Page 25

Briggs

On quiet feet, I slowly approached the bedroom.

It was late and I didn’t want to wake my mate if she was sleeping.

Working long hours to catch up on pack business was an unfortunate necessity after being laid up for days.

It was going much slower than anticipated.

Hopefully tonight was the last late night for a while.

For work, at least.

My personal life was a separate concern.

It had been a week since I left the infirmary, alive and well thanks to Ivy's instincts and quick actions.

She had risked everything to save me. Surely that meant something. But ever since we returned to the cabin, something felt off between us, like we’d taken a step back instead of forward.

As I drew closer, I could hear the quickening of her pulse, the scent of her anxiety trickled into the air. I paused in the doorway, taking in her silhouette framed against the window.

Ivy gazed out at the moonlit forest, her body tense. I thought getting her back would fix everything, that she would fully accept our bond, especially once she willingly moved into the master bedroom.

But I was wrong.

"Couldn’t sleep?" I asked softly.

She glanced over her shoulder at me and shook her head. Guarded hazel watched until I closed the door then returned to the window.

I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated. “Ivy, are you alright?”

The bond wasn’t giving me much to go by. It hadn’t since yesterday, which was when my own anxiety ratcheted higher than it had been when my mate had been fighting me at every turn.

Ivy turned to face me fully. She sighed. “I’m not exactly sure how to answer the question.”

My insides turned to cement. Her ire I could handle. This … resignation in her tone? It hurt and I didn’t understand why.

I took a deep breath, steeling myself for what I was about to say. Dreading it. Hating it with every ounce of my being.

I’d been wrestling with this for days, mulling my mate’s circumstances over and over and over again. Every one of my instincts was screaming at me not to do it.

But I had to.

"Ivy, if you’re not happy here, if you don’t think you can …” I cleared my tightening throat. “If you want to leave, leave the pack, I won't stand in your way."

The words fell like two tons of lead from the sky, tearing a hole straight through the middle of my soul.

Her eyes widened in shock before narrowing suspiciously. " What? "

"I mean it. If staying here, with me, isn't what you want, just tell me. I give you my word I won’t stop you from going." The words tasted bitter on my tongue, but I forced them out anyway.

Ivy stared at me, her expression a mix of disbelief and anger. The artery in her neck pulsed wildly.

“After everything we've been through? Now you want to offer me an out?" she hissed.

“Ivy—”

“What the hell are you doing, Briggs?”

I met her gaze, trying to convey my sincerity. "I don't want you to feel trapped. I know I didn't give you a choice before, not when I rejected you and not when I had you dragged back. I regret making you feel like you had no control over your own life. I don’t ever want you to look at me like you used to, like you hated me more than anything in this world."

She shook her head, her voice rising. "So, what, you're just going to cut me loose so you don’t have to deal with my mood?"

"No! That's not what I’m doing." I took a step forward, then stopped, running a hand over my face. "I just want you to be happy, Ivy. Even if that means letting you go. Even if it’s not with me."

Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

I swallowed hard, my chest tight. "If there’s too much pain and hurt for you to get over, I don’t want to cause more by keeping you."

Ivy let out a shaky breath, her anger giving way to something more vulnerable. "I know I’m still inside my own head with everything, but I can't just walk away. And I cannot believe you’re trying to kick me to the curb."

Hope flickered deep in my chest, but I tamped it down. “I assure you, little mate, I am not trying to get rid of you.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

"Because I—" I swallowed the knot of emotions rising in my throat. "I rejected you—”

“For good reason!”

“—forced you back here. That wasn't fair. Obviously, I broke something … between us. I can't bear the thought of you staying out of obligation. Of resenting me. There’s space between us and it’s growing. I’m thinking it will always be there because of what I broke."

Confusion clouded Ivy’s gaze, a storm brewing in her depths.

"I love you," I insisted, every muscle tense with the effort of holding myself back. "I love you too much to trap you. Now, please, tell me what you want."

"You first," she challenged.

