Chapter 37: Chapter 37

SELENE

The crack of bone echoed before the gun could fire.

The hunter’s body crumpled, his head twisted at an unnatural angle. Blood sprayed as Erik’s massive wolf form landed beside Lux, fangs bared, fur bristling.

Lux’s chest heaved, blue eyes flashing as he snapped toward Erik. A fraction of a second later, my own wolf howled, raw and furious, echoing through the battlefield.

I had seen it—Lux, moments from death, the rifle aimed, the hunter’s finger pressing the trigger.

Fear and fury tangled in my veins, sending another howl tearing from my throat. The wolves answered, their snarls intensifying as they surged forward, driven by the rage of nearly losing their alpha.

No time to linger.

We ~kept~ fighting.

Bodies fell—clawed, ripped, torn apart. Blood soaked the earth.

The hunters were losing. ~Badly.~

And yet, they kept coming.

Lux was a force, precise, brutal. Even without sight, he tore through his enemies, instincts guiding him like a blade honed for war. Erik was a shadow beside him, fangs sinking deep into a man’s throat as he fumbled to reload.

And me?

I was hunting.

A scent caught my nose—fresh blood, human. I followed it, breaking from the chaos, paws carrying me toward the trees.

A man lay slumped against a rock, near death. His breath came in wet, shallow gasps, his hand pressed against a gaping wound. Still—his fevered eyes found me.

I shifted and stared down at him.

He laughed.

A broken, choking sound that sent shivers down my spine.

“Angel of death…”

I blinked. “What?”

“You take the dying. A demon wrapped in gold.”

Something cold curled inside me.

I grabbed his chin. “Why?”

Blood bubbled between his teeth as he smiled.

“Because you are ~abominations~. You should not exist.”

Hatred burned in his gaze.

I hesitated.

Only for a heartbeat.

Then—I snapped his neck.

His body slumped, breath cutting off in an instant.

Silence.

No time to dwell.

The snarls were fading, replaced by guttural growls of victory. Blood soaked the earth. I slowed, stepping over mangled bodies, scanning the field.

The wolves had won.

But some hunters remained, barely clinging to life, scattered among the corpses. Some tried to crawl away, others huddled, backs pressed together, guns shaking in their hands.

Lux stood in the center, his massive snow-white wolf coated in crimson, muzzle dripping as he turned his head slowly, watching.

Waiting.

Then—his command came thick and sharp through the mind-link.

“~No survivors.~”

A fresh wave of snarls erupted.

The wolves surged forward.

Some hunters tried to fight, tried to run—it didn’t matter. They were already dead.

I shifted, paws hitting the blood-soaked earth as I lunged back into the fray.

A hunter turned, rifle half-raised. I tore into him before he could aim, teeth closing around his throat.

I ~ripped.~

He gurgled, collapsed.

Another man stumbled, barely upright. He didn’t get far. Erik slammed into him, claws carving deep before his teeth snapped around his skull.

I turned, panting, muzzle coated in blood. The last hunters fell.

It was over.

No mercy.

No survivors.

Lux shifted back, chest heaving, hands coated in red. His blue eyes scanned the carnage, unreadable.

He was done.

Done losing warriors.

Done letting them walk away.

This was the end of it.

~For now.~

LUXURY

The battlefield was silent.

The scent of blood and death hung thick in the air, wolves shifting back into human form, panting, covered in crimson, but victorious.

I stood in the center of the carnage, my breathing heavy, my knuckles coated in red. I watched as the last hunter’s body hit the ground, limp and lifeless, and only then did the rage in my chest begin to settle.

Selene was near the edge of the clearing, drenched in blood, her golden eyes still blazing. Even now, even after everything, she was beautiful.

And she was mine.

She turned her head, finding me immediately, as if she could feel the way I was pulling her toward me.

I didn’t speak.

I just moved.

I was on her in seconds, my hands gripping her arms, searching her. She was covered in blood—not hers—but I needed to be sure. I needed to feel her, to know she was whole.

Her chest was still rising and falling quickly, her body tense from the battle, from the kill.

I cupped her face roughly, forcing her to look at me. “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head, still catching her breath. “No.”

I exhaled, something dark and desperate unraveling inside me.

Selene felt it.

She reached for me just as fiercely, her hands clutching my shoulders, pulling me closer.

Our bodies crashed together, lips colliding, raw and unrelenting. She moaned into my mouth, and fuck—I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t think.

I lifted her without hesitation, her legs wrapping around my waist as I turned, pressing her against the nearest tree. My hands gripped her thighs, squeezing, grounding myself in the feel of her, in the fact that she was here, that she had fought beside me, that she had survived.

She broke the kiss just long enough to gasp, “I thought I was going to lose you.”

My fingers dug into her skin. “Never.”

And then I devoured her.

