Chapter 61 061

Chapter 61 061
Mikhail

I had to look away before I did something stupid. Before I shoved Irina's hand off my arm and crossed the room to pull Natasha into my arms and tell everyone the truth.

"Are you alright?" Irina asked, noticing my distraction.

"Fine. Just tired."

"Of course. Dimitri mentioned you've been working hard lately," She squeezed my arm sympathetically. "When we're mated, I'll make sure you take proper care of yourself. A strong wolf needs rest as much as he needs a challenge."

When we're mated. Not if. When.

She had already decided. She already saw this as a done deal.

The rest of dinner passed in a blur of meaningless conversation. Irina talked about her pack, her accomplishments and her vision for what she could bring to our territory.

Alpha Konstantin and Dimitri discussed potential alliance benefit, and I sat there, Irina's hand on my arm, feeling absolutely nothing while the woman I actually loved sat at the end of the table pretending she wasn't falling apart.

"I think this has been a very productive evening," Alpha Konstantin finally said as dinner concluded. "Irina, Mikhail, why don't you take a walk in the gardens? Get to know each other better."

It wasn't really a suggestion. It was more of a command disguised as one.

"That sounds lovely." Irina said, standing and offering me her hand.

I took it because I had no choice, leading her out to the gardens while Dimitri watched with approval and Natasha disappeared in the opposite direction.

The gardens were beautiful in the evening light, but I barely noticed. Irina walked close beside me, her arm linked through mine, talking about something. I wasn't really listening.

"You're very quiet." She finally observed.

"Just thinking."

"About us?" She stopped, turning to face me. "I know this is sudden, this arrangement, but I want you to know I'm taking it seriously. I think we could be good together, Mikhail. I think we could build something real."

Something real. If only she knew what that felt like. What it was like to love someone so completely that the thought of being with anyone else made you physically ill.

"I should be honest with you," I said carefully. "This is all very fast. I need time to—"

"I understand," She stepped closer, her hand on my chest now. "But sometimes the best matches are the practical ones. Passion fades, Mikhail, but respect, shared goals and understanding lasts."

She was wrong. Passion didn't fade. Not real passion.

Not the kind that made you sneak around like criminals just to touch the person you loved. Not the kind that made every moment apart feel like torture.

"Think about it," She said softly. "I'll be here another week. Spend time with me. Get to know me. I think you'll find we're more compatible than you expect."

She reached up, her hand cupping my cheek, and for a horrible moment I thought she was going to kiss me.

But she just smiled and stepped back. "I should return to my father. Thank you for a lovely evening, Mikhail."

She left, and I stood there in the gardens, feeling like I had just betrayed everything that mattered.

That night, I waited until the house was quiet, until I was sure everyone had gone to their rooms, then I moved through the darkened hallways like a ghost, heading for Natasha's room.

I didn't knock. I just opened her door and slipped inside, closing it behind me.

She was sitting on her bed, still dressed, her arms wrapped around herself. When she saw me, something cracked in her expression.

"You shouldn't be here." She whispered, but there was no conviction in it.

I crossed the room in three strides, pulling her up and into my arms. She made a small sound of relief, pain and need and then her mouth was on mine and we were kissing desperately.

I walked her backward until her back hit the wall, my hands everywhere, relearning her body, reminding myself that this was real, she was real, and everything else was just noise.

"Mikhail—" She gasped when I broke the kiss to attack her neck.

"Shhh," My hands found the hem of her shirt, yanking it over her head. "Don't talk. Don't think. Just feel."

I needed this. I needed to erase the memory of Irina's touch, the sound of her voice planning our future. I needed to prove to myself and to Natasha that tonight meant nothing.

I stripped her roughly, my own clothes following, and then I was lifting her, her legs wrapping around my waist.

"She touched you," Natasha breathed against my mouth. "I had to watch her touch you."

"It meant nothing," I positioned myself at her entrance, feeling how wet she already was. "You hear me? Nothing."

I thrust into her hard, pinning her against the wall, and she cried out.

"This is real," I growled, setting a brutal pace. "This is what matters. Not some arranged dinner, not some she-wolf who doesn't know the first fucking thing about me."

"Mikhail—" Her nails dug into my shoulders.

"Only you," I captured her mouth again, kissing her fiercely. "It's only you. Always been you."

I fucked her against the wall like a man possessed, like I could prove through sheer physical intensity that she was the only one who mattered.

That Irina and every other she-wolf in the world could parade in front of me and it wouldn't change a goddamn thing.

"Say it," I demanded, my hand in her hair, pulling her head back so I could see her face. "Say you're mine."

"Yours," She gasped. "I'm yours, Mikhail, only yours."

"Damn right you are." I carried her to the bed, laying her down and following, never breaking our connection. "And I'm yours. No matter what happens, no matter who they try to push on us—this doesn't change."

I rolled us so she was on top, watching her ride me with desperate intensity. Her hands braced on my chest, her head thrown back, and she was so fucking beautiful it hurt.

"I love you," I said, the words raw. "I love you and I don't give a fuck what they want, what they expect. You're the only one I want."

"I love you too." Tears were streaming down her face now. "But Mikhail, we can't—this can't—"

"Yes it can," I sat up, pulling her tight against me, changing the angle so I was driving deeper. "We'll find a way. I swear to you, we'll find a way."

She clung to me, her face buried in my neck, and we moved together with desperate urgency. This was more than sex.

This was claiming, proving and refusing to let go even as the world tried to tear us apart.

"Come for me," I commanded, my hand between us, finding her clit. "Come on my cock and remember who you belong to."

She shattered with a cry, her pussy clenching around me so hard I saw stars. I followed seconds later, spilling inside her and marking her as mine in the most primal way possible.

We collapsed together, both breathing hard and tangled in each other.

"It's only you," I repeated, softer now, my hand stroking her hair. "Whatever I have to do, whoever I have to sit through dinners with, it doesn't change this. It doesn't change us."

"But what if—" Her voice broke. "What if they make you mate with her? What if you have to—"

"I won't," I tilted her face up, making her look at me. "I'll find a way out of this. I promise you."

"How? You said yourself there's no way—"

"Then I'll make one," I kissed her fiercely. "I'm not losing you. I don't care what it costs."

She wanted to believe me. I could see it in her eyes, but I could also see the doubt and the fear that this was a promise I couldn't keep.

And honestly? I wasn't sure I could either.

But I knew one thing with absolute certainty, I would die before I let anyone else have her. And I would burn the whole fucking world down before I accepted a mate who wasn't her.

Whatever it took. Whatever the cost.

She was mine, and I was hers, and that was the only truth that mattered.