Chapter 9: Chapter 9

LUXURY

I ran through the dense forest, my fur bristling against the sharp bite of the early morning air, letting the rhythm of my stride ground me. The scent of frost-laced pine filled my lungs, the steady pound of my paws against the earth an anchor against the restless energy riding my skin.

But Fen, my wolf, stirred beneath the surface—agitated.

I ignored him and pushed forward, moving through the familiar weave of trees and packed dirt trails, cutting deeper into pack territory. The land here had been ours for centuries. It pulsed with history, claimed in blood and bone, sacred to those who ran before me.

But as I veered off course, a sensation prickled at the back of my neck—subtle but insistent.

I slowed.

Something about this place felt…~wrong.~

The clearing wasn’t unfamiliar, but it took me a moment to recognize it. A small stretch of pack land, tucked away behind an outcropping of trees, the ground worn but undisturbed.

I’d been here before.

A long time ago.

I paced the perimeter, nostrils flaring, catching nothing but the crisp air and damp earth. No foreign scents. No hunters. No reason for the unease curling in my gut.

And yet, the feeling remained.

~“You’re wasting your time,”~ Fen muttered. ~“There’s nothing here. Just old ghosts.”~

I frowned. My father used to bring me here, but the memories were faint, fractured things I hadn’t reached for in years. I wasn’t sure why they stirred now.

I gave the space one last pass before stepping away.

The further I got from the clearing, the easier I breathed.

Fen huffed, amused. ~“I don’t know what’s worse—your sudden obsession with that place or the fact that you’re still avoiding the real issue.”~

“You’ve been quiet,” I muttered under my breath, shaking off the lingering discomfort as I picked up speed again.

~“And you’ve been stupid,”~ Fen growled, his voice a low, irritated snarl. ~“You think I don’t know why?’~

I clenched my teeth, pushing harder, my claws digging into the frost-covered earth.

“Drop it.”

Fen let out a sharp bark of laughter. ~“Drop it? You’ve been circling that mortal like she isn’t driving you insane. You reek of restraint, Lux.”~

Heat flared in my chest. “She’s not just a mortal.” The words came too fast, too easy.

~“Then what is she?”~ Fen taunted. ~“Because from where I’m standing, she’s the only thing you can’t stop thinking about.”~

I slowed, my breath sharp in the cold air.

Fen’s voice was quieter now, but no less cutting. ~“You felt it, didn’t you? When you touched her.”~

I had. The heat. The pull. The way my body responded to hers, even when I hadn’t meant for it to.

“She doesn’t know what she is,” I muttered, pacing, claws scraping against the dirt.

~“And neither do you,”~ Fen shot back. ~“All you know is that you want her.”~

I exhaled sharply, trying to push past the truth clawing its way to the surface.

Fen’s presence loomed, dark and knowing. ~“You can fight it all you want. But you and I both know—this isn’t going away until you take her. Or figure out why her wolf hasn’t come forward, but I like the first option better.”~

I didn’t respond. I just turned and started toward my wing of the pack house, my pulse thrumming in my ears. The moment I crossed the threshold, I felt it again—that gnawing, unrelenting pull.

I needed to clear my head. A hot bath. That’s all. Just a moment of quiet. Space to think. To breathe. To stop feeling like I was about to lose control.

But the second I stepped into my quarters, I ~knew.~

The scent hit me first.

It clung to the air, thick and sweet. It wove through the usual scents of wood, leather, and smoke, coiling around me with a heat I felt deep in my gut.

~Her.~

And worse—her ~arousal.~

It was instant. The shift in me. The sharp, violent need that tore through my body like a wildfire.

I froze.

~She’s here.~

The faint, rhythmic sound of a brush scrubbing against the floor met my ears.

She was on her hands and knees, working. She had no idea I was here yet, but the scent rolling off her told me everything.

I inhaled deeply, my entire body coiling tight as her scent filled my lungs, heady and overwhelming.

She had no idea what she was doing.

Or maybe she did.

My wolf growled low in my chest, vibrating through me, dangerous and possessive.

She wasn’t just nervous. No. She was ~aware.~ Aware of the pull. Aware of ~me.~

I didn’t need to see her to know what she was feeling.

Her pulse quickened, a delicate, rapid thing. The warmth rising from her skin flooded my senses, and I felt it—her body reacting to me in ways I shouldn’t be focusing on.

~What the hell is she doing?~

I stayed silent, the urge to speak catching in my throat. I ~couldn’t~ speak right now.

Not when every fiber of my being was locked on her.

I heard the way she stilled, the way her own breath faltered as she listened—to me. To the way my chest rose and fell, the way my muscles tensed under the weight of restraint.

She knew.

And then, just when I thought I might snap, I heard her voice.

A breathless whisper.

“Alpha…”

It wasn’t a question. But it wasn’t a command either.

