Page 49 of Fated
He opened his mouth to speak, but Lena cut him off with a raised hand, stepping back. “Save it.” Her voice dropped to a biting whisper. “I’m not in the mood, and I have a party to get back to.” One clawed finger jabbed toward his chest. “I suggestyou keep your idiot son away from me tonight unless you want a scene.”
Not waiting for his response, Lena strode past the stunned alpha, head high despite the trembling in her limbs. Each step toward the banquet hall felt like lifting lead weights. She paused outside the doors, drawing deep breaths. Her hands shook as she smoothed her dress, mentally pressing against Elara’s presence until the wolf reluctantly retreated, coiling tight in the darkest corner of her mind. The mask had to be perfect—she couldn’t let them see her break.
Inside, she spotted her family. Cian, Aiden, Ryker, and Tessa huddled around a cocktail table. Ryker was speaking, gesturing animatedly. Whatever he said had Tessa blushing furiously, Aiden throwing his head back with a howl of laughter, and Cian doubled over, giggling uncontrollably.
The sight sent a bittersweet pang through her chest. These were her people. Her pack. Her anchors. Her posture softened, the fight draining from her body.
Lena counted each inhale and exhale, mentally pressing Elara’s grief down. She grabbed a fresh flute of champagne from the bar, her fingers trembling as she plastered on her brightest smile and walked toward the group.
Ryker glanced up, his grin widening. “Well, if it isn’t the future Luna of Bloodstone,” he teased, lifting his glass in mock toast.
The title landed like the swing of an axe, stealing her breath for a moment, but her smile remained frozen in place.
Lena rolled her eyes. “Don’t start, Ryker.”
Aiden raised his drink. “To Moonshadow and the end of one of the most unpredictable and entertaining summits.”
Lena lifted her glass, willing her hand not to shake. The crystal caught the light, throwing fractured rainbows across her face that helped hide the tears threatening to spill.
“To family,” she managed, voice steady even as her throat closed around the words.
Her pack’s laughter surrounded her like a shield, and for just a moment—enveloped by their warmth, their strength, their unwavering presence—Lena let herself believe that everything would be okay.
But beneath her smile, beneath the careful mask of composure, the bond in her chest throbbed with each heartbeat. Like an open wound exposed to salt air.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CALEB
Caleb’s body was slick with sweat, muscles straining as he pressed Asher against the window. The glass fogged beneath his beta’s flushed skin, each breath leaving clouds of condensation on the surface. Below, summit attendees gathered in the courtyard, their voices a distant hum beneath the rush of blood in his ears.
He couldn’t bring himself to care who might look up and glimpse Asher braced against the glass, forehead pressed to the cool surface as gasps tore from his throat. All that mattered was the way Asher’s body yielded to him, that perfect heat gripping him tighter with each punishing thrust.
The air thickened with their mingled scents—the sharp tang of sweat, the heady musk of arousal, the distinctive notes of their wolves merging into something wild and untamed. Each stroke drew guttural groans that vibrated through the walls as the wet, obscene sounds of their joining echoed in the room in a primitive rhythm feeding Caleb’s frenzy.
“Asher.” Caleb’s voice dropped to the alpha register that made his beta shiver. “Do you have any idea how good you look like this?” His hands tightened possessively on Asher’s hips. “Spread out for me, every part of you mine to take.”
A broken moan was his only answer. Asher exhaled in short gasps that left ghostly patterns on the window. His arms quivered with the effort of holding himself up, thighs already weakening from Caleb’s relentless pace.
Caleb hadn’t intended for things to spiral like this, but something fundamental had shifted this week. Respect replaced doubt as pack leaders deferred to him and the public acknowledgment had awakened something primal—a consuming need to claim Asher completely. The desire burning between them felt deeper than usual. Darker. More intense.
They should have been on the road back to Crescent Fang already, but seeing Asher bent over—the muscles in his back rippling as he tied his shoe—had ignited something feral in Caleb, obliterating all sense of control.
Maybe it was standing tall among alphas last night, no longer an imposter but an equal. Maybe it was pack leaders seeking his counsel. Or maybe it was simply Asher’s beautiful submission, standing beside him as lover, anchor,everything.
Whatever the cause, Caleb’s restraint had shattered altogether. He’d spent the night taking Asher over and over, throat raw from Asher’s cock stretching him open, knees bruised from hardwood floors, muscles burning with exertion as he kepthimself buried in his beta until language dissolved from their brains—leaving only groans, gasps, and desperate pleas.
They’d barely slept, yet Caleb had awakened with the same hunger clawing at him, that need burning fiercer than before.
“Goddess, Asher,” Caleb growled, voice thick with authority and reverence. Heat coiled low in his abdomen, ready to snap. His grip tightened enough to bruise as he pulled Asher back against him. “You take me so well. So perfectly.”
“YES!” Asher howled, voice raw and desperate. “Fuck!Harder, Caleb!”
Caleb obeyed, movements turning savage as he pounded into his beta with unrestrained force. The sharp slap of skin on skin filled the room, mixing with Asher’s cries and the deep growls rumbling from Caleb’s chest.
Just the sight of Asher was enough to push Caleb toward the edge—muscles rippling with each thrust, body arching to take him deeper, each pant leaving ephemeral trails down the glass. Caleb’s hand slid up Asher’s spine, tracing each vertebra before gripping the nape of his neck and pressing down, commanding complete surrender.
“You’re mine,” Caleb grunted, voice thick with claim. “All of you.Completely.”
