Chapter 146 146
Aurélie POV
Damien’s wolf finds me in a small wooded clearing, hidden from human eyes by thick clusters of trees. We’re in a rural area, but caution has long been stitched into my bones you can never be too careful.
The chocolate-brown wolf that has haunted my dreams for so long now stands before me in living flesh.
An alpha wolf.
Large. Powerful. Unmistakably dominant.
The very peak of the pack hierarchy made even stronger by the alliance he leads.
It’s subtle, but with every pack that has joined the Darkvale alliance, I’ve felt my own wolf grow not just in size, but in power. In presence. In strength.
She growls at him, still furious that he knocked her through the barn wall, robbed her of the chance to sink her teeth into that rogue’s flesh. She wanted blood. She wanted revenge.
With a slight tilt of his head, he relinquishes control, forcing the shift back to Damien. I watch through my wolf’s eyes as fur melts into skin, muscle rolling over muscle.
He looks carved by the gods everywhere. I know I’ll never tire of the sight, never stop my gaze from roaming shamelessly over him.
He approaches slowly, arms extended, wordlessly telling me he means no harm. That he’s here to help. Whatever clash we had moments ago is already behind us forgotten, dismissed as instinct colliding with instinct.
My wolf has been struggling to remove the splintered wooden board lodged deep in our shoulder. It’s wedged so tightly that if she shifts me back now, it will remain buried inside my body.
Damien places his hands carefully around the jagged wood and pulls it free in one swift, decisive movement.
Pain explodes but only briefly.
Almost immediately, I feel the wound begin to heal. I am an alpha wolf, after all blessed by the Moon Goddess with rapid regeneration.
He takes his time afterward, running his hands through my thick, sandy-brown fur, even scratching behind one ear. The pleasure is instinctive I reward him with a playful lick across his torso.
“Shift, Aurélie,” he commands.
His alpha voice and aura roll over my wolf, irresistible.
She obeys.
Fur gives way to skin, and I find myself naked in his arms.
His chest rumbles as he takes me in, his gaze slow and deliberate, mapping every curve, every line leaving nothing unseen. He likes what he sees. I can feel that approval pressed firmly against my thigh.
He turns us so his back rests against a tree, pulling me with him until I’m seated between his legs, my back flush against his chest.
A moan escapes me as my head tilts back, eyes lifting to the canopy above, while his tongue traces the wound on my shoulder helping the healing along. Alpha saliva has restorative properties, meant only for mates and children. I don’t need it… but the warmth it sends through my chest tells me everything.
He cares. He’s concerned.
He cradles me closer, settling me against him, his chin resting atop my head.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he murmurs, regret heavy in his voice.
“You didn’t,” I reply softly. “I’m fine. See already healing.” I turn my head to look up at him.
My fingertips begin to trail slowly down the length of his powerful thighs, enjoying the subtle reactions I provoke the tension, the warmth, the way his body responds without permission. Every so often, my fingers drift upward to tug gently at strands of his dark-blond hair, sun-brightened and impossibly soft.
We stay like that for what feels like hours, wrapped together in the quiet of the woods, watching wildlife move around us, the world continuing on as if nothing has changed.
“I’ve been a fool,” he whispers, kissing the back of my head.
“No more than most men,” I tell him gently. “She killed her own mate, Damien. I still can’t understand how that’s even possible. Rejecting is one thing but murder? The destruction of an entire pack? Doesn’t she have family in the Bloodnight pack?”
“Not really,” he answers quietly. “Her parents died when she was young. She was raised by unmated women in the pack. I never believed she was capable of something like this.”
I feel him swallow hard behind me, then inhale my scent, grounding himself in it. I want to take his guilt from him, ease it away. If she could deceive her own mate even with the mate bond what chance did any of us truly have?
I turn slowly in his arms, lifting my face to his and pressing a kiss to his lips.
As soon as our mouths meet, his hand cups my cheek, holding me there. I shift fully toward him, placing my hands flat against his chest, deepening the kiss.
I’m going to enjoy this.
I want to give him the same passion he’s given me. The same dizzying, euphoric loss of control. I want to watch him unravel beneath my touch
Just as I once did beneath his.