NIKOLAITHE SCREEN GLOWED in the darkened room, casting pale blue light across my desk as I leaned back in my chair. My fingers drummed against the armrest in a slow, steady rhythm, but my eyes? My eyes never left him.Claude. Even on a screen, he held my attention like a curse I couldn’t shake. His hair was a wild mess, his chest bare as he shifted on the bed, caught in restless sleep. Five days. It had only been five days since I’d brought him here, but it felt like longer.The knock on my office door didn’t pull my gaze from the monitor. “Enter,” I said, my voice clipped.Andrei stepped inside, a bag in his hand, his expression neutral. “It’s done, Boss,” he said simply, swinging the bag lightly.I finally tore my eyes away, snapping the laptop shut with more force than necessary. “I’ll handle it.”Andrei didn’t flinch. He just handed the bag over, nodded, and stepped back. There were no questions, no hesitation. He knew better.I walked down the hall toward his room. My footsteps
CLAUDE HE’D FORGOTTEN TO take the ones around my hands off.And he didn’t believe me.Those two thoughts circled in my mind, over and over, as I paced the room. Minutes, hours—I wasn’t sure anymore. The untouched food on the nightstand had gone cold, the smell stale now, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. All I could think about was Nikolai and how much I needed him to believe me.I sank down on the edge of the bed, knees bouncing, my eyes trained on the door like I could will him to come through it. I couldn’t get Nikolai out of my head, couldn’t stop thinking about the way he’d looked at me.Like he was waiting for me to fuck up.Then I heard it. Footsteps.My pulse kicked up, the air catching in my lungs. But something about the sound was wrong. They weren’t his—too heavy, too uneven.The steps stopped just outside the door. My heart was a knot in my throat as the lock clicked, and when the door swung open, it wasn’t Nikolai standing there.It was him. The man who’d stopped them
NIKOLAIFOUR HOURS AGOI should’ve known it was a setup the second he said he wanted to meet alone.No security. No backup. Just the two of us in some rotting warehouse stinking of damp wood and stale blood. A test, that’s what it was. Anton Markovic wanted to see if I was stupid enough to come unprotected.I wasn’t.Now, standing in front of the seven duffel bags I was supposed to be getting—except there were only four—I felt my patience thinning.Anton smirked, like he thought I wouldn’t notice. Like I was some idiot who wouldn’t count."Gde ostalnye?" I asked, voice calm. Where are the rest?Anton tilted his head. Shrugged. “You get what you get.”I nodded slowly, rolling my shoulders back. He thought I would take the four bags and walk away. That I needed this deal more than he did. Maybe he even thought I was afraid of him.My fingers twitched."You think I’m a joke?""No, Nikolai," he said, but the smirk didn’t leave. "I think you are young. Maybe not ready for this game."I mov
CLAUDEI PUSHED THE shift back the second Nikolai went limp, his head tilting forward, dark hair sticking to his sweat-drenched skin. My chest tightened, panic gripping me so hard it made my vision blur for a second, my breath catching in my throat. My leg was already on the couch, one knee pressing into the cushion as I reached for him, my hands gripping his face, tilting it back, trying to get a better look at him.“N-Nikolai?” I stammered, my fingers tightening around his jaw, my thumbs brushing against the sharp angles of his cheekbones, clammy with sweat. His skin was too pale, his lips parted slightly like he was about to say something, but nothing came out.My hands were shaking, my heart slamming against my ribs as I gave him a small shake, then a harder one. “Nikolai, wake up,” I said, but his body remained limp, his breathing shallow.Panic turned to desperation, clawing at my throat, pressing down on my chest like a stone I couldn’t shake off.I turned, searching for someon
NIKOLAIPAIN. IT WAS the first thing I registered—a deep, biting ache that pulsed through my shoulder and stomach, like someone had ripped me open and stitched me back together with dull, rusted wire. My body felt stiff, my limbs weighed down, as if lead had been poured into my veins.I cracked my eyes open.The dim glow of the bedside lamp cast long shadows across the room, painting familiar shapes in gold and black. My bedroom. My space. The air was thick with the scent of antiseptic and blood—mine.I inhaled slowly, controlling my breath, even as irritation curled hot in my chest.I was alive.Barely.The door creaked open.My gaze snapped to the movement, sharp, alert, tracking Andrei as he stepped inside. His presence meant only one thing—I’d been out too long. My eyes flickered past him, settling on the IV drip at my bedside. A slow, cold anger seeped into my bones.My jaw clenched.“How long?” My voice came out rough.Andrei hesitated, but only for a second. “Three days.”Thre
CLAUDETHE CHAINS RATTLED as I jerked up, my heart slamming against my ribs so hard it hurt. My breath caught in my throat, my eyes locking on the figure standing in the doorway.Nikolai.His name slipped from my lips before I could stop it, shaky and desperate.He was standing, but barely. His shoulders slumped slightly, exhaustion clinging to him like a second skin. Bandages wrapped tight around his torso and shoulder, stark against the paleness of his skin, and a pair of sweatpants hung low on his hips. His hair was a mess, damp and tousled, and a faint sheen of sweat glistened along his brow. He looked like hell.But he was here.A sharp breath wrenched itself from my lungs, relief and something dangerously close to panic twisting inside me. I moved before I could think, stepping forward, but the moment I did, metal clanked loudly against the floor.I froze.Nikolai’s gaze flickered downward.For a second, he didn’t move. Didn’t speak.His eyes stayed on the silver shackles wrappe
