Chapter 21: Chapter 21

SELENE

When it finally happened—when he finally claimed me—nothing in my life had prepared me for how it would feel.

He couldn’t see me, but he could touch me—like he was starved for the sensation of skin against skin, like he’d waited a lifetime to know exactly how I would fit against him. His hands moved over me, deliberate, reverent, as if committing every curve, every shiver, to memory. His breath was ragged, his fingers firm as they traced up my sides, spreading wide over my rib cage before settling beneath my breasts.

“Selene…” His voice was low, husky, reverent.

Then he touched me.

A slow, testing drag of his thumbs over my nipples sent a sharp jolt of pleasure straight to my core. I gasped, arching into his hands, wordlessly begging for more. He took his time, teasing, kneading the soft weight of my breasts with an intensity that made me realize—he was learning me.

I moaned when his mouth replaced his hands, his tongue flicking over my nipple before sucking gently, then harder. He tested, exploring how I responded, how my breath hitched when he grazed me with his teeth. Every sound I made fueled him, drawing out a deep, desperate groan.

“I never—” he swallowed thickly. “I never touched a woman before.”

I stilled. His confession sent a shudder through me. He wasn’t hesitant—no, my alpha was dominant by nature—but he handled me with a reverence that made my throat tighten.

His fingers found the slick heat between my thighs, spreading, exploring, sliding through my wetness with aching purpose. He inhaled deeply, memorizing my scent before tasting me, his breath catching, his whole body going still.

Then—a growl.

His fingers dipped inside me, slow and languid, stretching, opening, driving me to the edge with calculated strokes.

“Alpha—” My voice broke, and he groaned at the sound of his name on my lips.

“Let me feel you,” he rasped, pressing his forehead to my inner thigh as his fingers worked me open. “I need to know everything.”

His mouth was on me before I could think, his tongue teasing, tasting, claiming me with every stroke. When I tugged his hair, he groaned against me, the sound deep, wrecked.

I needed to know him, too. I sat up slightly, my hands roaming his shoulders, his back, drifting lower until I felt ~him~—thick, heavy, straining against his sweats.

Fuck.

He was ~packing~.

The man went utterly still, muscles tightening beneath my touch.

“You don’t have to,” he rasped, voice strained but hungry.

I met his clouded gaze. “I want to.”

I palmed him, feeling the thick outline of his cock, feeling just how hard he was for me. His jaw clenched and his hands tightened around my thighs, fingers digging into my skin.

I felt the effort it took for him to stay still, to let me explore him the way he explored me.

“You have no idea what you’re doing to me,” he grunted, his voice rough, vibrating with restraint.

I smirked, emboldened, and squeezed him through his sweats. That was a mistake. The man ~truly~ snapped.

One second, I was teasing him—the next, I was flat on my back, his massive body caging me in. He didn’t pin me down, but his sheer presence alone stole my breath.

“You’re playing with fire, little wolf,” he warned, his voice a dark, husky whisper. “And I’m not a patient man.”

I arched against him, already needing more. “Then don’t be patient.”

A sharp inhale. A second of pure, charged silence.

Then—his mouth crashed against mine, swallowing my moan as he pressed me into the mattress. His hands roamed, slow but possessive, gripping my hips, tracing my waist. The hard weight of his arousal pressed against my core through the thin fabric still separating us.

“Selene.” My name was a warning. A plea. His forehead pressed to mine, his hands gripping the sheets on either side of my head. “You feel too fucking good.”

I reached up, cupping his jaw, guiding his lips back to mine. “Then take me, Alpha.”

His whole body shuddered at my words.

His lips trailed down my throat, pressing slow, open-mouthed kisses to my collarbone, down to my breasts. He took his time, tasting me, teasing me, sucking gently on each peak until I was trembling beneath him, my nails dragging down his back.

And then he pushed his sweats down.

A sharp gasp left me as his cock sprang free, heavy and thick, pressing against my stomach.

~Holy fuck~.

He sensed my hesitation, and his fingers traced slow, soothing patterns over my skin. “We’ll go slow,” he murmured, his lips brushing my temple. “You’re mine. You’ll always be mine, and I’m going to take care of you.”

I swallowed hard, nodding. “I trust you.”

~That did something to him.~

His jaw clenched, his hands tightening around my thighs. He lined himself up, the thick head of his cock pressing against my entrance, nudging forward just enough to send a pulse of pleasure through me. I gasped, my nails digging into his arms.

My alpha groaned, dropping his forehead to my shoulder. “Fuck, Selene.” His voice was wrecked. “You’re so—” He exhaled sharply, physically holding himself back. “Tell me if it’s too much.”

I nodded, breathless, desperate.

And then—he pushed inside.

My body stretched around him, slow and aching, inch by inch. I sucked in a sharp breath, feeling the deep, intoxicating burn of being filled, of him forcing my body to adjust to him. My alpha was massive, overwhelming, yet careful with his shallow thrusts.

The pain was immense, but it was overshadowed by a shockwave of warmth that rushed through me.

My vision whited out for a split second when something inside me snapped into place, and he froze.

I ~felt~ him feel it.

A sharp, strangled groan ripped from his throat as his forehead slammed against mine.

“~Ours~.”

The word wasn’t his.

It was Kora’s.

