Chapter 11

Chapter

Eleven

A riana’s gaze lingered on the towering arches of Aidyn’s library as they left, the weight of Hannah’s words still heavy on her mind. Anubis. Of all the gods… The mere mention of his name sent shivers over her entire body. To call upon a god of such power… what did it even mean? Would he ask for more than she could give him? How did they even call upon him? She knew Colt was likely feeling the same way, considering his wolf had tensed beside her. His jaw clenched as the pack enforcer within him struggled to comprehend the idea of calling upon the Keeper of Judgment.

Silence greeted their arrival back at the pack’s compound. Even the usual bustle from the pack was subdued, as if the land itself sensed the gravity of what they were about to undertake. The air was thick with an unsettled tension, the oppressive weight of it pressed in on Ariana. Time was closing in.

Colt stepped ahead and called out orders, assigning tasks to his enforcers, and sent Maya to do whatever she needed to prepare both herself and the pack. She quietly watched him, admiring the way he commanded, how every inch of him radiated unstoppable force even during moments like these. But in all that strength, she sensed a vulnerability he was trying to mask. What could this alpha be hiding?

As pack members scurried to fulfill their alpha’s directives, working to secure the compound and prepare for whatever came next, Ariana slipped further into her thoughts. Her instincts screamed for answers, for a solution that didn’t involve calling upon a god whose very existence spanned the expanse of death. She had heard stories of Anubis—of the darkness, the balance, the cold finality of his decisions. The idea of approaching him unnerved her in a way she couldn’t yet voice. But another part of her… another part of her acknowledged the wisdom to it. Even the dead had answers, if you were brave enough to ask.

Colt stopped before her, his piercing blue gaze searching hers. For a long moment, neither spoke. The world around them felt muted, swallowed by the magnitude of what lay ahead.

“I’ll inform Jaxon to prepare a perimeter,” he said, his voice laced with the gritty growl of an alpha who expected to head into battle. “My gut tells me evil is coming for my pack.”

She nodded, distracted. “Colt, there’s something I need to figure out before we?—”

“You need rest.” His interruption was firm, but there was a gentleness in his eyes that betrayed how deeply he felt about her well-being. “Not everything can be solved in one day, Ariana. The pack is prepared. You’ve done enough today.”

She bristled at his words. Not because he was mistaken, but because deep down, she knew she wouldn’t rest while Vilkas hung in the balance—or while they danced so close to the edge of a growing catastrophe. But it was the faint break in his voice, the barely there quiver laced with concern, that made her pause. Colt wasn’t ordering her around, just out of his usual protective nature. He was worried. She was pushing herself too hard, and no doubt he knew it.

“I can’t just—” she began, but he cut her off again, this time with a lifted hand.

“You can and you will . We have little time, I know that,” he said, his voice quieter now, though no less commanding. His gaze softened, the intensity dimming for just a heartbeat. “But you’re no use to us if you burn yourself out. There’s dark magic at play, Ariana. None of us are safe if we’re not at full strength. You included.”

The word “you” lingered in the space between them, heavy with unspoken emotions. He’d always been protective of his pack, of his territory—of his people. But this was different. There was a deeper, more personal edge to the way he refused to back down from her, a raw intensity.

For the first time, she allowed herself to see past the relentless alpha exterior, to see Colt, the man who had taken the weight of leadership upon himself, who had sacrificed his own desires again and again to protect his pack. It wasn’t just Vilkas suffering under the weight of the cursed blade—Colt was too, in ways he’d never show outwardly.

“Colt…” Her voice softened. She wanted to argue, wanted to insist that they needed to keep pushing forward. That time was slipping away. But the way he looked at her—half pleading, half fiercely protective—made her relent.

He stepped closer, his presence imposing yet steadying too. His gaze locked onto hers and for a moment, words weren’t necessary. The pull between them was as real as the magic they had been surrounded by all day. It was dangerous and primal, like everything between them teetered on the edge of a force neither was ready to name yet.

“I’m not asking, Ariana,” he murmured, his voice a low, heated growl that sent a shiver down her spine. “I’m telling you—for once in your life, give yourself a moment to breathe.”

Her breath caught in her throat as his fingers gently brushed against her arm. The sensation was lightning, sharp and electric. For so long, they had orbited each other, she a celestial force tied to elements he could barely comprehend, and he was the unyielding protector grounded in earth and instinct. But here, now, the tether between them buzzed with more energy than either could contain.

