LOGINCelia POV
Despite everything, a shaky laugh escaped me.
He kissed it from my lips.
Slowly, the sharp pain began to disappear. A warmer feeling replaced it each time his hips rolled into mine, and my body gradually stopped fighting the unfamiliar fullness.
Then one thrust went deeper.
My breath broke.
“Oh…”
He stilled for half a second.
A knowing smile touched his mouth. “That felt different.”
“Shut up.”
He did it again.
My head fell backward.
“Fuck!”
His smile disappeared, replaced by raw hunger.
“There she is.”
His hands gripped my hips as his movements became firmer, dragging me back against him with every thrust. The bed creaked beneath us, and soon the room was filled with the sounds of our bodies moving together and the moans I could no longer control.
I should have been embarrassed.
Instead, I wanted more.
“Harder,” I breathed.
His entire body went still.
“What did you say?”
My cheeks burned, but I stared into his eyes.
“Fuck me harder.”
A low growl tore from his chest..
His grip tightened around my hips before he drove into me harder, ripping a cry from my throat. Again and again, his hips slammed against mine, each thrust sending pleasure through places that had been hurting only moments earlier.
“Look at me while I'm fucking you.”
My eyes fluttered open.
His black hair had fallen messily across his forehead, sweat glistening over his chest while his electric blue eyes burned with a hunger so intense that my stomach clenched.
I couldn't believe this was my first time.
I couldn't believe something that had hurt so badly minutes ago could suddenly feel this good.
He leaned over me, pressing his chest against mine without slowing down. His mouth claimed mine in a rough kiss, swallowing my moans while his hips continued moving between my thighs.
I wrapped my legs around him.
“Fuck…right there.”
His mouth moved to my neck.
“Right there?”
“Yes!”
He drove into the same spot again, and my toes curled against the sheets.
Something was happening inside me.
Pressure had begun building low in my stomach, tightening with every thrust until I couldn't keep still beneath him. My nails dragged down his back as I desperately moved against him, chasing a feeling I didn't understand.
“I can't…”
His mouth brushed my ear.
“Yes, you can.”
My breathing became ragged.
The strange heat I had felt around him at the bar suddenly returned with terrifying force. It spread beneath my skin until every nerve in my body seemed alive, and somewhere beneath the pleasure, I could have sworn I heard a growl.
Not his.
Mine.
My eyes flew open.
But before I could understand what was happening, he thrust deeper and every thought disappeared.
“Fuck!”
My body tightened violently around him.
His jaw clenched.
“That's it. Come for me.”
The pressure shattered.
I cried out the sound dissolving into a helpless moan as pleasure ripped through my body. My thighs trembled around him, my back arching while wave after wave rolled through me.
“Fuck Little Flame”
Hearing him call me that in his rough voice sent another shudder through me.
His movements became harder and less controlled as he chased his own release. Then his entire body tensed above mine, a deep groan tearing from his throat before he collapsed against me, breathing heavily into my neck.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
My heart was pounding so violently I could feel it against his chest.
I had done it.
After three years of saving myself for Matt, I had given my virginity to a complete stranger.
And the most terrifying part was that, for the first time since the Mating Ball, I wasn't feeling guilty in any way.
I woke up to the brightness of the sun, pouring in through the window.
My mouth was dry and my limbs felt heavy as I stretched my arms, yawning.
I rolled on the bed, smelling the faded scent of cologne and something else, something masculine and clean.
I reached across me only to find myself touching something warm and hard and
What the hell?
I blinked my eyes open in panic only to find a man asleep beside me, he lay on his stomach, the muscles of his back seeming to rise and fall with each breath.
His black hair and toned body, reminded me quickly of the events of last night.
What the hell had I done? How could I have slept with a stranger of all people?
My eyes widened in panic as I glanced at my discarded clothes on the floor.
I had to get out of here, I thought panicking as he shifted in the bed, grabbing the pillow as he slept. Immediately, I put on my trenchcoat and grabbed my shoes, not waiting to wear them before I dashed out.
I took the bus home and paid with the remaining change in my pocket, still thinking about the events of last night.
How could I have allowed my pain against Matt to lead me to a stranger’s arms?
I couldn’t even remember if we used a condom last night.
How could I have been so stupid?
I walked down the street until I finally found my house. My mother had seen me yesterday night as I dressed up to go and see Matt. If she saw me now, looking like a mess, with my handbag missing, she would immediately know that things hadn’t gone as planned.
I could only imagine what she would say. She would call me a fool for trusting Matt and an even bigger fool for sleeping with a stranger.
Bracing myself, I pushed the door open only to find three complete strangers in the living room. One was packing away the books on the shelf, and the other two were cleaning.
“What is going on here?” I asked cautiously. “Who the hell are you people?”
They all stopped and glanced at me for a moment before resuming their work.
“Hey?” I called out in anger, walking to the one packing the books. “I am talking to you, who are you and what are you doing in my house?”
“Celia, can you leave them alone?” My mother called out, suddenly appearing by the doorway.
I turned to her with a confused expression on my face.
“What is going on here mum? Who the hell are these people and why are they packing our things away?” I asked and my mother gave me a bored expression.
“These people are here to help me move,” she replied vaguely, checking her freshly manicured nails.
“Here to help us move? Move to where? And I hope you didn’t fix your nails with our house rent again,” I warned her, feeling my temper rising.
