LOGINArielle I woke up before the sun today not because of fear or pain or the bond tugging me awake the way it used to but because my mind simply would not rest. The room was still dark and quiet, the kind of quiet that only comes when a place has finally learned peace. Kael was asleep beside me, one arm heavy around my waist his breathing deep and even. It still startled me sometimes, waking up to that sound and realizing I no longer needed to check if he was alive. That he was here. That he was whole. That I did not have to be strong for the both of us every second anymore.I stayed still for a long time just listening to him breathe, my palm resting on his chest where his heart beat steady and sure beneath my hand. There was a time that sound had felt like a miracle I was afraid to believe in. Now it felt like home. Outside the window the sky was just beginning to pale, that soft gray blue that comes before morning fully decides to exist. The moon was still visible watching in the
KaelThe room was bathed in a soft golden light filtering through the heavy curtains. The air was thick with anticipation and the lingering scent of our earlier passion. Arielle lay beside me her body a landscape of curves and shadows. Her hair was a wild tangle of red across the pillows her eyes bright with unshed tears. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.I reached out tracing the line of her jaw with my fingertips. “Arielle" I murmured her name, a question amd a promise and a plea. "I need you."She turned into my touch her hand covering mine her eyes never leaving my face. “I am here" she whispered. "I am always here."I leaned down my mouth capturing hers in a slow deep kiss. This was not the desperate hungry kiss of before. This was a kiss of exploration of rediscovery. I wanted to memorize every curve every dip every taste. I wanted to drink her in until she was a part of me until I could never be separated from her again.She moaned softly into my mouth her b
KaelI thought waking up would feel loud. I thought power would rush back into me like fire, that my wolf would tear free and announce itself to the world and the room would shake and everyone would know their Alpha was back on his feet. That was how it used to be. That was how it always was with me. Instead the first thing I felt was her.Arielle.Her weight against my chest, her breath uneven, her fingers gripping the front of my shirt like she was afraid I would disappear if she let go. The room smelled like herbs and milk and something warm and new. The twins slept nearby their presence soft in a way that made my chest ache. She broke in my arms.It was like something that had been holding itself together out of stubbornness finally realizing it did not have to anymore. Her shoulders shook and she pressed her face into my neck, her voice breaking as she whispered my name over and over again like she was proving I was real.“I am tired” she said finally, the words muffled against
Jasmine woke to silence. Not the quiet of night or the soft quiet that comes after rain but the kind of silence that pressed against the ears and made breathing feel too loud. The cell was carved deep into stone and earth, old pack holding cells that had not been used in years because executions had replaced imprisonment long ago. There were no windows. Only a thin line of light that slipped in from under the iron door when the guards passed.She lay on the cold floor for a long time before she moved. Her body hurt in places she did not want to think about. Her throat burned. Her wrists were raw from the chains that had been removed only hours earlier. They had not bothered to heal her properly. They had not bothered to threaten her either. That was the part that unsettled her the most.Jasmine had expected screams and punishment. She expected blood. She had expected Arielle to come herself and end it. That was what Jasmine would have done. That was what power meant to her. You cru
Arielle Sleep was a distant country we would not visit tonight. An hour maybe two had passed but time had no meaning here. In this room there was only the throb of our blood and the ache in our bones. I was drifting in the warm haze after our first violent joining but Kael was not drifting. He was awake amd he was hard. I felt him against my back a thick insistent pressure that promised more. Much more. A slow wicked smile stretched my lips. I turned in his arms my hand finding him in the dark. I wrapped my fingers around his heavy cock and he hissed a sharp breath his hips jerking forward to fuck my fist."Already?" I whispered in my voice a husky tease. "So greedy my king.""Always greedy for you" he growled his voice a low rumble that vibrated through my chest. He rolled me onto my back and covered me his mouth crashing down on mine. It was a brutal kiss all teeth and tongue. He was not asking for entry he was taking it. His hands were everywhere pinching my nipples sliding do
ArielleHe carried me to the bed, not the large one where the box had been but the softer one in the corner of the room. He laid me down gently a stark contrast to the desperation in his kiss. He stood over me his chest heaving his golden eyes roaming over me like I was the most precious thing in the world."You are so beautiful" he said his voice softer now. "My queen. My mate. The mother of my children. You are everything."I reached for him, my hands tangling in his hair. "Then show me Kael. Show me everything."He shed his clothes in seconds his body a hard muscled plane in the candlelight. He covered me with his weight and I sighed at the feeling of his skin on mine. It had been too long. He kissed me again slow and deep this time savoring it. His hands roamed my body relearning every curve every dip. He cupped my breast his thumb brushing over the peak and I arched into him a soft moan escaping my lips."I have missed these sounds" he murmured his lips trailing down my neck. "I







