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EVE

I pushed him—the great alpha of Orion, stronger than any shifter I had ever laid eyes on. I pushed him onto the sofa like it was as easy as breathing.

He didn’t mind. A playful challenge shone in his eyes. “If that’s what you want,” he rumbled, and the sound of his voice, rough with desire, brought a new wave of wetness between my legs. “I’m yours.”

Whatever barrier had been in place, it was gone . A bright flash blinded me momentarily and my body was consumed by heat. I tore off my top and ripped my bra off. Logan pulled his shirt over his head, revealing the breadth of his chest, those rippling muscles that flexed as he adjusted me on top of him.

I found the length of his cock, harder than I thought possible, under his jeans. Hot lava ran through me and I was blinded again for a second.

“I saw that,” he said, a growl growing in his chest as he grabbed me by the hips, and flipped me over with such delicateness I almost didn’t know what happened. “Your wolf wants more, and I’m going to give it you.”

My wolf.

My pussy was on fire with need as Logan pulled my pants off me in a single movement. He toyed with the elastic of my underwear as he reached up, putting a cushion under my head and trailing his fingers down along my chest, circling my breasts, before pulling aside the fabric and parting me to reveal my clit.

The noise he made was guttural as he lowered his head, lapping between my lips and making me crazy . I moaned and arched my back as he pressed his tongue harder against my most sensitive place. He circled it with the smooth wetness of his tongue and slid a finger, barely, inside me. He played with my entrance and the sensations made me feel like I was being devoured. He grabbed my ass with his other hand, mumbling soft words against me. The vibrations took me closer and closer, but as much as the pleasure was taking me over, I needed to have all of him, and I needed him now .

“Eve,” he rasped against my core.

“I know,” I replied. “Take me, Logan.”

He crawled toward me, dragging his tongue from clit to hip to breast and finally up my neck. His hard length rested on my thigh as he hovered over me.

“Are you sure?—”

“Fuck me, Logan.”

I didn’t recognize my own voice. The rasp, low and growly, came from a place I had never experienced, and Logan’s breath caught.

“As you command.”

He maneuvered his hardness between my legs. The head of his cock slid over me, and into me, my entrance ready for him despite how thick he was with lust.

I needed him.

He pressed deeper and deeper, giving me every chance to slow him down. I needed every inch of him, to be filled by him, to know nothing and no one but him.

“I want all of you,” I rasped into his ear.

“But—”

“ All of you.” It was that voice again. I wrapped my arms around him, my nails digging into his back and pushing sideways until he understood. He put his knee on the floor and rolled over, setting me on top of him with a look of sheer thirst on his face. I pressed down, taking his full length into me, my clit pressing against him as I threw my head back and moaned.

I had never felt so whole as when he was inside me.

My brain, always the calculating part of me, the part that had kept me alive all these years, screamed at me to stop.

But I wouldn’t. I gave in to a hunger I hadn’t even known I possessed until now. Until him .

Logan.

Every touch of his hands, every press of his lips, every push inside me… He was undoing me in ways I hadn’t believed possible.

I was breaking and mending all at once.

He lifted me by the waist, lowering me again onto his length. Goddess, I was full with him. He pressed into me, creating liquid pleasure in me that dripped over his cock as he lifted me again.

More, more , I said to him through our bond and he growled his delight. Faster now, he lifted me and pulled me back down but it wasn’t enough.

I had to have him. All of him. Now .

I should’ve been terrified about the unknown that would come with a claiming. A small part of me was afraid, yes, but beneath the fear was a pull—stronger than reason, louder than doubt. A need that burned through my veins, eclipsing the years of pain, the guilt, the walls I’d built to keep everyone out.

I wasn’t in control anymore.

I took his hands off my waist and pressed them into the floor beside his head. He bent his knees to support me as I leaned forward, offering my breasts to him. He sucked hungrily as I pressed them into his face, first one, then the other.

My heart thundered against my ribcage as the bond between us roared to life, surging like a tide that had finally broken free. I clung to him, gasping against his skin as the world narrowed to this moment, just him . He entered me again, pulled out to the edge of me, and then pressed inside again, deeper. Again , I demanded as I bit his earlobe. Again, again, again.

He did as he was told, the slap of skin against skin making me wet beyond my craziest dreams.

And then… I fucking exploded .

It started as a spark, a match lit in my center, buried so far down I almost didn’t recognize it. A tremor ran through my chest, spreading outward like ripples on a pond, shaking me to my core. Logan sensed it too—at least, he sensed something, accelerating as he moaned into my hair, until he couldn’t contain it and tensed inside me, screaming out his orgasm as I trembled on top of him.

Pleasure and emotion, and Goddess, I was quaking with it. My peripheral vision blackened and I wondered if I was going to pass out while Logan thrust into me.

I didn’t. Instead, everything became sharper, the details vivid and multidimensional. I felt more than myself and yet, it was still all me. It made no sense until the vision of fur and panting delight came into focus.

My wolf.

For so long, she had been a distant shadow, a ghost haunting the edges of my mind. I had begged for her, cursed her absence, resigned myself to the emptiness she left behind.

