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“Your body knows how to adjust.”

Meeting his eyes, I know I can trust him. He could never harm me. I place my hand on his cheek and nod.

“Mine,” he growls again, his rhythm becoming more insistent, more demanding. “Say it.”

“Yours,” I gasp, the word torn from me by pleasure so intense it borders on pain. “God, Kaelen—”

He shifts, lifting my hips higher, the new angle making me cry out as he hits spots deep inside that send white-hot sparks through my entire body. His control is incredible—each thrust perfectly measured to bring me closer to the edge without sending me over.

“Not until I say,” he commands, somehow reading my approaching climax in my scent or my breathing or the way my body clenches around him. “Not yet, little mate.”

I whimper in frustration, my nails digging into his shoulders as he continues his relentless pace. The pleasure builds and builds, a coiling tension that threatens to snap with each powerful thrust. Yet somehow he keeps me suspended on that exquisite edge.

“Please,” I beg, beyond pride now, beyond anything but the desperate need for release. “Please, Kaelen.”

His eyes flash with satisfaction at my begging.

Kaelen pushes the girth of his knot into me with a gentle delicacy, stretching my pussy until I’m sure I will burst. The stretch is almost too overwhelming but the initial sharp sting transforms into a feeling of fullness. The world around me ceases to exist as he holds still inside of me, waiting for my body to accept him. I can see the amount of control it takes, and this renews my fervor.

Once he’s adjusted and seated deep, I jerk my hips, thrusting against him, and the sensation is unreal.

“Together,” he growls, shifting again to press his body fully against mine, chest to chest, his face buried in my neck. “Now, Lily. Come for me now.”

His teeth find that sensitive juncture of neck and shoulder, and he clamps down; the dual sensation shatters me completely—my climax crashes through me with such force that I scream, my body arching off the furs as wave after wave of pleasure pulses outward from my core.

Kaelen follows immediately, his powerful body tensing above me, pulsing inside me, a guttural howl tearing from his throat as he finds his own release. The sound echoes through the cave, primal and triumphant, a claim that resonates in my very bones.

For long moments afterward, we lay tangled together, his weight pressing me into the furs, our breathing gradually slowing. I feel marked by him—not just physically, but somehow deeper, as if his claiming has altered something fundamental within me.

“Lily,” he murmurs, his voice gentler than I’ve ever heard. He rolls to his side, taking me with him, his cock still locked inside me, cradling me against his chest. “My Lily.”

I should correct him and remind him I’m not truly his, that tomorrow I’m meant to see Caspian, and I haven’t made any choice. But in this moment, with his heartbeat strong beneathmy ear and his scent surrounding me, I can’t bring myself to break the spell.

“That was incredible,” I finally manage, my voice hoarse from screaming. “Is that typical wolf claiming, or did you add some special touches for the human?”

His chest rumbles with laughter beneath my cheek. “Both. Wolves are passionate, but we can be creative when the situation demands it.”

“Creative is one word for it.” I trace lazy patterns through the fur on his chest, marveling at how soft it is despite its rugged appearance. “I think you broke something in my brain.”

“Good.” His satisfaction is palpable as he strokes my back, his claws retracted now, just the pads of his fingers running gently up and down my spine. “You should be marked in all ways. Body. Mind. Soul.” As the swelling in his member subsides, he slowly slips out of me, and I feel our combined pleasure release, dripping from my heat. My body shudders at the loss of him.

I lift my head to look at him, struck by the intensity in his eyes. “You’re serious about this mate thing, aren’t you? It’s not just sex for you.”

His expression softens, something vulnerable flickering across his features. “Wolves mate for life, Lily. When we choose, we choose completely.”

“But I’m human,” I remind him. “Temporary. I’ll age and die while you just keep on… wolfing.”

“There are ways,” he says cryptically, echoing what Oren had implied. “If you chose to stay. To become truly mine.”

The weight of that possibility settles over me—becoming something more than human, binding myself to this ancient, powerful creature. It’s too much to process after the mind-blowing sex we just had.

“I need to think,” I murmur, pressing my face against his chest again. “This is all happening so fast.”

“Time means little to ones like us,” he says, his hand continuing its soothing strokes along my back. “But I understand. Humans need time for processing.”

I laugh at his choice of words. “Yes, we do. Especially when we suddenly find ourselves the object of affection for three supernatural beings who’ve apparently been hiding in the woods all this time.”

His arms tighten around me. “Tomorrow, you see the water-dweller.”