My wolf—who’d been dormant my entire life—stirred deep inside me and howled.

“~Mark him~.”

The thought struck me like lightning.

And then I heard it—his wolf. Low, deep, commanding.

“~Mark her~.”

His fingers tightened, bruising, as his lips found my throat, his breath hot, heavy, his body still trembling as he fought the instinct clawing at him.

I felt him—felt him—inside my mind, his presence crackling like wildfire. His scent surrounded me, consumed me, and I was drowning in him, in the bond surging between us, in the raw, feral connection that could not be denied.

“We were always destined for each other,” he rasped, his voice dark, reverent.

My lips parted on a sharp, shuddering gasp, my fingers tangling in his hair as I pulled him closer.

Then, without hesitation, I struck.

My teeth sank into his throat, the taste of him exploding across my tongue—wild, dark, mine.

His entire body jerked, his back arching as his wolf snapped.

He let out a growl so deep, so raw, it sent a bolt of pure lust through me, shaking me to my core.

And then—he bit me.

A broken sob wrenched from my lips as the bond sealed, as fire ignited under my skin, burning, claiming, binding us so irrevocably that I felt it deep in my soul.

He groaned, his voice wrecked, desperate. “Selene, fuck, you—”

He lost it.

All restraint shattered.

His hands gripped my hips, forcing me down, filling me so completely I couldn’t breathe. A strangled moan escaped as pleasure struck, sharp and sudden, my body tightening around him, desperate, insatiable.

I whimpered, overwhelmed by the stretch, the way he held himself back even as he consumed me. Every slow, deliberate thrust sent shudders through my body, made my fingers dig into his arms, seeking more.

“Talk to me.” His lips brushed my ear, his voice strained. “Tell me what you need.”

I exhaled shakily, heart hammering. “More,” I whispered. “All of you.”

A vicious snarl ripped from his throat. And then—he gave it to me.

His control snapped. He drove into me, raw, unrelenting, each thrust sending shockwaves through my body. My head fell back, a choked moan spilling from my lips as pleasure blinded me.

There was no silence.

The sharp slap of skin, ragged gasps, his wrecked growls, my desperate cries—we filled the space with the sound of our ruin. His lips were everywhere—my throat, my jaw, my mouth—devouring, marking, claiming. His grip was bruising, his hold unyielding. It wasn’t just my body he was branding—it was my soul.

The bond roared between us, pulsing, unbreakable. His forehead pressed to mine, his breath ragged.

“You’re gripping me so tight, I can barely—fuck—” He exhaled shakily, his restraint fraying. “Are you okay?”

I nodded, my body adjusting, the burn fading into something deeper, something that curled warmth through my core. “I’m okay,” I whispered, my hands finding his face. “Keep going.”

And he did. Slow. Deep. Devastating. I gasped, my body arching against him, nails raking over his back as he thrust into me with unrelenting precision. He was so big, so careful, like he knew he could break me, like he knew I needed this.

“Selene,” he groaned, voice thick, wrecked. His lips brushed my neck, his breath hot against my skin. “Gods, you feel—fuck—you were made for me.”

I whimpered, my legs tightening around his waist, drawing him impossibly deep, stretching me to my limit, owning me.

But still, he held back.

Still trying to be careful.

I wasn’t having it.

“Don’t,” I gasped, my nails sinking into his shoulders. “Don’t hold back.”

A growl tore from his throat, deep and guttural, vibrating through my skin. His mouth crashed against mine, hungry, desperate, swallowing my moans as he snapped.

Gone was the slow, measured pace.

He ~fucked~ me now—hard, primal, ruthless. His hips slammed into mine with raw, possessive intensity, his grip near bruising. He wasn’t just taking—I was giving, surrendering to the pleasure, to him, to us.

It was obliterating.

I was drowning in it, in him, in the way he shattered me with every thrust, in the way his body trembled as he fought to hold back, to give me everything.

“Mine,” he snarled against my lips.

I tipped my head back, a wrecked moan leaving me. “Yours.”

A ragged sound tore from his throat, his movements growing wilder, deeper, his cock hitting that spot inside me that sent white-hot lightning streaking through my veins.

And then—his hand slid between us.

A broken, choked sob escaped me as his fingers found my clit, rubbing slow, teasing circles that had me begging, had me writhing beneath him.

His breath was a shuddering wreck as his forehead pressed to mine, his lips brushing over my mouth as he whispered, “Come for me.” His voice—dark, desperate, commanding. “Let me feel it. ~Please~.”

The word ~shattered~ me.

Pleasure detonated so sharp, so brutal, that I screamed, my entire body jerking beneath him as the orgasm slammed into me. The mate bond ~exploded~. I felt it burn through my soul, weaving through every inch of me, searing me, claiming me. The man above me felt it too.

His movements turned rough, desperate—his pace faltering, his breath ragged, his body trembling as he buried himself deep. Then, an intense, wrecked groan rumbled in his chest as he spilled into me, his arms crushing me against him as if he could merge us together, as if he could make it so we would never be apart.

My alpha brushed his nose against mine, his voice a whisper, dark and possessive. “You’re mine now, little wolf.”

I smiled, lazy and sated, threading my fingers through his damp hair then pressed a slow, lingering kiss against his lips and whispered—

“I always was.”