CHAPTER 2

Seraphina’s Pov

The ceremony circle was packed with wolves, but I could only see him standing at the north point like a god made of muscle and danger. 

My body screamed for things I shouldn't want from my guardian. 

Dimitri's steel gray eyes tracked my every movement as I walked to the center of the circle and I swear, I saw his hands clench when the moonlight hit my dress in a way that made it almost transparent. 

My nipples were so hard, they hurt and I knew everyone could see them through the thin fabric, but I didn't care. The way he was looking at me made my thighs clench around nothing and I had to fight not to whimper.

"Brothers and sisters," Elder Isaac called out while raising his hands to the sky.

"We gather tonight to witness Seraphina Nightingale's first shift under the blessed full moon and discover if the Goddess has chosen her mate."

I barely heard him because Dimitri's jaw was ticking the way it did when he was fighting for control, and I wanted to know what would happen if he lost it completely. 

Would he throw everyone out and take me right here on the sacred ground while I screamed his name for the whole pack to hear?

I hoped so because I was already so wet, it was running down my thighs and I didn't care who knew it.

The moon climbed higher and my skin started burning, but not from the shift. Every time Dimitri's eyes moved over my body, it felt like he was touching me with those huge hands that could probably span my entire waist. 

I watched his chest rise and fall faster like he was struggling to breathe and I wondered if he could smell how desperately I needed him to fill me up until I couldn't take anymore.

"Focus, child." Elder Isaac said to me. but I couldn't because Dimitri had partially shifted and his canines were showing which made my knees tremble.

I wanted those teeth in my neck while he pounded into me from behind like the animal he barely kept contained.

The moon reached its apex and pain exploded through every cell in my body, but underneath the agony was something else entirely that made me moan out loud as my bones started breaking. 

My dress shredded as my body changed and reformed, while wolves howled around me, but all I could focus on was the pleasure mixing with pain in waves that reminded me of when I touched myself thinking about Dimitri, except this was a thousand times more intense.

White fur sprouted across my skin as I dropped to all fours and my vision sharpened until I could see every detail of Dimitri's face which had gone completely feral as he watched me transform. 

The shift completed with a final snap and I stood as a pure white wolf with violet eyes that immediately locked onto his.

Then it happened.

The mate bond hit us like lightning and I could feel him in my very soul. His scent of pine and whiskey flooded my senses so intensely I thought I would pass out. 

His eyes went from gray to solid red as his wolf fought to the surface and I could feel his hunger for me through our new connection like a tidal wave of pure lust that matched my own.

The pack gasped and started whispering. Everyone knew what just happened, but nobody could believe it. 

The Alpha's ward was his fated mate which was the worst kind of taboo our laws recognized. A guardian claiming their ward was considered the ultimate violation of sacred trust.

"No," Dimitri growled, his voice was more wolf than man as he fought against the bond pulling us together. "This cannot be. She is my ward."

But his wolf didn't care about pack law. I could feel him raging inside Dimitri, demanding he claim what was his. 

My wolf was whining and trying to go to him, while my human mind screamed that everything I had fantasized had finally come true, even if it would destroy us both.

"Viktor," Dimitri commanded through gritted teeth while his whole body shook with the effort of staying in place. "Get her out of my sight right now before I do something that breaks every law we have."

His beta moved toward me but the second Viktor got within five feet, Dimitri lost it completely. 

He shifted partially, slamming Viktor against the stone wall of the ceremonial grounds with enough force to crack it while his hand wrapped around his best friend's throat.

Another round of gasps broke out among the crowd.

"Mine," Dimitri snarled and his voice was pure Alpha command that made every wolf except me submit instantly. "Nobody touches what belongs to me or I'll rip their throat out with my teeth."

Viktor's eyes were wide with shock because Dimitri had never lost control like this, but the mate bond was destroying every wall he had built. 

He dropped Viktor who gasped for air before turning back to me. His crimson eyes had darkened significantly.

Before anyone could stop him, he scooped me up in his arms even though I was still in wolf form and started carrying me toward the pack house, while everyone watched in stunned silence. 

His hands gripped my fur and I could feel his arousal pressed against me through his ceremonial robes. It made me squirm in his hold because I needed him inside me more than I needed air.

"Don't move." He growled against my ear, his baritone voice making me shiver with desire in his arms.

We reached his room and he kicked the door shut before setting me on his bed, where I immediately shifted back to human form. 

The transformation left me completely naked on his black sheets while he stood there, breathing hard and staring at my exposed body like he wanted to devour every inch.

"We can't do this, Seraphina," He whispered, but his hands were already unbuttoning his robes while his eyes stayed locked on my breasts. 

"Pack law forbids it. I'm supposed to protect you, not destroy you."

"Please, destroy me, Alpha." I pleaded, spreading my legs so he could see how wet I was for him.