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Finn flipped her onto her stomach gently but assertively. He guided her hips into position as she lay face down on the bed. Her arms stretched above her head, body pliable and hot withanticipation. The silky sheets caressed her skin, the coolness contrasting with her flushed body.

As instinct took over, she spread her thighs, the air heavy with desire. Finn positioned himself behind her. She felt his erection between her legs and knew what was coming next—his presence was both commanding and comforting. Trusting him completely, she let go of control one breath at a time.

He blanketed her body like an unspoken vow.

She felt his lips at the nape of her neck—where instinct overruled reason—and tensed, breathing heavily. "Finn…?"

"Just feel it," he growled as his canines elongated into fangs and he sank them into the nape of her neck.

His teeth grazed the tender skin—not maliciously but definitively—with intent and conviction.

Her breath hitched as electric sparks ignited beneath her skin. The sensation shot through her—an intense wave that elicited a strangled gasp from deep within. Her whole body arched rigidly while quivering uncontrollably as overwhelming passion consumed them both.

A needy moan escaped—as sudden and raw as the feelings enveloping her. Her back arched even more, spine curving, fists gripping the sheets for some semblance of stability amidst the disorienting whirlwind they were both caught in.

An ancient, primal force stirred within her—a surge of raw heat and instinct coursing through her veins, a connection to something greater than herself.

She knew what he'd done. She recognized that unspoken declaration even as her conscious mind shied away from naming it. A claiming. A bond. Whole. Real. Unchangeable.

And she hadn't stopped him—hadn't even protested.

When he entered her from behind, their bodies merged once again with an almost supernatural intensity. Pain and pleasure collided, setting her nerves ablaze and leaving her breathlessin the aftermath of raw sensation. Her body responded with unrestrained passion, thighs opening further, hips undulating to meet his every thrust.

Thoughts scattered like ashes in a storm, overwhelmed by the potent press of him inside her. She let out a keening cry, utterly undone by his relentless force. Logic and reason had no place here—only desire and the need for completion. She succumbed fully to the carnal needs that drove them both towards ecstasy, embracing the unbridled truth that this man had brought her to the brink of oblivion—and she welcomed it with open arms.

When he rolled from her, he pulled her to him so that their limbs were still entangled and she lay draped across him, her cheek to his chest, listening to the thunder of his heart.

"Tell me that that bite was just some new kink."

He stroked her back, slow and steady. “You know better. You felt it."

"Then tell me you lost control that you didn't mean to..."

"You know better than that. You are my fated mate and I have claimed you.”

She didn’t answer.

He tipped her chin up so she had to meet his eyes. “Say something.”

Her throat was dry. Her voice rough. “Did you plan it or was it instinct?”

His jaw tensed. “I hadn't planned to do it tonight, and the instinct to claim what was denied to me all those years ago didn't help, but I had always meant to make you one with me.”

Her fingers reached around to touch the bite mark. Her skin tingled there, like it buzzed with a low current. “Is it permanent?”

His gaze darkened. “It already is. That bond can’t be undone.”

She didn’t know how to answer that.

So instead, she whispered, “I need water.”

He chuckled, low and lazy, and rolled out of bed. "What you need is a whiskey."

Keira watched him go, still aching, still open, and profoundly adrift. A part of her longed to call him back, to demand answers and comfort in equal measure, but the rest of her stayed silent—frozen between pride and confusion. Her body still tingled from his touch, but her heart felt heavy, swamped in uncertainty.

Had she surrendered something vital, reclaimed something long denied or had it been taken from her? She didn’t know. Couldn’t know. He’d left her there, raw and unraveling, wondering if she’d just stepped toward redemption—or ruin.

Then came the soft thud at the window—a low, dull impact that snapped her thoughts in half. It sounded too deliberate to be random, too close to be coincidence. Her breath stilled in her lungs as adrenaline surged, her nerves lighting up in warning. The noise vibrated against her skin, sharp and cold, making the hairs on her arms rise as a sense of wrongness settled heavy in the pit of her stomach. There was a low, muffled sound that cut through the silence. It wasn’t loud, but it carried weight. Her breath caught, and a chill raced up her spine, the primal part of her brain snapping to attention. Something was out there.