I let out a low, venomous growl under my breath the moment the heavy thud echoed off the doorframe—sharp, ill-timed, and irritating as hell.
Of all the split seconds for someone to disturb me, it had to be now, right when the thick tension between us was about to snap my control in half.
For one wild, dangerous moment, I had wanted to burn the world to the ground.
Forget Selene.
Forget our oaths.
Forget the council.
I had wanted to crush my lips against Lyra’s, to taste her, to drink in every soft, pathetic gasp she made beneath me.
To hell with the consequences.
But the knock jolted me right back into cold reality, slicing clean through the thick haze clouding my mind.
I swallowed hard, a sudden wave of relief crashing over my frustration.
If I had kissed her—if I had crossed that line—I wasn’t sure my wolf would have ever allowed me to let her go.
I backed away from her abruptly, putting distance between us before my own body could betray me again.
“Enter,” I barked, forcing a sharp, commanding edge back into my tone.
The iron door swung open slowly, almost hesitantly, as if even the hinges felt the static charge in the air.
A young guard slipped inside, his chin tucked into his chest, his eyes strictly glued to the floor.
He moved with stiff, tentative steps, clearly terrified of making a single wrong move.
“Alpha Lucien, I have brought the delivery you requested,” the guard announced, his voice steady but laced with underlying anxiety as he took two steps into the chamber.
“Leave it on the side table,” I ordered, not even bothering to look at the parcel.
The guard hurried over to the table, placing the wrapped leather case down with meticulous care, making sure it didn’t utter a sound.
He straightened his back immediately, clearing his throat to steady his nerves.
That was when he happened to look up, and his entire body locked up.
“Alpha K-Kael,” he stammered out, his eyes widening in pure horror as though he had just stepped into a shadow and realized a beast was standing beside him.
“I…
I deeply apologize for failing to recognize your presence.”
His voice quavered, submission rolling off his scent in thick waves.
Normally, I would have taken a dark satisfaction in seeing a warrior tremble under my authority.
But right now?
It only stoked the fire in my blood.
My pulse was still hammering in my ears from the near-miss, and my traitorous eyes were dragged right back to Lyra—to those swollen lips that still parted slightly, trembling from sheer shock.
Raw.
Soft.
Irresistible.
I clamped my jaw shut so hard my teeth ground together.
I had no right to crave her.
I shouldn’t be obsessing over her scent, her physical closeness, or the way her breath had hitched against my jaw when I leaned in.
It was madness.
Wrong.
A direct violation of our choice.
And yet, I couldn’t tear my eyes away.
“It’s fine,” I gritted out, dismissing him with a harsh sweep of my arm, my throat raspy.
“Get out.”
The guard didn’t need to be told twice.
He executed a hurried bow, nearly tripping over the threshold in his haste to escape the suffocating room, and vanished down the stone corridor.
The moment the heavy latch clicked shut, the resulting silence began to chew away at what little composure I had left.
The room grew heavy, suffocating, while the ghost of her heat pressed against my skin like a brand I couldn’t scrub clean.
I blew out a harsh breath through my teeth, then turned to face Lyra.
She stood frozen in place, her head bowed low, her shoulders shivering ever so slightly as if she were waiting for a physical strike.
My eyes swept over her slowly, taking in the bruised exhaustion marring her features, the slight tremor in her hands, the angry red marks around her wrists.
A sickening storm brewed inside my chest—rage, shame, raw lust, all twisted into a dangerous knot.
“You’re coming to my room,” I stated, my voice low, clipped, and devoid of warmth.
For a second, she didn’t move.
Maybe her mind was too numb to process the words.
Maybe she was praying she had misheard me.
An instant spark of irritation flared in my chest.
“To my quarters.
Now,” I repeated, dropping my tone into a harsh Alpha command that left no room for breath.
“You have cleaning to do.”
A spike of raw fear flashed across her face before she bowed her head even lower, whispering a hollow, “Yes, Alpha.”
I didn’t wait to see if she obeyed.
I turned on my heel and swept out of the room, my boots striking the floorboards in a heavy, deliberate rhythm.
Yet with every stride I took down the hall, every sense I possessed was straining backward, listening for the soft, hesitant patter of her steps behind me.
And she came.
Quiet, broken, and submissive.
But her presence throbbed against the back of my neck like an open wound, completely impossible to ignore.
By the time I reached my private chambers, my jaw was aching from the pressure of my bite.
I yanked the double doors open and stepped inside, leaving just enough room for her to glide in behind me.
The instant her heels crossed the threshold, the last thread of my sanity snapped.
I didn’t think.
I didn’t rationalize.
I just reacted.
In one fluid motion, I spun around, caught her by the throat—not enough to cut off her air, but enough to pin her completely—and slammed my mouth over hers with a violent hunger I could no longer suppress.
Her body jolted against mine in utter shock.
She gasped against my lips, her small hands coming up to push uselessly against my chest, a muffled sound of protest dying in her throat, but I tightened my grip.
My control was dead.
Burned to ash.
The frantic flutter of her pulse against my palm only drove my wolf deeper into a frenzy.
My lips moved over hers with a rough, punishing intensity, the beast beneath my skin roaring for dominance.
Her resistance only added fuel to the inferno.
The more she tensed, the harder I pinned her to my body.
The more she tried to twist her face away, the more fiercely I pursued her, capturing her mouth repeatedly until her lips gave way beneath the onslaught.
All logic dissolved into primal instinct.
Into territory.
Into possession.
“Fight it all you want, little bird,” I growled against her mouth, my voice vibrating with the low, terrifying resonance of my wolf.
“You are ours.”
My vision flooded with a dark, amber light, heat coursing through my veins as my wolf took full command—not to negotiate, not to ask, but to brutally claim what fate had bound to our souls.