Chapter 163

The sirens didn’t sound right away.

At first, it was just a feeling. The air pressure shifted slightly, and I caught the sound of footsteps moving with a precision that didn’t belong to trainees. I was observing the new hybrid patrol unit during a standard relay simulation, but something in my chest tightened before I could name it. The hairs on my arms rose.

My wolf stirred, at least, I thought it was her. But lately, I had started to question that. Was it my wolf, or was it something else entirely? A deeper instinct that had nothing to do with the moon. The line between what was inherited from my father and what had awoken with my mother’s blood had started to blur. How many times had I called it my wolf when it was something older, something colder, something I didn’t yet understand?

They moved with intent, sharp and coordinated, too deliberate to be part of the exercise.

“Drop!” I shouted, cutting through the training comms. The rookies obeyed just as a low-level flash burst cracked across the line. One of them screamed.

Simon’s voice came over the system. “Code shift. Lockdown. Sector B compromised.”

I was already sprinting toward the breach point.

In under a minute, the entire formation had shifted. Nathan’s voice came through with urgent precision, issuing real combat instructions. They weren’t just reacting; they were anticipating and maneuvering with purpose.

By the time I reached the perimeter wall, two men had already slipped through the trees. They moved with purpose, blades drawn. Their scent was masked by synthetic layers, but their intent clung to them.

I didn’t stop to think. I tackled the first man and drove my knee into his ribs. He hit the ground hard and didn’t get back up. The second caught me with a swipe across the forearm, but before he could follow through, Richard came from behind and slammed him into the pavement with force that left cracks.

“You good?” he asked, breathing steady.

“Yeah. You?”

He nodded. “More inbound.”

They didn’t get far. Five were detained, and two were killed. We didn’t lose anyone.

At the med station, Simon was already processing samples. “Antidote held,” he confirmed. “No hybrid deviation.”

I finally exhaled, releasing the breath I’d held since the attack began.

Nathan and I debriefed until midnight. The infiltrators had been planted months ago and activated by a phrase hidden in old Hollow sermon recordings. We had been one step away from disaster.

By morning, the Concord charter passed. Four major packs signed in full view of the cameras, pledging protections for hybrids, integration of mixed patrols, and equal succession rights. For the first time in a generation, change wasn’t just symbolic, it was law. Richard stood beside the council during the signing, and I stood beside him.

That evening, the Pack House was quiet and warm. Richard and I sat across from each other in the strategy wing dining room. We were too tired to speak, but content to share the silence.

The soup cooled untouched in front of us. A bottle of wine remained unopened between us.

He looked at me like he couldn’t quite believe I was still here.

“You look really pretty when you’re bruised,” he said, almost smiling. “Don’t take that the wrong way.”

I laughed, low and real. “It’s the lighting.”

“It’s not. You’re radiant. You always have been. I just forgot how to say it.”

I studied him for a long moment. “You’re not allowed to be this sweet. I’ll lose my edge.”

“I’d call that progress.”

I didn’t return to my own room I had recently claimed. I followed him down the hall like I had so many times before, and when he opened his bedroom door, I stepped inside first.

He turned and waited, quiet and steady.

I stepped closer, wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed him. This wasn’t driven by heat or the bond. It was a choice. It was mine.

His hands slid under my shirt. I pulled it off and watched his eyes soften.

“I missed you,” he said quietly.

“I know.” I kissed the corner of his mouth. “I missed you too.”

We undressed each other with slow care. There was no rush, no pressure, and no flare of bond urgency. There was only trust, rebuilt moment by moment.

I eased him back onto the bed. He let me. I climbed into his lap and kissed him again, deeper this time. His breath hitched when I ground down against him, feeling how hard he already was beneath me.

“Let me take care of you,” I said.

He nodded, his eyes locked on mine, his hands light on my hips.

I reached down and freed him from his pants, pushed my underwear aside, and slid against him until we were both wet and flushed. I hovered there, teasing, just enough to drive him wild.

“You’re cruel,” he said, his jaw tight. “You know that?”

I smiled. “You like it.”

He groaned and gripped my hips harder. I sank down onto him in one long, slow motion, taking every inch until I was fully seated. We both moaned, our bodies already shaking.

“Fuck, Amelia. You feel unreal.”

I began to move in smooth, deliberate circles, grinding down and adjusting my angle until the pressure hit just right. He stared up at me, wrecked and reverent.

“I forgot what this felt like,” I murmured. “No bond pulling at us. No heat. Just you and me.”

His hands slid up my sides with care. “You’re everything to me. You always have been.”

“I want to see you lose control.”

“You already have.”

I started riding him harder, chasing the edge for both of us. His thrusts met mine, deep and well-timed. The rhythm built with purpose.

The bed creaked beneath us with every motion. His hands tightened on my hips as he sat up slightly, his mouth catching the underside of my jaw.

“Let me see you fall apart,” he said, voice low and wrecked.

I closed my eyes. I was close. I could feel myself tightening around him, every nerve flaring. I rocked harder, chasing the feeling.

“You’re close,” I said, my voice unsteady.

“So are you.”

I clenched around him and arched back. “Then come with me.”

The orgasm hit me fast and full. I cried out, raw and open, grinding down as the pleasure overtook me. He followed with a broken sound, calling my name as his arms wrapped around me tightly.

We didn’t move for a long time.

His lips brushed my shoulder. “I felt all of it.”

“I didn’t want it to end.”

“It doesn’t have to.”

He pulled the blanket over us and wrapped himself around me. The bond pulsed quietly beneath everything, not loud or overwhelming, but present and steady. It wasn’t consuming us the way it had before, but it was still there, connecting us.

My body ached in the best possible way. His fingers traced aimless shapes over my arm while I lay tucked into him, listening to the sound of his breathing as it slowed.

I tilted my face up, pressed a kiss to his jaw, and let my eyes fall closed.

We stayed like that, tangled together, bare and open, letting the silence stretch with no need to rush. His hand found mine beneath the sheets, and our fingers threaded together, warm and firm.

I breathed him in, letting myself believe we were safe here. Maybe just for the night, or maybe for longer than that.