“SHE’S IN HEAT, ASSHOLE!” Aedan yelled. “Because you claimed her and then LEFT HER for two months, you idiot.”
The words ripped out of him, more growl than speech. Every wolf in the room went still.
Caelan’s face went white.
“What?”
“You claimed her. Did you forget that? And you left her alone, without you, while you played war hero.” Aedan’s voice was accusatory. “Her body can’t handle a heat without her mate. She was dying, Caelan. Dying. Because you weren’t there.”
I was dying because I needed sex.
Being a werewolf was definitely... not for the weak.
I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. Would have laughed, if I weren’t currently shivering in Aedan’s arms, my body screaming for the one person who could help. My mate. My idiot, absent, desperately-missed mate who was currently about to murder his best friend over a misunderstanding.
“I didn’t... I didn’t know...” Caelan moved so fast I didn’t see it. One second he was across the room, the next he was pulling me from Aedan’s arms, gathering me against his chest. His hands were everywhere, checking me for damage, pulling me closer, closer, never close enough.
“Riley. Riley, I’m here. Hi, baby. Hi.” His voice cracked. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. But I’m here now. I’m right here.”
He was kissing my face. My cheeks, my mouth, my eyelids, everywhere he could reach. Each kiss was an apology, a promise, a declaration.
The moment he touched me, the pain receded.
Not completely. The heat was still there, pulsing under my skin, demanding more. But it was bearable now, manageable. The edge taken off, the fever dimming to something I could survive.
“I thought I was going to die,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around his neck, burying my face in his throat. He smelled right, safe. Everything I’d been missing since he left.
His arms tightened around me until it almost hurt. I didn’t care. I wanted him closer. Needed him closer. Wanted to crawl inside his skin and never leave.
“I’m so damn sorry,” he grunted against my hair. He was trembling. I could feel it, the fine vibration running through his entire body. Whether from barely restrained desire or overwhelming emotion, I couldn’t tell. Probably both. “Fuck. I should have... I never should have...”
“Apologies later,” I managed. “I need you now.”
His pupils dilated. I watched them expand, swallowing the amber, leaving nothing but black ringed with gold.
“What is the meaning of this intrusion?” A booming voice cut through the chaos. I forced my eyes to focus and saw a man, massive, intimidating, gray-haired but powerful, standing at the other end of the table. He was an older version of Caelan. Of Patt.
The king. Caelan’s father.
“Father...” Caelan started.
“Is that the human mate you’ve been mooning over? The one you left behind for her own safety?” The king’s voice dripped with irony. “She doesn’t look particularly safe to me.”
“She’s dying,” Aedan snapped. “Or she will be, if someone doesn’t...”
“I’ve got her.” Caelan’s voice dropped into command. He looked up, surveyed the room of very interested observers. His jaw set. “Everyone out.”
“Excuse me?” the king said.
“But...” Patt was staring at me with open curiosity, clearly trying to piece together what was happening. “Is she... this is her? Your mate?”
“Your Majesty...?” Another man started to speak, some noble I didn’t recognize.
Caelan’s head snapped toward them, and he roared.
“EVERYONE OUT OF THIS FUCKING ROOM. NOW.”
The walls seemed to shake. My ears rang. Several wolves flinched back.
