Chapter 188: The Start of an Insatiable Journey

IVY’S POV

Nyxara was ecstatic. Even before Leo’s paws touched my fur, even before his mouth brushed my neck, she was prowling in my head like a cat that just smelled prey.

Mate, she purred, low and obscene. I want him. Now.

I nearly choked on my own breath. Excuse me?

Her voice dripped with hunger. You heard me. Give me total control. I want to feel him, Ivy. Not you. Me.

My cheeks blazed with embarrassment. I tried to hide my face, to recoil into my furs. Nyxara, you’re such a slut, I shot back, half-playful, half-shocked. Haven’t we gotten enough already? We literally had him three…four times already.

Her growl came like a laugh. Correction…you got some dick, little human. Not me. I’ve been trapped inside you listening to every whimper, every gasp, every moan, and now I’m done waiting. I want to feel our mate with my own furs.

She was actually whining. God. My wolf…the ancient, shadowed part of me that I’d spent years yearning for…was sounding like a horny teenager. The desperation, the throaty growls, the images she was pushing into my head made my pulse stumble.

You sound unbelievably horny and stupid right now, I muttered. You’re embarrassing me.

Embarrass you? Nyxara’s voice rose, hot and feral. I’m dying in here, Ivy. I’ve waited all my life for him. Let me have my mate.

I recoiled, hands flying up like I could physically push her voice out. My body tingled, my heart beating way too fast. Fine. Fine! I snapped. But this is on you, not me. You hear me? Do whatever you want!

What happened next… gods. You don’t want to know.

You don’t want to know.

One second Leo and I were smooching, playing with each other’s furs. Next, Nyxara surged forward, flooding me, pushing me aside like a curtain. She took the full reins and Leo’s wolf, who I named king…answered.

They didn’t just mate. They collided. Clawed. Took. Claimed.

I could feel everything without control, without filter…heat and teeth and shuddering, overwhelming hunger. Their growls rose in stereo, echoing inside my skull like thunder. I felt violated, dizzy, like a passenger in my own body while my wolf and his devoured each other.

When it was over, my legs were jelly. My throat ached from howling and I was breathing frantically like I had been running for dear life. Leo and I lay naked on the floor, his arms wrapped around me, our bodies slick with sweat and heat.

My fingers drifted across his chest without thinking, tracing the steady thud of his heart. Listening to it had become one of my favorite things. The rhythm grounded me, soothed the chaos Nyxara had left behind.

“You’re mine,” I heard him say.

But it wasn’t out loud. It was inside my mind.

I shot up so fast his arm slid off me. “Did you just…?” I trailed off, my eyes searching his face.

He smiled, slow and dangerous, and pulled me back against him. “Mindlink you? Yes, I did, my love,” he whispered into my ear.

My stomach flipped. For a werewolf who’d lived half her life without a wolf, without feeling what others feel, without ever hearing someone mindlink her, this was everything. I was beyond thrilled.

Is this how it’s always been for everyone else?

“Say something else,” I blurted, tugging at his mouth like an impatient child.

His laugh rumbled through me, making my skin tingle. Then, inside my head…

I love you, Ivy. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you.

My mouth fell open in amazement and happiness. “Okay, me. How do I say it back?”

“It comes naturally, my love,” he said, eyes glinting. “Just imagine yourself talking to me, but without moving your mouth.”

I closed my eyes, heart thudding, trying to picture it. I… I love you too, Leo.

He chuckled. “I didn’t hear anything. Try again my love.”

Hearing his voice…especially that low, unguarded laugh…did something to me I couldn’t explain. It seeped under my skin, softening everything sharp inside me until I felt warm and weightless.

I hadn’t even realized there’d been a hollow space in me, a quiet ache I’d carried for so long it felt normal…until now. Lying here with him, wrapped in his presence, that emptiness wasn’t just eased; it was gone. Somehow, in ways I couldn’t name, he made me feel whole. Complete.

That sound. His voice. That one I never thought I’d get to hear again. It filled the ache I hadn’t even known was still there.

I tried again, and again to mindlink him, until I got it right. By the third time, I was grinning, mindlinking him silly until he clutched his ears dramatically.

“Are you shutting me out of your head?” I asked, getting up and crossing my arms like I wanted to pick a fight.

He hugged me from behind, his length pressing against my butt. “Of course not. In fact, scream all you want, my love. I can handle you, princess. Fuck, you have no idea how obsessed I am with you,” he whispered, trailing kisses over my shoulder.

I turned to face him, but just then another memory crashed through me…the genesis of the entire problem. How I got kidnapped in the first place.

“Leo…” My voice shook, remembering everything that happened in the past.

He froze when he saw my face. “Are you okay?”

I wanted to let it go, but it tugged like barbed wire. Isabella’s words clawed up from the dark…that he’s a monster, that he killed his first mate, that he needed to sacrifice me to live.

“You said I’m your second chance mate, right? What happened to the first?” I asked carefully.

His hands unclenched from around me, and he stepped back. “Why out of the blue?”

“Hey, don’t walk away from me. You can tell me,” I whispered, blocking his path. “Tell me, Leo. I don’t want any secrets between us ever. Okay?”

He nodded, jaw tight, then told me everything. Starting from how he’s a mixed breed to how he inherited his father’s curse.

By the time he finished, I was already hugging him. Here in my arms was a man who’d been a victim of a deadly obsession and deep rooted hatred.

Fucking Dina. I swore silently. I’m going to rip her heart out.

I didn’t know how just hugging him turned heated…but the next thing I knew, I was bent over the bed and he was slamming into me from behind, yanking my hair. Yeah… that happened again.

But it’s all Nyxara’s fault. She’s the horny one, not me. And then this mixed breed mate of mine with a complicated family tree.

When we’d talked and resolved our unspoken differences, I was dressing up so we could start our plan to trap Lila when his voice rang out.

“I’ll be leaving for Rose Pack tomorrow. Raul will pay for everything he did to my queen,” he growled.

“And I’m coming with you,” I said, chin high. I’m not the weak Ivy Blackwood anymore…Nyxara’s under my skin and she’s the iron at my core. Let that son of a gun wait for me… I’ll teach him a lesson so ugly he won’t know whether to bleed or beg.

Leo looked at me but didn’t argue.

“Are you sure you wanna go back there?” Leo’s voice was tight, almost a growl. “Just thinking about you in that place again is tearing me up.” He grabbed at my waist, holding me like he was scared I’d vanish.

“You agreed, Alpha. Now let me go before she comes back,” I shot back, swatting his hand away.

My fingers brushed the doorknob when he yanked me around and crashed his mouth onto mine. The kiss was hard, desperate…all teeth and heat. I melted against him before I could stop myself.

“Leo… stop,” I breathed, pushing at his chest.

“She’ll be back any second,” I whispered against his lips.

He exhaled sharply, resting his forehead on mine. “I can’t wait to crown you in the morning,” he murmured, voice low and dangerous.

“Me too,” I said, stroking his arm.

I forced myself to turn and walk out of the chamber, even though every part of me wanted to stay wrapped in his arms, soaking in his warmth until I’d had my fill. But wanting him and needing to leave were two different battles…and for now, leaving had to win.

Cole was waiting at the end of the corridor. He didn’t say a word as he led me back to the dungeon…but his eyes flicked to me once, and I knew that he knew what happened inside the king's chamber.

Of course he could smell his king all over me.

The moment I stepped into the cell, everyone rushed at me, faces tense and curious. No one spoke.

Except Daniel.

“You reek of sex,” he said, wrinkling his nose.

I smirked, a little wicked.

Oh, he has no idea.