Chapter 22 Chapter 22
MIRA
The drive back to the mansion stretched on like a punishment.
I stayed curled against the cold car door, forehead pressed to the glass, tracing the blurred trail of streetlights racing past. Every few seconds my lips tingled—sharp ghosts of Luca’s reckless kiss flashing through me again. My body reacted like it recognized something my mind desperately wanted to forget.
Heat crawled up my throat, under my skin.
Too hot.
Too much.
The AC blasted me full-force, yet sweat clung to my palms. My chest felt too tight. My heart drummed too hard to be normal. Maybe I was sick. Maybe I was finally breaking. Maybe that would be easier.
When the car finally stopped in front of the mansion, the place looked wrong. It was dark, silent, empty in a way that made the fine hairs on my arms rise. No guards. No movement. No sound. I stepped out on shaky legs, braced myself against the wall until the world steadied, then forced myself inside.
My room greeted me with complete darkness.
I peeled off my clothes with clumsy fingers, pulling on the thinnest nightie I owned, but the fabric stuck instantly to my skin, damp from the heat building under it. Everything pulsed—my fingertips, my spine, even the inside of my jaw. The bed felt cool for a second, then burning.
Something was wrong. Really wrong.
I curled into the sheets, panting, waiting for the wave to pass but It didn’t.
A shout cracked through the house—violent enough to make me jolt upright. Another shout followed. Then Alpha Darius’ voice, deep and furious, rattling the walls. Footsteps thundered below. Glass shattered. Someone cursed. Three distinct voices—Jax’s low bite, Zane’s sharp edge, Luca’s calmer one—all tangled with their father’s roar.
The argument ended abruptly. Then rapid steps ascended the stairs. My heart stumbled, then sprinted as the doorknob clicked.
“Mira?” Luca’s voice broke through the dark.
The door swung open, spilling hallway light across the floor as all three stepped into the room. Luca reached me first, his hand brushing my hair back before sliding to my forehead.
“Oh gods, Mira.” His voice strained. “You’re burning up.”
Zane moved closer, stopping short when he took in my shaking. His expression tightened. “That’s not normal.”
Jax stood in the doorway like a shadow carved from stone. His eyes locked on me and something in him snapped to attention.
“We have to take her outside.”
Luca blinked at him. “What? She’s sick, Jax—”
“Now.” The word cracked through the room.
Zane opened his mouth to argue, but a violent wave tore through my body and I doubled forward, almost collapsing off the bed. Heat ripped up my spine like molten metal. My vision blurred into white noise. A strangled sound crawled out of my throat as tears burned down my cheeks.
Jax crossed the room in an instant.
“Zane, pick her up.”
Zane didn’t hesitate this time. His arms slid under me, lifting me effortlessly. My head slumped against his shoulder, too heavy, my body too hot to even feel his touch properly. The house spun around us as they carried me out the door, down the stairs, across the back lawn, and into the sharp night air of the woods.
Cold kissed my skin.
It didn’t matter.
The fire inside me didn’t cool—it fought.
They set me down gently against a tree as Luca crouched in front of me, his hands trembling slightly as they hovered near mine.
“Mira, look at me, what’s wrong? What do you feel?”
“I… I don’t know.” The words came out broken. “Please… make it stop.”
Zane shifted restlessly behind him, pacing like a caged animal. “Jax, what is this?”
Jax didn’t answer immediately.
He stared at me—really stared—like every breath I took confirmed something terrible he didn’t want to say.
“She’s shifting.”
My world stopped and I shook my head. “That’s not—no.” My voice cracked. “I don’t— I don’t have a wolf. I never—”
Jax shook his head sharply. “You’re an omega, Mira. Omegas don’t stay wolfless. Yours was late. Extremely late.”
“This can’t be,” Luca whispered, glancing at Zane. “She’s past shifting age. It doesn’t happen after eighteen—”
My spine snapped.
Or felt like it.
A scream tore out of me, raw and feral, my back bowing off the ground. Fire scorched my bones. My ribs shifted. My fingers convulsed as claws pushed through my nails. My skin stretched. Blood roared in my ears.
“Hold her!” Jax shouted.
Hands grabbed me, Luca’s at my shoulders, Zane’s at my legs. I thrashed wildly, claws slicing Luca’s forearm. He hissed but didn’t let go.
Pain
Pain
Pain—
Make it stop.
My lungs seized. My vision shattered into white.