CLAUDE NO ONE STOPPED me when I left the room.No one questioned me when I wandered through the massive house, and no one tried to keep me from moving freely. If anything, they moved when they saw me, their dark eyes flicking away, their shoulders stiffening.Those men dressed in black, all carrying weapons.It only made one thing clearer—I had been wrong about Nikolai. Again.It had been three days.Three days of roaming through endless hallways, searching for him in every corner, following my nose, trying to scent him out. But it was impossible.He was hiding from me. Deliberately ignoring me.And for the past three days, I’d been fed like a starved man. The maid bringing in meals three times a day, plates stacked with enough food to feed four men, but I barely touched any of it.Not when my mind was consumed with him.The door creaked and my ears twitched at the sound, my body tensing, instinct bracing for an attack—until his scent hit me.I didn’t move. Didn’t turn. Didn’t want t
NIKOLAITHE SOUND OF birds chirping was what woke me up. Soft. Unassuming. Completely out of place in my fucking world.A low groan rumbled from my throat as I shifted, only to realize something heavy was pressed against me—someone. Their head rested in the crook of my neck, the weight familiar and welcoming.Claude.I exhaled through my nose, my eyes locking onto his face. Even now, even in sleep, he looked like something I shouldn’t fucking touch. Something sharp and fragile at the same time, something that could cut me open if I wasn’t careful.Not that it mattered. I wasn’t careful. Never had been.And no matter how many times I thought about it, no matter how I turned it over in my head, I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that werewolves were real. That he was real. That every goddamn thing I had ever believed about this world had been a lie.It fucked with me. Made me question everything. Made me run from him when I should have just accepted what was in front of me.Hi
CLAUDEI COULDN’T THINK. Couldn’t breathe—all that mattered was Nikolai. His hands, his mouth, his body—slamming into me, over and over and over, like nothing existed but the two of us. The heat inside me was like fire, burning me up from the inside out. It consumed me, devoured me, and the only thing that could quench it was him. Only him.His hands were tight on my thighs, forcing me harder against the wall, his thrusts so deep, so punishing, that I gasped—no, gasped wasn’t right—my breath shattered every time he pushed inside, his cock filling me to the point of breaking, of splitting. It felt like fire, every inch of him. A fire I couldn’t put out, a drug I couldn’t quit.His grip was tight on my hips, pulling me back against him with each stroke, driving me harder, deeper, like he was determined to claim every part of me. And I wanted it. Needed it.I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t hear anything over the pounding of my heart, the sound of skin on skin, the heat betwee
NIKOLAIHE WAS SHAKING.Not from pleasure. Not from the come-down.I stayed deep inside him, hands locked on his hips, my body tense as steel. Something wasn’t right. I could feel it in the way his pulse hammered beneath my fingers, in the way his body kept clenching around me, like he was trying to pull me in deeper. But he was too hot—way too fucking hot.I didn’t move. Not yet. I had to figure out what was happening. But the instinct to move was clawing at me.“Claude,” I bit out, my voice low, brows pulled tightly. I brushed the damp strands of hair from his neck. “You’re burning up.”He gasped, pushing back into me, his hips grinding against mine like he needed this to breathe. His fingers dug into the sheets, shaking like his body wasn’t his own anymore. Like I was the only thing keeping him from falling apart.“Talk to me.”There was a beat—just ragged breaths, broken and shallow. And then the words hit like a bullet.“I… I think I’m in heat.”The world stilled.Iknew what that
CLAUDETHE SUN HAD dipped behind the sky when we got to the hotel. It was big—absolutely gorgeous and luxurious—and his hand never left my back as we were escorted to the elevator.The doors opened directly into the suite. No hallway. No detour. Just the quiet click behind us as we stepped inside.Nikolai didn’t say a word. He took off his jacket, dropped it over a chair then looked over his shoulder at me, one brow raised.“You must be hungry,” he said.I rubbed the back of my neck, exhaled through my nose. “I’m not.”He didn’t push. Just nodded once, already moving past me toward the bar. “Shower, then. Take your time.”The bathroom was as beautiful as the rest of it—sleek, gold-trimmed, expensive. I locked the door, and stepped in. Water hit tile, steam rising almost instantly. I stood under the spray longer than I should’ve, eyes closed, hands braced on the wall, as a deep sigh slide past my lips.When I stepped out, the scent of food filled the air—rich and warm, but it wasn’t hu