“I don’t need—” she started, but her words faltered as his hand slowly settled on her waist, not possessive, but anchoring.

His gaze bore into her, the color of his eyes darkening like a sea at the edge of a storm. “You need someone,” he whispered. “…and so do I.”

For a moment, everything else—the cursed blade, Anubis, whatever monstrous force lies in wait—faded into the background. In the calm before the impending chaos, only Colt and Ariana remained, two souls who had been circling, clashing, avoiding, but ultimately destined to be drawn to one another.

His thumb traced absent circles against her waist, a gesture instinctual yet filled with a raw tenderness she hadn’t expected. She saw the battle still raging behind his eyes. The alpha protector in him warred with the man who, somewhere deep down, had always known this moment would come.

And maybe—just maybe—she had been running from it just as much as him.

“Colt…” she whispered his name, barely more than a breath as her gaze searched his.

It happened in an instant.

His hand slid up to cradle her jaw, his fingers rough but gentle as they tilted her face toward him. Her breath hitched even before his lips descended—like the pause just before a storm cracks open the sky.

When Colt’s mouth finally claimed hers, it wasn’t gentle. It was fierce, hungry—a long-suppressed need bursting free. Fire ignited within her—not the controlled element she wielded, but an untamable, primal force.

Her fingers wrapped into the fabric of his shirt, pulling him closer as the kiss deepened. There was no tentativeness now, no hesitation. It was everything they’d both been holding back; a collision of desire, frustration, and relief, all encompassed in the ferocity of their lips moving together.

Colt growled low in his throat, the sound reverberating through his chest and into her. His arm snaked around her waist, pulling her flush against his muscular frame, and the heat from him seeped through her skin, grounding her even as her head spun.

Ariana broke the kiss, gasping for air, but Colt’s lips ghosted along her jaw, down to her neck, sending shivers racing through her body. This was wrong—they had bigger problems. But as he pressed her against the nearest wall, all thoughts of curses, wounded pack members, and immortal killers evaporated.

“Colt, we…” Her voice trembled, not with fear, but with a far more dangerous emotion—desire. “We can’t… not now.”

“I don’t care,” he murmured against her skin, his teeth grazing her throat. The restraint he usually wore like armor was peeling away, revealing a man who had been fighting this need for far too long. “I’ve tried—tried to stop wanting you. But you’re in my blood now, Ariana. I can’t escape it, and I don’t want to.”

His words crashed through her defenses, breaking the fragile boundaries she’d erected around her heart. Because, gods help her, she didn’t want to escape either. She wanted this —wanted him —and nothing else mattered now.

Her fingers wound through his hair, pulling him closer as he kissed her again, slower this time, savoring every movement as if he knew how rare this chance was. Their breaths mingled into one, their bodies slotted perfectly against each other, and for a moment, everything else ceased to exist.

But reality crept back in—faint, insistent. The deep tether of magic that always anchored her senses flared in warning at the edges of her consciousness. The world wasn’t letting them forget the threat they still faced.

With a reluctant sigh, Ariana pulled back, her forehead resting against his. Her breath came in shallow, ragged bursts, her pulse still surging from the force of their kiss.

“We… we have to stop,” she whispered, though her voice lacked conviction. Her lips brushed his again in a light, lingering tease.

Colt wasn’t about to let this moment pass, and neither would his wolf. He had to tell her what he had been fighting all along. What he knew the moment she stepped foot into his territory.

She was his.

Ariana was the female he had been waiting for his entire life, but he hadn’t wanted to admit it. He’d ignored his wolf and blocked out all the signs, hoping it would go away. The reality was, he’d been scared. Too much danger surrounded him right now and if he claimed her, then lost her…

It would destroy him.

It would destroy his entire pack.

As he looked into her eyes, held her pressed against him, he wondered how the hell he was going to navigate this. Did she feel fate pulling them together as well?

“Tell me you feel it too.”

She licked her lips, her eyes a mixture of torment and want. “Yes. I feel it. I’ve known for some time now.”

“You know you are mine.”

She nodded.

“No, say the words. Tell me you are mine.”

“I am yours.”

The words left him breathless. He should be happy, and he was, but he wanted to send her away. Send her to safety, but he knew if he tried, she would never forgive him.

“Now what?” Her gaze searched his for answers.

Now that the truth was out there, hanging between them like a tether vibrating with tension, Colt wasn’t sure how to act. He had spent years burying his emotions, protecting himself, his pack, thinking that keeping control was the only way to survive. Now, his control was fracturing.

