005

21+

Ember's POV

The obsidian courthouse shimmered, pulsing with darkness .

It felt alive, the air around icy and biting, filled with something ancient and suffocating. The walls were covered in ancient markings, torches blazing red with fire along the arches, their flames flickering with each roar of the council of elders.

The air crackled, not just with only magic, no, but with also judgement.

I stood there, alone, at the center of the stone circle, the silver shackles I was bound with biting deep into my wrists.

After I had said those words, offering myself as a replacement, they clamped a collar around my throat, it was made from the same cursed, deadly metal that repels werewolves, burning through my wolf.

I was barefoot, bruised but still reeked of beautiful defiance.

I shifted my gaze to Zane as he watched me, his chains removed from his hands.

He didn't just watch because he wanted to, no, but because they forced him to watch. He stood shirtless, chest heaving heavily, blood streaking down his jaw from here he had tried to chew free through his gag earlier. They wanted to make him helpless and furious and unfortunately, they got both.

Then, the high priestess slowly rose from the upper dais, her robes swirling beneath her, her voice slicing through the hall with a tongue laced with languages ancient than our names.

“You defiled the council, broke the law of blood and those that hold the werewolf province!” She sneered. “But……the old rites and council have one mercy left to offer…..”

She paused, shifting her gaze towards me as she stared into my soul.

“If you claim that your bond is true, then prove it” she said with no trace of emotion in her tone. “Under the Rite of Flesh and that of Truth, submit, survive or be ready to die……together!”

My heart skipped a beat, the hall rippling with gasps and the Elders whispers.

Then, someone laughed, cold and mocking. It could only belong to Magnus.

I gritted my teeth, raising my chin. I didn't flinch or show my fear, never.

“Then take me, take my wolf, my name, my blood…..but let him go” I replied.

A drumbeat sounded. Then again. And once more. The ritual had started. Two guards stepped forward, pulling heavy chains.

The collar locked tight, shining with a dark symbol that made me stumble. My inner wolf whimpered.

Zane rushed forward, but more guards stopped him. He couldn't break the spell holding him. Not now, at least.

The torches burned brighter. Magic grew stronger. The court waited in silence.

Then, a voice, cold and sharp like a knife cutting stone. “Bring him.”

And they did.

They brought Zane to the altar. His chest moved up and down like a wild animal, his golden eyes staring at mine.

We faced each other. The stone beneath me was cold and slippery. I trembled, not from fear. From knowing. From burning need. My body already sensed what was coming.

My bond already cried out for him. And the priestess said the words that changed everything: “If the bond is real, take her. Mark her. Claim her. Not a kiss. Not a promise. Body to body.”

The council murmured.

A test forgotten in time. A ritual brutal and raw.

Zane's jaw tightened. His eyes blazed gold. He didn't move. Didn't speak. Until I whispered, “Please.” My voice broke. My body shivered. And then, softer: “Touch me. I need you to show them, I belong to you alone.”

The silence broke.

Zane roared. Chains broke like sticks. Guards flew aside like leaves. Magic swirled around him. He reached me in three steps.

And then? He didn't ask. He took.

*****

He crashed his mouth into mine and goddess, it didn't feel like just a kiss, no.

It was more than that, a fucking claim.

I could taste his blood and mine, I could not tell, in fact, I hardly cared. Not when my pussy was already clenching, soaked, throbbing and aching for his cock.

He then spun me around so fast, a gasp escaped my lips, my bare tits brushed against the cold altar as he bent me forward. I leaned in closer, my hands slapping against the obsidian, my nipples erect from both the cold and pleasure that ripped through my body.

I could feel him behind me, his hot, hard, thick cock dragging against the perky curve of my ass as he gripped my hips in place like he was about to split my open.

“You're fucking mine!” He growled, his voice gruff, his fingers digging into my skin, bruising it. “You fucking begged for this, little flame”

“I did….” I sobbed, moaning as I grinded my ass back against his cock like a fucking bitch in heat. “I…I fucking want all of you in me, all of you”

I could feel it; the collar clamped around my throat pulsing, burning. But at this moment, I could hardly care less, all my focus and need was on him, his hands, scent, heat!

Then, without any warning, he slammed into me in one brutal, raw thrust.

A scream tore through my throat, raw and loud as it echoed off the stone wall.

I could feel his cock fill me up so deep, it felt like he was in my soul.

Thankfully, we were surrounded by magic that made it impossible for us to be seen, so Zane was free to use me as he pleased.

“Gods, Zane—fuck—”

“Za….zane, fuck, goddess……” I moaned, unable to form proper words as he kept thrusting in and out of my pussy.

He didn't stop even for a second neither did he slow down as he kept pounding into me with a strong force, our skin slapping against each other, each thrust making my tits bounce against that altar.

