Chapter 11 The Claiming (Trey's POV)
Knox was waiting outside when I kicked the door open, Ember burning in my arms.
"Jesus Christ." He took one look at her convulsing form and swore. "How bad?"
"Bad. Ms. Silvermoon said she's at 106 and climbing." I adjusted my grip as Ember whimpered, pressing closer. "I need to get her somewhere private. Somewhere we won't be interrupted for days."
Knox's jaw tightened. "The safe house. Twenty minutes outside town. It's warded against scent tracking and sound."
"Your car. Now."
He didn't argue, just pulled out his keys and led the way. We moved fast through campus, Knox running interference whenever someone looked like they might approach. By the time we reached his SUV in the parking lot, Ember had bitten me three more times, shoulder, collarbone, jaw. Claiming marks that would broadcast to every supernatural what we'd done.
What we were about to do.
"Back seat." Knox opened the door, and I slid in with Ember still clutched against my chest. "Try to keep her quiet. Last thing we need is campus security asking questions."
He drove like a demon, taking corners too fast and blowing through stop signs. In the back seat, I held Ember as she writhed against me, her fever making her skin feel like touching a stovetop.
"Trey." My name came out broken, desperate. "Please. It hurts so much."
"I know, baby. I know." I pressed my lips to her forehead, wincing at the heat radiating from her. "Just a little longer. We're almost there."
"Can't wait." Her hands fisted in my shirt, pulling me closer. "Need you now."
"Not in my car, you don't." Knox's voice was tight from the front seat. "I just got the leather cleaned."
"Fuck your leather." I growled at him. "Drive faster."
The safe house appeared through the trees, a small cabin that looked abandoned but I knew was maintained for exactly these situations. Emergencies where pack members needed privacy. Usually for transformations or territorial disputes.
Never for this.
Knox had the door open before I'd even unbuckled. "Go. I'll make sure no one followed us."
I carried Ember inside, her teeth now scraping against my neck with clear intent. The cabin was sparsely furnished, a bed, a small kitchen, a bathroom. Everything necessary, nothing more.
"Lock it from the inside." Knox stood in the doorway, his expression unreadable. "There's food in the fridge. Water. Everything you need for three days."
"Three days?"
"That's how long first heat cycles typically last." He glanced at Ember, who was now actively trying to remove my shirt. "And Trey? The elders are going to lose their shit when they find out. Just... be prepared for that."
"I'm already prepared. Now get out."
He left, the door closing with a decisive click. I heard the lock engage from outside, then his footsteps retreating. The SUV engine started, faded into the distance.
We were alone.
Ember's fever spiked the moment Knox left, her body going rigid in my arms. "Trey!"
"I've got you." I laid her on the bed, and she immediately started clawing at her clothes—the hospital gown that clung to her sweat-soaked skin. "Let me help."
I pulled the gown over her head, tossing it aside. She lay there naked and trembling, her silver eyes unfocused with need. Every instinct I had roared to claim her, to complete what we'd started in the forest.
But I hesitated.
"This is going to change everything," I said, kneeling beside the bed. "Once we do this, there's no going back. You'll be mine and I'll be yours, and nothing—not my pack, not prophecies, not anything—will be able to break that bond."
"Don't care." She reached for me, her fingers finding my belt. "Need you. Please, Trey. Please."
My control snapped.
I ripped off my shirt, buttons flying. Her hands were on my pants, tugging frantically. I kicked them off, my cock already throbbing with urgency. She reached for me, pulling me down on top of her. Our mouths crashed together. I could taste her hunger, her desperation mirroring my own.
My hands roamed her body, gripping her breasts, squeezing hard. She arched into me, moaning into my mouth. I trailed kisses down her neck, sliding a hand between her legs, finding her soaked and ready. I thrust two fingers inside her, and she cried out, her walls clenching around me.
"Trey, please," she begged, her voice raw and pleading.
I positioned myself at her entrance, teasing her with the tip. She wrapped her legs around my waist, urging me deeper. I pushed in slowly, savoring the feel of her stretching around me. She gasped, her nails digging into my back. I started to move, slow and deep, building a rhythm that had her moaning with each thrust.
Her hips met mine, matching my pace. The room filled with the sound of our flesh slapping together. I could feel her tightening around me, her body coiling for release. I reached between us, rubbing her clit in tight circles. She shattered, her orgasm ripping through her, her inner muscles milking me.
I followed her over the edge, my cock pulsing as I spilled inside her. We collapsed together, our bodies slick with sweat, our breaths mingling. I rolled us to the side when we finished, the fever eased just enough for her to collapse against the pillows, gasping.