They were about to go up against an ancient, immortal force that didn’t know mercy, and yet here he was, holding her close, his mind pulling between wanting to claim her right now and the knowledge that she was safer without him.

“Now what?” she whispered again, her green-silver eyes searching his.

His heart thumped in his chest. Every instinct howled at him to take her, mark her, make her his forever, but forever meant risk, and risk meant loss. His wolf growled low inside his mind, pushing back at the hesitance Colt clung to.

His hands rested on her waist. He dug his fingers into her hips to prove to himself again that she was really here with him. He fidgeted, pulling her gaze deeper into his. Damn it , what did he say to this? To her?

“Ariana,” he said, his voice thick with emotion, “you don’t know what being mine means.”

Her lips parted, but she didn’t speak. She stared at him, waiting.

He inhaled, steadying himself. “I need to protect you. But I can’t—not from this. You staying in this pack, staying close to me… it puts a target on your back.”

Her brow furrowed, confusion shading her features. “I’m not afraid of targets, Colt.”

“I am.” The words came out intact, but they tasted like defeat on his tongue.

Glancing away, he shifted his weight. His gaze moved across the room, searching—for something, anything that would distract him from the intensity of this moment. But nothing did. Only her. Ariana. Her presence, her scent, the way her power hummed in the surrounding air, wild and tangible. She grounded him while pulling him into the storm that was her existence.

He lowered his voice. “Ariana, I don’t think you understand.” He tightened his grip on her waist. He had to hold tight in case the universe conspired to pull them apart. “Ever since you stepped into my territory, ever since I scented you on the edge of my land, all I’ve done is fight. Fight this. ”

She searched his eyes, her brow still furrowed in confusion, but he pressed on, the dam of his control breaking. “I thought I could make this go away. Make us go away.” He laughed. “If I could shut it down, just… turn my back on this bond, I could keep my pack safe. Keep you safe. But I can’t, Ariana. You’re under my skin, deeper than anything I’ve ever known.”

For the briefest moment, a flicker of uncertainty crossed her face, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. The silence between them stretched taut, his words hanging in the air.

Finally, she spoke. Her voice was barely above a whisper and laced with sorrow. “You think I cannot handle what is coming?”

He met her gaze. “I have every faith in you, but this thing is bigger than you and me. How do I stand by and see you hurt? It nearly killed me when you connected with that… that thing in the hospital. It left you cold… shaken and to see your beautiful eyes turn the color of midnight? Fuck, I thought I’d lost you then.”

Her gaze softened, but there was a flicker of defiance in their depths. Her hand slid from his shoulder and trailed down his arm until her fingers intertwined with his. In that delicate, deliberate touch, there was a quiet strength—a reminder that she wasn’t a fragile flower in need of saving.

“And you think I would stand by and watch you fight alone? Without me?” Her voice became sharper. “I’m a guardian, Colt, and I was sent here for a reason. You’re at the center of this. We both are. Whatever is coming, it’s not something I can turn away from, any more than you can walk away from leading your pack.”

She took a breath, her gaze intense, unwavering. “I survived connecting with that blade because I had to. We’re both bound to this fight, even if we didn’t ask for it. But you and I, we’re stronger together, not apart.”

His heart kicked against his chest. Her words echoed in the hollow chamber of everything he had been trying to deny. Her certainty pressed against his doubt, yet his instincts warred within him, each side a savage beast fighting for dominance.

His wolf snarled beneath his skin, urging him to claim her, to forge that bond and never let her go. But he also knew the weight of that claim, what it meant to his kind. Claiming her would tie their fates irreversibly, her life bound to his protection. The thought of failure—no, the thought of losing her—tightened like a noose around his heart.

“You think I’m doing this out of fear?” he rasped, his grip on her tightening. “You think I don’t want to fight beside you? Trust you to face whatever’s coming? You think any of this is easy for me to admit?”

His breath came in short bursts, and it felt like the room was shrinking, pressing in on them both. “But loving you… staking my entire soul on you…” His voice cracked, even though he tried to hold it together. “That is more terrifying than any star-blade, any ancient curse, any rogue pack. Because if I lose you, Ariana, if I fail you—then there is nothing left. Nothing.”

For a moment, a palpable silence gripped them both, the weight of his words sinking deeper than even Colt had anticipated. He had laid his soul bare at her feet. There was no more hiding.