I was coming apart at the seams—my mind, my body, my soul. Everything in me sang with pain and heat, conflicting needs, unspent emotion. And all of it twisted together and roared out of my chest.
I was overwhelmed, clinging to this power by a hairsbreadth, and fucking Cazz wouldn’t listen!
But even that was making it all worse.
When he stepped up and touched me, my soul sang.
Now he stood here, touching me, staring at me with such tenderness, and it made me sick.
I inwardly flinched, dying to protect myself from him, even as a part of me wanted nothing more than to t
~ CASIMIR ~As I took hold of that raging ocean of power and my entire existence swelled with it, there was a fleeting thought—my father, snarling, insisting that a true mate would weaken me. As I took in the sheer breadth of the power she'd just thrown at me, the pure, unadulterated wrongness of that statement would have made me laugh if I’d had room to breathe. Instead I filed the bitter denial away to be fully explored at a later date.But there would be no later date if I didn’t quickly figure out how to release this power in a meaningful, controllable way.The ocean rose in a wave, crashing on the shore of me, and I shuddered,
~ JESSE ~I knew I’d reached my limit and that power was getting away from me. I knew he was right, that he was the only one who could help. But the thought of putting any part of myself under his control again made me sick.Yet, I had no choice.And at some point, I had no more energy.Cazz had curled himself around me, his chest to my back. His nose was in my hair, his words whispered in my ear. I fought a battle between my soul—that wanted nothing more than to be held and comforted by him—and my heart and mind, that shrieked alarm.But I knew if I didn’t do something, this power was going to destroy everything.
~ CASIMIR ~That torrent went on and on. I lay there, holding her, shaking my head—shaking all of myself. I was awed by her power.How had she contained it for so long?I could bust the cap off this mountain if I wanted to. But I didn’t.The more I molded the flows, the more I directed them, the easier it became to do so—to use and control them, drawing more and more from her in what seemed to be an endless supply, but eventually, I felt the pressure in her easing.Still, I
~ CASIMIR ~My wolf snarled as the world spun and the whole world seemed to suck in around me, sound only reaching me from the other end of a long tunnel that was too brightly lit.The power had taken too much from me—obviously. I was sitting in the dirt, frustrated and shaking as everyone grew frantic.“Stop,” I hissed, but the words were thick on my tongue. “I’m jus’ tired.”I tipped my head back to find Jesse, because I couldn’t seem to move my eyes properly. She stood over me, her eyes so wide they were white all the way around. I tried to lift a hand to soothe her. “Iss okay. Imma be fine—"Rake was there, pulling her back and away from me even as he scanned
~ CASIMIR ~I was sucked back down into the depths, my skin feverish, my mind frantic with worry. But no matter how I fought, I couldn’t get free of the prison of my body. Couldn’t open my eyes, couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. I was trapped. Caged. And my wolf was losing its mind.I tried to calm myself—aware enough to know that something had to have happened. That I hadn’t just closed my eyes and woken up like this.But what?In the darkness, distant and echoing, I could hear voices. Particularly Maya’s. But I couldn’t figure out who she was talking to. The sounds and tones slipped away before I could gather them.But I could feel my aunt—her fierce protectiveness, her
~ JESSE ~I stared at her, my pulse racing, thrumming in my skin again. “Maya, I can’t!”“Yes, you can. With my instruction and the right focus… If I haven’t missed my guess, you already have. I saw in your brother’s mind what was done to your father. I have to say, that was very creative. And well-done.”“Yes, but… but that was… I was just—”“You were doing what needed to be done. Leading. And now you will do so again.”“But you said you couldn’t even do it—what makes you think I
~ JESSE ~I turned for the door to find Rake standing there staring at me, unguarded, and for a moment before his eyes shuttered, I saw everything he wanted—my safety, my comfort, my closeness… The yearning in his gaze made my stomach flip even as I blinked and shook my head, pushing myself towards the door, confusion and anger and fear and… just everything twisting together inside me.Rake’s eyes dropped to the floor, but his jaw set and he followed me. I could feel him coming up behind me, his long legs able to eat up the space faster than mine.As I stepped into the almost-empty hallway outside and he was right behind me, the urge was there to throw myself into his chest and seek reassurance, just like I al
~ JESSE ~I cleared my throat and tried to push away all the emotion of everything.“Rake… I know what I’m supposed to do here. And I do want to help him. But I don’t know if I can.”“You can. You already have.”I shook my head. “That’s not what I meant. I mean… I want to see him heal. I want to see him win. I want to root out these wolves my family has been working with. But the idea of surrendering to him again…”Rake’s upper lip curled back from his teeth, and he stared at me looking fierce. “I wasn’t exaggerating when I said I could have kill
