Chapter 37

37

T enebris shook his head, laughing softly as he lifted his hand. “As much as I’d love to watch you in action, I’ve got scouting to do, remember?” A snap of his fingers and he was gone, but I knew what I’d seen behind the careless cheek: tired eyes and shaky limbs. He looked like a vamp who’d gone too long without feeding. The teleportation was wearing him thin.

We needed to end this, soon.

“Draw a bucket of water, Calum,” Mariana instructed, sitting down in the grass, “and place it right up behind my back. Jack, I want you to sit with your back to the other side of it.”

I waited for Calum to set the bucket down, then settled into place on the opposite side. “Done. What now?”

“Stick your hands in the water so that the cuffs are fully submerged.”

I followed her instructions, the icy liquid biting at my skin. “Fuck, that’s cold,” I hissed. Mariana’s hands slid down to join mine, making them instantly warmer as our fingers twined together. I closed my eyes, picturing her face in my mind. The dusting of freckles that painted her light brown skin. The dark, springy curls cascading over her forehead. The flash of gold and amber in her almond-shaped eyes. The hard edges and soft, subtle lines.

Unflinching determination.

She released a slow sigh and began quietly chanting, “Has catenas frange quae nos ligant.” Over and over she whispered the words, and each time the water surrounding our hands grew warmer. Her grip on my fingers tightened, voice straining as it grew louder. “Has catenas frange quae nos ligant.”

The water was no longer warm but hot, and I steeled myself against the burning pain as she continued to chant. The words were coming out choppy now, ragged with effort, so I did the only thing I could think to do: I began chanting along with her. “Has catenas frange quae nos ligant.”

Our voices rose, blending together in perfect harmony, and I opened my eyes to find the world awash in a rosy hue. The pain in my hands melted away, and they were free. The chanting stopped, leaving a reverent silence in its wake. It wasn’t until I reluctantly released Mariana’s hands and brought my own back in front where I could see them, examining the faint red lines painting the skin where the cuffs used to be, that Calum finally spoke.

“That was the most beautiful piece of magic I’ve ever seen. How? Just… how?”

A shadow fell over me, and I turned to find Mariana standing, a serene smile curving her full lips. She stretched out her hand, and I took it, rising to my feet as I faced her.

“It was special magic,” she replied, never taking her eyes off mine. She laid her free hand over my heart. “The kind that can only be achieved if the wielders have an unbreakable connection. The magic of mates.”

I lowered my head, resting my forehead against her curls. My body hummed with need, aching to be closer. “You are absolutely incredible.”

She tilted her head back until her lips brushed against mine. “I think I left something back in the shelter,” she breathed, her fingers clutching my vest. “You should help me find it.”

I swept her into my arms without missing a beat. “Calum, you and Danny wait here for Tenebris. Mari and I need to check on something real quick.”

“What if the giants come while we’re waiting?” Calum protested.

“Howl.” Mariana nipped at my lower lip while her hands tunneled through my hair. “Loudly.”

“Jack, come on,” Calum yelled, but I was already jogging through the trees. “We don’t have time for this.”

“Ten years, man,” I called back, picking up my pace. I buried my face in Mari’s neck with a growl as we broke free of the trees and dashed across the open field toward the cabin. “Ten fucking years.” The door slammed open, and I tossed her on the bed, mouth stretching in a fanged grin.

Her eyes glowed in the low light, hungrily watching my every move as I peeled off each layer from the waist up. When she reached to untie her cloak, I snatched her wrist, holding it over her head while I towered above her, one knee pressed onto the bed beside her.

“Leave it on.”

Her eyes flared wide. “All of it?”

“No.” I wrapped the red cloak around my left hand and gently tugged so that her chest strained forward. “Just this.” My right slowly undid the buckles along the front of her corset, one after another until it slipped onto the floor and allowed her tunic to hang loose. I tugged the sleeve down, baring one of her shoulders.

“These freckles,” I groaned, lips grazing the spotted flesh. “I dreamed about these freckles.”

Her hands snaked around to my back, nails digging into my skin, and I pulled the tunic farther down until the entire piece pooled around her waist, my cock aching at the sight of her. “Fucking perfect.”

I splayed my hand against her ribs, fingers slipping between her breasts, and pressed her back against the bed. Her mouth opened on an inhale, and I dropped a kiss on her soft, red lips, growling, “Stay.” Before she could protest, I moved down to her waist, leaving a trail of kisses in my wake. Lifting her hips, I hooked my fingers into the waistband of her pants, dragging them along with the displaced tunic down her thick, toned thighs. They joined the rest of her clothes on the floor, and I took a moment to drink in the sight of her, all freckles and full, cinnamon curves on a backdrop of blood red.

She smirked down at me, legs falling open to reveal a glistening center that practically screamed eat me , and she arched a brow in silent challenge.

I dropped to my knees in eager acceptance, hitching a silky leg over my shoulder while I gave myself over to the feast. Husky moans filled the air while I greedily lapped at her sweetness, sucking her swollen clit between my lips and sliding a thumb between her folds while the tip of my middle finger pressed against the tight, pink hole below.

Fuck, she felt good in my hands.

My perfect fit.

“Jack.”

She sang my name, and I doubled down like the starving beast that I was, but then her leg shifted and her heel braced against my shoulder as she slammed me ruthlessly onto the floor. Pouncing on top of me, the wolf flashed within her bright eyes as she wrestled my pants down and climbed onto my lap. She wrapped her hand around the base of my rigid member and squeezed. “This was always meant to be mine.” Her voice vibrated with a deep-seated growl, and she leaned forward, palm braced against my taut abs as her hips lifted into position, the silky-slick lips of her cunt grazing the head of my cock.

“I’m taking it.”

The heavens split open with a crash, thunder pounding through my veins while she lowered herself down, sheathing as much of me as she could take. And when she was stuffed full, she shifted, and worked herself farther still. Up and down, she rode me like a fucking alpha. Fierce and majestic, tits bouncing with abandon. I caught them in my palms and drew them to my lips, worshiping them with dutiful attention. And when I felt her tense, walls clenching around me, I sank my fangs into her soft, sweet flesh, drinking her in—tasting the height of her climax in her silky blood. And letting it all go.

The anger.

The betrayal.

The desperate, aching loneliness of the past ten years.

I purged it from my gut in one blissful thrust, retracting my canines and wrapping my arms around my mate’s shuddering form while she lay, limp and sated, atop my chest. Knowing deep in my heart that what I’d clung to all these years with such tenuous hope was finally coming true:

We would get our happily ever after yet.