Chapter 34

The unease in the room was overwhelming, to cut with a blade. Lexi's heart dashed as her piercing look locked onto Karl's steel dim eyes. The merciless Alpha respected her with a force that creeped her out. He sneaked towards her gradually, similar to a hunter following its prey. Lexi held her ground, decided not to show dread even as her impulses shouted at her to run. She was the little girl of an Alpha all things considered, and she wouldn't cringe before this monster of a man. Karl stopped simple creeps from her, his transcending outline overshadowing her modest figure. She needed to extend her neck to keep in touch, declining to be quick to break it. His proximity made her hyper-mindful of the crude power exuding from him in waves.

"You test my patience at every turn, little luna," Karl rumbled, his deep voice vibrating through her. "But even you cannot resist the call of your mate forever."

Lexi's breath hitched at the undisguised hunger blazing in his molten gaze. She knew the truth of his words, could feel the primal urges stirring within her own core. The magnetic pull between mates was undeniable, an ancient, elemental force.

"I'm not some weakling to be claimed like a piece of property," she spat, mustering defiance even as desire began to coil low in her belly.

A feral grin curved Karl's lips as he leaned closer until his mouth was a hair's breadth from her ear. "We'll see about that."

Then he crushed his mouth against hers in a searing, demanding kiss. Lexi's knees nearly buckled from the explosive heat, the raw passion behind his onslaught. She should fight, she knew, but her resilience crumbled beneath the onslaught of pure need.

Groaning low in his throat, Karl gripped her hips and lifted her effortlessly until her legs wrapped around his powerful waist. His tongue delved past her parted lips, stroking and exploring with hungry sweeps that left her dizzy. Lexi fisted her hands in his thick hair, holding him to her as she kissed him back with equal fervor.

In a blur of movement, Karl carried her to the massive bed and tumbled them both onto the plush coverlet. He loomed over her, eyes blazing like molten silver as he drank in the sight of her beneath him, hair tousled and lips swollen from his kisses. Mine, his wolf seemed to growl in satisfaction.

Karl made quick work of ridding them both of their clothing until they lay bare against each other, skin against heated skin. Lexi reveled in the hard planes of his muscled body as he settled between her thighs, his thick arousal prodding the slick folds of her entrance.

"Mine," he rasped again, claiming her lips once more as he surged forward and sheathed himself in one powerful thrust.

Lexi cried out at the glorious stretch and burn, the utterly complete way he filled and possessed her. It should have been too much after weeks of restless yearning, and yet it was everything she craved. She arched shamelessly, silently pleading for more.

Karl was only too happy to oblige. His hips pistoned in a relentless rhythm, each punishing stroke nudging Lexi higher towards rapture. She raked nails down his back, urging him faster, harder, deeper. He growled against the juncture of her neck, teeth scraping along her thundering pulse.

"You will take everything I give you, luna," he ground out between clenched teeth. "And you will give yourself to me wholly in return."

She was powerless to deny him, lost in the maelstrom of sensation. The tension built to a crescendo until finally, it snapped and Lexi detonated in a blinding release that whited out her senses. Vaguely, she felt Karl's fangs pierce the delicate skin where neck and shoulder met, the sharp sting grounding her through the haze of ecstasy.

He followed her over the edge, his rhythmbreakingas he poured himself into her in thick, molten pulses. Snarling her name like a curse, like a prayer, he collapsed atop her in utter satiation.

For long moments, they simply lay tangled together, chests heaving and trembling with aftershocks. Lexi trailed dazed fingers along the flexing muscles of Karl's back, reveling in the foreign yet profound sense of completeness.

He was her mate in every sense now, bound to her by both ancient magic and sheer, carnal possession. The bite mark at her neck throbbed in time with her thundering pulse, a permanent brand staking his claim.

At last, Karl lifted himself on one elbow to gaze down at her with burning intensity. Cupping her face, he brushed his thumb in a feather-light caress along her swollen bottom lip.

"You are mine, luna," he stated in a voice brimming with possession and...something deeper, something she couldn't quite read. "And I am yours."

Lexi's retort faded on her tongue as a pounding came from beyond the chamber doors. Karl went rigid, shoulders tensing, and Lexi felt dread uncurl inside her core.

"Alpha, you must come at once!" It was the beta's voice, tight with urgency. "We're under attack!"

A brilliant flash of light streaked across the window, followed immediately by a deafening roar that shook the very foundations of the packlands. Karl surged to his feet, eyes blazing and jaw ticking with tightly leashed rage.

Lexi scrambled to follow, but he pinned her with a look that brooked no argument. "Stay here," he growled.

She opened her mouth to protest, but before she could get a word out, the Alpha turned and stormed from the room in a flurry of dark energy. Heart pounding, Lexi could only stare after him, inexplicable fear trickling like icy tendrils through her veins.

On the heels of their explosive mating, of her hard-won acceptance of the mate bond, a suspicion crept upon her, cold and insidious. The overwhelming sense that this was only the start of a far greater, darker storm gathering on the horizon. One that may threaten not just their tentative union, but the foundations of the packs themselves.