Chapter 16: Chapter 16

LUXURY

Selene was getting better.

Not good enough. Not yet.

But better.

Her breath was ragged, chest rising and falling in quick, uneven bursts. Her muscles trembled, sweat slicked her skin, her pulse a frantic drumbeat in the air. And beneath all of that—I could ~smell~ her.

Adrenaline. Frustration. ~Want.~

She didn’t even realize it.

Didn’t realize that the edge of her arousal lingered in the heat between us, in the way her body pulsed with the high of combat, in the way her pupils had dilated, caught between anger and something deeper.

I clenched my jaw, shoving that thought back into the part of my mind that had no fucking business thinking about it.

She wasn’t ready for that.

Not yet.

I reached down, offering my hand. “Up.”

She didn’t take my hand. Instead, she grabbed my wrist and used me to haul herself up, her body pressing against mine for just a fraction of a second before she pulled away.

Too fast.

But I ~felt~ it.

She did too.

And then—her gaze dropped to my side.

I knew what she saw.

The sluggish wound, half-healed but still raw, a faint sheen of blood where the silver had sunk deep. The reminder that I wasn’t untouchable.

She frowned. “You’re still bleeding.”

I rolled my shoulders. “It’s nothing.”

Her nostrils flared. ~“It’s silver.”~

I didn’t argue. Didn’t try to justify the fact that I should have never fought her in this state. Because she was right.

She could have ~hurt~ me.

And I—I would have ~let~ her.

Selene exhaled hard, hands moving to her hips. Frustrated. “You’re a fucking idiot, you know that?”

My lips twitched. “I’ve heard.”

“I mean it. You’re coming with me.”

I lifted a brow. “Am I?”

“Yes,” she snapped, already turning on her heel. “I’m not letting you walk around half-bleeding like some reckless, battle-crazed lunatic. You’re going to sit your stubborn ass down, and I’m going to fix you.”

A slow, amused exhale left my lips.

~Bossy little thing.~

I let her pull me through the pack house, through the winding halls that led to her quarters.

Selene had no sense of self-preservation.

She should have been on her knees. Should have been lowering her head in submission, offering quiet obedience. That was how things worked.

Especially with an alpha.

Especially with ~me.~

Yet here she was—this ~stubborn~ little mortal, ordering me around. Like I wasn’t covered in blood. Like I hadn’t just torn men apart with my ~teeth.~ Like I couldn’t snap her in two if I wanted to.

It was ~ridiculous.~

And yet—I let her.

Because ~fuck me,~ but I ~liked it.~

She shoved the door open and dragged a chair over to me.

“Sit.”

I almost laughed. ~Laughed.~

As if I was some wolf under her command. As if I wasn’t the alpha of this entire fucking pack.

I should have growled. Should have bared my teeth, reminded her exactly what I was.

But instead—I sat.

Because I wanted to see what she’d do next.

The woman moved with purpose. I heard her fill a bowl with water.

She didn’t hesitate as she opened her trunk and pulled out several items. I could smell the reek of a healing salve.

I leaned back, spreading my legs slightly, watching her.

“You always have healing supplies lying around?”

She shot me a look, not the least bit intimidated. “I take care of injured wolves. Unlike you, they actually let people help them.”

I exhaled a slow breath as she knelt in front of me.

And then, she ~touched me.~

She ~touched~ me.

No fear. No hesitation. Just warm, careful fingers against my skin.

My muscles tensed beneath her palm.

Not from pain.

From ~her.~

From the way her hands felt against me. From the way she leaned in just slightly, her breath warming my ribs.

She pressed a damp cloth to my side.

I let out a slow, measured exhale as the sting burned through my skin.

“Hurts?” she murmured.

I tilted my head slightly, listening for her. I could hear the way her breath had changed, hear the way her pulse had quickened.

Not in fear.

~In something else.~

I smirked. “You’re cute when you pretend to care.”

She ~snorted~—an actual, indignant sound. “Fuck you.”

~I could.~

The thought was dangerous.

I clenched my jaw, gripping the chair as her fingers smoothed over the wound, pressing the balm into my skin.

She was too close.

Too warm.

Too ~much.~

~I wanted her closer~.

I clenched my jaw, shoving that thought back into the depths of my mind.

“You’re lucky I don’t hit you,” she muttered, wrapping gauze around my torso.

I exhaled a quiet, amused breath. “Go ahead. See how that works out for you.”

She exhaled sharply. Annoyed. “You shouldn’t have fought me in this condition.”

I smirked. “You wouldn’t have landed a single hit otherwise.”

Her hands stilled for just a second.

Then she yanked the gauze tighter.

I huffed a quiet laugh. Brat.

“You think this is funny?” she muttered. “You’re the alpha. What happens if you go down, huh? You ever think about that?” She breathed, finishing tying the gauze, her fingers brushing against my abs before she pulled away.

My smirk faded. The air shifted.

I ~did~ think about it. I thought about it every damned day.