~ CASIMIR ~I was pretty sure if I didn’t get inside her, I was going to eat her alive.Scooting with her in my lap, still straddling me, I got her so both my knees and her back were flat against the wall. Then I flipped open the wide, leather cuffs that had been secured directly to the wall and first lifted one of her hands, to strap it in so her hand was levered above her shoulder, but with her arm comfortably bent so she could relax. Then I did the same with her other hand on the other side.So I straddled the banana-seat, while she straddled me and her hands were secured to the wall behind her.Her breasts rose and fell with her heavy breathing, and her eyes were bright with desire.Overwhelmed again with how much thought she’d put into this, for a moment I just took her face in my hands and kissed her. But that drew us together—my cock pressing against her, and I couldn’t resist rolling my hips, teasing
~ CASIMIR ~“I made a new Den,” Jesse whispered, her hands over her mouth, staring up at me—those beautiful eyes wide, but also a little fearful. “I know it’s not the same, but I got Ghere to help me because he remembered what things you’d had before and… I hope you like it.”Like it? Was she serious?My heart was slamming against my ribs, and I was having trouble breathing.The room seemed smaller than I remembered because the walls were painted a dull black. But the tighter space than what I’d had down next to the Den just made it feel more intimate.There were two lamps, one on each end, and a chandelier high above. Candles everywhere, though she hadn’t lit mo
~ JESSE ~It was Cazz’s turn to plan the monthly date. But I was humming about this one. Things were finally ready, and impossibly, Ghere had helped me successfully pull off the surprise. But I still had to figure out how to get Cazz there without ruining it.He’d taken me out to the meadow again—my favorite date. Though we’d enjoyed several others now too—and we’d just finished eating. He was leaning back against the cab of the truck, looking out at the city lights, his brows a little heavy.“What are you thinking about?” I asked him, though I had a hunch.He had his arm around me and I was leaning on his shoulder. His hand trailed up and
~ CASIMIR ~I came out of the bathing room after a long bath rubbing my hair with a towel, to find my mate standing in the middle of the chamber with her arms folded and looking sternly at my daughter, who sat on the floor in nothing but a diaper, with her chubby legs straight out. She, too, had her arms folded and her lips pursed in the perfect reflection of her mother.The two glared at each other and half my heart went cold, while the other half wanted to splutter with laughter.“Abigail, I have told you—”“No!”Our daughter could only get her tongue around a few words so far, but
~ JESSE (a few weeks later) ~I had just finished nursing Abigail and was holding her on my lap while Reeca sat with me on the couch.Her eyes were bright and she was beginning to smile, so I was tickling her cheeks to see if I could get her to do it. But she was sleepy because she’d just eaten and only yawned and cooed.“She’s a very calm baby,” Reeca commented from the other end of the couch, smiling. She loved babies, and had been so helpful when I was tired—and just for reassurance for me.She was a calm presence in any room, and with Abigail, she showed a lot of delight and joy that she seemed to stifle in other areas of her life.“Reeca,” I said carefully, because I’d b
~ JESSE ~I was too tired to do more than lift my hands to his neck, so I just curled my face into his chest and let him settle us into the chair, cradled in his arms with my ass in his lap.When he’d sat, I had my head resting on his shoulder and my body curled in his arms.“Do you hurt?” he asked quickly.“No, just tired, like I said.”I felt him relax a little then and another chill started in my blood.“Cazz… what’s happened?” I asked quietly.He turned his head to meet my eyes and lifted his hand to comb hair back from my face. His throat bobbed, but his touch was g
~ JESSE (Hours later) ~My dreams were disturbing—my body in pain, screams of terror, darkness, the floor shaking, the mountain falling, humans fleeing and wolves…I tried to break free, tried desperately to open my eyes and to speak, because I knew I was asleep. But all I did was fade… in and out. The nightmares, or nothing.And through it all, his voice.“Heal… live.”My heart ached. My body hurt. My chest didn’t want to expand. It was as if my flesh fought his words, and I didn’t understand.But finally, the dreams faded and I could hear a heartbeat. Little, and quick. And feel warm flesh. And the breath of my m
~ CASIMIR ~I felt the moment the power went out of Jesse. The entire mountain felt it.I howled with triumph and shifted, sprinting towards the room, ecstatic when there was no sense of Maya gripping my mind or stealing anything from me. But of course, there was no power left for her to steal.I prayed and pleaded and ran, Rory and the others coming in my wake. And the moment I broke through that door in my wolf—the only power left to me anymore—everything slowed. Though my body whipped and my mind was singularly focused, it was as if everything happened in slow motion.I caught a bare glimpse of Jesse on the bed, and at first my heart leaped. She was moving, awake, aware,
~ JESSE ~Maya had me sitting up in the bed, curled forward, gripping my knees. Reeca on one side, helping prop me up, a guard on the other.My body was nothing but a conduit for pain. Wave after wave, my entire lower body condensing, contracting, pushing to get this baby out. I could barely think.Cazz was there, so quiet, so distant, but there, calling his encouragement and pushing love at me through the bond.There was a moment when I thought I wouldn’t make it, when I thought my body would give and I would just drift away.But then I caught Maya smiling. Leaning forward between my legs, reaching, grasping, for