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He threw his head back, his muscles tensing, his breath coming in harsh pants. He snarled, one hand gripping my ass, as he drove into me.

“Silas,” I shrieked as I came again, the intensity making me writhe and moan and beg.

Kneeling up and pulling me with him, my arms locked around his neck and my legs clamped around his waist, Silas yelled out his own passion. He squeezed my ass, pulling me onto him as he pounded into me, burying his face in my neck, grunting and panting with each thrust. His need, white-hot and consuming, sent shivers through me, making me cry out in response, my body shaking, my heart racing. His body grinding against me created the friction I needed to send another wave of ecstasy through me, triggering him at last.

His knot began to swell inside me, stretching me impossibly, and with one final, brutal thrust, hepushed the entirety of his massive cock into me, and I threw my head back, screaming his name, coming one final time. I cried out, again and again, my body seizing, every muscle going rigid as the ecstasy kept rising.

Silas roared as his knot throbbed inside of me, his cock buried at the entrance to my womb, and his arms locked around me, anchoring us both. As he yelled my name, his cum erupted inside of me, filling me so completely that my orgasm finally crested, exploding out from my core, and I keened, high and loud, convulsing with a blazing hot bliss that seemed to never end.

Silas collapsed forward, dropping me down then rolling to his back, taking me with him. I lay draped over his chest, powerless to move. He panted and gasped, his arms flopped to his sides.

“That’s a sound I’ll never get tired of,” he chuckled after catching his breath, his voice rough. “The sound of my mate coming for me, screaming my name.”

“Yeah, I gotta agree with you on that,” I giggled, still gasping for air.

It was perfect and I was complete. Utterly satisfied, made whole at last, a feeling unlike any other.

When we’d recovered, he kissed me deeply, his tongue sliding against mine, the taste of him sending goosebumps racing across my skin.

“I love you,” he whispered, his forehead pressing against mine.

I smiled, wrapping my arms around him, pulling him closer, savoring the warmth, the closeness, the safety.

“I love you, too,” I grinned, “but now we have to take another bath.”

CHAPTER28

Silas

The journey back to camp took two weeks.

Two weeks of moving through dense forests, over jagged ridges, and across winding rivers swollen from recent rains. The terrain was brutal, unforgiving, but we kept moving. None of us wanted to linger too long in one place, not after what we had just been through. Especially after losing Ryan, Hale, and Caleb.

We traveled in silence more often than not, exhaustion pressing down on us, the weight of our losses settling in our bones. Even Varek, who usually had something snarky to say, had little to offer besides the occasional grunt as he adjusted the thick strap across his shoulder, shifting the dead Nyktos we were bringing back as proof and for examination. We’d taken turns carrying the bundle wrapped in canvas, but Varek was the one who insisted on bearing the burden mostly by himself.

Lia stayed close to me the entire time, her presence grounding me in a way I hadn’t even realized I needed. She was stronger now, a little different.

It wasn’t just that she had shifted for the first time, though that had been monumental in itself. It was the way she carried herself now, the way she moved with quiet confidence, the way her pretty green eyes scanned the trees, always watching, always ready. She had always been a survivor, but now?

Now she was one of us, and I had never been more proud.

On the day we reached my encampment, we arrived when the sun was low in the west, casting long shadows over the treetops. The air smelled of pine and damp earth, the familiar scents of home mixing with the crackle of campfires, the scent of cooking meat drifting through the breeze.

Jax was the first to spot us.

He was leaning against a supply crate near the edge of camp, arms crossed over his chest, looking bored out of his mind. The second he saw us, his gaze landed directly on Lia.

He narrowed his eyes in her direction and Lia met his gaze, smirking right back.

“Rowan!”

Kendra’s voice split the evening air, high and jubilant, just as she burst out of her cabin.

Rowan barely had time to react before she threw herself into his arms, her body colliding with his so hard that he stumbled back a step before catching her.

His arms wrapped around her waist as she clung to him, hers wrapping tightly around his neck, her face buried against his neck, shoulders shaking with joyful tears.

He turned them around, his back to us, as he pressed his forehead into the crook of her neck, holding her like he was afraid to let go.