CLAUDEIT WAS TIME.My stomach churned, tightened, and I had to swallow the bile rising from the pit of my stomach.A week. That’s all it took for them to prepare for this damned mating ceremony. Held right under the full moon, at the heart of the pack, like some kind of joke.The whole pack was buzzing, full of excitement, but for me? This felt like my funeral.“I can smell your nervousness, Claude,” my father’s voice broke through the fog of my thoughts and I flinched, but I didn’t bother to glance at him. I just kept watching the world blur past me.The car screeched to a stop in front of the packhouse. I didn’t waste a second, throwing open the door and stepping into the cool night air, my feet hit the earth with a soft thud.Around us, I could hear everything—the chattering voices, the sizzling meat somewhere in the distance, the heavy buzz of excitement.My father stood beside me as we both stared at the double doors of the packhouse. He sighed, like he had something wise to say
CLAUDEHOW LONG HAD it been since I mated my mate? Three months? Four? Fuck, I wasn’t even sure anymore. Time blurred when every day felt like this, a cycle I couldn’t break no matter how much I wanted to.On the surface, everything was going well. The pack was thriving, stronger than ever. Since my mating with Ava, our lands had merged, resources had doubled, and we had secured our place among the top ten most powerful packs in the world. The borders that once separated us had been brought down, our people moving freely between both territories, the unity strengthening us in ways I couldn’t deny.But none of it meant anything to me.Being mated to Ava was hell. Every chance she got, she tried to pull me into bed, her hands wandering even when I made it clear I didn’t want her touch. She tried to mark me, tried to get me to mark her, her heat rolling off her in waves like it was some kind of weapon meant to force me into submission. It was suffocating, and no matter how many times I
CLAUDE “YOU CAN’T JUST leave.”Ava’s voice was tight, the kind that dug under the skin. I exhaled slowly, dragging a hand over my face before turning to her. She stood by the bed, arms locked over her chest, her eyes glaring holes at me.“You’re going to him, aren’t you?” She stepped forward, her nostrils flaring. “That human I smelled on you?”I tightened my grip on the bag’s handle but didn’t say a word.Her lips curled, but there was nothing soft about it. “My heat is close, and you want to run off? Like a fucking coward?”I turned for the door.“Use the drug, Ava.”I barely got the words out before she was on me, pressing against my back. Her nails dug into my arms, not enough to break skin, but enough to make her point.“Why do you keep pushing me away?” Her voice had dropped, but I knew that edge. That push. And I knew what she was going to say next—“I’m your mate. Your true mate.”My muscles coiled tight.“Ava.” A warning.She inhaled, slow and deep, like she could taste the f
NIKOLAITHE DOOR SLAMMED open, rattling against the wall, and Andrie stood there, chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. His face was tight, his jaw locked, and his eyes—fuck, his eyes told me everything before he even spoke. Something was wrong.“Pakhan.” His voice was tight, his jaw locked and I already knew it wasn’t going to be good.“What?” I snapped, trying to push myself up, but a sharp, burning pain tore through my side. My muscles locked up, breath catching as I swallowed down the groan threatening to escape. Fucking wound. It felt like someone had ripped me open all over again.“It’s… that boy.”My fingers twitched. Not at the way he said it, but because I already knew exactly who he was talking about.Claude.Here.Back in Russia.When I fucking told him not to be.“Where is he?” The question came out like a hiss, my throat tightening as my pulse slammed against my skull. I shoved off the bed, pushing past the pain, but the moment my foot hit the ground, my body betra
NIKOLAIFUCK. PAIN RIPPED through every inch of my body, a deep, burning ache that made it hard to breathe. My head pounded, my ribs screamed, and when I shifted, something sharp tore at my wrist. Restraints. Fucking metal.I forced my eyes open, the dim light cutting through the haze of unconsciousness. Concrete walls. Bloodstained floors. The bitter taste of iron on my tongue. And then—footsteps. Slow, heavy. Someone was coming.I swallowed back the pain and lifted my head, a sharp grunt leaving my lips as I forced myself to focus.Surrounded.Fuck.“I see you’re awake.”The voice was smooth, almost amused. My eyes locked onto the bastard standing in front of me. Not some lackey. Not Antonov’s right-hand. No—Ivan Antonov himself.A sharp laugh tore from my throat. Out of all the people, I hadn’t expected this prick to show his face. His uncle was dead. He should’ve been thanking me.“Of all the people, I thought you’d benefit most from your uncle’s death,” I said, my voice hoarse an
CLAUDE TWO WEEKS AGO “Where is he?” I hissed, shoving off the man beneath me, my fingers slick with blood. “Where is Nikolai?”Andrie didn’t answer. His grip on the gun lowered slightly, his gaze shifting like he was weighing his options. I didn’t care if he saw me—I didn’t care about anything except finding him.Nikolai.My Nikolai. “Go home,” Andrie muttered, turning away.I grabbed his wrist before he could take a step, yanking him back so hard his jaw clenched. My hand was trembling, but my grip didn’t loosen. I wouldn’t let go. Not until I knew Nikolai was safe. Not until I saw him.“I heard something happened to him,” I said, my voice catching in my throat. My grip tightened, nails pressing into his skin. “I need to see him, Andrie.”A second passed. Then another. The silence dragged, stretching so unbearably before he exhaled sharply and turned his head.I followed his gaze.A CCTV camera.My chest constricted as my breath hitched because I could feel it. I could feel him wat
