The dark visceral fury flowing in my veins is the kind that’ll turn me into a cold-blooded killer. But not today. Mya’s soft skin under my fingertips keeps me rooted to this spot. Her sweet scent lures me closer. And her voice soothes my primal side.

Taking her mouth in another slow kiss, I savor this moment. The beauty of it will be overshadowed by lust and the need to possess. I know myself too well. The moment I lower Mya to the bed, I’ll devour her. She needs to know why. Needs to know my feelings. No one else deserves that. Only Mya.

“I’ve remained in this world for you, Mya. For this moment.” I speak the truth against her soft lips. “Every glimpse of what happiness could be if I’d only managed to get things right, every painful reminder of what it feels like to lose everything I care about, every lonely moment when I questioned why I keep breathing.”

I ease back slightly. Mya’s green eyes draw me in. The purity and innocence I see reflected in my true mate’s gaze cleanses me, wiping away all the shit I’ve experienced over my long life. I can’t help but be inspired by Mya’s strength. She’s suffered more than any woman should. Yet I see love in her eyes. There’s no mistaking it. This beautiful woman loves me—a man who failed her, allowing her to fall into the hands of a pitiful excuse of a male.

“Every second of my two centuries of life made me into a man worthy of you.” And I’ll spend every moment proving to Mya she made the right choice tonight.

“And you’ve shown me I am worthy of a man like you.” Mya rests her fingertips against my lips. “That I deserve love.”

With my wolf guiding my steps, I kick off my shoes and carry Mya to the bed, but I don’t set her bottom on it. There’s one more thing to tell Mya before I allow my primal side free. “You have mine. For eternity.”

“Rick.” Just my name. That’s all she’s spoken, but I hear more. Mya’s telling me everything she can’t voice yet. It’s clear in her tone, in her expression, and in her welcoming touch. She’s loves me with everything she has and everything she will be.

That’s all I need.

I capture Mya’s mouth as I lower her to the bed. Her scent surrounds me, drugging and unleashing me. Nothing is more potent than this—the knowledge of what will happen between us. It’s magic unto itself.

“Rick.” This time, my name has a husky quality to it, matching the rougher strokes of Mya’s tongue against mine. She tugs at my shirt, ripping the neckline. Her demand is clear. She wants me naked. I’m more than ready to oblige her.

With a hard jerk, I finish what Mya started, tearing my shirt. She pulls the edges down my arms, then reaches for my jeans. I unzip as she struggles with the button. The moment it gives, my stiff cock bumps her hand. A tingling vibration travels down its length, settling in my balls. An ache spreads. Only one thing will cure it.

“Need you naked, baby.” I give the order as I wrestle out of my jeans. Mya does the same, yanking and tearing at her clothes.

The second we’re both undressed, she wraps her slender fingers around my girth. The pressure of her squeezing grip makes my eyes roll back in my head and a groan escape my mouth.

Mya bites my lower lip, then sucks on the stinging flesh. All the while, her hands are stroking my dick, tugging and pulling on its rigid length. Her motions are jerky and uncoordinated, a mix of pain and pleasure. The bite of her nails on the head of my erection sends another shudder through my body. I can’t help but think she’s unsure what she’s doing. Or maybe she’s really excited. Likely, the truth is somewhere in between. Both reasons feed into my ego.

I’ll be the first and only man to experience Mya’s passion. Her breeding partner never did. Mya’s awkward touch tells me that. Good. He didn’t deserve it. Each of Mya’s too rough tugs on my cock proves I do. She wants to please me.

I spread Mya’s legs apart with my knees and settle into the space between her sweet thighs, but Mya doesn’t release my cock. She keeps working my dick as if determined to pull my seed free with her touch alone. She can. Already my balls are heavy and tight. My penis is harder than it’s ever been. Tingles have settled at the base of my spine. I can come right now. A quick release isn’t in my plans for tonight, however.

Covering Mya’s hand with mine, I pump into her fisted grip, showing her with my body the pressure and speed I prefer. She eases her deathly hold and slides her hand along my stiff cock in time with my stroking. Her kisses don’t slow to match the rhythm I’ve set, though. She eats at my mouth as if she’s trying to crawl inside me.

My eyelids close. Mya’s erotic kiss eradicates my need to possess. In this moment, all I want is to experience the lover I unleashed. Her stroking grows more confident by the second. I ease my hand from hers, allowing her to pleasure me as she sees fit, then I drag my knuckles through the slickness between her legs, pleasuring her as I see fit. That includes teasing her until her thighs are as wet as her lower lips.

By the third slow caress of my knuckles to her cleft, arousal coats the back of my hand. Without losing her pumping rhythm, she lifts her bottom, pushing her wet lower lips against the back of my hand, trying to coax me to touch her more. I don’t need her to voice her needs. I understand what she’s trying to tell me. She aches as much as I do.