And then—
I broke.
No—
I became something else.
A second consciousness slammed into me, swirling and filled with instincts and violence and something… protective. A heartbeat inside mine. A presence that had been buried so deep I’d never felt her—not once.
When the world finally returned, I wasn’t on two feet.
I stood on four.
My breath came out in sharp bursts. The ground felt different—sharper under paws instead of skin. My ears twitched involuntarily toward every sound.
Luca moved first.
“Hey,” he whispered, his voice soft like he was approaching a wild creature. His hand slid gently across my back, fingers sinking into my fur.
Zane stared, half in awe, half in disbelief. “Holy—”
Jax didn’t speak. He just watched me with something fierce and unreadable in his eyes.
I curled my tail closer, trembling, overwhelmed by the noise, the cold, the newness of everything.
“Do you want to run?” Luca asked softly.
I shook my head immediately.
I didn’t trust my legs.
Or this body.
Or myself.
Time blurred. Minutes or hours, I couldn’t tell. Slowly the fire eased. Slowly the pressure retreated. My bones began to shift again, melting and reshaping, dragging a cry from somewhere deep.
When the world steadied again, I lay naked, shaking violently in the grass.
Zane moved first, pulling off his shirt and slipping it over my head, guiding my arms through like I was fragile.
I wobbled. Jax was there in an instant, scooping me up, holding me tight as my knees threatened to buckle. I whimpered into his shoulder, every joint screaming, every muscle trembling.
“It’s okay. I’ve got you,” he murmured, voice low, steady
They carried me to the bed with precise movements. Luca pulled the blanket up slowly, letting our hands brush. My fingers shot out, weak, shaking, tangling in his.
“Stay,” I whispered, barely audible
He froze, dark eyes flicking toward his brothers. Zane smirked. Jax muttered something under his breath.
Then Luca’s lips curved into a soft, stunned smile. “Okay,” he breathed
He lay beside me—close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off him, far enough that I didn’t feel trapped.
Our hands stayed intertwined. Breath jagged, shallow. My chest rose and fell. His chest rose and fell. My fingers flexed against his, nails grazing his skin, sending sparks through me. His eyes flicked to my lips, then to my eyes.
He leaned in slowly, deliberate, teasing—like asking permission without saying a word
Then our mouths met again and a shudder tore through me. I moaned low, needy. His hand slid to my cheek, thumb brushing over my lips teasingly. His tongue and teeth, testing and claiming every inch of my mouth.
“Fuck… Mira,” he groaned, voice rough, trembling, desperate. “You smell so good… so sweet… I want you so fucking bad.”
I arched into him, legs curling instinctively. My wolf surged, hungry, demanding, pressing through me, through him. The bond tightened, pulling, making my body ache, making me ache for him more than I thought possible.
“I… I want you,” I gasped, breath hitching. My hands dug into his shoulders, pulling him closer, desperate for every inch of contact
His lips pulled back slightly, dark eyes burning into mine. He rolled and pressed his body against me, and I could feel how hard he was. His bulge slid along my thighs, thick and leaving no doubt what he wanted.
I gasped sharply, heart hammering, and instinctively wrapped my legs around him. My nails dug lightly into his back, claws brushing fabric, flesh, anything I could hold onto
Luca groaned, low and rough, the sound vibrating against my throat. “Mine,” he rasped, his lips dragging along my jaw, teeth grazing just enough to make my knees weaken. “All of you… every fucking inch… mine.”
Heat coiled through me. I pressed closer, chasing his mouth, my breath breaking against his skin. Every part of me felt wired, overstimulated, alive in a way that scared me and pulled me deeper at the same time.
He kissed me again—hard—like he wanted to bruise something, like he wanted to leave a mark no one could erase. Teeth. Tongue. Possession. My back arched into him, a helpless sound slipping out before I could stop it.
Luca swallowed it with another kiss.
“I want you…” The words escaped in a whisper I barely recognized, trembling, needy.
Luca froze for half a second, then pulled back just enough to look at me. His fingers slid through my hair, pushing it off my face, his thumb brushing over my swollen bottom lip like he wanted to feel the place his mouth had ruined.
His eyes were black with hunger.
“Say it again.”
I swallowed, the ache in my body turning sharp, electric. “I want you.”
His breath hitched, not soft—feral.
He leaned in, his mouth almost touching mine, voice dropping to a dark, hungry rasp.
“Do you want me to fuck you, Mira?”