It was acknowledgment. Recognition of what this ~was.~

I ground my teeth together, my control fraying at the edges.

~I’m not ready.~

But I could ~smell~ the truth on her—on ~me~—in the very air we shared.

~She knows.~

And Fen? He wasn’t being kind. His voice was low, rough, almost teasing. ~“She’s soaking through her panties, Lux. Look at what you’ve done to her. You can smell it.”~

I ~could.~

And it was ~fucking unbearable.~

I exhaled slowly, fighting for control that was slipping faster than I could contain it.

My body reacted before my mind could stop it.

I took another step forward.

Her breath hitched.

I heard the way her pulse pounded beneath her skin, the faint tremble in her limbs as she stayed frozen in place.

Not from fear.

From ~awareness.~

I crouched behind her, careful, controlled.

Every breath she took, I heard. Every shift of her body, I felt. Every drop of heat rolling off her skin, I ~breathed in.~

“You don’t even know what you’re doing to me, do you?” My voice was a low rasp, more growl than words.

She shivered.

I could ~hear~ the little tremor in her breath, the way her pulse fluttered just beneath the surface of her skin. She wasn’t scared. She ~should’ve~ been. But fear wasn’t what I smelled on her.

It was something richer. Sweeter. ~Dangerous.~

And then, slowly—tentatively—she moved.

Shifted back.

Just slightly.

Just enough.

Like she ~wanted~ to feel how close I was.

Fuck.

My nostrils flared, her scent thick and heady, curling into my lungs like a drug. Heat pulsed low in my gut, searing and insistent, tightening every muscle in my body.

~She’s soft.~

~So soft.~

~“She’s perfect,”~ Fen murmured. ~“So wet for us. Don’t you want to taste?”~

A growl rumbled deep in my chest, vibrating through me, through ~her~.

I inhaled sharply, my restraint ~fraying.~

And then, I moved closer.

Closer.

Until my nose hovered right behind her, where the scent of her slick clung, thick and ~aching~ to be touched.

I didn’t need to press against her to feel the heat rolling off her skin, radiating from the space between her legs like an open flame.

I didn’t touch her there.

Didn’t have to. My breath alone made her shudder.

Made her ~whimper.~

Made the heat between her legs ~pulse.~

~Fuck.~

I was ~drowning~ in it.

Fen was losing his mind, snarling in my head, urging me to close the space, to ~feel~ how wet she was, how warm.

~“One touch,”~ he purred. ~“Just one. She’ll melt for you. She wants to.”~

I could reach out.

Touch her.

Run my hands down the curve of her waist, grip her hips, ~drag~ her back against me.

She would ~let me.~

She would ~welcome it.~

Her scent told me everything I needed to know.

My cock throbbed, thick and pulsing with the kind of need that was ~unnatural~, ~uncontrollable~.

I could feel the tension in her body, the way she ~ached~ for more, the way she was waiting, breath shallow, thighs pressed together like she could ease the ache herself.

She ~couldn’t.~

~“Lux,”~ Fen whispered, his voice silk and sin. ~“Feel how warm she is. She’s so ready for you.”~

I could.

I swallowed hard, my fists clenching, fighting every primal instinct screaming at me to take. To mark. To ~own.~

I ~can’t.~

She’s ~not ready.~

I ~should~ step away.

I ~should leave.~

But then—

She shifted again.

Arching.

Just slightly.

And the softest little ~whimper~ left her lips.

I ~snapped.~

I slid my hand lower, the back of my knuckles brushing against the inside of her thigh, dragging upward, slow, torturous, stopping just ~shy~ of the soaked heat I ~knew~ was there.

Fuck, ~she was warm.~

The heat of her arousal radiated against my skin, and I nearly groaned at the ~pure, molten need~ pressing against my senses.

And when she arched back, just enough to chase the friction—

I almost lost myself.

Almost.

Fen growled, ~“She wants you. Take her. Show her who she belongs to.”~

I nearly did.

I ~would have.~

The door slammed open.

“Alpha—”

A ~feral snarl~ ripped from my chest before I even registered who it was. I shot to my feet, my body ~coiled tight~ with pure, raw aggression.

Beta Erik.

I heard his breath falter. The sharp inhale. ~He smelled it, too.~

His voice was tense. Controlled. “My apologies. But this is important.”

Selene was still frozen in place, her body stiff, her breath uneven.

I didn’t look at her.

~Couldn’t.~

If I did, I’d lose the last shred of restraint I had.

Instead, I turned to Erik, my voice edged with something lethal.

“Get out.”

Erik’s silence was too long.

Too knowing.

Then, finally—“As you wish, Alpha.”

The door clicked shut behind him.

The silence that followed was deafening.

I didn’t move.

Selene didn’t either.

We were too close to something dangerous.

Too close to a line that, once crossed, could never be undone.