Kieran
Watching her sleep, I feel a primal stirring in my chest.
Daciana lies on her stomach, the sheet tangled around her hips, leaving her back bare to the morning light filtering through the curtains. Marks litter her pale skin: red scratches, bruises already blooming purple, the imprint of my teeth on her shoulder.
Pride rather than guilt surges through me. Mine. The wolf in me practically purrs at the sight, at the proof that she belongs to me.
It has been three days since we mated, and I haven’t been able to keep my hands off her. Every time I think I’m satisfied, she makes some small sound or moves in a certain way, and the hunger roars back to life.
This has never happened to me before. Not with any of her past selves. I was gentle with them, loving, adoring. But this vicious hunger that claws at my insides? This hunger that wants to consume her, possess her, mark her so completely that she can never belong to anyone else? This savage possessivenessbelongs only to Daciana. To this version of her, in this lifetime, with me as I am now.
It should terrify me, this ravenous beast inside me that recognizes no limits. The way I can’t seem to stop myself from taking her, from marking her skin, from making her scream my name until her voice is hoarse.
Instead, it feels right. Like this is what I was meant to feel for her.
Even now, I want to wake her. But there are shadows under her eyes, and even in sleep, her brow is furrowed with tension.
I reach out, unable to stop myself from touching her, and lightly rub my thumb between her eyebrows, trying to smooth away the frown. “You’re always so tense, my little wolf,” I murmur. “All I want is for you to be happy.”
She doesn’t wake up, but her face relaxes slightly.
My eyes drift to her lips. “I love you.” That’s what she has said to me. She says it so easily, but somewhere in my heart there is a trace of doubt. Whom do those words belong to? To Daciana or to the women who came before her?
She is only now beginning to remember, through her dreams. Fragments of lives she lived, loves she experienced. But they’re not clear to her yet—not the way they are to me.
Maybe she says it because the dreams are confusing her, showing her pieces of past lives where we loved each other, and she can’t tell where those feelings end and hers begin.
The thought bothers me. I want her love to be real. To be for me. Kieran. The man who can barely control himself around her.
But how can I know? How can I ever be certain when her dreams of the past keep bleeding into our present?
Daciana stirs, a small sound escaping her lips. I immediately reach for the glass of water I set on the nightstand earlier.
Her eyes flutter open, unfocused at first, then finding mine. A soft smile curves her lips, unguarded and genuine, and my heart skips a beat.
“Hey,” she whispers, her voice rough with sleep.
“Hey.” I help her sit up, supporting her back as I offer her the water. “Drink.”
She takes the glass gratefully, gulping down half of it before setting it aside. Then, she tries to adjust her position and immediately lets out a groan that is half pain, half protest.
My hands immediately take her by the shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong?” She shoots me an incredulous look, wincing as she settles back against the pillows. “You’re a beast in bed, that’s what’s wrong.”
Heat coils within me. We were at it all night. Even when exhaustion had her trembling, I couldn’t stop. Couldn’t get enough. The desire in me demanded more. Always more.
“I’ll give you a bath,” I say, already moving to help her stand up.
“Don’t even think about touching me.” She holds up a hand, stopping me. “My entire back hurts.”
Guilt pricks at me now, but it’s tangled up with satisfaction. I ignore her protest and carefully help her to her feet, supporting most of her weight as she sways.
“I’ll give you a bath,” I repeat, steadying her. “I promise not to cross the line.”
She gives me a flat look. “After the fourth time, you told me I could go to sleep. I was up until dawn, Kieran.”
I can’t help the small smile that tugs at my lips. I reach up and rub my thumb gently across her mouth, feeling the slight swelling there.
