When we are one

Chapter 9 Corbin

I can’t say Ezra didn't warn me. Since the moment we saw Silvara shift beneath the moonlight, he’s been restless—wild. There’s no denying the truth anymore: our wolves aren’t just a part of us. They are us, in ways we don’t even fully understand. And Ezra? He’s no longer content to watch. He wants Silvara. Needs her.

The moment Anika shifted back into her human form, I felt it—the surge in our bond, electric and sharp. Her skin still glowed with the remnants of her transformation, her wolf’s essence lingering. I felt her hesitation. The fear. The heartbreak. She didn’t say it outright, but I could feel the storm inside her: A rogue doesn’t belong with an alpha.

When she tried to reject me, I felt Ezra claw at my chest from within, roaring his denial. Her voice trembled, and mine broke alongside hers. I couldn’t go through with it—not then, not ever. I wasn’t strong enough to let her go. Ezra wouldn’t allow it, even if I tried.

Ezra’s voice pressed into my skull, urgent and raw:

“Don’t let her go, Corbin. She’s ours. She is home.”

We shift back—Ezra reluctantly ceding control. Anika mirrors me, her bare skin glowing under the starlight. I’m still pinning her wrists to the earth, and her wild green eyes search mine, both of us caught in this unbearable tension. Our breathing syncs, heavy and erratic.

I feel her arousal—sweet and spicy, almost unbearable. Every cell in my body responds. Ezra claws at the inside of my ribs.

“Touch her. Take her. She is ready.”

But I can’t—not yet.

I pull away, voice husky and frayed. “Here—take my hand.”

“I’ve got this, thanks,” she snaps.

I hold up my hands in mock surrender. “Sorry for trying to be a gentleman.”

Her lip twitches. “A gentleman? Your wolf jumped me while I was training.”

I sigh. “Ezra’s… difficult lately. The scent of your shift—it sent him over the edge. And seeing you with Briar…”

She narrows her eyes. “Oh yes, blame your wolf. It’s not you who’s jealous.”

I laugh under my breath, stepping closer. “Don’t act innocent. I saw how you looked when Grace sat on me. You were seething. I heard Silvara growl. She’s as possessive as Ezra.”

We’re toe-to-toe now, the tension spiking. I grab her by the ponytail, not roughly, just enough to tilt her face up. My hand presses into the small of her back, drawing her body flush against mine.

And then our mouths collide.

The kiss is like fire. Devouring. Her lips part for me, and I lose myself—our tongues battling, our souls dancing. Her fingers clutch at my waist for a breathless second.

Then she rips away, eyes wide. She turns and bolts, Silvara rising to the surface. A heartbeat later, a flash of silver vanishes into the trees.

Ezra rumbles inside me, a low growl of frustration.

“You let her go. Again.”

“She’s scared.”

“So are you.”

He’s not wrong.

Back at the pack house, I find my parents in the garden—both waiting for me. I sit beside my mother, and the look in her eyes tells me she already knows what I’m about to say.

“Darling,” she says softly, “we need to talk about Anika.”

I sigh. “Mother…”

“She’s your mate. But she’s more than that. A silver wolf with a prophecy burning in her blood. I’m worried for her—and for you.”

Ezra stirs, his voice softer now:

“She’s more than she knows. More than we know. The Goddess didn’t bind us by mistake.”

“She’s a rogue for a reason,” Mother continues. “Silver pups were hunted. Anika was abandoned—or worse. That pain runs deep.”

“I wanted to reject her,” I admit. “Before her shift, that was the plan. But Ezra…”

“You can’t,” she finishes for me. “You feel it already, don’t you? The tether. The gravity.”

“I don’t know what to do.”

“You’ll have to choose: the pack or your mate. But remember, Corbin… some paths can’t be walked alone. She may be your future, even if the past won’t let her believe it yet.”

Ezra murmurs,

“We will make her believe. No one else can carry her pain like we can.”

Work is chaos, the opposite of what I need. I fight through meetings, dodging questions, barely keeping my head on straight. And then, just when I think I can finally leave—there she is.

Grace.

Perched on my desk in a lace dress that leaves nothing to the imagination. The moment I see her, Ezra snarls in my mind.

“Remove her. Now.”

“I heard you were having a hard day,” Grace purrs, her lips ruby red, her voice like sugar-drenched poison. “I thought maybe… you could use a little help relaxing?”

She walks up to me, starts fiddling with my tie like we’re in some cheesy movie. I grab her wrists and step back, gentle but firm.

“Grace, go back to your office.”

Her lips part. “Corbin—”

“Not today. Not ever. Please leave.”

She storms out with a door slam and a flurry of perfume. I exhale, sagging against my desk.

Ezra growls:

“She is not ours. Only Silvara. Only Anika. She smells wrong. Feels wrong.”

I grab my keys, already walking. The day’s too long. My mind’s not on meetings or corporate deals. It’s on the rogue girl with pain in her eyes and power in her blood. The one I should have let myself kiss longer. The one who ran before I could hold her just one second more.

I’m going home—to her.