The air felt different. Heavy. Suffocating. Unrelenting.
Lucian’s fingers remained under my chin, his grip tender but unthreatened. His touch was light, teasing, as if he was waiting for me to flinch, to pull away, to fight.
But I didn’t. Because that battle had already been lost.
Not the way I thought — and not in a heated fight, or through brute force but in calculated choices.
And the worst part?
I had made them.
Kayden was gone.
I had mated with Lucian.
And now…
But only one step remained.
His thumb ran along the edge of my jaw, and his blue eyes were dark with something I didn’t want to call by name. Possession. Victory. Inevitable hunger.
The claiming.
The mark.
Until he slept with me, the bond would never be complete.
Until I let him.
Until my mark was burned into my