I clenched my fists at my sides, each word scraping against my soul like shards of glass. "I want you as my wife. My mate. My Luna. I want you in every conceivable way I can have you.”

I stepped into the moonlight spilling across the wooden floor, my eyes never leaving hers. "You’ve had too many choices taken away. You should stand beside me because it's your choice. Because you want to, not because I've caged you and forced your hand."

The thoughts in my head darkened and swirled.

"I fear I'm not the Alpha you deserve. The pain I've caused you …" I trailed off, unable to get out the rest of my confession.

Ivy stood motionless for a moment. Then her voice sliced through the tense air, calm but carrying an edge that could cut steel. "Would you truly let me go, Briggs? If I chose to walk away right now?"

The question hung between us, a gauntlet thrown down upon the ground of my resolve.

A muscle twitched along my jawline. I nodded slowly, almost imperceptibly. My entire being resisted the very notion of her departure.

The gravity of my offer settled upon the room like a thick blanket, suffocating and inarguable.

"You actually mean it, don’t you?" Ivy's voice was laced with incredulity.

"I’m loath to do it, but I would do it for you." My admission might cost me everything.

A palpable shift in the air softened Ivy's posture. The rigidity that once defined her stance melted away under the weight of my sincerity.

Her eyes, pools of hazel reflecting the moonlight, held mine as she spoke, her voice a gentle caress against the rawness of my emotions. "I’m not leaving, Briggs."

Her confession was a whisper, yet it roared in my ears louder than any growl I had ever uttered.

"But I’m scared … scared to be hurt again. You almost died and I wasn’t prepared for the jumble of emotions that I had to hurtle.”

Was this why she pulled back? Was this what threw up the rift between our bond?

“But I can't live in fear anymore. I don’t want to live in fear anymore."

Her admission soothed my battered heart, mending the jagged edges left by doubt and regret.

"Maybe this is what I needed—to be sure." There was a tremor in her voice, a vulnerability echoing my own.

Relief surged through me, a tidal wave of hope crashing over me, drenching me in the warmth of a future I dared to envision once more. The atmosphere subtly shifted again, the tension that coiled between us unraveling thread by thread and reforming into something altogether different.

Ivy’s step was hesitant, yet deliberate, as she bridged the gap between us. Her hand brushed my stubbled cheek, anchoring me in the moment.

"You're crazy for offering," she said, the corners of her lips curling into a smirk.

All I could do was stare. Ivy, my mate, stood before me with a strength that belied her petite form, her touch gentle yet capable of unraveling me completely.

"And I'm just as crazy," she said with affectionate amusement and an undercurrent of something deeper, "for needing to hear it."

Inside, I experienced a change, disbelief battling with such intense joy that I almost felt my legs give way. We were going to be okay.

“I love you, Ivy. So much it scares me.”

"I love you, too."

There it was—the declaration, simple and profound, cutting through the shadows that had clung to my heart.

"Gods, Ivy …" My voice turned into a raspy whisper, thick with emotion. Me, the Alpha, now at the mercy of three little words.

I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close. Her body melded to mine, a perfect fit, and I held her tight.

My fingers traced the curve of Ivy’s spine, feeling the shiver that ran through her at my touch.

"Tell me what you’re scared of," I murmured, my lips brushing against the shell of her ear.

Ivy laced her fingers with mine. "Losing you," she confessed, her voice barely above a whisper. "Losing what I finally found."

I pulled her even closer, eliminating any space that remained between us.

"I will never leave you," I vowed, lowering my face to hers. “Everything I am is yours.”

Her small hand pressed over my heart. “Even this?”

“All of it. Only yours.”

Her breath hitched, her eyes darkening with desire. “What about this?” she teased just as her other hand gripped my shaft from outside my pants.

“ Yes ,” I agreed between clenched teeth. “Every fucking inch.”

"Show me what’s mine, Alpha.”

I didn't need any further encouragement.

I captured her lips in a searing kiss, my hands roaming over her curves. Her own hands explored, leaving trails of fire in their wake.

