LOGINNicholas caught him, slamming him back against the wall. "No.""He just marked her.....""I know.""She's in pain....""She chose this," Nicholas said firmly. "And if you go in there now, you'll make it worse. She's fine. Listen."Lucian went still and they both listened.And then they felt it.The bond completing, snapping into place with a force that made both of them stagger. And with it came the power, Lilith's magic exploding outward in a wave that shook the entire estate.The shockwave hit them and Nicholas barely stayed on his feet. Behind them down the hall he heard glass shattering, heard doors slamming, heard wolves throughout the pack crying out in shock as they felt the surge through the mindlink."What the fuck!" Lucian gasped.Nicholas could only stare at Sebastian's door as the shaking subsided, his mind racing.Whatever Lilith was, whatever power was waking up inside her, it was strong enough to shake an entire estate when a bond completed.And they still had one more
He carried her to the bed and threw her down onto it, and before she could catch her breath he was on top of her, pushing her knees up to her chest, folding her completely in half."Hold your ankles," he commanded.Lilith obeyed, reaching down to grab her own ankles and holding herself open for him. The position was impossible, she could barely breathe, could barely move....and when Sebastian pushed inside her from this angle she saw stars."Fuck," Sebastian groaned. "So deep. Can you feel how deep I am?""Yes," Lilith sobbed. "Yes, I can feel it."He started moving and she couldn't do anything except take it, completely at his mercy in this position. His hands were on her hips, his eyes locked on where they were joined, and he was biting his lip hard enough to draw blood trying to hold back.Then his mouth was on her....biting her thighs, her hips, her stomach, marking her everywhere except the spot on her throat that would complete the bond. She was going to be covered in his marks
"No.""Lilith." Her name came out as a growl. "If you stay on top of me like this, I'm not going to be gentle. I'm not going to ask permission. Rhen wants to claim you and you're making it impossible for me to hold him back."Lilith leaned forward until her face was inches from his, her hair falling around them like a curtain. "Then don't hold him back."Sebastian's control shattered.He flipped them in one violent motion, pinning her beneath him on the bed, his hands catching her wrists and slamming them down above her head. His eyes were completely gold now, his breathing harsh, and when he spoke his voice was barely human."You have no idea what you're asking for.""Yes I do." Lilith did not try to pull her hands free, did not fight him. Just looked up at him with her heart racing and her body already responding to the weight of him on top of her. "I'm asking you to finish what we started. I'm asking you to mark me. I'm choosing you."Sebastian stared down at her and she saw the wa
Sera was quiet for a moment, then leaned forward. "Can I tell you something?"Lilith nodded."Bonds are about choice," Sera said. "Even fated mate bonds. Even when destiny or the Moon Goddess or whatever you want to call it puts two people together, they still have to choose each other every single day. The bond doesn't take away your agency. It doesn't make you less yourself. It just connects you to someone else.""But the incomplete bond hurts him.""Yes. But that's not why you should complete it. You should complete it because YOU want it. Because YOU choose him. Not because you feel guilty or pressured or obligated." Sera's eyes were steady on hers. "Do you want Alpha Sebastian, Lilith? Forget about the bond and the pain and everything else. Do you want him?"Lilith thought about Sebastian in the woods, chasing her down and catching her and claiming her with desperate intensity. She thought about him in his room telling her stories about his childhood and holding her while she fel
Lilith POVThree days.It had been three days since Lilith woke up in Nicholas's bed with a partial mark on her throat and holes in her memory and the overwhelming knowledge that she was not what she thought she was.Three days of sleeping and waking and sleeping again, her body exhausted in a way that went deeper than physical tiredness. Three days of Agnes bringing her food and sitting with her while she picked at it, not pushing her to talk but just being there. Three days of Nicholas checking on her with careful eyes and Lucian hovering in doorways without coming in and Sebastian....Sebastian stayed away.Not entirely. She could feel him through the incomplete bond, could sense when he was close even when she could not see him. The bond pulled at her constantly, an ache in her chest that never quite went away, and she knew without asking that he was suffering too.But he did not come to her room. Did not push her. Did not ask her to make a decision she was not ready to make.And
Nicholas nodded slowly. "Yes.""And the strange things that have been happening to me lately? The lights flickering? Things moving when I get upset?""Yes," Nicholas said quietly. "We suspect it's all connected."Something inside Lilith broke."Then why did you LIE to me?!" The words came out louder than she intended and tears were already forming in her eyes. "I came to you, Nicholas. I told you in several occasions that I suspected something was happening to me.But you told me it was stress. You told me I was tired. You told me it was nothing."Her voice was rising now and the tears were falling and she could not stop them."Now you're telling me I'm some kind of supernatural thing that you don't even understand?! You lied to me! You kept this from me and you lied!"She was gasping for air now, her chest heaving, and Sebastian was immediately there, his hand on her back rubbing gentle circles."Breathe, Lilith," he said quietly. "Breathe. You're okay. Just breathe."She tried to fo
Something moved in his expression. Relief and want and something that wasn't either. He pulled her down and started pounding harder chasing his own release, he thrusted once, twice and spilled inside her. Nicholas followed seconds later with a sound that came out not sounding like his at all.She l
Set her own pace....slow at first, feeling him, feeling the stretch and the fullness....and then faster as the heat surged back and demanded she stop experimenting and start taking. His hands came to her hips. Not controlling.Just gripping. Holding on.She rode him hard.The chair scraped against
When he finally came again he lowered her carefully to her feet.Her legs shook so badly she grabbed the wall."Not done yet," he said. His eyes were still hungry. Still that same consuming need that had walked him through the door fully clothed.He turned off the shower. Grabbed a towel. Dried the
The warmth under her skin wouldn't go away.It had been there all evening....this restless, crawling heat that had nothing to do with the temperature of the room. She'd pushed the blankets off. Pulled them back. Pushed them off again. Stared at the ceiling until the ceiling stopped being interestin







