Elena’s POV.
The fire from the hearth flickered against the rustic timber walls, but the only heat I truly felt was the solid, bare chest pressed firmly against mine.
When Raymond’s mouth found mine, the last of my carefully constructed defenses didn’t just break—they disintegrated. The wild, exhilarating thrill of our run through the snowstorm was still humming in my veins, but beneath it lay something far deeper, far more terrifying: the raw, ancient pull of our mate bond. For five long, agonizing years, I had convinced myself that I could lock this feeling away, that I could be just a doctor, just an independent woman who didn’t need the man who had stolen my heart.
I was wrong.
As his tongue traced my lower lip, asking for permission, my wolf whined in utter surrender. I let out a
