Chapter 23 Alter Of Desire
Lira
"What kind of angry things?" Aria asked, though her healer instincts were already telling her the answer.
"I'm not sure exactly," Ryn admitted. "But sometimes, on quiet nights, you could hear them howling. Like they were... waiting for something."
As if summoned by his words, a howl echoed through the ruins. Then another. And another.
Aria's face went pale. "Revenants," she whispered. "Spirits of wolves who died violently, unable to rest."
"They know you're here," Ryn said, his timid nature making him instinctively step closer to the group for protection. "Maybe they've been waiting to see if you'd come home."
The temple loomed ahead, its broken spires reaching toward the stars like accusing fingers. And between us and the sanctuary, the spirits of the dead began to gather.
This just keeps getting better, I thought.
But as we approached the temple doors, something unexpected happened. The revenants didn't attack. Instead, they formed a corridor, translucent wolves bowing their heads as I passed.
They're honoring me, I realized with a chill. They're honoring their dead alpha's daughter.
The temple doors stood open, waiting. And beyond them, in the moonlight, I could see an altar stained with old blood.
My parents' blood.
"Are you ready?" Kael asked quietly.
I took a deep breath, feeling the weight of destiny settling on my shoulders. "No. But let's go anyway."
As we crossed the threshold, the revenants followed—a ghostly pack escorting their lost alpha home.
The interior was cold stone and shadows, but I barely noticed the architecture. All I could focus on was the way Kael had fought for me, the way he'd taken silver bullets to keep me safe. The bond hummed between us.
"Thomas, take the others and secure the perimeter," Kael commanded. "Make sure we weren't followed."
"But Alpha," Thomas protested.
"Go." The authority in his voice brooked no argument.
When we were alone among the ruins and ghosts, Kael turned to me. Blood still seeped from the crossbow wound in his shoulder, and silver burns marked his arms where rogue claws had found their mark.
"You could have died," I whispered, reaching toward his wounds.
"So could you." His voice was rough. "When I saw that blade coming for you—"
I silenced him by pressing my lips to his, pouring all my fear and relief and desperate need into the kiss. The bond flared between us, and I felt his iron control finally crack.
"Lira," he growled against my mouth.
"I needed you," I breathed. "After seeing you with Nessa, I couldn't stop thinking about how it would feel for you to touch me like that. To want me like that."
His eyes went molten gold. "You don't know what you're asking for."
"Show me." I backed toward the altar, pulling him with me. "Show me what it means to be claimed by you."
For a moment, he hesitated. Then the scent of my arousal hit him, and his wolf surged forward, done with restraint.
"This won't be gentle," he warned, his voice harsh with need. "I told you I'm a man of great stamina. Once I start, I won't stop until you're completely mine."
"I don't want you to be gentle." I arched against him, feeling his hardness through the leather of his pants. "I want to forget everything but you."
Kael lifted me onto the altar, laying me flat against the cold stone that chilled my bare back, sending goosebumps across my skin. He loomed over me, bracing on his forearms, his muscular body caging me in. He kissed me deeply, his tongue thrusting into my mouth, stealing my breath until I clung to him with trembling hands, my fingers digging into his scarred shoulders.
My knees bent instinctively, feet pressed against the altar's edge. My thighs tried to close, shyness flooding me as heat pooled low in my belly. Kael's hand slid down, strong and firm, parting my legs wide and anchoring them open with his knees. I felt exposed, vulnerable, my slick folds aching with nervous anticipation.
"Mine," he growled against my neck, his teeth grazing the faint bond-mark, the scrape sending electric tingles down my spine. His voice was rough, a mix of man and wolf, vibrating through my body and making me shiver with a mix of fear and desire.
My cheeks burned hot, flushed crimson. This was my first time. I trembled, my heart pounding like a drum, nerves twisting with the urgent need building inside my core, making me wet and throbbing.
Kael looked down, his golden eyes softening despite the tension rippling through his taut muscles. "I'll be gentle," he whispered, the promise raw and intimate, before his lips claimed mine again, swallowing my soft whimpers.
When he pressed his thick tip against my slick entrance, my body jolted, a sharp gasp escaping my lips. He felt huge, hot, and unyielding, stretching my outer folds just from the pressure. Fear flickered in my eyes, my nails digging deeper into his shoulders, drawing faint red lines. "Kael..." I whispered, my voice small and uncertain, breaking on a shaky exhale.
He froze, his breathing ragged, chest heaving against mine. His forehead pressed to mine, sweat beading on his skin, his jaw clenched tight as if battling a storm inside. "Look at me," he commanded, voice low. "Breathe with me."
I forced a shaky breath, my chest rising and falling in sync with his, the intimacy calming my racing pulse slightly.
"Good girl," he murmured, his voice cracking on a deep growl as he eased forward, his tip breaching my virgin entrance.
My gasp was sharp and high-pitched, my tight walls clenching hard around him in instinctive resistance, the stretch burning like fire mixed with a deep, aching fullness. I felt split open, vulnerable, the sensation overwhelming—painful yet sparking a forbidden pleasure that made my inner muscles flutter.
He groaned deep in his chest, the sound torn and animalistic, rumbling through his body into mine. "So tight... gods, Lira," he rasped, his voice strained, every muscle trembling with the effort to hold back.
He stopped, buried just an inch inside, giving me time to adjust, though his hips twitched with restrained need. "Tell me," he rasped, breathing hot against my ear. "Do you want me?"
Tears pricked my eyes from the intense stretch and sting, but beneath it, a blooming heat spread through my core, making me slicker, easing the friction. I nodded, voice trembling and breathy. "I want you. Don't stop," I pleaded, my words a soft, needy whine.
The bond flared between us, raw and consuming, like fire racing through my veins, heightening every sensation.
Kael gritted his teeth, veins bulging in his neck, and pushed deeper, inch by throbbing inch, his cock sliding slowly into my slick heat. I felt every ridge, every vein, stretching me wider, the burn fading into a delicious fullness that made my toes curl. My moans started low and stuttered "Ah... oh that feels so-o good" building to desperate whimpers as he filled me completely, his hips finally flushing against mine.