“Oh my gosh Celia relax,” she cautioned me. “We don’t need to pay the rent anymore, we are moving somewhere better.”
I narrowed my brows suspiciously. “What do you mean better?”
“I am marrying the Alpha of this pack and we are moving in with him,” she replied, knocking the air out of my lungs.
CELIAThe storm started right after we got back from the clinic, the sky went black at 5pm, the wind started hitting the windows so hard the whole mansion shook, and by 7pm the power was out, the whole place went dark, and I was in my room with Nicholas, in my black dress, trying to keep him calm with a lantern, but he was scared, he hated thunder, he always had, and every time it cracked he pressed his face into my chest."Mama, it's loud," he whispered, his little hands clutching my dress, his flower crown falling off, "make it stop.""I know, baby," I said, I held him tighter, I tried to be strong, but my room was cold, the heater was out with the power, and I only had one thin blanket, and I was trying not to cry because I was cold and scared too, but I had to be mama first.That was when I heard footsteps outside my door, soft, not Alpha heavy, just soft, and then a knock, soft, the same soft knock from the fever night, "Celia," Ronan's voice, low, careful, "can I leave something
RONANMagnus called me at 7am and he didn’t sound like he was asking, he sounded like he was telling and his voice sounded almost commanding as though I wasn’t the Alpha."You and Celia run the clinic today, together, the humans trust her, they will trust you if they see you with her," and I wanted to say no because I knew she would hate it, I knew she would be angry the whole day, but my lips replied a yes because if she was going to be in that clinic all day, I wanted to be there too, even if she hated me for it.She was already there when I got there, she was in her plain black dress, not the pink one, not the white one, black, clean, strong, her hair tied back, her sleeves rolled up, and she was moving boxes like she had built the place with her own hands, which she had, and she looked up when I walked in and her face went cold instantly, that cold she does now, that angry cold she keeps for me."What are you doing here," she said, her voice flat, she didn’t stop moving boxes."Ma
KIERANShe was trying to leave early again, she always tries to leave early when her eyes are tired, but I kept her back after class, I said it was about tournament forms, it was partly true, but mostly I just wanted five minutes with her where she wasn't being a mother or a rogue queen or someone's ex, just Celia, my Celia from the tutor table."Stay," I said, I closed the door to the Defense Arts wing, "please, just five minutes” I begged, watching her pale skin relax for a minute “I promise it's about school."She sighed, she dropped her bag, she was in her plain black training set, hair tied back, boots too tight, she looked exhausted from the fever night, I could tell she didn't sleep, "Kieran, I have to get back to Nicholas, Ronan is watching him but I don't trust him alone for long.""I know," I said, I pulled out the old box from under my desk, the one I kept for four years, "but look at this first."Inside were photos, old, creased, of her at this same table, tutoring me, she
CELIAIt was 2am when I heard it, that little rattle in his chest that I hate more than anything, I had been half asleep with my hand on his forehead and his skin went from warm to burning in ten minutes, his breathing was too fast, his little fists were clutching his lantern, the one he made for me, and he was whimpering in his sleep like he was trying not to wake me."Nicholas," I whispered, I was already up, I was already pulling the blanket off him, "baby, hey, mama's here, look at me."He opened his eyes, gold eyes like mine but glassy, "Mama, my chest hurts," he said, his voice so small it broke me and my breath hitched in my throat.Lara was out, she had gone to Oak Town for clinic things and I was alone, my hands were shaking too hard to open the medicine bottle, I dropped it.The pills went everywhere on the floor, and I just sat there on the floor crying because I couldn't even do this one thing right, first my powers wouldn’t work on him and now, I was spilling the medicine
RONANCelia was mine and she's always gonna remain mine, there was no way I was about to let Kieran take her away from me, I know that for a while, I had been absent, with the exile then my assumption of her death and now her return, it only pointed in one direction, we were both meant to be together and I wasn't gonna let anyone stop us.I kept telling myself that in my office, with Magnus ledger in front of me, but the red mark on my cheek from last night was still there, faint now, but I could still feel it every time I swallowed, she hit me and she meant it, and I deserved it, but it didn't make me want her less, it made me want to fix it.I heard her before I saw her, bare feet on marble, her black dress swishing, Nicholas little boots behind her, she was coming down for his morning dose and she didn't even look at my office door, she walked past like I was furniture."Celia," I said, my voice low, I didn't mean to sound like an Alpha because even though it had been three years s
CELIAI didn't sleep after the slap.Every time I closed my eyes I felt his mouth on mine in that corner, his hand on my waist, Nicholas between us. And then I felt my own hand hitting him. My palm still stung, I wasn’t even sure if I meant to hit him that hard.In the morning, Nicholas woke up and touched my face."Mama, why are you crying?" he whispered."I'm not, baby," I said, wiping my face fast. "Mama just didn't sleep." I lied, forcing a smile on my lips. “Come on now..let’s get you ready”I got him dressed, gave him his medicine, and Lara took him to make lanterns with the other kids so I could go to the academy.I needed to go. If I stayed in that mansion one more hour with Ronan's handprint on his face downstairs, I was going to scream.The academy was loud like always. But this time, I didn't hear the whispers about "exiled" and "rogue queen". I just walked fast to the Defense Arts wing.Kieran was already there, wrapping his hands by the window. He looked up and saw my fac







