Redemption Luna Mae

Regret Tastes Like Him

Mae—POV

His green eyes locked on mine. “Speak, Mae,” he said, voice sharp, commanding.

“Why do you even care?” I snapped. “You should leave.”

I backed away, but the pull was stronger tonight. Thick. Heavy.

Wait. Is it the full moon tonight? The mating moon?

He stepped closer. His eyes shimmered gold.

“Mae,” he said, voice low, tinged with something feral. “Don’t tell me you’re with another man on a mating night.”

It wasn’t Oscar anymore. His wolf had taken over.

“Jake,” I breathed, calling the name of the wolf behind the man.

“Yes.” His voice dropped, rough and deep.

He reached out, calloused fingers brushing my cheek. Heat flared under my skin, like lightning crawling over my nerves. Every inch of me lit up, helpless under his touch.

But I had to move. I had to pull away before regret returned to those green eyes, before Oscar clawed his way back into control.

“Oscar,” I said, forcing the name out. “Can you hear me? Please take control of your wolf.”

“No use,” Jake said, cold. “I’ve buried him. I’m done letting him run the show. He’s weak.”

“Jake, you don’t get to choose. Mating requires your alpha’s emotions to be taken into —”

“No,” came another voice. Valkra. My wolf.

“I don’t care about the alpha,” she growled. “Jake is my mate. We’ve waited too long.” Her voice echoed through me, filled with ache and rage.

“It’s only been a year,” I said, trying to stay grounded.

“A year of silence. A year of restraint. You’ve felt every moon the same as I have,” she hissed. “Every two months, burning for him.

Torture."

And then she took control of my body. I fought her with everything I had.

“Valkra, no,” I said, breath trembling.

"Don't worry, Master," she whispered inside me. "You’ll still be half-conscious… just enough to feel everything. Like drunk s*x you’ll regret it come morning."

I didn’t say those words aloud, but I felt them. Even if Valkra was in control, I could still feel it all from the human side.

His green eyes burned into mine, glowing with dangerous hunger.

“Mae,” he said, voice thick with seduction. Just the sound of my name on his tongue made heat curl low in my belly.

His fingers brushed my skin, lighting it up with the searing heat of the mating bond.

His lips. On mine.

I gasped, caught off guard, but gods, it felt right. Familiar.

His kiss reminded me exactly why I was obsessed with him. It was the feeling of coming home.

His mouth moved against mine with a hunger that devoured me. Possessive. Starving. And I melted under it.

A moan escaped me.

His hands, rough and sure, roamed my body as he pressed me back against the wall.

My breath hitched.

His green eyes darkened, devouring me whole.

His lips trailed down the column of my neck, and my fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him closer.

Electricity shot through me as he found the sensitive spot at the base of my neck and bit down gently.

“Don’t—don’t mark me,” I gasped, warning him.

He growled in protest, clearly not pleased. His tongue slid over my skin like fire, teasing the bond.

He ripped my clothes, tearing them like paper in his hands.

He didn’t just want me. He was claiming me.

His mouth was everywhere, devouring every inch of his skin like it was his last meal.

My hands slipped under his shirt, feeling the hard ridges of his abs.

He hissed at my touch.

“Sensitive, huh?” I teased, breathless.

“Only to you,” he growled.

God, the way he said it, like it was the truth carved into his bones, only made the fire burn hotter.

I yanked his shirt off. My fingers worked his belt as his mouth kept dragging moans from my lips.

He lifted me like it. I weighed nothing and dropped myself onto the bed. The mattress bounced beneath me.

His gaze, molten with need, swept over my body.

He hovered above me, and gods, he was huge. My mouth watered. My body throbbed.

His hands gripped my hips possessively.

“I’m going to mark you,” he growled. “So you don’t reek of any other f*****g wolf.”

His lips crashed onto my neck. The bite came, and with it a surge of heat so blinding. I thought I might shatter.

He marked me.

No time to think.

His c**k slid deep inside me, filling me completely, and a shattered moan tore from my throat.

“Osie…” I whimpered, clinging to him.

“Vixen,” he growled. His hips pounded into me, deep and unrelenting.

Every thrust found that sweet, devastating spot inside me. My body sang for him. Only him.

No one else could ever touch this part of me. No one else had ever come close.

His scent of pine mixed with wildflowers. It made my heart race more.

His hands grabbed my ass, pulling me closer, deeper.

I was shaking. Moaning. Losing myself in him.

“No one touches what’s mine,” he snarled.

“Say it. Say you belong to me.”

“Osie!” I cried. “You’re the only one I crave.”

His smirk was dark and satisfied.

“Yes, Vixen. You’re mine. My mate.”

He thrust harder and faster, driving me over the edge.

My fingers clawed at the sheets as stars burst behind my eyes. I came hard, trembling beneath him.

He followed with a grunt, biting down again, sealing the mate mark.

Pleasure exploded through me a second time, hot and violent. My nails dug into his back.

He wrapped his arms around me, holding me close.

His heartbeat thudded against my ear, grounding me.

All the fear I’d carried, the anxiety from meeting Reed, vanished in his warmth.

I drifted off beside him, feeling safe.

I jolted awake.

The bed was cold.

I turned, and he was gone.

A note sat on the pillow.

“What happened last night means nothing’s changed.

You know our wolves took over.

Cover the mate mark.

I want nothing to do with you.”

The words hit like a slap.

I stared, frozen, heart cracking in silence.

I’d known this was coming.

But nothing could have prepared me for the pain that followed.

Tears spilled down my cheeks.

I curled into myself and cried because loving him still felt like home.