Total pages in book: 37
Estimated words: 35428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 35428 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 177(@200wpm)___ 142(@250wpm)___ 118(@300wpm)
My whole body is aching with lust as I force myself off the bed and slump into the chair.
“Let me explain,” he says in a pained voice. “Please.”
I sit back, folding my arms and trying to get my body to calm down. It is not interested in what I’m asking of it. “Go ahead.”
“Us wolves must wait until the Lunaris Vinculum,” he says as my needy pussy pulses with heat. “It’s the sacred night of the binding and it only takes place when there’s a full moon in the night sky. We mark our mates, which seals the bond, and then we’re free to… you know.”
“So, no mating,” I say, glancing down at the long thick outline in his shorts. My mouth waters when I see how big and ready it is. “What else can we do?”
I can wait until a full moon for the grand finale, but I’m desperate for some sort of relief, and I know he’s feeling the same.
“Nothing,” he says with a heavy breath. “Just kissing.”
My hope drops like a steel trap. Just kissing? I mean, it feels good, but it’s like a tease when my body is craving so much more.
“After the ceremony takes place under a full moon,” he continues, “we’ll be free to engage in anything we desire.”
“What happens if we don’t wait?”
He shakes his head with a sad look on his face. “If we break the sacred law, the Gods can deny the mark entirely. I won’t risk that, Calista. Not for anything.”
I drop my head, willing my arousal to abate, but it only grows stronger and hotter in this tiny room. I feel like I’m going to explode.
“When is the next full moon?” I ask with a swallow.
He looks like he’s calculating the days in his mind. “About a week,” he says.
“A week?” I repeat, wanting to cry. But I need it now…
This can’t be easy on him either. I have to be mature about this. I have to be respectful of his customs, as frustrating and ludicrous as they are.
“Okay,” I say, taking a deep breath. “We’ll wait a week. Until the ceremony.”
He looks at me for a long moment and then runs his hand down his face.
“There’s something I haven’t told you,” he says carefully. “About who I am.”
I’ve been wanting to ask, but I didn’t want to pry. I’ve been so curious to know how he got those injuries and what happened to him.
“I was nearly killed,” he says. “As you know.”
I put my hand on his and gaze into his gorgeous green eyes. “You can tell me, Kieran. I’m your mate. You can trust me.”
He nods. “My father was King Axton of the Stormfur Realm. He died two weeks ago. And I am—”
He pauses, like the words still cost him something. Like they’re too painful to say.
“I am supposed to be his heir.”
“You’re going to be the next Wolf King?”
I stare at him in shock. This man keeps surprising me. What’s he going to say next, that he can fly?
“My father’s wish was for me to be crowned the next Wolf King,” he says after clearing his throat. “It’s my right. At the next full moon.”
My eyes drop to the pink scars on his torso.
“Who tried to take it from you?”
His face hardens as he looks over my shoulder with steely eyes. “My cousin Lucan. If I’m not there, he will take the throne. The same cousin who put those knives in my back and left me for dead in the river will rule the realm with a bloody fist. First, he will dominate the wolves, and then he’ll come for your people. There is hate in his heart. The next century will be one of pain and violence if I’m not back in time.”
I stand up and start pacing the room, thinking of wolves pouring over the borders—borders that have been secure for generations—and slaughtering my friends and family. I can’t let that happen.
“We’ll get you back in time,” I say, squeezing my hand into a fist. “This is why we found each other. I’ll do this for you.”
He takes a deep breath as he looks up at me. “It’s not all.”
I just wait to see what else he’s going to surprise me with. Nothing can be more shocking than finding out he’s a Wolf King.
“You’re my mate,” he says softly. “Which means, if we do this, you’ll be the next Queen of the Wolves.”
I stand corrected.
I don’t have words. I just stare at him as my mind swirls like a hurricane.
Leave my ship, leave the human realm, become a queen of a people I’ve never met. He doesn’t know what he’s asking me to do.
But when I look into his green eyes and see the worry and pain, I realize that he does know. He knows exactly what he’s asking of me.