CLAUDEMY HEART SLAMMED against my ribs, every nerve in my body burning.‘Bring him to my house.’ My voice cut through the mindlink and I pushed to my feet, already moving.A hand clamped down on my arm tightly. “You listen to me, boy,” my father growled.I turned, ripping my arm free, my teeth bared. “No. You listen.” My voice was low, sharp enough to cut. “I don’t take orders. Not from you. Not from anyone, again.”His jaw locked, his eyes flashing.“I’ll take over when it’s time,” I said, my breath coming out sharp, chest heaving. “But that doesn’t mean you get to pull the strings. He is my guest, and I don’t owe you a damn explanation.”His fingers twitched like he wanted to grab me again, to force his will on me the way he always did. But I was done being handled.I took a step back, my voice dropping low. “Try to stop me, and we’ll see just how ready I am to take that damn title.”I didn’t wait for a response. I turned and walked out of the office, my pulse pounding, my blood on
NIKOLAII JERKED AWAKE, the warmth of sunlight against my skin barely registering. But when I looked down—fuck. The sight before me was what mattered.I shifted, my fingers sliding through his hair, slow and carefully. A low groan rumbled from him, and then his eyes shot open, locking onto me. Wide with shock.I let my fingers trail along his jaw, brushing over his lips, parting them. But before I could move further, his hand shot up, gripping mine, holding me in place. His breathing shaky.“Nikolai,” he rasped, voice thick like he couldn’t believe I was here, like he wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or afraid.“How did you find me? How—”I didn’t let him finish. I kissed him—deep, hard, cutting off the question before it could ruin the moment. His body tensed, but it didn’t take long before he gave in, a moan slipping past his lips, and I swallowed it, my other hand gripping the back of his neck, tilting his head so I could take more.I pulled back just enough to catch my breath,
CLAUDEI HAVEN’T SLEPT. Not really. I might’ve closed my eyes once or twice, but it didn’t count—not when the nightmares didn’t wait for sleep to drag me under. Didn’t count when every soft beep from the monitor made my heart lurch, when silence stretched too long and I thought—this is it. He’s gone.But Nikolai still hadn’t opened his eyes.They said he was unstable.Said the poison from the blade was flushed out but now all I had to do was pray.Said it like it meant something, like their words could undo what I saw—his blood, too dark and too much, slipping between my fingers while he laid there. I didn’t care what they said. He was still here. Too still. Too pale. Too wrong.The bed barely dipped with his weight. His chest rose and fell, but it was shallow, mechanical, like his body had forgotten how to breathe without fighting for it.I sat curled at the edge, knees tight to my chest, arms locked around them like I could keep myself from falling apart. My palms had been covered i
CLAUDEI DIDNT FEEL the ride.I didn’t feel the hands on me or the arms that held me down when I fought like a cornered animal. I didn’t feel the cold of the floor under my knees or the sting where my nails broke skin, clawing at the cement, at my own skin—anything that wasn’t him.What I felt was the bond.Or what was left of it.Fading. Dimming like a dying star. The tether we’d only just built peeling thread by thread.He was slipping through my fingers, and I couldn’t stop it.I couldn’t fucking stop it.My body shook with it—with pain, with anger, with fear so sharp it chewed through my ribs like acid. The moment they ripped him from my arms, something cracked. I didn’t know if it was in my chest or my head or my soul, but it broke and I couldn’t find it again.And when the metal door slammed shut behind the men working on him—Enzo’s people, his men, strangers who weren’t bleeding, who weren’t me—I hit the wall and slid down, my back scraping raw as I dropped.I curled into mysel
CLAUDEI SIGHED—FOR what had to be the hundredth time today. I’d eaten, showered, done everything I was supposed to do. And now… now I was just waiting. It hadn’t even been four hours since he left, but the quiet was starting to press in, and I was already tired of sitting here, pretending I wasn’t checking the time.Like I wasn’t curious what had him leaving early in the morning.I pushed myself up from the couch and made my way to the elevator and pressed the button to the lobby. When the door opened, the noise hit fast. Loud. Busy. A mess of conversations, suitcases rolling, heels clicking. I kept my head forward and moved through it.Then I stopped. Every part of my body freezing. My ears twitching and my body on alert.It felt like I was being watched.I turned quickly, sniffed the air, tried to find who it was but all that hit me was the scent of heavy perfumes and sweat.“Claude,” A hand touched my shoulder and I jerked, turning, my eyes wide before a breath left my lips and th