The compulsion to meet her desires is one I can’t ignore. I dip a fingertip between her folds. She jerks at the simple touch, impaling herself. My palm meets her lower lips. Her body grips my single finger, squeezing it and tempting me with the knowledge that soon it’ll be my dick that gets to enjoy the soft cushion of Mya’s body. The ache in my balls intensifies. I need to be inside Mya, but she has to be ready for me. I’ve never been harder than I am right now, not even when we’d made love in her pack’s circle.

Taking control of the kiss, I lead her into a wild melding of mouths while I work her body. I add a second finger, then a third. She moans. More warmth surrounds my fingers. The wonderfully welcoming sound of her arousal greeting my thrusting fingers jacks up my hunger. I tear my mouth from hers.

“Are you ready to be mine? To give me your soul?” I won’t ask again. My hold on my honor is slipping with each passing second.

“My soul?” She stills under me. Her gaze locks with mine. “You’re going to take a piece of my soul?”

I dip my chin. “To fill the hole in mine. It’s my right and the bond the goddesses intended for us to share. They led us through hell to prep us for heaven. I believe that with every fiber of my being.”

“Yes.” Mya’s breathing deepens. A look of possession slides into her eyes. “Keep me, Rick. Treasure me.”

“Until my dying day.” I kiss Mya as I stroke her sex.

She does the same, taking control of me. Her awkward movements from minutes ago are gone. With her free hand, she caresses me, from my ass to my shoulders and back. Fire skips along my skin. She doesn’t give me the chance to focus on the sensation of coming alive under her touch. Mya quickens the motions of her pumping hand over my dick, swiping her thumb over the head of my cock with each stroke. The slight stimulation slickens the head with precome.

Groaning, I push my dick against her thumb. She moves her hand to my ass. Using both hands on my ass cheeks, she tugs me closer. My dick meets her wet pussy. She lifts her bottom and draws the head of my cock inside her. As if my body has a mind of its own, my hips jerk. My dick fills her, stretching her until I’m seated as deep as I can go inside her. Tiny waves caress my length, squeezing me and urging me to spill my seed. I could too. I’m so hard. My balls are pulled tight.

A guttural moan surrounds us. It’s mine. I sound like an animal. I don’t care. The warm, soft grip of Mya’s core is my heaven on earth. This woman owns me. I wrap my arms around Mya, holding her still as I will my dick to behave, and bury my face in the silken strands of her hair. No way am I going to come before I even get the chance to move. “I waited so long for you, baby. So very long, but you’re worth it. Worth walking through hell.”

Mya presses her lips to my neck. I feel her smile against my skin. My confession must’ve pleased her. I’m glad. Mya deserves words of love. She’ll get them, every day. Right now, though, I need something else, and it’s not talking.

I give myself over to the needs assaulting me. Capturing Mya’s mouth, I kiss her as I ride her body, taking my pleasure from her. She meets me, thrust for thrust. Her core tightens the longer I pump into her. She writhes under me. Whimpers with each deep stroke. All the while, her hands caress me, pulling me closer.

“Mya.” I manage to get her name out. Freakin’ miracle I’m able to do that. Only one thing occupies my thoughts. I need to lay every claim on Mya I can make.

She moves a hand to my chest. Her fingers flex. The sting of her sharpened nails marks a path on me, bleeding me. The scent of my blood blends with the heavy scent of sex surrounding us.

“What—”

Before I get the question out, she pushes me. I let her knock me back. No matter how much I need to get off, I’ll follow her lead. If she needs me to stop, I will. The lust in her eyes doesn’t reflect a woman who wants to put a stop to sex, however.

“You’re mine, Rick. Mine.” Mya leans close and licks the wound she inflicted on me, leaving her scent in me. As deep as the cuts are, I’ll carry her scent for life.

The primal side of my persona flares. This woman marked me. Claimed me in the most primitive of ways. Honored me in a way I never expected.

I cradle the back of Mya’s head as she finishes sealing her claw marks. The moment the tip of her tongue reaches the end of her swiped mark, I settle a hand on her hip, holding her in place, and move behind her.

A similar but shallower scar is etched into her ass cheek. This is what she hid from me the two previous times I had Mya naked in my arms. She’s not trying to cover up the disfigurement Todd left on her this time, however. I bet that’s how she views the claw mark on her bottom too. It’s not a beautiful claim of ownership like the mark she left on me. This was meant to serve a darker purpose.

“Wyatt told Todd I needed to smell like I belonged to him.” Mya looks over her shoulder, but her focus isn’t on my face. She’s staring at the shallow red lines on her ass. “That was his answer.”