CLAUDEMY LEGS WOULDN’T stop moving, twitching against the floor like they wanted to be anywhere but inside this car. I pushed out a breath, slowly and leaned my head back against the seat.The AC was on, but I couldn’t breathe.Before I could think, my hand was on the door, pushing it open, and I stepped out. The air slapped me first, a cold bite to my skin, but there was something else—something different that wrapped around it, choking out the relief. A scent. A wolf’s scent.My spine snapped straight and I didn’t even realize I was moving until my feet carried me around the corner, down the path, feet crunching on gravel.Then I saw them.Pressed up against the wall. A guard—tall, broad—gripping the front of someone’s shirt, like he owned him. Their mouths were fused together, sloppy and hungry and completely oblivious.The wolf under him was young. Small. Soft, with flushed skin and a trembling throat that looked too exposed, too breakable. But it wasn’t that.It was when he open
NIKOLAISHE LOOKED LIKE hell.Dress torn, smeared with dirt, lip still split from the slap I gave her two nights ago that still hasn’t heal. She should’ve been ashamed. She should’ve known better. But there she was, with her hand on him—like she had any right.I stood by the car, arms folded, fingers twitching near the grip of the gun holstered under my coat. Claude wasn’t moving. Just standing there like a statue, like if he stared hard enough past her shoulder, this whole fucking moment would vanish. That’s how he coped—with silence, with absence.Then her hand found his.Gentle. Softly.She slid it to her stomach like it meant something, like she hadn’t pinned him down and stolen something that was never hers to take.A child.My jaw locked. Pain bloomed down the side of my face, but I didn’t blink. Didn’t breathe.She turned her head and met my eyes. That goddamn smile—thin, cracked, and smug—like she thought carrying his baby made her immortal.Claude jerked his hand back like she
CLAUDEI COULDN’T EVEN look at the food in front of me. My stomach roared from hunger—but I couldn’t stomach it. Not when my mind felt like it was suffocating me.Too much.Everything was too much.I yanked at the collar of my shirt, but it didn’t help. Nothing helped. It was like I was drowning in air—my chest so tight, it felt like I couldn’t even breathe.“Claude?”I snapped my head toward Nikolai, his gaze locked on me, eyes narrowed, like he could see right through me. But I couldn’t look at him.I did the right thing but I felt guilty. Guilty that I’d lied.But I felt like I had.“Claude, you need to eat.”I couldn’t even bring myself to move. My fingers tightened around the fork in my hand, the metal cold under my touch, but I stayed silent. My lips pressed into a thin, stubborn line, and I just… stared at the food, trying to ignore the growing ache in my gut, trying to ignore how everything felt like it was spiraling out of control.The scrape of a chair against marble made me
NIKOLAII TOOK A sharp breath, the kind that burned in my chest.Claude’s body was stretched out underneath me, all lean muscle and bruised beauty. I rolled to the side, pulling the sheets over us, and his eyes followed me—hand landing on my chest like he thought I would run.I wasn’t.I would never.“Can I mark you?” he asked again, voice rough, voice so fucking soft.He asked it like a man offering forever. Like he didn’t know I’d already sold my soul to make sure no one ever touched him again—he was mine, and mine alone.I swallowed the lump in my throat and reached for his hand on my chest, lacing our fingers together and kissing the back of his knuckles.“You sure?” I murmured, my voice heavier than I meant it to be.“Yes.”No hesitation.Fuck.I closed my eyes for a second. He deserved to know. Even if I didn’t want him to. Even if he left this bed and I spent the rest of my fucking life chasing him down, begging for his forgiveness—I couldn’t keep this from him.So I said it.“
CLAUDEMY HEART WAS pounding so hard against my chest that it felt like I might actually suffocate under the weight of it. Every breath was a struggle, each inhale shaky as I continued to stare at him, the words he’d just said echoing in my head.I love you. I love you. I couldn’t make sense of it. I couldn’t understand how something so simple could make my entire world feel like it was cracking apart and coming together all at once.“What?” I choked out, my voice barely a whisper, my hands trembling as I reached for him, pressing my palm against his chest, needing to feel something—anything—that was real, that would make this feel real.Nikolai’s smile softened. It wasn’t sharp, it wasn’t cocky. It was raw. It was breathless. There was a quiet desperation in it, something so different. I felt my breath catch. His fingers slipped through my hair, gently pushing it back from my face as he leaned in, his lips brushing over mine—so soft it hurt, like he was afraid of breaking me.“I’m f
CLAUDEI WOKE UP gasping.My lungs were on fire, chest heaving too fast, too erratically. My fingers dug into the sheets—no, not sheets. Not his. Not that ground. I sucked in a breath, pushing myself up, my back slamming against the headboard.I wasn’t there.I wasn’t there.I dragged a shaky hand across my face. My skin was slick and my hair hair, wet. My chest felt tight, like I couldn’t get enough air, and my throat was sore, dry.Then I turned my head.The space next to me was empty. The sheets were cold. I swallowed, but it didn’t help. The room was dark, with only the faint light outside spilling in. I listened, hoping to hear the sound of him—his breath, his movements, anything that would tell me he was still here, that everything was still… okay.But there was nothing.I told myself not to care. Told myself he was just out there somewhere, doing whatever it was he did when he left. That he’d come back. But the fear was already there. Growing.I shoved the covers off, my legs