Chapter 11

Ronan was ruthless in his handling of me, his fingers digging into my thighs as he forcibly held my legs apart, eating me with a savagery that robbed me of my ability to form a single coherent thought. His tongue curled inside me and I let out a pleading cry, and then I felt him pinch my hardened clit and I screamed.

I fell apart under his hands and mouth, and even as I came, he kept sucking and licking as if he didn’t want to waste a single drop.

He pressed a kiss to my abdomen at the end, giving me a moment to breathe and come down from my high. But that moment was short-lived as he suddenly flipped me over, onto my stomach before yanking me towards him, my ass in the air.

“You’re already soaking for me,” he murmured, his voice thick. “You’ve been mine since the day you were born, Seliene. I was just too blind to see it.”

I didn’t even realize what was happening until I felt his hard cock pressing against my back and then he pierced me.

This time, my cry was of pain, and his hiss was of shock.

“You’re a virgin?!”

I babbled something, and then his hand was on my face, turning me to face him, soothing me, wiping the tears, and offering a kiss so sweet that my heart ached and ached.

He went still for a moment, allowing me to get used to the size of him. The feeling of fullness was so foreign that I found myself gripping the sheets, my eyes squeezed shut, and then he moved slightly. The pain turned into something different, more intense, and I shuddered.

Ronan understood and began to move his hands, running them over my body, squeezing my hips. I sobbed when he pulled out his fat cock to the very tip and then plunged back in.

“How’s that?” His voice was a husky growl, and I howled in growing desperation.

“So good!”

I heard him chuckle, and then he slowly began to pick up speed. Each pump inside me sent me to new heights of pleasure I never thought possible. My whole body was on fire and I couldn’t even see straight. I felt every inch of his cock as it rubbed against me inside, and it drove me crazy.

I needed more. And he gave it to me.

His thrusts were hard and rough now, both of us too far gone to care. Ronan’s hand curled around my neck in a possessive grip as he fucked me into the bed. It was when his other hand found my clit and twisted it, almost painfully, that I finally lost it, screaming his name. I heard him grunt as he, too, lost it.

As he came inside me, I felt him pump once, twice, and then I collapsed onto the bed on my stomach.

The exhaustion was so much that I felt my eyes sliding shut.

And just when I thought I couldn’t take more—

His mouth broke from mine. He looked into my eyes.

Then slowly

so slowly

I felt his canines graze my neck.

“You don’t want this,” he rasped. “Not like this. Not when you're drunk.”

“I’m not drunk anymore,” I whispered. “I’m yours.”

That was all it took.

He growled, low and guttural and sank his fangs into the crook of my neck.

The pain was a flash, sharp and quick but it disappeared beneath a wave of ecstasy so deep it shattered me. I screamed his name as the bond ignited, fire racing through my veins.

I felt him inside me.

His wolf crashed into mine.

And she welcomed him.

I felt everything. His guilt. His hunger. His claim.

And the second the mark was complete, I came undone in his arms.

Tears welled in my eyes, not from pain, but from the unbearable weight of finally being seen. Chosen. Claimed.

__

The sun was out when I woke up. Blearily, I blinked, hating the sounds of the birds chirping so damn loudly.

I tried to roll over and bury my face in the pillow, only to gasp in pain. My entire lower body was on fire, and I went still, trying to breathe past the pain.

My memories were all jumbled up, and as I stared at the ceiling and then let my gaze move around the wrecked room, I remembered last night in far too vivid detail.

Oh fuck. What had I done?

My wolf was curled up inside me, content.

I closed my eyes, not knowing what to think. My apartment was empty. Ronan wasn’t here.

Which meant he had left.

He had a good time and left.

I had never felt so cheap and used before, and despite the pain, I curled up on my side, pulling the blankets around me.

It was the click of the front door lock that had me blinking.

I heard footsteps, and then Ronan was standing in the doorway.

“I thought you left.”

He turned slowly. And when our eyes met, I wished he hadn’t.

Gone was the man who had held me like I was everything.

Now he looked at me like I was nothing.

“Ronan…” I tried.

But he cut me off.

“This can’t happen again,” he said.

Just like that. Cold. Final. A blade between my ribs.

I stared at him, stunned. “That’s all you have to say?”

He said nothing.

Anger rushed in where my heartbreak bled. “You used me. You touched me like I mattered. And now you act like I’m some mistake you’re trying to erase?”

His jaw tightened. Still silent.

I laughed. Bitter and broken. “Is this your specialty, Ronan? Building me up just to tear me down again?”

His eyes flickered.

I rose from the bed, ignoring the pain as I wrapped the blanket tighter around me and stepped forward.

“Didn’t it bother you that I was going to marry Lucian?” I demanded. “That my father was giving me away to someone else while you pretended last night meant nothing?”

He flinched. Just a flicker. But I saw it.

“I wanted to believe you,” I whispered. “That your pack had nothing to do with my mother’s death. That all the blood on your hands didn’t belong to someone I loved. But now... I didn’t know what to believe anymore.”

He still wouldn’t speak. His silence was a knife twisting deeper.

My voice broke. “Did you know who I was? From the start? Is that why you rejected me? Is that why you kept looking at me like you couldn’t decide whether to hate me or want me?”

Still, he said nothing.

“Say something, damn it!” I cried, shoving him weakly. “Why are you doing this to me? Why now?”

Finally—finally—he spoke.

“Because anything I say won’t matter. You already believe what you want.”

I stared at him. My breath was shaky. My chest burned.

“You make it hard for me.’

He stepped closer.

My heart stumbled.

Then hiis hand lifted.

Gently, he brushed my hair aside—and his eyes locked onto the spot where the mark lingered faintly against my skin.

His fingers trembled as they hovered there.

"You were never supposed to be mine," he murmured, voice hoarse. "But the bond didn’t care about what was fair."