Page 50 of Fated
“Yes.” Asher’s sob broke around the word, body shuddering under Caleb’s brutal pace. “Always yours. Always.”
Caleb’s knot caught without warning, stretching Asher wider than ever before. He rutted into his beta at lightning speed and roared as he came—no longer the carefully controlled alpha who second-guessed every decision, but a leader who claimed what was his without apology—the primal cry echoing through the suite. His knees buckled, vision darkening at the edges as pleasure crashed through him, washing away the last vestiges of the hesitant male he’d been before the summit.
His climax saturated the air, rich and potent. Caleb’s nostrils flared, pupils dilating as animal instinct took over. Asher’s scent changed too, carrying the unmistakable markers of being thoroughly claimed. Their breathing fell into a harmonized rhythm, resembling their wolves’ panting after a successful hunt—victorious, sated, and deeply connected to their essence.
Asher’s body shuddered, release painting the glass as he bit down on his arm to muffle his screams. Caleb’s heart stalled with realization—this was the first time he’d knotted Asher. Satisfaction surged again, settling deep in his bones.
Knotting was untested terrain, a line never crossed in their years together. Usually, their bedroom dynamic flowed like water, with Asher typically taking control. But the summit had changed something in Caleb, unleashing the alpha dominance he rarely expressed. His knot swelling inside Asher felt like the culmination of this transformation. Physical proof of how the week had permanently altered not just how others saw him, but how he saw himself. It transcended physical pleasure—this was claiming, possessing in ways Caleb had never allowed himself before.
For a moment, the world stood perfectly still. The only sound was their labored breaths as Caleb’s knot kept them locked together in this new, intimate way.
He pressed his lips to Asher’s shoulder, tasting salt-slick skin as he whispered, “Goddess, I love you.”
Asher turned his head, sweat-dampened hair clinging to his forehead as he managed a weak smile. “I know,” he murmured, voice hoarse but warm. “I love you, too.”
As his knot finally subsided, Caleb slipped out with a soft groan. His hands gripped Asher’s shoulders, pressing him forward gently. “Show me.”
Asher arched his back deeply, presenting himself as instructed. Caleb crouched behind him, breath catching at thesight. Asher’s hole remained stretched, evidence of Caleb’s knot still visible, his release trickling out in lazy rivulets. Fenrir’s presence blazed beneath Caleb’s skin, a fire that burned from his chest into his hands gripping Asher’s flesh.
“Fuck,” Caleb growled, running his hands over Asher’s hips before grabbing his jeans and pulling them up. He stood, pressing a kiss to Asher’s neck before moving to his ear, lips curving into a wicked smirk. “Keep me there,” he purred. “I want you to feel me leak out of you all the way home.”
Caleb punctuated the words with a sharp smack to Asher’s ass, drawing out a startled gasp and soft chuckle from his beloved beta.
As Asher straightened, their eyes met in the reflection of the fogged window. Pupils dilated as understanding sparked between them—the magnitude of this threshold crossed visible in Asher’s trembling lip and Caleb’s wondering brow. Asher’s expression softened as he turned, pressing his forehead against Caleb’s.
“That was...” Asher’s voice was still rough, trailing off as he searched for words.
“Different,” Caleb finished for him, a hint of uncertainty creeping into his tone. The alpha dominance that had consumed him receded, leaving room for reflection.
Asher’s lips curved into a smile as he brushed his thumb across Caleb’s cheekbone. “Necessary,” he corrected. “We’ve always had this balance, but sometimes...” He paused, eyes darkening with memory. “Sometimes we need this too. Raw. Primal.” His fingers traced the back of Caleb’s neck. “I’ve never felt more connected to you than when you surrender to what you truly want.”
Caleb let out a long breath, shoulders dropping as a tightness he hadn’t realized was knotting his spine unraveled vertebra by vertebra. “The things I did to you,” he stammered, “the things Istill want to do to you—sometimes they scare me. I’ve spent so long afraid of what my power might make me become.”
“They shouldn’t,” Asher replied simply, pressing a gentle kiss to Caleb’s lips. “Your restrained control, your surrender, your alpha dominance—I want all of it. I want all ofyou.”
The words flowed through Caleb’s veins like warm honey, each pulse carrying them deeper until his breath expanded his chest fully for what felt like the first time in years. Something within his core released. That piece of himself he’d always kept leashed clicked into place with an almost audible sensation.
He adjusted his own clothes with smug satisfaction. The world outside could wait—right now, everything that mattered was right here in front of him, flushed, utterly spent, and perfectly his.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
LENA
Lena tugged at the hem of her cropped black sweater, the soft material weak armor against the morning ahead. She paired it with high-waisted jeans and her favorite leather boots—the ones that gave her an extra inch of height, steadying her against what was to come. Her fingers trembled as she secured her hair into a low ponytail, leaving a few strands to frame her face, a habit born of nervousness. The simple gold hoops in her ears and her mother’s pendant at her collarbone finished the look, though no amount of jewelry could disguise the strain in her golden-brown eyes.
The summit’s triumphs—her connections with the leaders, the respect she’d earned—felt hollow in the shadow of last night.Her stomach churned as unwanted images played like a horrific highlight reel in her mind: Kai’s hands on Ava, their bodies pressed together, the moment she’d nearly lost everything that was meant to be hers. Each image scraped against her insides like broken glass. Acid scorched her esophagus, crawling up her throat with each breath, though she tried to tell herself it wasn’t truly betrayal. He wasn’t hers.
Not yet.
Maybe not ever.
Her hand steadied as she reached for her lipstick. The crimson shade was her final defense, painted carefully over lips that had demanded more from him:“Fix it. I can’t bear to see you again until you do.”
Questions echoed in her mind, sharp and heavy as she gathered her things to leave:Will he show up? Do I even want him to?Yet, a small, traitorous part of her hoped he would—that he’d make the effort, that he’d choose her.
Elara’s presence singed like hot embers shifting beneath Lena’s skin as she made her way down to the lodge’s parking lot.“He doesn’t deserve us if he’s too weak to fight.”The wolf’s simmering fury was like steel scraping against bone, reverberating through Lena’s ribcage.
The crisp morning air hit Lena’s face as she stepped outside and joined her family near the Jeep. She forced her shoulders back, chin high—the picture of composure she needed them to see. No one needed to know how close she was to falling apart.
