Chapter 64 What Comes After
Doc brings me water, and I drink it gratefully. My hands still shake from the power drain.
"How do you feel?" He checks my pulse.
"Exhausted. Scared. Powerful." I laugh weakly. "Like I just rewrote the rules of justice."
"You did." Elena sits beside me. "What you did today will change how wolves view judgment and mercy. You showed them that punishment can be transformation. That the strongest power is the power to change hearts."
"I just wanted them to understand." I close my eyes. "I wanted them to feel what they put others through. Is that wrong?"
"It's human." Elena smiles. "And divine. The perfect balance of justice and compassion. Luna chose well."
Outside, Gio approaches the cabin slowly. He looks ten years older than he did this morning. His eyes are hollow.
"Little Ash?" He stops at the door. "Can I talk to you?"
I tense, but Ryder nods permission.
Gio enters and falls to his knees immediately. "I'm sorry. Gods, I'm so sorry. I felt everything. Every time I mocked you. Every time I let them hurt you. Every moment I stood by and watched you suffer."
"I know." I don't move from Ryder's side. "I was there."
"I can't take it back." He bows his head. "I can't undo what I did. But I swear to you, I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make up for it. I'll tell Father what I did. I'll tell the pack the truth. And I'll challenge him for alpha if I have to."
"Why?" I study him carefully. "Why now? Because I'm powerful?"
"Because I saw what I was." He looks up, tears on his face. "Because you showed me the monster I'd become. And I don't want to be that wolf anymore."
I could reject him. Send him away. Let him suffer with no hope of redemption.
But that's not who I am.
"Then prove it." I stand and walk to him. "Go home. Challenge Father. Change the Nightshade Pack into something better than it was. Protect the weak instead of hurting them. If you can do that, maybe someday I'll forgive you."
"Thank you." He grabs my hand and kisses it. "Thank you for not giving up on me."
"I'm not doing it for you." I pull my hand back. "I'm doing it for every wolf you'll treat better because of what I showed you today."
Gio nods and leaves. Through the window, I watch him shift and run toward Nightshade territory.
"Think he'll actually change?" Knox asks.
"Some will." Elena stands and stretches. "Some won't. But you gave them the chance. That's all any of us can do."
I sink back into Ryder's arms, exhaustion washing over me.
"Can we go home now?" I ask. "Please?"
"Tomorrow." He kisses my temple. "Let you rest first. Then we ride home."
"Home." I smile despite my tiredness. "I like the sound of that."
I sink deeper into Ryder’s arms, the warmth of his body chasing away the last tremors of exhaustion. The cabin is quiet now—Elena murmuring to Doc in the next room, Knox gone to check the perimeter.
The fire crackles low, casting golden flickers over Ryder’s jaw, the scar that cuts through his left eyebrow, the way his eyes soften only for me. My pulse is still racing from what I did to Thorne, from the power that poured through me like moonfire. I feel raw, electric, alive in a way I’ve never been.
I tilt my head up, brushing my lips along the stubble at his throat. “Ryder.”
His arms tighten. “You need rest, little ash.”
“I need you.” The words come out husky, surprising even me. I slide my hand down his chest, over the hard ridges of muscle, lower, until my fingers trace the growing bulge in his jeans. “Right now.”
He chuckles, low and rough, the sound vibrating against my cheek. “When did my sweet Jolie get so naughty?”
I laugh, the sound breathless. “Since you fucked the innocence right out of me, remember?” I nip his earlobe, delighting in the way his breath hitches. “Your fault.”
“Damn right it is.” His hands slide to my hips, gripping hard enough to bruise. “And I’m not done taking responsibility.”
I sink to my knees before he can say more, the wooden floor cool against my skin. My fingers fumble with his belt, the leather warm from his body. He watches me, eyes dark, pupils blown wide. I free him—thick, heavy, already slick at the tip—and wrap my lips around the head. The taste of him floods my mouth, salt and heat and Ryder. I take him deeper, hollowing my cheeks, tongue swirling along the underside.
“Fuck, Jolie” His hand fists in my hair, not guiding, just anchoring, like he’s afraid I’ll vanish. I hum around him, the vibration making his thighs tense. I work him with my mouth, slowly then faster, until his hips jerk and his grip tightens.
“Close,” he growls. “Pull off”
I do, just in time. He hauls me up, spins me, and I land on the narrow bed with a soft oof. The furs are soft against my back; his praise is hotter. “You did a fucking incredible job today, little moon. Saved lives. Broke monsters. Now let me take care of you.”
He strips me with impatient hands—shirt torn over my head, pants dragged down my legs, underwear snagging on my ankle before he tosses it aside. I’m bare, trembling, and he spreads my thighs wide. His mouth finds my clit in one slow, deliberate lick that makes my spine arch off the bed.
“Ryder—oh gods—” The moan rips out of me, loud enough to echo.
He lifts his head just long enough to kiss me, swallowing the sound. “Shh. Elena’s right next door. She’ll hear every filthy noise you make.”
I nip his bottom lip, whispering against his mouth, “I don’t care.”
His grin is feral. “Good.”
He dives back in, tongue circling, sucking, two fingers sliding inside me and curling just right. I’m soaked, shameless, hips rocking against his face. The pleasure coils tight, brighter than moonfire, and I’m close—so close that he stops.
I whine in protest, but then he’s over me, one of my legs hooked over his shoulder, the blunt head of his cock nudging my entrance. He pushes in slow, stretching me open, filling me inch by inch until I’m gasping his name.
“Fuck,” he groans, forehead pressed to mine. “You’ll be the death of me.”
He starts to move—deep, measured strokes that hit every sensitive spot inside me. I kiss him hard, tasting myself on his tongue, and he licks into my mouth like he’s starving. My nails rake down his back; his hand fists in my hair, angling my head so he can bite my neck, my collarbone, the swell of my breast.
Then he flips me. I’m on my knees before I can blink, his hand between my shoulder blades pressing me down into the furs. He slams back in from behind, one hand squeezing my breast, rolling my nipple until I cry out. His other hand clamps over my mouth, muffling the sound.
“Quiet, baby,” he rasps against my ear. “Or I’ll stuff that pretty mouth again.”
I push back against him, meeting every thrust, the angle perfect. He fucks me like he’s claiming me all over again, like he’s branding his name into my soul. The bed creaks; the fire pops; my muffled moans vibrate against his palm.
Suddenly he pulls out, spins me, and lifts me like I weigh nothing. My legs wrap around his waist, back slamming against the rough wooden wall. He thrusts up into me in one smooth stroke, and my eyes roll back, a silent scream caught in my throat. He pounds into me, relentless, the wall scraping my skin, his arms trembling with the effort of holding me up.
“Come for me,” he growls, teeth grazing my throat. “Let me feel it.”
I shatter—pleasure crashing over me in waves, my walls clenching around him, milking him. He follows with a guttural groan, spilling deep inside me, hips jerking as he rides it out.
We slide down the wall together, a tangle of limbs and ragged breaths. He keeps me pinned to his chest, my face tucked into his neck, his heartbeat thundering under my ear.
“Tomorrow,” he murmurs, kissing my temple, “we go home. And then I’m keeping you in bed for a week.”
I laugh, boneless and sated. “Promise?”
“I promise.”