He growled as he slowly dragged his tongue up my spine, his hot, intoxicating breath caressing my bare skin. “Let them fucking hear how my cock ruins you”

“Oh….pl….please……” I moaned, begging as drool rolled down my lips as he fucked the same spot inside me over and over until my pussy stretched. “Fuck….fuck me harder, don't you fucking stop, Zane!”

Growling, he buried his cock deeper as his thrust became even rougher, his hand gripping my hair as he tanked my head backwards, just enough to hook my throat with his other hand tight enough to make my cunt clench.

“Say it, little flame” he growled against my skin. “Say you belong to me while I fuck your pussy raw!”

I sobbed, my body trembling with pleasure. “Fu….fuck Zane….this….this pussy is yours….”

My legs were trembling, my pussy, dripping with his cum, clenching around his cock.

Then I felt it, the base of his cock swelling; his knot. I could feel it throbbing, claiming.

“Breed me” I moaned, a gasp escaping my lips. “Full me up, Zane, knot me until I can't take it anymore”

That was all it took to make him feral.

He then slammed into me over and over again until an intense climax hit me, ripping through my body so hard I shuddered, screaming as though I was possessed with lust.

My thighs clenched, convulsing and then, he knotted me.

I could feel his thick swell lock inside of me, stretching my pussy walls wide. Hot cum flooded my cunt as it spilled out around his knot in creamy drops down my thighs.

He grunted, leaning in close as he bit down on my shoulder, his massive hands holding my hips just in place as his cock throbbed deep and hot.

We didn't just fuck, no. We defied the gods themselves.

Heaving with exhaustion, I collapsed against that altar, my body trembling, my breath hitching. I was wrecked and used beyond words, Zane's enormous body covered mine, his breath disheveled in my ear.

The magic still glowed around us, it looked like a halo of bright, silver light.

And then again?

My pussy still clenched tightly around his knot, still pulsating, still needy, still moaning his name in a whisper.

******

After my raw sex with Zane, the hall fell silent.

Finally, the magic shimmered, the veil breaking before it slowly disappeared.

I looked around, collapsing in Zane's arms, my body still trembling. Thankfully, his body shielded mine, his arm pulling me close to him.

Gasps and murmurs erupted, the council elders freezing with shock.

I sighted Magnus at the far end of the hall, his face white as death itself.

“The…they've bonded!” I heard someone yell out.

“That's impossible!” Another yelled out.

“In the open court?!”

Then, I heard it. A shriek.

It came from the high priestess. She approached us, staggering, blood rolling down her eyes in the form of tears.

“Fools!” She spat, her face twisting with disgust. “They have awakened it! They have awakened the Scorch!’

The hall descended into chaos almost immediately she finished talking, the stone ground beneath our feet groaning.

Zane lifted me in his arms, holding me tightly as he spoke in a low, deadly tone. “What the hell does she mean?”

I saw as Magnus stood from his throne, shoving past the council, his eyes blazing with a feral intensity, filled with panic and rage.

“You bastards!” His voice thundered. “Your bond was never sacred! It was never there and you fools have unleashed that one thing even the gods fears……”

A loud crack echoed beneath our feet, the ground splitting open as Lava red lights were coughed up from the cracks, flames burning everything in sight as the Obsidian hall trembled.

This was not a myth, it was as real as the moon itself.

Something ancient, primal and hungry had been awakened.

Zane's breath became heavy, his eyes gleaming with a deadly intensity that sent shivers down my spine.

“Hold on to me….” He muttered as he pressed his forehead to mine.

Then, he spun his heels, dropping me to my feet.

“Run, now!” He growled.

Now, we were no longer rebelling against the council, we were now hunted, wanted by monsters and gods.

********

The forest was a mix of dark shapes and red light as Zane rushed through the bushes, holding me tight to his chest, my body still shaking from the bond, the passion, and him.

Behind us, the Obsidian court building fell apart, eaten by the wildfire we'd started. The earth cracked and shot flames, but it wasn't the only thing after us. The howl ripped through the air. One.

Then another. Then many more.

Zane's breath caught. “fuck. He sent them.” I turned my head, and my heart sank. Through the smoke and trees, the pack fighters appeared like ghosts.

Not just any wolves. His wolves. Alpha Magnus's. The best ones. Battle tested. Loyal. Trained to kill without question. And now, their eyes burned with anger.

Their mouths foamed. Their claws were out. They were faster. More fierce. Not coming to take us home……

Coming to drag us back in pieces.

“Don’t stop,” I whispered. “Don’t you dare stop.”

“I won’t,” Zane snarled, running faster, avoiding trees, jumping gaps. But we were losing magic. We were running out. And they were catching up. A whistle sounded in the night.

Then, fwip, I heard it.

The air cut.

Something flashed, fast, quiet, and dangerous. My breath caught.

When I looked back, that's when I saw it. The arrow. Dark.

Poisonous.

Heading right for my heart.