NIKOLAITHE SOUND OF Claude stirring behind me pulled me from the window.I turned, and there he was—eyes half-lidded, lashes brushing high cheekbones, pupils sharpening into slits as he blinked up at me. His smile broke through, lazy and unguarded—and just like that, I felt it. That punch in the chest I always got when I looked at him too long.Christ, he was beautiful.“Hey,” I said, walking back to him, my hand already reaching for his hair like it always did. The strands were still a little messy from sleep, golden where the light touched and soft under my fingers. I brushed them back gently.“Hi,” he breathed, trying to stifle his grin. He failed.My thumb grazed the corner of his mouth, then dragged across his lower lip. Soft. Warm. Addictive. I leaned down, took his mouth in a slow kiss, one that started sweet but cracked open with heat, and I had to pull back before I forgot where the hell I was going.I straightened my tie. Smoothed the edge of my coat. Tried to find the part
CLAUDEI COULDN’T THINK. Couldn’t breathe—all that mattered was Nikolai. His hands, his mouth, his body—slamming into me, over and over and over, like nothing existed but the two of us. The heat inside me was like fire, burning me up from the inside out. It consumed me, devoured me, and the only thing that could quench it was him. Only him.His hands were tight on my thighs, forcing me harder against the wall, his thrusts so deep, so punishing, that I gasped—no, gasped wasn’t right—my breath shattered every time he pushed inside, his cock filling me to the point of breaking, of splitting. It felt like fire, every inch of him. A fire I couldn’t put out, a drug I couldn’t quit.His grip was tight on my hips, pulling me back against him with each stroke, driving me harder, deeper, like he was determined to claim every part of me. And I wanted it. Needed it.I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t hear anything over the pounding of my heart, the sound of skin on skin, the heat betwee
NIKOLAIHE WAS SHAKING.Not from pleasure. Not from the come-down.I stayed deep inside him, hands locked on his hips, my body tense as steel. Something wasn’t right. I could feel it in the way his pulse hammered beneath my fingers, in the way his body kept clenching around me, like he was trying to pull me in deeper. But he was too hot—way too fucking hot.I didn’t move. Not yet. I had to figure out what was happening. But the instinct to move was clawing at me.“Claude,” I bit out, my voice low, brows pulled tightly. I brushed the damp strands of hair from his neck. “You’re burning up.”He gasped, pushing back into me, his hips grinding against mine like he needed this to breathe. His fingers dug into the sheets, shaking like his body wasn’t his own anymore. Like I was the only thing keeping him from falling apart.“Talk to me.”There was a beat—just ragged breaths, broken and shallow. And then the words hit like a bullet.“I… I think I’m in heat.”The world stilled.Iknew what that
CLAUDETHE SUN HAD dipped behind the sky when we got to the hotel. It was big—absolutely gorgeous and luxurious—and his hand never left my back as we were escorted to the elevator.The doors opened directly into the suite. No hallway. No detour. Just the quiet click behind us as we stepped inside.Nikolai didn’t say a word. He took off his jacket, dropped it over a chair then looked over his shoulder at me, one brow raised.“You must be hungry,” he said.I rubbed the back of my neck, exhaled through my nose. “I’m not.”He didn’t push. Just nodded once, already moving past me toward the bar. “Shower, then. Take your time.”The bathroom was as beautiful as the rest of it—sleek, gold-trimmed, expensive. I locked the door, and stepped in. Water hit tile, steam rising almost instantly. I stood under the spray longer than I should’ve, eyes closed, hands braced on the wall, as a deep sigh slide past my lips.When I stepped out, the scent of food filled the air—rich and warm, but it wasn’t hu
CLAUDEMY LEGS WOULDN’T stop moving, twitching against the floor like they wanted to be anywhere but inside this car. I pushed out a breath, slowly and leaned my head back against the seat.The AC was on, but I couldn’t breathe.Before I could think, my hand was on the door, pushing it open, and I stepped out. The air slapped me first, a cold bite to my skin, but there was something else—something different that wrapped around it, choking out the relief. A scent. A wolf’s scent.My spine snapped straight and I didn’t even realize I was moving until my feet carried me around the corner, down the path, feet crunching on gravel.Then I saw them.Pressed up against the wall. A guard—tall, broad—gripping the front of someone’s shirt, like he owned him. Their mouths were fused together, sloppy and hungry and completely oblivious.The wolf under him was young. Small. Soft, with flushed skin and a trembling throat that looked too exposed, too breakable. But it wasn’t that.It was when he open
NIKOLAISHE LOOKED LIKE hell.Dress torn, smeared with dirt, lip still split from the slap I gave her two nights ago that still hasn’t heal. She should’ve been ashamed. She should’ve known better. But there she was, with her hand on him—like she had any right.I stood by the car, arms folded, fingers twitching near the grip of the gun holstered under my coat. Claude wasn’t moving. Just standing there like a statue, like if he stared hard enough past her shoulder, this whole fucking moment would vanish. That’s how he coped—with silence, with absence.Then her hand found his.Gentle. Softly.She slid it to her stomach like it meant something, like she hadn’t pinned him down and stolen something that was never hers to take.A child.My jaw locked. Pain bloomed down the side of my face, but I didn’t blink. Didn’t breathe.She turned her head and met my eyes. That goddamn smile—thin, cracked, and smug—like she thought carrying his baby made her immortal.Claude jerked his hand back like she