Susanna’s POVHis body finally moved away from mine, and the wall stopped pressing into my spine.I inhaled slowly, steadying my breath. The air still felt thick between us, charged with something I didn’t want to name.Sebastian’s shadow lingered even when he stepped back. “You lasted longer than I expected,” he said. His voice was low, edged with something that wasn’t quite praise and wasn’t quite mockery.I refused to give him the satisfaction of a reaction. “If you’re done proving whatever point that was, can we get back to training?”One corner of his mouth lifted. “You’re getting better at slipping past the guards.”“I’m not here for compliments,” I cut in, stepping past him. The cold stone under my boots grounded me. “I’m here to sneak into Derek’s mansion without getting noticed”His footsteps fell in behind mine, quiet but relentless. Always there. Always following.We moved through the east wing. The corridors narrowed, the torches dimmed, and shadows clung to the ston
Susanna’s POVThe castle felt alive.Not in the warm, comforting way a home might be alive, but in the sharp, watchful way a predator waits in the dark.Every stone in these walls had seen things. Heard things. And right now, they were listening for me.Sebastian’s sentinels weren’t just guards they were wolves honed into living weapons. I could feel it in the way the air shifted around them, the way their movements carried no wasted energy. They didn’t need to see me to know I was there… all they had to do was sense the wrong breath, the wrong heartbeat, and the game would be over.But I wasn’t about to lose.Not to them.And definitely not to him.The plan was simple, reach Sebastian’s office without being caught. But “simple” in his castle was a lie. His security was a labyrinth of eyes and ears, both human and wolf. He’d designed it that way on purpose. This wasn’t just a test. This was him putting me in Derek’s mansion before we ever stepped foot there.I hugged the curve of the
Sebastian’s POVBy the time I made it to the forest the morning sun was just breaking over the high stone walls, casting long shadows across the packed dirt floor.Susanna was already there.She stood near the far end, hair loose around her shoulders, wearing black training leathers that clung to every curve. She wasn’t looking at me, but she knew I was there. I could tell from the way her spine straightened, the subtle shift of her stance.I forced my gaze off her body and onto the task at hand. This wasn’t supposed to be about last night.This was about Derek. This was about our plan. But my wolf didn’t care about missions or strategy right now he only cared about the fact that she still smelled like us.“Ready?” I asked, my voice carrying easily across the space.Her eyes flicked to mine for the briefest moment, then away again. “We have work to do.”The same words she’d thrown at me before leaving my room.I stepped onto the training floor, closing the distance between us. “We
Sebastian’s POVShe turned away from me before I could read her eyes.That alone told me everything I needed to know. She was running. Not with her legs. With her heart. I sat there, the crumpled sheets a testament to a night that she was desperately trying to erase. She moved toward the door in that silk robe like it was armor, each step a conscious effort to rebuild the walls she’d let me tear down. My fingers twitched with the urge to grab her, to pin her to the wall until she stopped pretending that last night was anything less than what it was, an undeniable truth.Her scent still clung to my skin, tangled with mine in a way no bath could erase. It was driving my wolf insane. He paced inside me, a caged beast of pure, possessive need, whispering one word over and over again.Ours.“Susanna,” I said, my voice low enough to make her stop mid air and step.She didn’t turn. I rose from the bed, slow, deliberate. The sheet slipped lower on my hips, a deliberate act of vulnera
Susanna’s POVI woke before the sun.The sheets were warm against my skin, smelling faintly of cedar, leather… and him. Sebastian’s scent clung to me like an invisible mark, one I couldn’t wash off no matter how many baths I took. My body still hummed faintly with the echoes of the night before a heat low in my stomach, a heavy languid ache in my muscles.And yet, the first thing that hit me wasn’t satisfaction.It was regret.Not the simple kind. Not the kind you feel when you make a mistake and wish you could undo it. This was deeper. More complicated.Because I couldn’t tell if I regretted what happened… or if I regretted how much I had wanted it.The memory was already pressing at the edges of my mind his hands gripping my hips like he’d waited his entire life to touch me, his mouth claiming mine like we were the only two people left in the world, the way his wolf had come through his eyes in molten gold and refused to let me go.I shifted slightly in the bed, and my thighs b
Sebastian’s POV“Say my name.”Her voice wasn’t just sound, it was a trigger.The last thread of restraint inside me snapped.I moved before I could think, before I could second-guess. My mouth crushed hers, a claiming, a taking my kiss demanding everything, her breath, her will, her surrender. She gave it, meeting me with heat, her fingers tangling hard in my hair as if she wanted to pull me deeper into her.My wolf surged forward with a growl I didn’t bother to hold back. I felt the shift in my eyes, the burn of gold flooding my vision, the sharpened edge to my senses. Her scent hit me like a drug, warm skin, faint lavender soap, and that intoxicating undertone that was her. My hands roamed greedily, mapping every inch, every curve, claiming territory I’d been holding myself back from for far too long.Her towel loosened under my grip. I didn’t give her the choice to keep it. One sharp tug and it fell away, pooling forgotten at our feet. I leaned back just enough to look at he