The knowledge of what I have to do sickens me. It’s one thing for Mya to mark me. The sting she caused was nothing. It turned me on. Purposely bleeding Mya is another thing.

I trace the claw mark with my fingers, then my tongue. My saliva will numb her skin, easing any discomfort she might experience. I can’t help but wonder if Todd did the same when he marked her. I want to ask, but not now. This moment is ours alone.

“Tonight, we take the future meant for us, baby.” I spread my clawed hand to match the reddened lines on Mya’s ass cheek. “Tonight, you become exclusively mine.”

In one quick move, I drag my claws over Mya’s ass cheek. Blood wells. In the next heartbeat, I lick the wounds, replacing Todd’s scent with mine. Smelling my claim on Mya eases my possessive drives, but it doesn’t satisfy my needs completely. Once I’m not in the room with her, I won’t have the reminder of my possession. I need something more.

I kiss the sealed marks on Mya’s skin, then lean over her body. My cock slips between her legs. The slickness of her excitement coats her thighs. On a firm thrust, I fill her.

She drops her forehead to the bed. “I love how you make me feel.”

There’s so much emotion twined into Mya’s simple statement of praise. I suspect she means more than the sex we share.

With my arm hooked around her chest, locking her body to mine, I set a slow rhythm. Mya grips the sheets as I rebuild the lust the important moment we shared dimmed. She pushes her ass against my driving hips. The sound of our bodies coming together focuses my thoughts and my instincts. Mya’s close to release.

I fuck her harder, needing her crazed and on edge. She fists the sheets. Her whimpers turn into pleasured grunts as my cock fills her completely. We fit perfectly. I feel it. I know she does too. Making love in her pack’s sacred circle guaranteed we’d be two halves of a whole, physically as well as emotionally.

My every pounding thrust is met with greater resistance. Her body is fighting to hold me deep and work my seed free. The moment I stop moving, I’ll give it to her.

Not yet.

The gentle slope of Mya’s neck draws my attention to the scar on her shoulder. It’s Todd’s bite now. I have to make it mine.

I lick the raised edge as I did to the scratch on her ass cheek. Her inner muscles tighten around me with my tongue on the bite. According to every law accepted by shifters, by every experience shared among our kind, by the knowledge passed from parent to child, a female’s mate bite belongs solely to the male who inflicted it. No other can make it come alive. I don’t question the truth every shifter believes. I understand another truth.

Mya’s been mine since she took her first breath. I’ve only now gotten the chance to touch her. I won’t lose the opportunity to solidify our bond the way the goddesses intended.

Without wasting another moment, I bite Mya at the same time as I still my pounding drives and allow Mya’s orgasm to bring mine. Mya’s soul opens to me. Her pleasure crashes over me. I sway under the sheer intensity of my true mate’s ecstasy. It blends with the jerking of my cock and the glorious release of pressure in my balls as I fill Mya with my seed.

The beauty and purity of Mya’s soul draws me closer, captivating me exactly as it did the last time I walked through her soul. The piece of Todd’s soul he forced upon Mya is still caged in by Mya’s wolf. I want to rip it out of her. Doing so would hurt Mya, maybe even kill her. Bonds between souls, whether willingly entered into or forced, aren’t meant to be broken.

I ignore the piece of Todd’s soul and stroke my metaphysical fingers over a pure white section of Mya’s soul. “You’re my life. The best thing to ever happen to me.”

My words don’t come close to expressing what’s in my heart, but Mya can feel my love. Like this, with our souls exposed, she can judge the truth in my words. Hell, she can walk through my memories, experiencing everything I have. I won’t block anything from her. I didn’t lie when I told her I believed everything we’ve experienced prepped us for this moment. The love, the heartache, the tragedy—it made us into who we are today.

“And you’re my reason for living. The one thing that’ll keep me fighting long after my children leave me behind to conquer their futures.”

“Mya.” I hold her close for a long heartbeat before finishing this thing between us.

With a firm yank, I tear a piece of Mya’s soul free. Her pained screech radiates through me. Regret twists my gut. I press the precious gift she’s allowed me to claim into the hole in my soul, then I draw Mya close in body and soul and open myself to her agony, drawing it from her. Mya’s anguish chokes me. I accept it, welcoming the pain.

Finally, Mya’s contented sigh wraps around me. She’s no longer in pain. I’ve taken it from her. Now she’s happy. At peace. I don’t need her to tell me those things. I feel them. I always will, whether we’re together or apart.

Reluctantly, I ease back, breaking the intimacy we experienced while sharing souls, and lick the wound on Mya’s shoulder closed.

Contentment settles over me. I have the connection to Mya I was meant to share in this lifetime, but I don’t have the right to tell the world she’s mine. Todd does. At least until he dies.