50. Adrianna

50

ADRIANNA

F uck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I know what he's saying without uttering a single word.

"What?" Kryll asks, glancing between Brody and me with a bewildered look on his face.

"I'm not ready for this," I ramble, swiping my damp palms over my dress to no avail. "I haven't even considered…" My words trail off, my chest tightening as I try to take a breath.

"Considered what?" Cassian prods, inching closer as I feel my temperature rocket with panic.

"Spoiling their plan," Brody murmurs, his hand finding the small of my back as he draws small circles. He still isn't saying it, likely in hopes of allowing me to find the right words, but my tongue is like lead in my mouth as my pulse thunders in my ears.

"How?" Raiden asks, stroking his thumb over my knuckles and reminding me he's here, but all I can do is gape at him.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Brody takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly before pressing a kiss against my temple. "By finding her mate to try and activate her wolf."

My next breath lodges in my throat, refusing to budge as I blink, my gaze fuzzy as Cassian scoffs.

"There is no finding," he grunts, squeezing around the small space so he's standing toe to toe with me.

"What?" Kryll asks, thankfully echoing my thoughts, despite my inability to speak.

"It's me." Cassian speaks the words so matter of factly, so calmly, that all I can do is frown at him, my jaw slack as I stare in shock. "I fucking know it's me," he repeats, fiercer this time. I shake my head, lost in the turmoil swirling in his eyes. "Do you want to stop them or not?" he rasps, stroking a thumb down my cheek as I gulp, dislodging the lump in my throat enough to croak out a few words.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you're my—" He effectively cuts my words off as he grabs my waist and hauls me over his shoulder. "Cassian," I squeak, hearing the chuckles coming from Arlo and Flora.

"Stall them," Cassian snarls before he cuts through the ballroom with me firmly in place.

"Cassian," I repeat, slapping his ass as discreetly as possible so we don't garner a bigger audience than I'm sure we've already got, but he completely ignores me.

Fucker.

Now is not the time for this.

The music dulls down as he heads out into the hall, and a few moments later, the women's bathroom door swings shut behind us. He lowers me to my feet and reaches for my chin. The touch is gentle and sweet. It makes my walls fall away, but my body tightens in the next breath when he spins me on the spot, turning me toward the mirror over the vanity.

"Look at us," he grates, his grip on my chin tightening as he meets my stare in our reflection. "Look at me and tell me it's not me. Tell me I'm not the one because I sure as fuck know you're my alpha."

"Cassian," I breathe, my chest heaving with every ragged breath. I don't know what he wants me to say. I don't know the answer, but more than that, I'm scared that he won't be. Then what? I can sense my thoughts, but conveying them is something else entirely.

That doesn't mean anything to Cassian, though. He shakes his head, dropping his chin to his chest as he releases me. I move to turn and face him, but his hands shift to my waist, locking me in place.

"Say it, Addi."

I gape at him, blinking as I will the words to come, but all I can manage is his name.

"Cassian…"

He shakes his head, baring his teeth as he flicks up my dress, every single layer, before he snags on my panties, the material falling at my feet. I lean forward with a gasp, planting my hands against the vanity as he palms my ass.

"Tell me, Alpha. Fucking tell me," he snaps, his eyes practically black as he glares at me in the mirror. "I've told you time and time again that if I took you without…if I felt you with no barrier, I know…"

"Cassian…"

"Tell me you don't want to find your wolf or that you don't want to stop their plan, but you have all of five fucking seconds to do so."

He spreads my ass cheeks, revealing my pussy to him as I continue to gape at him in the mirror. Tingles zap up my spine, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end as he silently counts me down.

I shake my head as every second stretches between us while I try to find any other word, until he leans forward with a snarl. "Time's up, Alpha."

He punctuates his nickname for me with one swift thrust of his hips. I lurch with the movement, a strangled moan parting my lips further as he groans.

