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Instinct drove my actions. A desperate, primal need to claim her and reunite our souls.

Claws protruded from the ends of my fingernails as I reached for the neckline of her dress and ripped the fabric from top to bottom. It fell away from her body with featherlight grace. A soft whimper slipped from Aria’s lips at the sudden exposure, and her arms flew to cover her breasts and swollen stomach.

My eyes flared as I took in the sight of her. If I inhaled deep, I could still smell my scent on her—inher. Though Roman had poisoned my mind with doubt, there was no denying that the pup was mine.Mine.

Mypup.

Newfound need swept through me, and I advanced on my little dove. Gently, I pried her arms away from her body and forced her to reveal herself to me again. She didn’t resist, slowly allowing her arms to fall to her sides. Her nipples were hard and pebbled, rosy peaks atop substantial, vein-covered mounds, and goosebumps peppered every inch of her milky skin.

Goddess,I whispered and fell to my knees.

My hands found her stomach, fingers spreading wide to encompass as much of the globe as possible. Awe swelled in my chest, and I leaned forward to brush a kiss just below her navel.

Aria sniffed, and I looked up to see fresh tears spilling from the corners of her eyes. Devastating joy brimmed in her gaze, but it couldn’t hide the fissures of heartbreak lingering beneath.

I pulled back, though my hands still cradled her belly.Aria…

She shook her head, lips trembling. “H-How? I-I-I couldn’tfeel you. Our bond… Our bond wentsilent.B-But you were alive!”

I felt her pain as surely as it was my own. Itwas.Our souls were one and the same.

I know. I know.I pressed another kiss to her stomach, soothing.And I’m sorry. It was the only way, little dove.

“You let me think,” she hiccuped, “you were dead!”

I had to,I tried explaining, desperation leaking into our bond.I hated every second of it, my love. But I was gravely injured. I needed time to heal and regain my strength without Roman realizing that I lived. He would’ve sent an army to destroy me, and I needed time to prepare to challenge him.

“I wouldn’t have told him!” Aria cried, shaking her head again. “I could’ve come to you. I could have helped?—”

Your pain made it real.And it had.Roman had no inkling that I lived.He truly believed that he’d killed me. Aria… I’m sorry.

My plan worked perfectly, until the moment Roman refused my challenge. I’d underestimated his cowardice.

She bit her lip in an attempt to stifle her sobs, and I tried to comfort her with a brush of warmth down our bond. Aria answered by lowering to her knees, joining me on the ground. I rose up to bridge the distance between us, but she leaned back before I could reunite our lips.

You willnevershut me out again,she warned, her words a command I couldn’t have disobeyed if I tried.

I nodded, caressing her red, wet cheeks.Never.I promised, then cemented it with a kiss.Never again.

Another kiss, then another.

Short brushes of our lips morphed into wet, salty kisses that healed every shattered and broken piece of my soul. Aria crawled into my lap, though her rounded stomach made it difficult, and our bodies strained to remove any gap of spacebetween us. Seconds bled into minutes, and the world beyond these four walls faded away.

Soon, we tumbled into a heap of skin and desire on the thick rug. We laid on our sides, Aria enveloped against my front as I lifted her leg and sheathed myself so deep inside her body that I could not tell where she ended and I began.

“I love you,” she chanted with every slow, thorough thrust. My lips latched on the mark on her neck, and she broke apart, muscles spasming around me.

Seconds later, I followed her over the edge. Seed poured forth from my tip, seeping from the place where our bodies locked together. Again and again, release barreled through me, reigniting every time I thought I might be finished.

Minutes or hours later, we were a quivering mess. Our kisses became slow and lazy. Our breathing eased, and my swollen base slackened enough that I could’ve pulled out of her. I didn’t dare.

She kissed me over her shoulder one last time, then rested her head on my arm extended beneath her. “We’re having a little girl,” she whispered, nuzzling her nose against the crook of my arm.

My heart skipped.A girl?

She nodded, skating a hand lovingly over her stomach. “I owe her everything. When I thought you were dead, I wanted to join you… She’s the only reason—the only thing that kept me here.”

Fissures spread through my chest at Aria’s heartbreaking admission.