"Better?" I brushed sweat-dampened hair from her face.
"For now." Her eyes were clearer, more focused. "How long do we have before it starts again?"
"An hour." I pulled her against my chest, feeling her heartbeat slowly sync with mine. "You should eat something. Stay hydrated."
"I'm not hungry for food." Her hand trailed down my stomach, making my breath catch. "I'm hungry for you."
"Ember..." I caught her wrist, stilling her movements. "We need to talk. About what this means. About everything."
She pulled back slightly, studying my face. "Now? While I'm in heat and literally dying for your touch, you want to have a conversation?"
"While you can still think clearly, yes." I released her wrist but kept her close. "Because in a few minutes, your wolf is going to take over again. And I need you to understand what's happening before that."
She was quiet for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. Talk."
"The prophecy isn't what you think it is." The words came easier than I expected. "Or rather, it's exactly what you think it is, but both our packs have been interpreting it wrong for centuries."
"Sage showed me the real version. The part about twins."
"So you know that everyone's fighting over your womb, not just your power." I couldn't keep the bitterness from my voice. "The Silvermoon Pack wants you to restore their bloodline. My pack wants you controlled so your children serve Ravencrest interests. And the rogues probably want to weaponize whatever kids you have."
"What do you want?" Her silver eyes searched mine. "Not your pack. Not your duty. You."
I took a breath, considering the question. "I want you to have a choice. I want those hypothetical children to grow up free from prophecies and pack politics. I want..." I trailed off, struggling to articulate something I'd only just realized myself. "I want to rewrite the rules that have been dictating our lives since before we were born."
"That's why you humiliated me at the assembly." Understanding dawned across her features. "You recognized the prophecy words and panicked."
"I thought killing you before you awakened was the only way to save my pack." Shame heated my face. "I was wrong. About so many things."
"You were going to kill me." Her voice was flat, emotionless. "That night in the forest. That's why you were there."
"Yes."
"Why didn't you?"
"Because the mate bond snapped." I cupped her face, forcing her to look at me. "The second I saw you lying there, I knew. My wolf knew. And everything else; the prophecy, my pack's orders, my duty as future Alpha, none of it mattered anymore."
Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. "I don't know if I can forgive you for that. For being willing to kill me."
"I don't expect you to." I wiped the tears away with my thumbs. "But I need you to understand that whatever I was before that moment, I'm different now. You changed me, Ember. This bond changed me."
"Into what?"
"Into someone who's willing to fight the entire supernatural world to keep you safe. Into someone who'd rather die than let anyone use you as a weapon or a breeding mare. Into someone who loves you more than pack loyalty or duty or tradition."
Her breath hitched. "You love me? We barely know each other."
"The mate bond doesn't care about logic or timelines." I pressed my forehead to hers. "But yeah, I love you. God help us both, but I do."
The fever hit her again before she could respond, her body going rigid as need overwhelmed everything else. She pulled me down, her mouth finding mine with desperate intensity.
The second round was slower. I took my time learning her body, finding the places that made her gasp and writhe. She matched me touch for touch, her inexperience offset by pure instinct.
Afterward, we lay tangled together, both of us breathing hard.
"Tell me about the pack politics." Her fingers traced patterns on my chest. "Help me understand what we're up against."
So I did. I explained the hierarchy; Alpha, Beta, pack members. Told her about the elders who held as much power as my father in some ways. Described the ancient laws that governed everything from territory disputes to mate selection.
"And if your pack doesn't approve of me?" she asked quietly.
"Then they can fuck off. You're my mate. That supersedes everything else in wolf law. They can disapprove all they want, but they can't force me to reject you."
"But they can make our lives hell."
"Probably." I pulled her closer. "But at least we'll be in hell together."
She laughed, the sound slightly hysterical. "That's not as comforting as you think it is."
"Tell me about your mother." I changed the subject before the fear could take hold. "Ms. Silvermoon said you look like her."
Ember was quiet for so long I thought she wouldn't answer. Then: "I saw her die."
"What?"
"Inherited memory. In the library with Sage. I saw werewolves attack our home. Saw my mother use her body to shield me. Saw my father run while Ms. Silvermoon tried to hold them off." Her voice cracked. "She died saving me, Trey. And I didn't even know she existed until a few days ago."
I held her as she cried, her tears hot against my skin. "I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry."
"The worst part is knowing that everyone sees me as her replacement. The Silvermoon Pack doesn't want me—they want her legacy. They want what she represented." She pulled back to look at me. "What if I can't be what they need? What if I'm not strong enough or brave enough or whatever enough?"