We stumbled towards the bed, shedding clothes as we went. When the back of my knees hit the mattress, I sat down, pulling Ivy into my lap. She straddled me, her hips rocking against mine, drawing a low groan from my throat.

"Ivy," I breathed, my lips trailing along her jawline, down the column of her throat. "You are everything to me. Everything ."

She threaded her fingers through my hair, tugging gently until I looked up. "Then love me, Briggs. Love me like it's the last time, like it's the only time."

I flipped us over, settling between her thighs, my weight supported on my forearms. "It will never be the last time, Ivy. I'm going to love you forever."

And then I was moving, thrusting deep, claiming her, worshipping her with my body. She arched beneath me, meeting me thrust for thrust, our bodies moving in perfect sync.

We lost ourselves in each other, in the slide of skin against skin, in the gasps and moans of pleasure and loving whispers. It was the most surreal experience of my life.

When we finally tumbled over the edge together, I buried my face in the crook of her neck, breathing in her scent, feeling her pulse thrumming against my lips.

I licked and sucked the skin where neck met shoulder, my cock still fully erect despite spending inside her wet heat just seconds ago.

I rocked my hips and drew a breathy moan from her. My incisors lengthened, mouth watered.

But I didn’t bite down, not yet. I continued rocking slowly. Gently.

"I’m going to mark you,” I warned.

The walls of her pussy clenched. I hummed in satisfaction.

“Does my mate like that? Like the idea of being been claimed?”

“ Yes. ”

Her muscles clenched again and I nearly came right then. I couldn’t wait a any longer.

My rhythm picked up. I ground my pelvis against her in that way that always got her off.

"Do it," Ivy panted, her fingers clawing onto my back as the tension coiled tighter in her body.

"Come for me again,” I demanded against her skin. “Come and I’ll give you what you want.”

She let out a shuddering gasp, her body seizing as her climax hit. My name tumbled from her lips in a broken scream.

Now , Onyx urged.

With a primal growl rumbling in my chest, I sunk my fangs into the soft skin of her neck while she was still pulsing around me.

The sweet taste of her blood on my tongue sent a blinding rush of pleasure through me, our bond sparking to life and tipping me over into oblivion.

Then, a flash of pain in my own shoulder a moment before I felt it—

the connection wrapping around us twice as strong, bound by love, lust, and the Moon Goddess’s blessing.

We lay intertwined in a tangle of sweat-slicked limbs and heavy breaths. The world outside ceased to exist as I held my might tight against me.

I brushed a strand of hair from her face, marveling at the beauty of her. The way her skin glowed in the moonlight filtering through the window, the way her eyes sparkled.

She looked … content. Happy even.

My eyes went to the wound on her shoulder. It would heal by morning but I still felt the need to tend to it.

"What are you thinking about?" she murmured, her fingers tracing lazy patterns on my chest.

I grinned, a mischievous glint in my eye. "I'm thinking about all the dirty things I'm going to do to you in the shower."

Ivy laughed, a sound of pure joy that warmed me to my core. "Is that so?"

I nodded, sitting up and scooping her into my arms. She squealed, wrapping her arms around my neck as I carried her towards the bathroom.

"Briggs!" she giggled, nuzzling into my shoulder. "You're insatiable."

"Only for you, my love. Only for you."

As I set Ivy down on the cool tile, I couldn't help but marvel at the change in her. The way she held herself, the way she looked at me. It was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, like she was finally free to be herself.

And I knew, in that moment, that we could face anything together. That our love was strong enough to weather any storm, to overcome any obstacle.

I reached into the shower, turning on the water, letting it heat up as I pulled Ivy flush against me.

"Ready to get dirty before we get clean?" I growled, nipping at her earlobe.

She shivered, her hands roaming over my backside. "With you? Always."

And as we stepped under the spray, our bodies entwining, our laughter echoing off the walls, I knew that this was just the start of our forever.

A forever that cost so much—and that I would never take for granted.