Chapter 116 Marked By Her Wolf
Kira’s POV
Leah didn’t wait. The second that word…mate…slammed through my head like a freight train, our legs bunched and we shot forward.
Wind ripped through my fur as my stomach flipped. Adrian was right there, maybe twenty feet away, shirt still torn open from earlier, chest rising fast, those gray eyes locked on us like I was the only thing left in his world.
NO. I lunged backward inside my own skull, yanking hard on whatever invisible leash connected me to Leah.
Leah snarled right back, low and pissed. ‘He’s ours, Kira. Feel him. Smell him. He’s our mate.’
Soulmate? As in how Antonio is to Victoria?
We didn’t crash into him. Thank God. At the last second my panic won and we veered sharp, paws skidding on wet leaves.
Instead of running straight into his arms like some lovesick idiot, we started circling. Slowly, like a shark that couldn’t decide if it wanted to bite or bolt.
Adrian didn’t move. He just turned with us, slow and careful, hands open at his sides. “Easy, princess,” he said, voice low and rough, the same tone he used when he was pretending to be nice to me. “It’s me. You know me. Can I come closer?”
Closer? My hackles shot straight up. A growl ripped out of my throat before I could stop it…deep, warning, the kind that should’ve sent him running. But my stupid tail gave a tiny twitch. Just once. Like it had a mind of its own.
We kept circling him like I was some deranged carousel that couldn’t stop. My paws dug into the moss, claws leaving little trenches every time I tried to pull away.
Leah’s pull was getting stronger, like a damn magnet inside my ribs yanking me closer no matter how hard I fought. Adrian just stood there in the middle, turning slowly with us, eyes glowing soft gold, hands still open like he was dealing with a scared stray dog instead of a girl who wanted to scream.
‘Why do you hate him so much?’ Leah asked suddenly, her voice cutting through the chaos in my head like a knife. ‘He hasn’t done anything to you. Not really. Look at him. He’s right here, waiting, not forcing anything. Why can’t you see him?’
I skidded to a stop mid-step, breath huffing out in hot clouds. ‘How can you even say that?’ I shot back, anger boiling up so fast my fur bristled.
‘Aside from bullying Abby…yeah, she told me how he treated her, all cold and mean…he’s planning to use me. To save his own ass. I’m just a sacrificial lamb to him. Some tool he can throw at whatever problem he’s got. That’s why he’s playing nice, why he’s keeping me close. Not because he cares. Because he needs me for something.’
Leah went dead silent for half a second. Then she exploded. ‘Impossible. Where the fuck did you hear that garbage? Our mate would never do something like that. Never. He’s the only one who actually cares about us…this much, this deep. Feel it, Kira. It’s in the bond. He’d burn the whole world down before he let anything touch you. And about Abby? That’s in the past. It wasn’t his fault.’
I growled low at her words, anger coiling tight in my chest. Her words felt wrong and insensitive.
“Aren’t you supposed to be her wolf? How could you even say that?”
“I am your wolf, Kira. Not Abby’s.”
I scoffed internally.
“I’m human, smarty pants. Humans don’t get wolves. I’ve never had glowing eyes or growling instincts. The only reason you’re inside me is because I somehow magically hijacked her body.”
There was a pause. Then her voice came back…calm, almost patient.
“Kira… there are things you don’t understand yet. I’ll explain later. But for now… let him come close. He cares about us. Deeply.”
My legs locked up and the circling slowed. ‘That can’t be true,’ I whispered inside, voice shaking. ‘Liana told me. She said—
‘Stop.’ Leah cut me off sharp, like a slap. ‘Henceforth, you don’t listen to anyone else. Not Liana, not some random voice in the wind. No one. Just me. And him. That’s it. The rest are noise. They don’t know us.’
Before I could even argue back, Adrian moved. He dropped to one knee right in front of us, close enough that his warmth hit my fur like sunlight. His hand reached out slow, palm up, and gently rested on the side of our neck. His fingers sank into the thick white fur behind my ear, thumb stroking soft, steady.
“It’s okay, princess,” he murmured, voice low and wrecked, like he’d been holding his breath for hours. “I’ve got you. I’ve always got you. Breathe gently and let it settle.”
The second his skin touched mine, everything detonated.
Leah surged forward so hard I didn’t even have time to scream no. Our body launched. Paws left the ground. We slammed into his chest like a white ball of furs.
Adrian’s eyes widened for a split second, but he didn’t push us away. He caught us, arms wrapping around our ribs as we both went down in a tangle of fur and muscle.
Then my jaws opened.
I felt it happen like it was someone else’s body…teeth sinking deep into the side of his neck, right where his pulse hammered hot and strong. Not a playful nip. Deep. Fangs breaking skin as his blood flooded my mouth. It felt like I was taking the elixir of life or something.
‘What the hell are you doing?!’ I screamed at Leah inside my head, panic exploding through me. ‘Stop! You’re hurting him!’
But Leah didn’t stop. She held on, jaws locked, a low rumble vibrating through our chest that wasn’t anger…it was pure, raw need. Like this was the only way to make the bond snap into place. Like she’d been waiting her whole life to do exactly this.
And the worst part? It felt… amazing.
Heat poured through me like liquid fire, but good fire as I felt like licking the bite mark. The kind that lights you up instead of burning you down.
Every nerve in my body sang. The bond flared so bright I could see it behind my eyes…golden threads wrapping tighter and tighter around us, around him, locking in like steel cables.
This may sound hilarious, but I could feel my heart sync with his. Beat for beat. His pain mixed with mine and then melted into something electric, something that made my tail thrash and my whole body shake with how right it was.
Adrian gasped, but he didn’t pull away. His arms tightened around us, one hand fisting in my fur, the other pressing my head closer like he wanted me to bite harder. “Yes,” he ground out through gritted teeth, voice hoarse. “That’s it, baby. Claim me. I’m yours.”
It's official. I'm now an animal!
I just bit him like a rabid dog but I couldn’t let go. My jaws wouldn’t unlock. Blood trickled down his shoulder, soaking into my fur, and instead of grossing me out, it made me want to stay right there forever. Leah was humming with satisfaction, all smug and glowing inside while confusion swirled inside me.
‘See?’ she whispered, soft now. ‘This is what mates do. This is how we seal it. No one else gets to tell us differently.’
No. I need time to process everything.
I tried to shift back again, desperate, screaming at my body to change, to give me hands so I could push him away or hold on or something. My bones creaked softly and my skin rippled. But nothing changed. I was still a wolf. Still locked onto his neck with my teeth, trembling against his chest while he held me like I was the most precious thing he’d ever touched.
Tears…actual wolf tears…stung my eyes. I didn’t know if I was crying because I hated this or because I never wanted it to end.
Adrian’s forehead dropped against the top of my head, breath ragged. “I’ve got you,” he whispered again, over and over, like a promise. “I’m never letting you go. Ever.”
And even though my human side was still screaming enemy, bully, liar, the rest of me…the part that was Leah, the part that was bond, the part that was us…was already falling.
Hard.
Deep.
Irrevocably.
Into the one man I swore I’d never let near me again.
And I still couldn’t shift back.