I let my hands rest against the arms of the chair, tilting my head slightly in her direction. I couldn’t see the way she was looking at me, but I could hear it in her breath—could feel it in the space between us.

She cared.

That should have pissed me off. Instead, it made something in my chest tighten. I didn’t like that.

“You should be in bed,” she muttered, standing up and putting the supplies away. “Instead of fighting like an idiot while still bleeding.”

I leaned back in the chair, considering her.

Defiant. Caring. Unafraid. ~Disrespectful~.

No wolf would dare speak to me like that. No wolf would have lived if they did. But she wasn’t a wolf. She was Selene. And I let her get away with too much.

“Careful, little wolf.” She turned as I tilted my head slightly, listening for her, hearing the way her pulse thrummed, hearing the way her stance didn’t shift—not in fear. Not once. “You’re speaking to your alpha like you’ve forgotten what I could do to you.”

She didn’t waver. Didn’t drop her gaze. Didn’t even hesitate. Instead—she stepped closer, then leaned down, palms pressing against the arms of the chair, caging me in.

I sucked in a slow breath, my patience fraying.

“You’re my alpha,” she murmured, voice low, steady. “But you’re also my patient. And right now, you’re a reckless one.”

The corner of my mouth twitched.

Unbelievable.

She was standing inches away, looking me in the eyes, scolding me like she wasn’t very much breakable. Like I wasn’t still covered in blood. Like I wasn’t thinking about how easy it would be to pull her into my lap and shut her up with something other than words.

A slow, measured inhale. A sharp, steady exhale.

I could hear her heartbeat. Wild. Fast. Not from fear. From something else. Something neither of us were acknowledging. Not yet.

I wanted to see how long she could pretend.

So, I leaned forward, just slightly, just enough for her to feel the shift in the air between us.

And then I murmured, low, dangerous, “Be careful, Selene.”

She stiffened.

Good.

***

The aftermath was brutal. I didn’t need to see it to know. The ~stench~ of death clung thick in the air, tangled with the acrid bite of gunpowder, the charred remains of burning wood, and the unmistakable ~coppery~ weight of blood.

The village lay in ruins. The dirt roads were churned up, smeared with blood, the walls of the outer homes scorched and splintered where bullets had torn through them. Doors hung crooked on their hinges, windows broken, the insides of homes exposed to the night. Somewhere, a fire still burned, its embers crackling in the hushed silence.

The scent of wolves—~my wolves~—lingered beneath the carnage, layered with sweat and exhaustion and grief.

This was ~my~ land.

These were ~my~ people.

And the humans had walked onto my land and ~thought~ they could take it from me.

They had failed.

But this was still a message. A declaration. A ~test~ of our defenses.

And I had every intention of answering it.

Erik stood beside me, his presence steady, unwavering, as we took in the wreckage. His silence said everything. I could ~hear~ the others moving through the remains—gathering bodies, murmuring among themselves, low voices threading through the thick silence like a dirge. I could feel the weight of their stares. The hesitation. The unspoken ~resentment.~

Not for me.

For ~her.~

Selene stood beside me, quiet, tense, watching.

No one questioned why she was here. Not out loud. But I could ~feel~ it, the unspoken challenge in the air, the silent demand for an explanation I ~refused~ to give.

She wasn’t one of them. She wasn’t supposed to stand next to me like this. She wasn’t supposed to ~belong~ here.

They didn’t understand why she mattered.

And I didn’t explain.

Erik exhaled, shifting his stance. “We lost five. Another six are injured. We took out at least twenty on their side, but…” He let out a slow breath, surveying the land with sharp, calculating eyes. “This was planned.”

I clenched my jaw. ~Of course it was.~

It hadn’t been a sloppy attack. It hadn’t been hunters blindly shooting into the trees, hoping to pick off a wolf or two. It had been coordinated. A test.

I already knew what Erik wasn’t saying.

The humans had come looking for weakness.

They had wanted to see how we responded.

How quickly we moved.

How ~hard~ we would hit back.

They had underestimated us.

A mistake they wouldn’t live long enough to repeat.

Erik shifted his weight. “What’s the call?”

The pack was waiting.

Waiting for me to decide.

Waiting for me to ~end this.~

Selene was waiting too.

Not for my command.

For ~justice.~

For ~revenge.~

I let the silence stretch, let the weight of it settle over everyone still standing in this graveyard of what was left.

Then I said, voice cold, final, absolute—

“We hunt them down. Every last one.”

Erik nodded, no hesitation. “Understood.”

I turned my head slightly, listening. ~Feeling.~ The land still trembled with the echo of violence, the air thick with the last remnants of a battle that had tried—and ~failed~—to break us.

There would be no mercy.

No treaties.

No warnings.

They had come onto my land, fired bullets into my people, slaughtered wolves that belonged to me.

They would pay for it.

The pack would prepare.

They would wait.

And when we were ready—

We would finish this.