Now…

She is here .

The dam burst.

The flood of her presence with my orgasm was overwhelming. I gasped, my back arching as the sensation rolled through me like an earthquake.

Her howl tore through me, deafening and relentless, a sound I’d never heard. It wasn’t just in my mind—it was me , reverberating through my entire being.

I collapsed against Logan, my breath coming in ragged bursts as the bond between us deepened in ways I couldn’t begin to understand.

He held me tighter, and through the haze, I felt his relief, his awe, and something fierce and protective.

She’s back , I thought, and tears blurred my vision as I clutched at his chest. She’s back.

She growled softly, and I truly knew how she felt .

I buried my face in Logan’s chest, clutching at him as if he were the only thing keeping me tethered to the ground. My wolf wanted to be seen, to be acknowledged, to revel in her freedom—but not yet. She retreated, as if she were afraid of the light, and despite my effort to bring her forward, to share her with Logan, she faded into the depths of me. Still there, but waiting, wanting to know what Logan was going to do next.

I couldn’t blame her. She’d spent most of my life watching, hurting with me, wanting to protect me and not being able to.

This was different. Shadow Moon Goddess, everything was different. I felt it in my skin, a power rushing over me because Logan and I had created a moment that had been fated all along.

As for what came next… I looked at Logan. His eyes were full of wonder. He stroked my back in steady circles, his touch grounding and tender. “I could never have imagined being inside you would be so freeing,” he murmured against my hair. “You are everything.”

He sat up, wrapping those giant arms around me until the bungalow was a memory and the smell of forest and ocean took me over.

“Did you feel it too?”

I didn’t have the words to respond. How could I tell him? How could I explain that the moment he’d taken me, everything I thought I knew about myself had shattered? That the part of me I’d begged to return for years had finally answered, and now I was terrified of what might happen next?

I stayed silent.

“I know it was intense,” he said. “The beginning of a claiming can often be that way. And we’re fated mates. There are hardly even any stories anymore about what we can expect will happen between us. But what just happened, that beautiful moment… it was the beginning.”

I swallowed hard, letting him hold me as I wrestled with the secret of my wolf’s arrival.

Logan shifted slightly, his arms tightening around me as if he could sense the battle raging inside. His breath hitched, and through the bond, I felt a pulse of longing, and then something darker, harder, like his soul was clawing at itself.

It’s his wolf.

“Logan?”

My wolf suddenly appeared again, pacing, panting, wavering between elation and despair. I had no idea why. My ears buzzed, the sound growing louder, tinny, like the ringing of a thousand bells crashing together.

“I’m fine,” he lied, his jaw clenching as he tried to steady his breathing. But I could feel it—the crackling intensity in him, the way his wolf stirred. Just like mine. The bond between us hummed louder, hotter, and not in a good way. It was almost unbearable.

“No, you’re not,” I whispered. I reached for him. His cheek was burning beyond even a wolf’s heat under my touch. The connection between us sparked, sending a fiery jolt through my body that left me gasping.

His wolf reached out—no longer content to stay beneath the surface. I felt it like a tidal wave, crashing against my senses, powerful and relentless. My own wolf responded instantly, surging forward to meet his, their energy tangling and pulling, pushing and fighting for dominance.

The world tilted. Nausea swept over me as their connection tightened, bound by something deeper, something primal and ancient. It felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach and Logan’s strong arms cradled me as I gasped for air.

“Eve! What’s happening? I feel my wolf with yours, but he’s blocked me out. I’ve never felt any of this before.”

I couldn’t answer. My wolf was too strong, consuming every part of me. More than that, she was merging with his wolf, their bond wrapping tighter and tighter, until it felt like we were being caught in the throes of something too vast to comprehend.

“Logan…” I managed, clutching at his arms as my vision blurred. My wolf growled, and through her, I could feel the echo of his wolf’s howl, resonating through my chest. It was beautiful and excruciating all at once, a connection that was as painful as it was necessary.

His forehead pressed against mine, his breath hot against my skin. “I’ve got you,” he murmured, his voice steady despite the chaos surging through us. “I’m not letting go.”

The bond between us pulsed violently, a living thing that demanded to be acknowledged. It wasn’t just love, or fate, or even the pull of mates. It was an ache that came from the very depths of who we were. Something broken.

Something cursed.

My wolf whimpered at the thought, torn between surrender and fight, and I knew Logan felt it too. His body trembled against mine, his wolf caught in the same agony. “We have to—” His voice cracked, and he pulled me closer, his hands gripping me like I was the only thing keeping him from shattering .

I couldn’t speak. The connection between us was too strong, too overwhelming. My head throbbed, my heart raced, and every nerve in my body burned with the weight of what we were. Together, we were everything and nothing, a storm like the one outside, waiting to consume the world—and destroy us in the process.

As suddenly as it began, the connection between us loosened. The pain didn’t disappear, but it dulled, becoming more bearable. My wolf settled, though I could still feel her trembling, still hear her whimpers in the back of my mind. Logan’s wolf calmed too, even if he was still pressing against mine.

We stayed like that, tangled together, neither of us speaking as the storm inside us slowly subsided.