Page 32 of Curses and Casualties
“Fuck, Georgia, fuck—” He roars my name as he follows me over, his cock pulsing deep inside me as he fills me with his release. The room explodes with light, silver and gold combining into something almost white-hot. Through our bond I experience his pleasure too. The way my pussy milks his cock, the heat, the perfect friction. The pleasure bouncing between us is insane. It’s like I can’t tell where I end, and he begins.
We cling to each other, both trembling as aftershocks roll through us. I can feel Luna’s satisfaction mixing with Kane’s possessive pleasure, but underneath it, that thread of unease remains.
“Holy shit,” I finally manage, my forehead pressed against his shoulder. “I think we might have actually flooded the room.”
“And cracked the stone,” he adds with a chuckle, kissing my temple. “We’ll blame it on thermal expansion.”
I laugh, about to make another geology joke when a sound cuts through our blissful haze.
A howl. Then another. And another.
Luna explodes to alertness in my mind.DANGER! PACK! THEY COME!
Chapter 14
Georgia
“Those aren’t Úlfhéðnar wolves.” Ryan’s already moving, pulling out of me and lifting us both from the water with inhuman speed. The blissful warmth evaporates instantly, replaced by ice-cold dread. “Enforcers.”
“What? How did they find us?” I scramble for my clothes, hands shaking as more howls echo through the night, definitely closer now.
“I don’t know,” Ryan says, tossing me my shirt. “I’d blame our light show. But this is too fast. Fuck. Get dressed fast. We need to?—”
The door explodes inward.
Three massive wolves burst through, their eyes glowing with predatory intent. I barely manage to yank my shirt on before Ryan shoves me behind him, his body already shifting, bones cracking as he takes his hybrid form.
“Georgia Harper,” the lead wolf snarls, his voice gravelly even in wolf form. “By order of the Elders, you will return with us for judgment.”
“Like hell,” I snap, my own anger rising to match Luna’s fury. She claws at my insides, desperate to defend our mate, but I stillcan’t shift. The frustration burns. I’m tired of being the weak link, tired of watching others fight my battles.
More wolves pour through the shattered doorway—four, five, six. Ryan roars, muscles bunching to attack, but we’re grotesquely outnumbered in this small space.
“Stop!” A young voice rings out with authority. A blonde Úlfhéðnar warrior—he can’t be more than eighteen—stands in the ruins of our doorway. “You dare attack guests under our protection?”
The lead enforcer barely glances at him. “Stand aside, pup. This doesn’t concern the Úlfhéðnar.”
The young warrior’s eyes flash dangerously. “Guest-right is sacred law, older than your pack, older than your Elders. To violate it is to declare war on every Úlfhéðnar who has ever lived or ever will live.” His voice carries the weight of absolute conviction. “You’ve just made this our concern.”
“Then you’ll die with them,” the enforcer snarls, lunging forward.
Ryan meets him mid-leap, his body exploding into his massive alpha wolf form. They crash together with the sound of thunder, fangs bared, claws raking across fur and flesh. The small room becomes a battlefield.
My eyes burn silver as Luna claws at my insides, desperate to help. My fingernails stretch into claws—just for a second—before the shift collapses like a wave hitting rock. She’s so close. I’m so close. But still not enough. “Come on,” I hiss through gritted teeth. “Help him!”
Two enforcers circle toward me, and I grab a heavy wooden chair, swinging it with all my strength. It shatters against one wolf’s skull, sending him stumbling into the wall.
The door bursts open again—what’s left of it anyway—and Scarlett and Ethan barrel in, already partially shifted. Scarlett’sclaws are out, her eyes blazing amber as she launches herself at the nearest enforcer with a feral scream.
“Nobody fucks with my friends!” she snarls, raking her claws across the wolf’s muzzle in a spray of blood. “You bite, I bite harder, bitch.”
Ethan slams into another enforcer, the two massive wolves rolling across the wet floor in a tangle of teeth and fury. But more keep coming—seven, eight, nine enforcers pouring through the shattered entrance like a dark tide.
The young Úlfhéðnar warrior—barely bloodied despite the chaos—raises his head and howls. It’s not just any howl. It’s deep and resonant, carrying layers of meaning I can’t understand but feel in my bones. The sound echoes through the settlement like a war horn.
Within seconds, answering howls rise from every direction.
“You’ve doomed yourselves,” he tells the enforcers with grim satisfaction.
