Chapter 178: My woman

In the dim, silver wash of light flooding the bedroom, I stood frozen on the threshold.

A feral urgency tore at me to launch myself forward like a starving beast, to take her right here and now without granting either of us a single second to think.

Yet my feet were anchored to the floor. What I was witnessing was far too exquisite to rush—too fragile to shatter with one careless movement.

My chest burned as I dragged in air that had been completely stripped of oxygen. I couldn’t get enough. I craved more, even as it threatened to burst my lungs. Nothing existed now except her scent. The scent of my woman. My breeder in heat, who had torn the room apart, emptied the closets, and dragged every garment onto the bed to weave a cocoon. She had wrapped herself in my scent, searching for me in my absence.

The thought ignited a fire in my chest that reduced any ordinary flame to a flickering match.

I took a step forward.

My vision narrowed to a pinpoint. The world shrunk to the straight line leading to the bed, the bed itself, and the pinnacle of creation resting upon it. My woman.

A silk waterfall of hair spilled across the pillow. My dark button-down clung to her frame, fastened by only a few stray buttons. One shoulder was bare, the fabric slipping down her arm; I knew a single tug would strip it away completely. I took in the soft curve of her shoulders, her fragile collarbones, and the long, elegant arch of her neck as she tilted her head back. The fluid contours of her body shifted beneath the thin fabric, concealing just enough to drive my imagination far past my reason.

She was the most breathtaking creature I had ever laid eyes on.

And she was mine.

Jane pushed herself up slowly, resting her weight on her hands. Eyes closed, her small nose twitched as she tested the air, tracking my presence. I froze like a green youth not yet out of his teens. I was mesmerized—a rare state for a man accustomed to taking what he wanted without delay, accustomed to striding directly toward his target. Yet I stood transfixed, because this sight was something a man could devour for eternity.

Then her eyes fluttered open.

Her gaze met mine—hazy, searing, and stripped of all conscious thought. Only pure instinct remained, only the mating call, the primal essence speaking louder than words ever could. Slowly, deliberately, she ran her tongue over her full lips. The sight blew every remaining thought straight out of my mind with a speed that caught even me off guard.

She leaned forward, pressing her palms into the mattress. The arched curve of her spine in that pose was something so dangerously close to sin that I heard a growl rise from my own chest, completely unbidden.

"Magnus..." Her voice was a velvet command laced with a purring growl that vibrated from the deepest depths of her being—from the very heart of her true nature. "Come to me, my Alpha..."

Mine.

That single word unraveled me and pieced me back together in the span of a heartbeat.

I crossed the remaining distance to the bed so fast I didn’t even register the movement. One second I was standing at the doorway; the next, I was looming over her, my hands planted heavily into the mattress on either side of her body. She threw her head back, exposing the long line of her throat, and smiled—flashing her tiny, delicate fangs.

"Fuck," I rasped. "Baby... what are you doing to me? You can’t be like this. You can’t be this fucking unreal..."

I could already feel the phantom ache that would slice down my neck—the sharp blade of her arousal claiming me. Only an Alpha Breeder could leave a mark on her Alpha, cementing her rights. And if the rumors held any truth, the sensation was pure, unadulterated ecstasy.

I swallowed hard. The warmth radiating from her through the paper-thin fabric burned through me. I hadn’t even truly touched her yet—merely towering over her from a few inches away—yet I was already consumed by a fire so intense it blurred the line between the flames within me and real heat.

"Were you looking for me?" I murmured against the curve of her ear, watching her shiver and draw in a long, shuddering moan at the rumble of my voice.

Instead of answering, her bare leg slid slickly against mine, hitching over my hip. The movement acted like a hair-trigger on my instincts. I snapped, plunging headfirst into the abyss of her eyes and the wicked fire dancing inside them.

Tonight, I would surrender everything to her.

Except the control. I would be the one steering this chaos, governing this primal, mind-shattering storm.

My palm—heavy, searing, and mapped with old scars—pressed against her flawless, velvety skin. The contrast between us had always been staggering. Beside her, I felt like an overgrown giant trying to cradle a delicate butterfly without crushing its fragile wings.

Wrapping my fingers around her bare thigh, I felt an electric tremor ripple through her frame. That single point of contact and the fierce intensity in her gaze pulled a taut, vibrating wire of tension between us. The air in the bedroom turned thick, suffocating, and heavy with unspoken intent. There was no purity left in this room. Only her, and only me.

The desire twisting inside me felt like a jagged blade slicing through my chest, demanding immediate release—demanding every single part of her.

"Mine."

Leaning down, I crushed my mouth over hers. I claimed her lips ruthlessly, my tongue sweeping deep into her mouth and forcing a ragged gasp straight into my throat. The taste of her, laced with the bittersweet potency of her pheromones, struck my senses in sharp bursts of raw pleasure.

She matched my hunger, clinging desperately to my shoulders with trembling fingers. Her nails dug deep into my muscles, anchoring herself to me as if I were her sole lifeline in the roaring tide of her heat.

I kissed her like I was punishing her for every second we had been apart while trying to save her all at once. Life without her was simply impossible—a hollow existence in a world of shadows, completely stripped of color, taste, and warmth. Every instinct within me roared to devour her. I nipped her bottom lip with my teeth, tugging gently to draw a low, broken moan from her throat. The sound shattered whatever fragile remnant of self-control I still held.

Breaking the kiss abruptly, I dragged my mouth down. My tongue traced a hot, damp line down the elegant curve of her neck, drinking in the dense, intoxicating scent that flooded my lungs. I felt her essence more vividly and intoxicatingly than ever before. A subtle hint used to be enough to drive me wild, but this was an avalanche threatening to annihilate every shred of my sanity.

She smelled of wild honey, flushed skin, and a primal summons that transformed me from a man into an obsessed beast.

The remains of my shirt hanging loosely off her arms and hips were only in the way. Grasping the front of the garment, I tore it open with one swift, merciless jerk, ripping the buttons free and hurling the fabric off the bed. The buttons scattered across the hardwood floor with sharp, metallic clicks, finally granting me complete, uninhibited access to her body.

To my altar.