Chapter 5

Rowan

Pain was the first thing I felt when I clawed back toward consciousness.

But the warm hand pressed against my shoulder split the pain in two, made it bearable.

Then—scent.

Faint herbs. And something lighter, something that should have belonged to a young she-wolf, but didn't quite fit.

No. Not quite.

I struggled to gauge her age. The scent was what should have belonged to a pup, but it was on a young female. Only one explanation: she hadn't awakened her wolf yet.

I tried to assess the situation, but something in me woke up before my reason did.

Instinct. It hit before my eyes could focus, before language, before judgment. Like drowning in darkness and blood loss, finally brushing against the one thing that could keep me from going under.

My wolf roared inside me.

I couldn't control him. The wolfsbane had eaten through most of my grip on my wolf. Staying half-conscious was the best I could manage right now.

I forced my eyes open. My vision was blurred. Moonlight poured through the collapsed dome, silvering everything.

And I saw a girl.

She knelt beside me, head down, brow tight, lips pressed together. Blood ran from her wrist, trailing between her fingers.

I felt the wolfsbane pulling back from my body. But my wolf grew more restless.

He wanted to get closer to her.

I gritted my teeth and tried to push him down.

But the last edge of my control was wearing thinner by the second.

The girl seemed to sense something. She looked up. Her eyes met mine.

Bright. Almost stubborn in their focus, like she'd poured everything she had into what she was doing.

My wolf broke completely in that gaze.

Instinct drove me to grab her wrist and pull her into my arms.

She stiffened and tried to pull back.

"Don't move."

My voice came out rough, barely mine.

She didn't know if she was scared or not. She didn't move. Or maybe she couldn't anymore.

I leaned over her, close enough to feel her breath against my mouth.

Then I kissed her. Hard. Almost desperate.

Her lips were cool and trembling.

She was unsure, tilting her head up to meet it, breathing ragged, fingers digging into my shoulders. Her teeth caught my lower lip, and the faint taste of blood only made me wilder.

I pulled her tight against me, pressed my forehead to hers, breathing hard. She didn't say no. I even felt her lips part under mine, a small, tentative response.

I don't know if I was lying to myself. But I took that as permission.

Her breasts filled my palms, soft and warm. Her nipples tightened under my touch, and I rolled them between my fingers, slow and deliberate.

A soft moan slipped out of her. We were melting into each other. I could feel her chest rising and falling against mine.

Then, like she couldn't hold back anymore, she started to touch me back.

I was already hard, straining. Her clumsy response only made it worse.

Her clothes came off fast, shredded in my hands. She closed her eyes and kissed me back, and I reached between her thighs.

When I felt she was ready, I lifted her hips slightly, pressed against her entrance, and drove in deep in one thrust.

Her cry was swallowed by my mouth. She whimpered, nails biting into my shoulders. I couldn't feel the pain from my wounds anymore. Only a wave of pleasure crashing through me.

I heard my wolf Oren snarl inside me.

Claim her, Rowan. Make her our mate.

My teeth sank into the skin at the side of her neck.

I knew I shouldn't.

But Oren took over at the worst possible moment, and I couldn't stop him anymore.

The girl made a small, muffled sound, her body going rigid for a second. She tightened around me. But she didn't pull away.

Maybe the pleasure was too much to resist.

Maybe she didn't know what it meant.

Moonlight poured through the opening in the dome, washing over us both.

I let go completely inside her, raw and primal, marking her with my scent and my claim under the moonlight.

And across my body, the torn wounds had already begun to close.