LOGINDarien
The moment I stepped into the hallway, my feral nature roared to the surface.
Mine. Claim. Mate. MINE.
The beast inside me was taking over. It consumed me, filling every thought with primal need. Leah’s scent called to me through the door, sweet and intoxicating and made infinitely more potent by her heat.
LeahNot a sound from Darien. Not a trick of magic. The golden lion opened its jaws and released a roar that shook the air with enough force to press against my chest. The sound rolled outward in concentric waves, echoing off the coliseum walls, shaking loose snow from the railings, vibrating through the stone beneath our feet.A rush of warm air circled us. It swept around Darien and me in a spiral, pressing my dress against my legs, lifting loose strands of hair from my face. I felt Darien's grip tighten on my hand. He pulled me closer, his body shielding mine on instinct, his silver eyes wide. He didn't understand what was happening. Neither did I.The snowflakes stopped.Not slowly, the way a storm dies down. All at once. Every flake suspended in the air froze, hung motionless for one bre
LeahThe corridor stretched ahead of us, lined with stone pillars and iron candelabra that threw flickering light across the walls. Our footsteps echoed in the quiet. Keanu walked beside me with a steadiness that grounded the trembling in my legs. Cain walked ahead, his broad shoulders cutting through the space like a ship's bow.I could hear them before we reached the doors. Hundreds of voices. The low hum of a crowd gathered for something they'd been waiting for, layered with the occasional burst of laughter, the shuffle of bodies adjusting, the unmistakable restless energy of anticipation.My heart climbed into my throat.The doors were massive. Dark wood banded with iron, carved with symbols I recognized now as lycan heritage markings. Cain stepped to one side. Two guards positioned at th
LeahI was nervous. I was whatever word existed beyond nervous, the kind that made your hands useless and your reflection look like a stranger. I stood in front of the mirror, fidgeting with the velvet of my sleeves, trying to recognize the woman staring back at me. The dress was deep blue, rich as a midnight sky, with white fur lining the neckline that brushed against my collarbones every time I breathed. Small diamonds were studded across the entire gown, catching light from every angle, scattering tiny constellations across the stone walls of the preparation room.I looked like a queen.The thought hit me sideways, and I had to grip the edge of the vanity to steady myself. I wasn't sure I was ready to be what that reflection was showing me.“Look at you.” Keanu's voice came from behind me, warm with pride I could hear before I even turned around. “My baby sister is all grown up, came back from the dead, killed an ancient witch, and is about to be a queen.”He trotted up and wrapped
LeahI knew because his arms tightened around me with a fierceness that bordered on pain, and a shudder broke from his chest, the sound of a man who had just felt his mate’s love in its unfiltered entirety for the first time and was drowning in the magnitude of it.We held each other as the aftershocks rolled through us, our bodies still joined, our marks still bleeding, the bond pulsing between us with its own heartbeat. His face was buried in my neck, pressed against the fresh bite that was already beginning to heal, and I could feel his tears against my skin. Silent tears. The kind that come from something too big for words.I didn’t try to wipe them away. I just held him tighter, one hand cradling the back of his skull, the other spread flat between his shoulder blades where I could feel the rhythm of his breathing slowly
LeahHis last shred of restraint dissolved.He kissed me deeply, consuming, his body settling over mine with a weight that felt like coming home. His hands explored me with the focused devotion of someone who refused to take a single inch of skin for granted, tracing lines of heat down my sides, across my stomach, up the curve of my ribs. Every point of contact ignited the bond between us, the remade thread of gold that pulsed with shadow, sending waves of sensation through my body that went beyond physical touch.I arched into him, my body answering his with an urgency that came from somewhere deeper than desire, somewhere that understood how close we had come to never having this again. My nails raked down his back. He groaned, the sound low, and pressed his hips against mine in a rhythm that made thought impossible.
LeahThe quiet held for three heartbeats. Four. Five.Then Turk stood up.The delta officer rose from his seat at the officers' table with the abrupt energy of someone who had been waiting for permission and had run out of patience for waiting. His eyes blazed with a conviction that made the wolves on either side of him lean back slightly.“Our Queen is a badass!” His voice hit the rafters and bounced back. “Together with our King, North Star will be unstoppable!”The silence shattered.The roar that erupted from the hall was physical, a wall of sound that vibrated in my sternum and pushed tears into my eyes before I could stop them. Wolves surged to their feet, chairs scraping
LeahThe silence that followed my accusation stretched between us like a taut wire, vibrating with tension. I watched Darien’s face, searching for any signs of denial or deflection.Instead, he smiled.And then he chuckled, the sound low and warm, filling the space between us with something that fe
Leah“Who?” I watched as he blinked at me. Like he couldn’t believe I didn’t know who that was.“Asena is a powerful deity of rebirth. Most werewolves come from the Moon Goddess. You have heard about her, right?” Oh, that snarky ass. I nodded my head but could see the hidden smirk in his eyes. “But
LeahThe hot water had washed away the flour, the sauce, and most of the chaos from the kitchen disaster. I stood in front of the mirror in Darien’s bathroom, combing through my damp hair, trying not to think about how comfortable I’d become in this space. How natural it felt to use his shower, to
LeahI led Darien back into the disaster zone that was the kitchen, my heart pounding with a mixture of guilt and something else I refused to examine too closely.“Here, lean down,” I said, guiding him toward the sink.“Is this where you finish me off?” His tone was light, teasing despite the fact