I kissed her the way I fought—wild, ruthless, unrelenting. Her body arched against mine, her nails raking down my back, her breath coming in sharp, desperate gasps.

I needed more.

I needed all of her.

Here. ~Now~.

I tore my mouth from hers, my lips moving to her throat, biting, licking, claiming. She whimpered, her hands fisting in my hair as I pressed my body into hers, letting her feel what she did to me.

The others were still around us, the battlefield was still stained with blood, but I didn’t care.

Nothing else mattered—just her, just us, and the way we burned for each other.

Selene’s hands were frantic as they moved over me, her body already answering every unspoken demand I made. I pushed her against the rough bark, dragging my lips down her throat, her collarbone, tasting sweat and battle and her.

I had fought beside her, bled enemies beside her. And now, I was going to claim her beside the bodies of those who dared to threaten what was ours.

The wolves around us lingered, some shifting back into human form, some still prowling, ensuring no more hunters were around.

The scent of blood remained in the air, but it was overpowered by her—the intoxicating mix of sweat, arousal, and the sheer wildness of my luna.

I growled low, pressing my forehead against hers, my breath coming fast, ragged. “They’re watching.”

Her golden eyes locked onto mine, fierce and unashamed.

“~Good~.”

Her voice was but a whisper in my mind, but fuck, it sent a sharp, possessive hunger tearing through my chest.

She wasn’t ashamed.

I tilted her chin up, dragging my tongue along her pulse before biting down just enough to make her writhe.

Selene moaned—a sound so sharp, so wrecked, that the remaining warriors stiffened, looking away. Some left, giving us space. But others—others stayed, bearing witness to their luna being worshiped by her alpha.

I didn’t stop.

Couldn’t.

Selene gasped, arching beneath me, and fuck, I had never seen anything so perfect.

“Say my name,” I rasped. “Out loud.”

Her lips parted, her fingers tangling into my hair, pulling, needing.

“~Luxury~.”

A savage snarl ripped from my throat. She didn’t have to tell me twice.

I ground against her, letting her feel how much I needed her. My cock was already aching, throbbing against the damp heat of her core, but I wasn’t done. I needed to ~ruin~ her. I needed to break us both apart and put us back together in the only way that mattered.

Selene whined, frustrated, writhing in my grasp. “Stop teasing,” she hissed, her breath coming in sharp, uneven gasps.

I smirked, dragging my tongue along her jaw. “Desperate, little wolf?”

Her response was a sharp bite to my shoulder, hard enough to draw blood. I snarled, gripping her chin and forcing her to look at me. Her lips were swollen from my kisses, her pupils blown wide with hunger.

“Now,” she demanded, her voice rough, feral.

I didn’t hesitate. I lined myself up and thrust into her, a guttural growl tearing from my throat as I sank in deep, stretching her open. She was hot, slick, perfect, her body gripping me like she’d been made just for me.

Selene cried out, her fingers clawing at my back, her legs locking around me, pulling me deeper. “More,” she gasped, rolling her hips, demanding.

I gave it to her.

I set a brutal pace, driving into her with every ounce of strength I had, every ounce of hunger that had been clawing at me since the moment she became mine. The sound of our bodies colliding filled the clearing, obscene, relentless, drowning out everything else.

Her moans turned to gasps, to cries, to desperate, keening sounds that only made me fuck her harder, deeper, until she was trembling, until her breath hitched, until she was on the edge of breaking.

And then—the shift tore through us.

I felt it in my bones first, the crackling heat of it, the pull of our wolves demanding to be part of this, demanding to consume, to claim, to mark. Selene gasped, her body convulsing against mine as fur rippled along her skin, her nails elongating into claws even as she clung to me.

“Don’t stop,” she snarled, her voice thick with power, her teeth bared.

I ~never~ fucking would.

My own shift barreled through me, my canines elongating, my vision sharpening, my senses heightening until all I could feel was her.

The moment we fully shifted, we collided again, our wolves just as insatiable as we were. She clawed at me, I bit her throat, we tumbled, rolling through the dirt, snapping and growling as we fucked like animals, wild and free. The others who had stayed to watch had long since turned away, unable to bear the raw, primal display of an alpha and his luna consuming each other.

Selene wasn’t satisfied until I was shaking, until my body was wrecked, until she had wrung me dry over and over again, refusing to let me go, refusing to stop. She took everything from me, every last fucking drop, until I was raw, spent, and somehow still aching for more.

Her wolf was wild, insatiable, and fuck—I had never been prouder. Never been more hers.

I collapsed beside her, panting, my body thrumming with exhaustion and satisfaction, my mind still clouded with the scent of her, the feel of her. She turned, golden eyes meeting mine, and fuck—she still wasn’t done.

Her lips curled in a wicked, satisfied smirk.

“Again.”