Chapter 41

I barely had time to gasp before he pressed his mouth to mine again with a rough, needy sound.

"God, Amelia," he growled, voice rough against my lips, "I've wanted this all fucking day."

I shivered as his words sent heat straight between my thighs.

"Richard," I breathed back, biting his lower lip, "shut up and kiss me harder."

His answering snarl vibrated in my chest and he obeyed without hesitation. to gasp before Richard had me pinned against the wall, his mouth crashing onto mine.

My fingers dove into his hair without thinking, nails scraping his scalp as his low growl vibrated against my chest. The cheap fluorescent lights flickered overhead, cold and clinical, but nothing felt clinical about the heat coiling in my stomach. Every rational thought fell away when his thumb traced the edge of my mouth, demanding more. I gave it to him.

My wolf stirred deep inside me, restless, hungry. Heat pooled between my thighs, every nerve screaming for more.

I let out a shuddering breath, unable to hide how badly I wanted to have him, to claim him. My hips rolled against his leg with filthy need, grinding for friction. His growl turned primal, animal, as his hand slid lower, squeezing my ass possessively, forcing me closer until I gasped his name into his mouth.

Deep inside me, restless, hungry, I could feel my wolf reaching for him. My hips arched toward him without permission. He growled again, a raw, almost unhinged sound I’d never heard from him before.

I felt every button of his suit pressing into my clothes as I wrapped my arms tighter around his shoulders, pulling him impossibly close. His knee slid between mine and I let it, moaning softly against his lips as the door behind me rattled with our movement.

“Amelia—”

I didn’t let him finish. My hips rolled even harder against his thigh, grinding shamelessly as I moaned into his mouth.

"Fuck, Amelia," he rasped, voice thick with heat, "look at you. So needy for me you can't even wait. Keep going, ride against my thigh."

His hand grabbed my ass, helping me grind, and I whimpered.

"That's it," he growled, low and filthy, "Let me hear you.". My mouth crashed back onto his, swallowing the rest of his words. His hand clamped around my hip possessively, the other cradling my jaw in a bruising grip. I shivered at the pressure, my hands trembling with the need to touch more, to feel more. I wanted to drown in him until the rest of the world disappeared.

His breathing was ragged, like he'd forgotten how to restrain himself. The taste of him was intoxicating. My head spun as his tongue pressed insistently against mine. My body wanted to yield completely, to lose myself in the heat radiating off of him. But there was no time—no safety here.

Then the voice hit like a gunshot. “Emergency strategy session. Now.”

We jerked apart, chests heaving. Richard’s grip lingered on my hip a fraction too long before he let go. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, glaring at Nathan who watched us with barely concealed disdain.

Richard’s voice was gravel. “We’ll be there.”

Nathan just turned and walked away without another word.

My pulse thundered. I tried to make my breathing even. We followed in silence. I didn’t dare look at Richard, afraid of what I’d see, or worse, what I wouldn’t.

In the strategy room, tension was thick enough to choke on. Nathan slammed a folder onto the table. “David’s secured support from three neutral Packs. He’s shifted the momentum.”

Silence rippled through the room. The air seemed to vibrate with anger and fear.

Richard’s gaze locked onto the map behind Beta, voice cutting like a blade. “How did we not see this coming?”

Nathan flipped through the folder. “They’ve been working them for months, quietly. Promises of shared borders. Exclusive trade deals. It's a classic consolidation.”

My thoughts were a chaotic mess. Adrenaline buzzed in my blood like electricity. I couldn't stop replaying the heat between us, my body still twitching with need even as I tried to focus.

I wanted to crawl back into his arms. I wanted to throw him against the table and finish what we started. But I couldn't afford it. The threat was too real. The entire Pack was depending on us.

My teeth dug into my lip as I forced that hunger down and stared at the map with murder in my eyes. Adrenaline roared in my ears, and my thighs still ached from the way I'd ground against him. I swallowed hard, forcing the hunger back down.

"Can we intercept those agreements? Convince their allies to apply pressure?" My voice shook with pent-up want I couldn't shake even under threat.

Beta shook his head. “Not in time. They’re finalizing it. If he flips two more, we’re boxed in.”

Emma rushed in, breathless, tablet in hand. She didn’t even bother to greet anyone before slamming it onto the table. “Look at this. He’s playing on their fear. Selling protection against ‘external threats’ he’s manufacturing himself.”

Nathan scoffed. “Classic tyrant marketing.”

Richard’s eyes found mine. They were hard again, all the heat from before replaced by calculation. “Options?”

I forced myself to keep my voice steady. “We can hit them on the external front. If their treaty partners threaten to withdraw, they might back down. Fear cuts both ways.”

He gave a single, decisive nod. “You’re on external analysis. Find pressure points. Quietly.”

“Understood,” I managed, though the word felt heavy in my mouth. I dropped my eyes to the table so I wouldn’t see the way he looked at me, like a soldier, not the man who had just kissed me like he was starving.

The room split into smaller groups. My fingers trembled over my datapad. Emma hovered at my side.

“People saw you,” she hissed under her breath.

I snapped my head up. “Emma—”

“I’m trying to shut it down. But they’re saying you’re the reason he’s distracted. That you’re compromising him.”

My mouth went dry. “Fuck.”

She lowered her voice even further. “He’s Alpha. He can take the hit. You can’t. They’ll chew you up and spit you out if they think you’re a liability.”

I felt my face flush with a mix of embarrassment and rage. “I can handle it.”

Emma’s eyes softened just slightly. "I can't believe you let someone see you going into his room." she added flatly.

Relief and horror twisted in my gut, "That's all they saw?"

"Is there something else someone could have seen?" Emma pressed, eyes sharp as knives.

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. My eyes drifted across the room where Richard barked orders at Simon and Beta, back rigid, voice iron. No sign of the man who’d had his mouth on mine. Who’d sounded like he might break when he whispered my name.

When the meeting finally adjourned, I tried to slip out first. But Richard’s hand caught my forearm. His grip was warm, firm, and I felt my entire body betray me by leaning back toward him.

“Later,” he murmured, voice low and wrecked.

“Later,” I forced out. It tasted like poison on my tongue.

I wrenched my arm free and left before I could do something humiliating like cry. Or worse, turn around and kiss him again in front of everyone. I could hear the faintest cry of something inside me, snarling with frustration. Claim him. No. Not here, not now. I had work to do, treaties to read, allies to threaten. A war to win.

But as I walked away, I could still feel the phantom press of his lips against mine. The way his hands had trembled when he held me. And I hated, more than anything, that I wanted to go back.