Chapter 38 Yours
ARYA
Luca doesn’t miss a beat before replying.
“Absolutely not. It’s too dangerous.”
“I’m not some fragile flower, Luca. I’m the Moonborne heir. If this coalition is targeting your people, they’re eventually going to target me. I might as well face them head-on.”
“Aeliana—”
“Partner, remember? Not possession.” I met his eyes. “We face threats together or not at all.”
He stared at me for a long moment, conflict warring in his expression. Finally, he nodded.
“Together. But you stay by my side at all times. And if I say run, you run. Understood?”
“Understood.”
“Good.” He kissed me hard. “Pack light. We leave in an hour.”
The border territory was chaos when we arrived.
Buildings burned. People shouted. The wounded were being tended to in a makeshift medical station. The scent of blood and ash was overwhelming.
Luca immediately took command, his Alpha authority settling over everyone like a blanket. People calmed, organized, followed his orders without question.
I helped where I could—tending wounds, organizing supplies, comforting the injured. My healer’s instinct kicked in, that same drive that had made me good at managing pack business.
“Luna,” one of the injured Lycans gasped when I approached. “You’re the Moonborne.”
“Just Arya. Let me see that wound.”
As I worked, others gathered. Watching. Whispering. I could feel their curiosity, their hope, their skepticism.
“Is it true?” a young female asked. “That you’re his mate? That you’ll unite us?”
“I’m his mate, yes. The rest… I’m still figuring out.”
“But you’re here. Helping. That matters.” She smiled through her pain. “The old king would never have brought his mate to a war zone. He’d have locked her away.”
I glanced at Luca, who was across the clearing barking orders. As if sensing my gaze, he looked up, our eyes meeting.
The heat in that look could have started fires.
“He’s different with you,” the female continued. “Softer. More… human.”
Was he? Or was this who he’d always been beneath the crown?
As night fell, we set up in what remained of the territory’s pack house. Luca insisted on checking every room personally before allowing me inside.
“Paranoid much?” I teased.
“When it comes to your safety? Absolutely.” He pulled me into our room—the only one that hadn’t been damaged. “Caspian has guards posted at every entrance. No one gets in or out without me knowing.”
“What about you? When do you rest?”
“I don’t need much sleep.”
“Luca—”
“I need you safe more than I need rest.” His hands cupped my face. “Seeing you tend to my people today… Aeliana, you were magnificent. They love you already.”
“I was just helping.”
“You were being a queen.” He kissed me softly. “My queen.”
The word hung between us.
Queen.
Not just his mate. His queen.
“I’m not—”
“Not yet,” he agreed. “But you will be. When you’re ready. When you choose it.” His thumb brushed my lower lip. “And Aeliana? I very much hope you choose it. Choose me. Choose us.”
“I’m already choosing you. Every day, I’m choosing you.”
“Then let me choose you back. Properly.” He dropped to his knees before me, and my breath caught. “Let me worship you the way you deserve.”
His hands slid up my thighs, pushing my dress higher. When his mouth found me through my underwear, I gasped.
“Luca, anyone could hear—”
“Let them.” He pulled my underwear aside, his tongue making me forget every objection. “Let them all know you’re mine and I’m yours.”
He worked me with single-minded focus, bringing me to the edge and backing off, again and again until I was begging.
“Please,” I whimpered. “Please, I need—”
“What do you need, little wolf? Tell me.”
“You. I need you. All of you.”
He stood, lifting me easily. My legs wrapped around his waist as he walked us to the bed. When he laid me down, his eyes were pure molten gold.
“Are you sure? Because Aeliana, if we do this, if I claim you fully, there’s no going back.”
“I don’t want to go back. I want to move forward. With you.”
“Thank fuck.” He stripped quickly, and then his glorious body was covering mine. “This might hurt at first—”
“I know. I don’t care. I want it. Want you.”
He positioned himself at my entrance, his eyes never leaving mine. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” The words came easily, naturally. Because they were true. I loved this possessive, protective, devastating king who’d seen my worth from the very beginning.
He pushed in slowly, carefully, watching my face for any sign of pain. There was some—pressure, stretching, a burning sensation—but it wasn’t unbearable.
“Breathe, little wolf. Just breathe.”
When he was fully seated inside me, we both stilled. The feeling of being completely joined, of having him inside me while the mate bond sang between us—it was overwhelming.
“You okay?” His voice was strained with the effort of staying still.
“More than okay. Move. Please move.”
He did. Slow at first, letting me adjust, but gradually building speed. Each thrust hit something inside me that made stars burst behind my eyes.
“Fuck, you feel incredible.” His forehead pressed against mine. “So tight. So perfect. Made for me.”
“Luca,” I gasped as the pressure built. “I’m going to—”
“Come for me. Come on my cock like a good girl.”
The command, the possession in his voice, sent me over the edge. I came hard, clenching around him, and his own release followed seconds later.
As he spilled inside me, I felt his teeth at my neck. The claiming bite, the mark that would tell the world I belonged to him.
I bit him back, right at the junction of his neck and shoulder. Claiming him as thoroughly as he’d claimed me.
The mate bond SNAPPED into place. Full, complete, devastating.
I could feel everything he felt. His love, his satisfaction, his fierce protectiveness. And he could feel me—my love, my trust, my absolute certainty that this was right.
“Mine,” he growled against my neck. “My mate. My queen. Mine.”
“Yours,” I agreed. “And you’re mine.”
“Always. Forever. Until the end of time itself.”