Chapter 17 Always Mine #2
My entire being wants to be taken. To be worshipped. Devoured whole. Consumed. It's overwhelming. It’s too much. My body laps it up like warm milk.
All I wanted was to date. To find love again—not have my heart in a game of fate amongst the stars roulette.
“This—” he says, waving a hand in the air, and the movement distracts me from his muscles, “cosmic anomaly, as you would call it, was last seen about eighty–five years ago. The constellation of Moiraya aligns with the moon. It can bridge the mortal and immortal planes, allowing the souls of wolves, creatures, and humans to intertwine.”
Intertwining souls. “Why me? You have to admit, this doesn’t make sense.”
“Perhaps because we already have a connection?” he shrugs.
“I mean, we’ve always cared for each other.
As soon as you were ready to date again—ready to open your heart—your soul must have awakened to the magic.
My wolf started to feel a change around you, but I didn’t think much of it because it was small things. ”
The day the pipe broke in the bathroom. The foot massage. Flowers. The moment of feeling his presence before I saw him. Those scenes play in my head. They were little hints sprinkled like breadcrumbs, leading me to the final truth of our predicament.
“This has nothing to do with Aaryn,” he whispers, “and everything to do with your heart as it is now.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I ask. “Does it make you feel better?”
“Do you think I asked for this?” His voice is sharp, breaking under strain. “I’m sorry, Jasmira, I am, but do you think I want to want you? Do you think I want to betray my best friend by being fated to his wife?”
My throat is dry. “Why do you want me?”
He stalks toward me with the grace of the beast inside him. “My wolf needs you.”
His wolf? Not him? I shake my head. “You can’t want me. You can’t.” My words stumble as they leave me, trembling like the rest of me. “How do you…how do you seal this bond? It’s open, right, not sealed? So we’re not fully bonded.”
He’s closer now. An arm's width away. The warmth from his body brushes my skin.
“Correct. You give me your body, and I give you mine. The more we fight, the more we stay away from one another, the worse the ache will get. Our souls are meant to be together as one.”
His words sink into me, and I swear the room is spinning. Words themselves have power.
My body warms with him nearby. The tug in my chest vibrates, and heat curls low in my body. My pussy grows wet between my legs. I shouldn’t want him. What stops me from going any further is the guilt slamming into me, sharp and suffocating. I can't breathe. I can't think.
“I shouldn’t feel this,” I say, my voice unsteady. “You—” I point at him. “You shouldn’t feel this. This can’t be happening.”
He rushes to me, cupping my cheek in his large hands, his palms collecting the tears running down my face, and he kisses each one.
“No. No…” I cry, my hands grip his wrists, trying to ease away, to breathe. My legs give beneath me, and Dom falls with me, holding me as he sits on the cold kitchen floor.
A whine escapes him as he wraps me tightly in his arms, burying his face in my hair, inhaling me. His wolf.
Tears drench his shirt, my fists clutch the fabric, desperate for something solid to hold on to during this storm. He’s warm. Solid.
What does this bond mean for us? For Seren.
His heart beats against his chest—racing, faltering, then surging back, forcing mine to match its chaotic beat.
I ease off him, standing on trembling legs like a newborn fawn, learning to exist in an unknown world.
The big bad wolf is here, for me.
Shaky hands make their way through my curls as my mind fractures, unable to grasp reality.
“Stay back, Dom,” I whisper, taking a step back as he takes one forward. A lone tear falls down my cheek. I taste the salt as it reaches my top lip, my tongue quickly swiping it. His wolf releases a low growl.
“I know!” I snap at the wolf, my eyes narrow on Dominik. “Your wolf wants to devour me, protect me, but I need a damn second.” My breath abandons me. “Please, give me some distance.”
He retreats one step, face contorting in agony. Like every inch between us is tearing him apart.
“I’m sorry—” he finally says. “The feelings are intensifying for my wolf and me. Well, right now, he wants to be near you. I don’t—” He rubs the back of his neck. “I don’t like seeing you cry.”
“You told me our souls are fated, Dom! I’m a human.” I place my hand over my heart. “I’m not a werewolf. This should be impossible.” My hand slashes in the air like a blade.
His eyes flash in warning, one corner of his mouth curves up into a dangerous, slow smirk.
“Rein him in,” I say, enunciating every syllable in a clipped tone.
“Jas,” his voice is a whisper, and it's trembling as he pulls me into his arms again. “I didn’t know this would happen, and I was going to tell you. I had to figure it out first. I didn’t ask for this, for you, for us. I’m nervous too. I’m afraid. You’re not alone.”
He exhales shakily, his thumb brushing the edge of my jaw as though he’s not aware he’s doing it. He's so close, his breath is on my lips.
It feels different now when he touches me. It’s electrifying, and it sets my blood aflame. I want his hands all over me, everywhere.
“Dom.” I take his hands and fight the magic inside me. “You didn't ask for this, but you can't tell me you want this.” I search his eyes for the answer he doesn’t say.
His eyes, the windows to our soul, do the talking. I squeeze his hands lightly before letting go to grab my bag.
“Where are you going?” he asks me, his hands clasped behind his head.
It’s written all over his face—a battlefield of emotions. Heart-wrenching pain and devastation radiate from him in waves that crash against me, and we’re drowning. He knows.
“I have to go, Dominik,” I say, walking quickly to the door. “I need to process all of this.”
Before I can stop myself, I look back. Is it wrong to think of how hauntingly beautiful his wolf was in my dreams? He is staring back at me now, with eyes like molten gold.
“Fuck,” I whisper.
“You were never merely a friend, Jasmira.”
Goddess. The way he said my name. It’s husky and rough, every syllable pulled deep from within him. Is this him talking, or the wolf?
“You were always mine. As soon as you opened your heart again for love, you were mine. Long before the moon decided it.”