Chapter 8

~Annalyn POV~

I turned slowly and he stepped out of the shadows without a word, completely naked, his eyes glowing with hunger, muscles taut with restraint. Celix's body glistened faintly, like he'd been running, or hunting.

He didn't say anything else, he didn't have to because we both knew why I came closer after seeing him naked.

His gaze swept over me and my robe was still barely tied, I hadn't worn anything under it. My body felt cold and craving for his dick, suddenly my robe slipped off my shoulder, and I didn't fix it, not this moment because that was what I actually wanted.

"You shouldn't be out here alone," he said, like he meant it, but his eyes said something else and his voice was barely audible and rough.

"I'm not alone," I answered, stepping closer. "Lucas might be closer."

"I don't care," Celix's voice was soft and something changed in his face then, the way his eyes flicked to my neck...to the mark Lucas had left, his jaw clenched.

"He already claimed you."

"My wolf isn't satisfied," I whispered.

Celix exhaled hard. "She's greedy, isn't she?"

"No, she's hungry, for all of you... or perhaps, for you alone."

He moved so fast I didn't see it coming, one moment he was still. The next, he was in front of me, grabbing me by the waist, pulling me against his chest, his skin burned against mine and his lips hovered just above my mouth.

"Say it," he said. "Say you want my dick."

"I want you."

He growled, but did not sound human, not soft, just pure wolf.

The kiss he gave me was violent, fierce. Tongue and teeth rolled like fire and my robe slipped to the ground as he lifted me into his arms, pressed me against the nearest tree, the bark scraped my back, but I didn't care.

His mouth moved down my throat, over my collarbone, to my breasts and I gasped when he bit gently over my nipple, sucking until I moaned. Then he dropped to his knees.

He buried his face between my thighs, growling as he licked my pussy like a man dying of thirst. His tongue circled, then he stopped and used his dick to slap my pussy without wasting any time, his dick thrust into me deeper, hotter, until I was shaking against the tree.

I came with his name on my lips, and he didn't stop, when he rose, he didn't give me time to catch my breath. He turned me around, pressed my front against the tree, and slid his dick into me from behind with one hard, perfect thrust.

"You're mine now," he growled into my ear. "I can address you as my mate now."

My answer was a scream and his hands were everywhere...on my breasts, my hips, my throat. His pace was brutal, his rhythm perfect, each stroke dragged another moan from my lips.

I couldn't think, I could only feel the way his body moved with mine, the way my wolf howled inside me, and the mark on my neck burned hotter with each thrust, but something else built inside it. A second bond! Another tie! Another claim.

I felt it forming, he bit my shoulder...hard...and I shattered around him, we collapsed together on the forest floor, sweaty, tangled, breathless.

He kissed the top of my head. "That's the second mark, now you're bound to me too."

"I can feel it."

"It'll only get stronger."

Before I could respond, a rustle in the trees made us both turn, another scent, familiar heavy cinnamon and smoke, it was Matteo!

He stepped out of the trees, arms crossed, shirt open, eyes glowing gold, and fury burned behind them.

"You couldn't wait, could you?" he asked, voice sharp. "You let him take you next."

I sat up, pulling Celix's jacket over myself. "It wasn't like that."

He ignored me.

"Celix," he said, stepping forward, "you crossed the line, by being the second to mark her."

Celix stood, completely unashamed, naked and proud. "She chose me."

"She doesn't know what she wants! And you know that!"

"I know what my body wants," I said. "And I'm tired of pretending otherwise."

Matteo's jaw tensed. "Then you'll let me have you next?"

I didn't answer, not because I didn't want him, but because I wasn't sure what would happen if I did.

Matteo stared at me a moment longer, then turned to leave, but just before he vanished into the woods, he said something that made my heart stop.

"Ezra lied to you, the ritual isn't meant to bind you, it's meant to sacrifice you!"

Matteo's words hit me like an arrow in the heart, because... what sacrifice?

He didn't wait for me to speak and didn't care if Celix had more to say, he just turned and vanished into the darkness, leaving behind a silence and confusion, I could hardly breathe.

The word rang again in my head.... sacrifice? The moonlight had shifted, a cloud slid across its pale face, casting shadows through the trees. The

warmth Celix had given me moments ago was gone, replaced by a chill deep in my bones.

He stood beside me, silent, troubled. The Celix... who was so confident, so smug after taking me... now looked shaken.

I pulled the jacket tighter around myself and whispered, "Do you think it's true?"

He looked down at me. "Ezra lies, always has, but this... I don't know."

My stomach knotted. "Lucas said Ezra wasn't supposed to exist."

"He wasn't," Celix said quietly. "He was born from dark magic, that is why he was cast away from us."

I remembered Ezra's touch, his kiss, the fire in his veins that seemed to crawl under my skin. My wolf had responded to him like he was fate...but fate wasn't supposed to feel like danger.

Celix stepped closer and pressed his hand to my cheek. "You don't have to do the ritual, we can leave, I mean, right now! Just you and me."

I wanted to say yes, I wanted to escape, but something in me...deeper than fear, deeper than instinct—held me still.

"I have to know the truth," I said. "If Ezra is planning something..."

Celix sighed. "If that's what you want, then we'll find out."

The next morning, Lucas was already waiting when I returned. He stood on the porch, arms folded, shirtless, bruises still fading across his ribs, his eyes tracked me like a hawk.

"You were with him," he said.

I didn't deny it and he stepped forward, but I raised a hand.

"Before you say anything, Matteo came to me last night and he told me the ritual isn't what Ezra says it is, he says it's a trap."

Lucas's face darkened. "I know."