we made our way back and collapsed by the water’s edge. Erebus rested his heavy chin over my front paws, his long tail curling around us to claim me even as we lay side-by-side.
When I nudged him, the playfulness evaporated, replaced by something heavier that pulled us together. He rose, looming over me, his eyes burning with desire.
Shift, I commanded.
It wasn’t a loss of self, but a sharpening.
I felt my humanity bleed into the wolf, but I didn’t lose Korra.
She slithered beneath my skin as Ethan groaned, Erebus bowing to the command.
He growled as his frame cracked and popped, his muscles cording and shifting into his bipedal form.
The voices returned—louder and devoid of mercy.
Rip. Shred. Consume.
He moved with a predator’s grace, pinning me to the earth.
The feral, discordant screech of a thousand off-key violins hissed in my mind, urging him to tear me apart, yet as he loomed over me, his hands were agonizingly careful.
He traced the line of my jaw with a thumb that trembled—a man fighting to keep the monster on a leash.
He lowered his head and pressed his forehead against mine, his green eyes filled with a desperate, agonizing tenderness.
Even as the monster roared for blood, his touch was an apology.
The dissonance shattered my resolve, and I pulled him closer. I needed to crawl into his chest and make him whole.
I grabbed his thickness, guiding him to where I needed him before locking my legs around his waist, driving up to meet him in a collision of friction and heat. My blood sang with the same madness that threatened to consume him.
He growled as I claimed him, driving into my core. I slid my hands up his chest and around his neck, my nails raking into his hair, pulling his head down until our lips were bruised and raw.
There were no words, only the wet sounds of our desperation. My heels dug into his back, his muscles tensing against my body. He slammed into me, his pace punishing. My teeth began to ache, the skin of my gums stretching as my canines elongated, sharpening with the need to leave my mark on him.
I bit into his neck, the metallic tang of blood fueling the fire in my veins. I staked my territory on his skin just as he bit into my shoulder again.
Ours, he growled.
Mine, I snarled back, the word ripping from my throat.
I pushed him back, flipping us with a strength that surprised us both.
I straddled him, my claws piercing his flesh as I gripped his thighs.
I was the one in control now, riding him with a relentless hunger.
I leaned forward, my nails digging into his skin until I drew beads of blood, piercing his flesh just enough to assess the depth of my claim.
He bucked beneath me, his hands latching onto my hips with bruising force, his gold eyes flashing with a desperate light. He tried to reclaim his rhythm, but I didn’t let him. I arched my back, glaring down at him—a challenge of my own.
My gaze was a dare, my canines grazing his lower lip as I growled. His breath hitched, his composure shattering as he stared up at me, his eyes wide. He was mine. I saw the surrender ripple through his muscles, the fight draining out of him as I gave him what he wanted—my pussy.
I bounced and ground on him, taking all of him. Pain and pleasure melded into one as I took his knot. My breasts squished against his chest as his head lolled and his jaw fell open. His knot expanded, locking me to him.
“Wildflower, fuck, I’m—” I shuddered as I came, breathless and panting. He came and I squeezed him for every last drop. Our souls collided as we embraced each other.
Hours later, we lay skin to skin. I slid my hands over my throat—the craters from Ethan’s bites were gone, replaced by smooth, unblemished skin. My flesh was healed; my soul remained a canvas of raw scars.
The silence of the forest was thick, the only sound Ethan’s breathing.
He shifted, his hand tracing the line of my collarbone, his thumb lingering over the pulse jumping at my throat.
His gaze wasn’t the predator’s anymore; it was wide, searching, and uncharacteristically vulnerable.
He traced the curve of my arm, his fingers moving as if he were committing every inch of me to memory.
I leaned into his palm, closing my eyes, feeling the bond pulse in my chest.
A snapping branch broke the silence. I bolted upright as Odis broke through the morning mist, moving with a frantic speed that shattered his sentinel mask. Ethan was on his feet, shielding me.
“What is it?” Ethan rumbled.
Odis stopped. His eyes were wide, bloodshot. “Alpha Jaxon and his Luna are dead. Shane didn’t breach our gates to test our lines—it was a distraction.”
The words were a bomb that detonated. Ethan froze.
The black mark on his neck flared, vibrating with the horror flooding our bond.
Shane had killed his parents and taken the throne.
The nightmare had begun. The man who had watched Shane touch me and said nothing was dead.
I didn’t know what to do with the grief that arrived alongside the thing that wasn’t quite relief.
Ethan’s jaw tightened. “What else?”
My gaze jumped to Odis. There was something in his eyes I’d never seen before—fear. “It’s Olivia. She didn’t come back from the western patrol. I’ve tried to link her, but there’s only silence.” A beat. “I can’t reach her, Ethan.”