"Then fuck what they need." I brushed hair from her face. "You get to decide who you are, Em. Not prophecies. Not dead mothers. Not desperate packs looking for salvation."
"Is that really possible? Can I just opt out of destiny?"
"I don't know." Honesty seemed more important than comfort right now. "But I do know that we're both pawns in a game that started centuries before we were born. And maybe it's time someone flipped the board."
The fever took her again, and we fell back into the cycle. Desperate need, frantic coupling, brief moments of clarity before the heat rose again.
Day two blurred into day three. We talked between bouts of mating, about her grandmother who'd raised her, about my father's expectations, about the weight of being the last of our respective bloodlines. We laughed at inappropriate moments and cried when the reality of our situation became too heavy.
I learned that she sang in the shower and hated coffee but loved tea. That she'd wanted to be a marine biologist before volleyball took over her life. That she was terrified of becoming a mother because she'd never had one to learn from.
She learned that I played piano but never told anyone because it didn't fit my quarterback image. That I'd been engaged to a girl from another pack when I was sixteen—an arrangement my father made that fell through when she died in a car accident. That I had nightmares about failing my pack the way my uncle had failed his.
We were mapping each other, learning the territory of who we really were beneath the roles everyone else had assigned us.
On the third morning, I woke to find Ember staring at me, her silver eyes clear and fever-free for the first time in days.
"It's over." Her voice was hoarse from screaming my name. "The heat. It's over."
Relief flooded through me. "How do you feel?"
"Sore. Exhausted. Starving." She paused, her expression shifting to something I couldn't read. "And weird."
"Weird how?"
"I can feel you." Her hand pressed against my chest, over my heart. "Not just physically. Emotionally. Your relief that the heat's over. Your exhaustion. Your..." She trailed off, her face going pale. "Your fear."
Shit.
"Ember..."
"You're afraid of me." The words came out flat, wounded. "I can feel it, Trey. Like acid in my chest. You love me, but you're also terrified of what I might become."
I wanted to deny it. Wanted to tell her she was wrong, that the mate bond was confusing her. But lying to your mate through a completed bond was impossible.
"Yes," I admitted quietly. "I'm afraid."
"Of what, exactly?" Her voice was carefully controlled, but I could feel her hurt bleeding through the bond. "That I'll fulfill the prophecy? That I'll destroy your pack? That our children will burn the supernatural world to ash?"
"All of it. None of it. I don't know." I sat up, running my hands through my hair. "Em, the prophecy has been hanging over my head my entire life. Every decision my pack has made for three hundred years has been about preventing the Silver Wolf from rising. And now you're here, and you're mine, and I love you so fucking much it terrifies me."
"But?"
"But I also know what you're capable of. I've felt your power even when you don't know you're using it. I've seen the way other supernaturals react to you—like you're a bomb waiting to explode." I forced myself to meet her eyes. "And yeah, that scares me. Because if the prophecy is right, if you do become the destroyer everyone fears, I don't know if I'll be able to stop you. Or if I'll even want to."
Tears spilled down her cheeks, and through the bond, I felt her heartbreak like it was my own. "So what now? You've claimed me, bonded with me, but you don't actually trust me?"
"I trust you." I reached for her, but she pulled away. "Em, please. It's not about trust. It's about..."
"About you being afraid I'll turn into a monster." She wrapped the sheet around herself, creating a physical barrier between us. "Thanks for the honesty, I guess. At least now I know what I'm really dealing with."
"You're dealing with someone who loves you enough to be honest about his fears instead of pretending everything's perfect." I kept my voice level despite the panic rising in my chest. "I could lie to you, Em. Tell you I have complete faith that everything will work out fine. But you'd feel the truth through the bond anyway."
She was quiet for a long moment, her silver eyes studying my face. Through the bond, I felt her sorting through emotions; hurt, anger, understanding, and underneath it all, her own fear.
"I'm afraid too," she finally whispered. "Afraid I'll become exactly what everyone expects. Afraid I'll hurt people I love. Afraid I'll fail at being whatever I'm supposed to be." Her voice broke. "And now I can feel that you share those fears. That the person who's supposed to be my partner in this doesn't even believe I can overcome them."
"That's not what I..."
"Isn't it?" She stood, still clutching the sheet. "You just said you don't know if you'll be able to stop me. Which means you're already planning for the possibility that I'll become the enemy."
Through the bond, I felt her pulling away. Not physically, we were still tied together permanently but emotionally. Building walls between us even as the mate connection tried to tear them down.
And I felt her fear like acid in my chest.