Seraphina
I should've hated him for stopping.
I should've hated myself more for wanting him to keep going.
Every nerve in my body screamed for his touch, but he'd backed away like I was fragile, like he was doing me a favor. Like saying no somehow made him honorable after everything he'd already done.
I stumbled back into his room—our room now, apparently—and slammed the door shut behind me.
The air felt like it was pressing in on me.
Too hot.
Too charged.
Too full of him.
I clawed at the silk fabric of the nightgown sticking to my skin and let out a breathless cry as a fresh wave of heat pulsed between my legs.
Gods, it was unbearable.
I collapsed onto the bed, twisting in the sheets, my thighs clenching together like I could fight the need — like I could stop myself from imagining his hands, his voice, his mouth—
"Stop," I whispered to myself, pressing the heels of my palms to my eyes.
But it didn't stop.
It got worse.
Because now the bond wasn't just whispering.
It was calling.
Begging.
I could feel him down the hall, like a pull just beneath my skin. Kael. Brooding. Pacing. Fighting himself just as hard as I was.
And still… neither of us moved.
I wasn't sure if it made us strong or stupid.
I curled into the sheets, trying to calm my breathing, but suddenly my body jerked — not from pain, but from something else. Something inside me.
My skin flushed. My blood thickened.
And then I felt it:
A growl.
Not Kael's.
Mine.
My body arched off the bed. My vision blurred. My pulse exploded. My fingers gripped the headboard so hard the wood cracked beneath my hands.
And then—
Everything went white.
---
When I came to, I was on the floor.
Breathing hard. Drenched in sweat.
My nails had elongated, sharp and claw-like. My teeth throbbed in my mouth, and I could feel the beginnings of fangs.
But worse than that?
I wasn't alone in my own head.
There was something there now — pacing, snarling, burning behind my thoughts.
A presence. A hunger. A second heartbeat that wasn't entirely mine.
> Let me out.
Let me take him.
He's ours.
"No," I hissed aloud, pressing my hands to my temples. "No, you're not real."
But she was.
My wolf.
The part of me Kael had said would wake.
And she was pissed.
> He should've marked us.
He's trying to be noble.
Nobility won't save us when the council comes.
I gasped.
Because I didn't know how I knew it…
But I did.
The bond, the awakening, my heat—it wasn't just inconvenient.
It was dangerous.
I was out of time.
I crawled across the cold floor to the wardrobe, digging through one of Kael's long coats and tugging it around my shaking frame. The thick leather comforted me somehow — it still smelled like him.
And I hated how much that calmed me.
I had to leave.
I had to run, before I lost whatever was left of me.
Before I gave in.
I stumbled toward the door, body still trembling, power crackling under my skin like I was holding lightning in my bones.
But the moment I opened it—
Kael was already there.
Blocking the hallway.
His jaw was clenched, hair disheveled, eyes glowing silver like a storm. He looked like he hadn't slept. Like he'd been seconds away from breaking and storming in after me.
And now that he saw me—sweaty, shaking, wearing nothing but his coat and a bond on fire—he did break.
His voice was low, ruined. "You shifted."
"No," I whispered. "Not fully."
"But she's awake."
I swallowed. "Yes."
He stepped toward me, slow. Controlled. Barely.
"She's strong."
"She's angry."
"She wants me."
"So do I," I blurted, then cursed myself for it. "But that doesn't change what you've done."
He stopped a foot away from me, his hand twitching at his side like he was holding himself back from touching me. "I'm not asking for forgiveness."
"Then what are you asking for?"
His eyes met mine — glowing, tormented, hungry.
"Time."
A pause.
Then:
"And if I don't have that?"
He stepped even closer, his voice rough velvet.
"Then let me give you something else."
I narrowed my eyes. "What?"
He pressed a hand gently—so gently—to the center of my chest.
"Control."
The fire inside me paused.
Just for a moment.
And in that moment, I realized: he wasn't here to take.
He was here to teach.