Chapter 25: Acceptance
The moment she spoke to his wolf, he knew. He knew he would keep her. Not just as a concubine, not as some temporary indulgence, but as something more. His something more.
Manic had never been completely ruthless, not at first. Losing his mate had done that to him.
Mara had turned her back on him the moment their eyes locked, right after the Moon Goddess herself declared them fated mates. Lucas, young and untested as Alpha, had felt whole for the first time in his life. He had visited the Crimson Pack at the invitation of their former Alpha, a routine gesture of goodwill and dominance between packs. And there she was.
She had been across the room, helping omegas set up the tables, her fingers adjusting silverware, her lips curving into a patient smile as she worked. She had been breathtaking, radiating a quiet strength that made Manic roar his claim inside Lucas's head. Mate. He had been so loud that half the wolves in the room had instinctively bowed their heads in submission.
And yet, Mara had belonged to another. She had already bonded with someone else.
Lucas had spent weeks, months, pleading with her, trying to make her see reason, trying to make her understand that the Moon Goddess didn't make mistakes. That they were supposed to be together.
And then, the night she rejected him, Manic lost himself.
After that, everything had crumbled. He went on a blood rage. His brother had turned against him. His pack feared him. He had earned the infamous title-The Butcher of the Silver Pack. No one dared defy him.
Until Ava.
The woman writhing beneath him in a fevered state of desire, moaning his wolf's name.
He needed control. Not because he feared hurting her. No, she could take everything he gave. She had proven that but because for the first time in a long time, he wanted to savor. He wanted to remember every gasp, every whimper, every hitch in her breath. He wanted to drag this out. He wanted it to last forever.