"Cass," I whisper, goosebumps burning over my skin, my body trembling as he retreats all the way before slamming into me again, with more intensity this time. "Cassian, we can't be sure, we can't…"

He ignores me, plowing into me with a ferocity that makes my knees weak and my pussy clench with every thrust. He spreads my walls with every breath, and all I can do is succumb to the pleasure. To him. To the possibilities.

"Tell." Thrust. "Me." Thrust. "Now." Thrust. "Alpha."

"Cassian." His name is a plea, a prayer, a wish.

He retracts, filling me once again as our skin connects over and over again.

"I can't hear you, Alpha."

"Cass—"

My breath is stolen and my body tenses as my eyes latch onto the mirror just in time to see the change, the shift. The flickering green of my eyes swirls into golden beams with flecks of emerald sprinkling the edges.

"Cassian!" My pupils dilate as he meets my stare and his do the same, swirling with a new color before a salacious grin spreads across his face.

He doesn't relent, he doesn't question it, he doesn't falter for a single moment.

Instead, he fucks me harder and faster as I cling on to the vanity like my life depends on it.

The tingles down my spine grow more prominent, leaving me gasping as I watch my life unravel. "Cassian, I can't breathe," I manage through weighted breaths as my body heats.

"Tell me, Addi. Tell me, and everything will be okay," he promises, squeezing my chest as the words part my lips without thought or caution.

"I'm yours, Cassian. I'm yours."

The climax that rockets through my body is like nothing I've ever felt before, burning like an elixir through my veins from head to toe, forcing my eyes to slam shut. My lips part, Cassian's name on the tip of my tongue, but nothing comes out as I crumple to the floor.

Before I can call my asshole of a wolf lover out for letting go of me, I curl in a ball, riddled with excruciating pain as I scream.

I can't see. I can't feel. I can't hear.

It's all-consuming, and I'm at its mercy.

It feels like an eternity, but just as quickly as the pain takes over, it disappears, depleting to nothing as I try to catch my breath. Rising up onto my hands and knees, I sway, blinking my eyes open slowly to find Cassian hovering above me.

A whimper bursts from my throat, the phantom pain lingering in my bones as he stares down at me with wide eyes.

My mouth falls slack, but even when I will his name to my lips, nothing happens.

Cassian gulps, his shoulders relaxing as the corner of his mouth tips up, and a moment later, he shifts. One moment, a man, another a wolf. So beautiful, so mysterious, so mesmerizing.

He inches closer, nuzzling his face into mine, and I lean into the touch, basking in the sensation until I freeze, realization dawning on me. I jolt back, blinking at the wolf before me, but when I look down at the floor, the paws that I see don't match the color of his fur.

They're white.

Whiter than white.

A huge contrast to the black fur that covers his body.

Lifting my hand, the paw moves and I jump back in shock.

It's me.

I'm… I'm the wolf with the white paws.

Me.

A wolf.

My wolf.

Cassian is quick to cut the distance I created, resting his forehead against mine as we stare into each other's eyes. His presence, his close proximity, is calming; it keeps me grounded as my mind whirls at high speed.

"I am yours, and you are mine. Now, forever, and always."

My eyes widen as my breath lurches.

He just fucking said that…in my head.

"How are you doing that?"

"The same way you are." I can hear the amusement in his voice, but it's laced with awe too.

"I don't know how I am."

"It's natural in our wolf form."

In our wolf form.

Holy fuck.

"What now?" I think, the thought drifting between us as he takes a small step back.

"Now, we take the kingdom and fuck up their plans along the way."

My chest rises and falls in heavy breaths as I nod, enraptured by his words when the door slams behind him.

The calmness that clung to my limbs moments ago is gone, lost in the wicked smile that taints Kenner's features.

I take a step back, heart in my mouth as I start to panic. I may be a wolf, but it's not familiar to me. I don't know what the fuck I'm doing and I feel defenseless.

"Excellent," he says, beaming from ear to ear as Cassian moves to stand in front of me, blocking me the best he can from his father's direct view, but Kenner makes no move to come closer. "You did the job I wanted of you without even trying, son. And you, Adrianna, I knew you would seek out your wolf the moment you were told not to, just as I planned."