Chapter 87

Chapter 87
Kaedan's POV

When I hung up, the heavy silence confirmed we were all thinking the same thing.

"A formal review," Nephele stated, her voice flat.

"They think I'm a liability," Gregory added, his stillness a stark contrast to the turmoil I felt through our bond.

"It's not about liability," I said firmly. "It's about tradition and protocol. Elder Marcus is using pack law to challenge my judgment, but they have to give you a fair assessment."

Gregory looked between us, processing the implications. "And if I fail their assessment?"

"Then I overrule them," I said without hesitation. "But it would be better for everyone if we can convince them you're the right choice."

I saw her shadows writhe at her ankles, a restless echo of the protective anger I felt through our bond.

"How long will you be gone?" she asked.

"However long it takes to convince them that Gregory deserves a chance to prove himself."

Through our bond, I felt her conflicted emotions—anger at the pack's prejudice but understanding that this was something I had to handle.

"Go," she said firmly. "And make them see what we see."

But as I packed my bag twenty minutes later, every cell in my body rebelled against leaving her.

She followed me to the truck, and when I pulled her against me for a goodbye kiss, the desperate edge to it told me she was feeling the same reluctance.

"I'll call you tonight," I promised.

"Be careful," she whispered against my lips. "And come back to me."

"Always."

As I drove away, watching her and Gregory wave from the doorway in my rearview mirror, I had to fight the urge to turn around.

This wasn't just about pack politics anymore. This was about whether my own people would accept the man I believed in, whether they'd give Gregory the chance to prove his worth.

Three days to change minds that had been set in traditional ways for decades.

Three days felt like a lifetime.

Nephele's POV

I stood in the doorway long after Kaedan's truck disappeared around the bend, my arm still raised in a wave that no longer had a recipient.

Gregory cleared his throat softly behind me. "He'll be back," he said.

"I know," I said, but I didn't move from the doorway.

The cottage felt different the moment Kaedan left—too quiet, like someone had sucked all the energy out of the air.

The first day wasn't unbearable, exactly. Gregory and I fell back into our routine, but I kept catching myself listening for his truck, reaching for his coffee mug before remembering he wasn't coming to breakfast.

Nighttime was harder. The bed felt too big, and I curled up on his side just to catch his lingering scent on the pillow. Through our mate bond, I could sense echoes of his exhaustion, but the connection felt distant and fragmented.

When Kaedan called that night, his voice was strained, the conversation brief. "I can't talk long—they're watching everything I do. But I miss you."

"I miss you too," I said, but the call ended too quickly, leaving me more unsettled than before.

The second day was worse. I woke up already irritated, like my body knew something was wrong. Everything annoyed me—the coffee tasted off, the cottage felt too small, even Gregory's reasonable questions made me snap at him.

"Sorry," I said immediately. "I'm just..."

"Missing him?" Gregory asked, not taking offense.

"Yeah." I rubbed my temples, feeling a headache. "More than I expected."

I spent the day obsessively checking my phone, hoping for a text that never came.

By evening, I was practically vibrating with restless energy, pacing from the kitchen table to the window and back again.

"Maybe you should try to get some sleep," Gregory said gently. "You've been wound up all day."

"I'm fine," I lied, but even I could hear how sharp my voice sounded.

Sleep, when it finally came, didn't help. Instead of rest, my brain decided to torture me with the most vivid sex dream of my life.

In the dream, Kaedan wasn't holding back. Not even a little.

He was everywhere—his hands, his mouth, his scent drowning me in pure, unfiltered need. His lips trailed down my throat, teeth scraping just hard enough to make me gasp before he sealed his mouth over my nipple.

And gods, the way he sucked—like he was trying to pull something deeper than just pleasure from me. His tongue flicked ruthlessly over the peak before he drew it between his teeth, biting just shy of pain.

I arched against him, whimpering, as his mouth worked me harder, wetter, until my skin burned and my body pulsed with the obscene thought that he might actually milk me, that if he kept going, I'd spill something sweet and forbidden just for him.

He didn't stop there. His hands dragged down my body, possessive and rough, spreading my thighs before his mouth found my clit.

The first lick nearly made me scream.

He didn't tease—he devoured. His tongue lashed against me in firm, relentless strokes, his lips sealing around the swollen bud and sucking until my hips jerked off the bed.

I tangled my hands in his hair, torn between pulling him closer and shoving him away from the sheer too much of it.

"Kaedan—fuck—!"

He growled against me, the vibration sending shocks of pleasure straight to my core. His fingers replaced his mouth just long enough to push inside me, curling in a way that had me clamping down hard—so hard I might've crushed his skull between my thighs if he hadn't pinned me down with his free arm.

And then he was moving—his cock, thick and heavy and impossibly huge, pressing against my entrance. The stretch burned in the best way, my body struggling to take him even as I craved more.

"Look at me," he demanded, voice rough with hunger.

I did—just in time to watch his face as he sheathed himself inside me in one brutal thrust.

The sensation was obscene. He filled me so completely I swore I could feel him in my throat, like his cock had speared straight through my womb and left no part of me untouched.

Every inch of him pulsed hot and thick, stretching me beyond reason, and yet my body welcomed it, clamping down around him as if trying to fuse us together.

He didn't give me time to adjust. His hips snapped forward again, driving a broken moan from my lips as he set a punishing pace. Each thrust dragged against my walls, the head of his cock striking so deep I saw stars.

The mate bond was wide open, his pleasure and mine colliding in a feedback loop of more, more, more—until the pressure coiled so tight I thought I'd shatter.

I came with a scream, my nails raking down his back as my body convulsed around him.

He followed me over the edge with a snarl, his teeth sinking into my shoulder as he spilled inside me, his release so hot and endless I could've drowned in it.

But reality hit like a bucket of ice water.

Empty sheets. Cold air. No Kaedan.