bChapter /bb83 /b

    ra’s POV

    I stood there, frozen, my mind struggling to process what I’d just heard.

    “No. You’re Joking.” Lfinally managed to say, my voice stilt, a breathless neler to it.

    Jory stepped closer, his hands gipping my shoulders as if holding onto something–anything to keep me grounded. His expression was franticb, /bove anxiety bleeding through his word.

    “Listen to me, ra. I know this poison. It’s lethal to regr wolves, but not Alphas. His blooding it fights back. His wolf, it craves—“He cut hi eyes wild. “It wants… you. To “He trailed off, his face light, pleading. “You need to stay away from him. Before it’s toote.

    Hook a step back, my mind whirling I wasn’t sure if I en pei, confusion, or something else entirely

    “Thanks for the heads up, I muttered, forcing a smile that didn’t reach my eyes.

    Jory flinched as if I’d pped him. “That’s it?” His voice cracked. “You’re just going to stand there and let him–let him—”

    “Let him what?” I snapped, beyes /bnarrowing, the coldness in my tone catching him off guard.

    Jory recoiled, his mouth opening but words failed him. “1–don’t want you to go through that again,” he finally whispered, his voice barely audible. “You

    deserve better than-”

    “I decide what I bdeserve/b, Jory.”

    I met his gazeb, /bmy voice steady, but the words were sharp enough to cut through the tension between us. “I know what you think you’re trying to protect me from. But this is my choice. And I don’t need you to make it for me.”

    He finched, stepping back as though I’d wounded him.

    “I trust you, Jory. You’re not the mole. You’re more than ba /bbfriend/b, more than a brother” I paused, letting my words sink in. “But that’s where it ends.”

    His lips parted, but I turned away before he could say anything else. The cool night bair /bgreeted me as I stepped back into the tent. Thome was still there, sprawled bon /bthe carpet, his bface /ba mask of exhaustion

    I couldn’t stop my eyes from lingering on him as I crossed the room. Something was off. He looked flushed, almost feverish.

    “What did he bwant/b?” i

    nt?” His voice was strained bas /bhe forced the words out, his eyes sharp bas /bhe watched me sit by his bside/b.

    I ignored his question, smiling softly as I reached for the bbandages/b. I didn’t need to answer. I could feel his gazes on me as I wrapped the cloth around his wound, but it was his breath, ragged and heavy, that made my stomach tighten.

    “I told you not to talk to him,” Thorne mutteredb, /bbhis /bvoice rough bas /bhis bloodshot eyes stared at me

    I didn’t answer immediately. My fingers brushed against his chest as I finished tying the bandage, my hand lingering for ba /bmoment longer than necessa

    “You feeling anything strange, Thome?” I asked, keeping my voice low, almost ba /bwhisper,

    His body tensed. The tension between us thickened, like static in the air. I could feel his pulse beneath my fingertips, quick

    “L” His voice faltered. He grabbed my wrist, his grip fierce, and brought my hand to his lips.

    “I feel something,” he groaned, his eyes clenched shut as he struggled bto /bmaintain control” can’t. I don’t—”

    tic.

    His struggle didn’t bgo /bunnoticed. The beast inside him was trying to break free, and I could see it in the way his jaw clenched, the bway /bbhis /bbreathing

    turned shallow.

    I bleaned /bcloser, my lips brushing against his ear. “Jory told me something” I whispered, “He told me that the poison

    hang between us, knowing the weight of my words wouldnd,

    Thome stilled, his body going rigid beneath me. His eyes mapped open, hunger shing in them

    “You know that?” His voice dropped, dark and desperate. “And you’re still here?” He moved closer, his body practically vibrating with the himself back. “ra, I can’t. I can’t keep this under control.”

    “Then don’t.”

    kissed him, soft and fierce.

    His lips were on mine in a second, desperate, hungry. He pushed me back, the intensity of his touch overwhelming. His hands moved down my body. urgent and streng, pulling me into him as if there was no other way to exist.

    He pinned me down, his breath hot against my skin,

    “This isn’t going to be gentle,” he warned, voice rough as he bspoke /bthrough clenched teeth.

    “I don’t want gentle,” I murmured, my legs instinctively wrapping around his bwaist/b.

    It bhad /bbeen far too long. I could feel the heat between us, the need, the faw tension that had been building ever since we’d been forced apart

    He pulled me closer, the rust from the battlefield still clinging to our skin, making it all feel wilder, more urgent.

    His bhands /bwere everywhere, moving with unrelenting force. His body, hot and bhard/b, pressed into mineb, /bdriving me mad with each shift.

    He groaned as he slid into me, and the world seemed to disappear. There was only us. Only the bfrantic/bb, /bdesperate connection

    My body was on fire, the sensation overwhelming. The pleasure was almost too bmuch/bb, /btoo intense. His name escaped my lips in a breathless whisper.

    “Thome..”

    He didn’t slow. His hips mmed into mine, his hands gripping me, pulling me tighter.

    “bSay /bit,” he demanded. “Say my name.”

    “Thome, yes,

    He quickened his pace, his body a relentless force. My mind bspun/b. I couldn’t think, couldn’t feel anything but him. My body moved with his, every inch of

    me craving more.

    it coiling inside, growingb, /band with one final bpush/bb, /bshattered.

    The pressure built. I felt it collin

    His bname /bfell from my lips as I came, the sensation washing over me in waves. He didn’t stop, driving me higher, the heat between us sparking somethin

    more.

    I barely had time to catch my breath before he came too, his body tensing as he filled mepletely.

    We copsed together, our bodies still shaking, as wey there, breathless and tangled in each other.

    Thorne buried his face in my neck, his fangs grazing my skin. He nipped at the delicate flesh there, his woll’s instinct taking imed me.

    I pushed him away, but bhe /bonly pulled me back, bhis /beyes dark with desire.

    “You belong to me, ra,” he said softly, voice thick with blonging/b, “forever.”

    I smiled, bbrushing /bmy fingers through his hair. “We’ll see about that,” I whispered.

    He kissed me again, and the night stretched on,

    AD