4

The world spun before my eyes, leaves and moonlight intertwining.

My head hung down Lucas's back. The moon mead I'd drunk earlier churned in my stomach.

I needed him to put me down, but didn't dare interrupt him as I once might have. I carefully whispered near his ear: "Lucas..."

He responded coldly, without a trace of desire.

"Don't say my name. Are we familiar with each other?"

I swallowed the rest of my words. Dizziness, I could endure.

This was what I owed him.

Behind us, Asher's angry howls grew distant, drowned out by other voices.

"Alpha Asher! You know Lucas has been... volatile since returning from the Northern Wastes! Don't provoke him!"

"Remember what happened at Sun Stone Valley? When your tribute for passage rights was pitiful, he let your hunting party starve for a full moon cycle! He holds grudges, Asher!"

"He's probably just trying to anger you. He knows you value Ella. He'll drop her at the river bend, just wait and see."

"He's been a lone wolf spiritually for years! They don't call him the 'Frost Wolf Alpha' for nothing. His eyes see only that first mate who broke his heart. He won't touch your Moon Goddess."

Asher's voice had become a desperate roar: "Lucas Black Stone! If you harm a single hair on her head, our two clans will go to war!"

We were already beyond their sight.

As we reached Black Stone territory near Whisper Falls, I heard my lunar attendants' voices, sharp with sarcasm, directed at Asher.

"Oh my! Can't handle the game, Alpha Asher?"

"Wasn't it agreed everyone has freedom tonight?"

"I recall an Alpha's promise is unbreakable?"

"She could find another wolf, wasn't that what you said?"

"And you wouldn't be jealous?"

"Our Ella is a free wolf tonight, by your own decree!"

At Black Stone's boundary, Lucas didn't drop me at any river bend. He tossed me into the passenger seat of a massive black vehicle I'd never seen before—a truck.

The beast roared to life, headlights cutting through the ancient forest.

Destination: unknown.

We stopped at a simple yet modern cabin deep in Black Stone Forest. This was his den.

The moment the door slammed shut, he pounced. My fur-trimmed traveling cloak was torn away. His hand gripped the nape of my neck firmly, forcing my head up.

His lips crushed against mine in a punishing kiss filled with years of anger and hungry longing.

Pain shot through my lips. I tried pushing him away, gasping his name, "Lucas..."

His other arm coiled like a snake around my waist, pinning me against the rough log wall. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe.

His wild growl vibrated against my skin.

"Isn't this what you wanted? To be claimed? Why resist now, little moon?"

I had no defense.

"Gently," I choked out. "Please, Lucas... gently..."

He let out a harsh, broken laugh. Then I was lifted, carried, thrown onto a massive bed covered in thick furs.

His shadow loomed over me.

"Gently? The Frost Wolf Alpha knows no gentleness."

In mere seconds, my torn clothes lay scattered on the floor.

He showed no mercy, like a released storm. No tenderness, only a nearly violent, desperate taking.

Then, as his hand slid across the sensitive skin of my inner thigh, marking me with his scent, he froze.

His deep eyes narrowed, looking down at me, at the smooth, unmarked skin where an Alpha's claim should have been.

If I were truly Asher's mate, his mark would be there.

His handsome face, usually cold and distant, twisted with complex emotions.

Anger, disbelief, turning to hopeful joy.

"You..." his voice rasped. "You never let Asher... mark you? You never... bonded?"

Seven years. How could I explain?

My throat tightened, barely managing a weak whisper.

"There wasn't... time... back then..."

A Moon Goddess, promised to an Alpha, still untouched on the eve of their mating ceremony?

In our world, this was almost unheard of.

Unless... unless that bond wasn't real.

This was my choice.

Asher and I... we had skipped courtship. Went straight to political alliance, a mating agreement.

He wanted me.

And I wanted escape from a past that wouldn't let go, and a future.

But after tonight, everything was shattered.

Lucas's brow furrowed. He stared at me, silence stretching between us, filled with unspoken questions.

He saw the truth in my scent, in my untouched body beneath his touch.

I remained unclaimed. In essence, I was still his.

The ice in his eyes began to melt, transforming into a burning red glow.

That torment, that deep and enduring love he'd tried to bury for seven years, struggled to surface.

He collapsed on top of me, not in violence, but with a gentle restraint, an overwhelming flood of emotion.

He buried his face in my hair, his body pressed against mine, trembling slightly.

He found my bruised lips, and this time, his kiss was entirely different.

Desperate, tender, a tasting, a rediscovery.

Shifting position, he pulled me into his embrace, tucking my head beneath his chin. Skin to skin, scents mingling.

His hot breath brushed my ear.

"Ella," he said hoarsely, his voice catching. "My moon. I still burn for you."

Then his lips sought mine once more.

Slow, deep kisses fell upon my lips, my ears.

I finally understood that after all our trials, our love had never truly died.

Tears slid from the corners of my eyes.

The bright moon poured silver light through the window.

Sometime after Asher midnight, a gentle ringing sound broke the silence. It was the communication crystal from my abandoned bag.

The melody was sweet but now jarringly intrusive.

Lucas tensed above me, his rhythm disrupted.

Obviously, it was Asher.

Who had time for him now?