In the hushed expanse of the astral plane, surrounded by a dreamlike landscape that magnified every emotion, Stone felt an intensity he’d seldom allowed himself to settle into.
If he did, who knew what the outcome would be?
He stood close to Ella, the surreal light casting otherworldly shadows around them. It intensified the raw, visceral feeling that surged inside him.
Here, in this place, he could no longer hide from his deepest truths and that scared the hell out of him.
He turned to Ella, feeling his heart race with a combination of dread and an overwhelming love that demanded expression.
“Ella,” he began, his eyes locked onto hers, hopefully conveying the depth of what he was about to reveal. She needed to know this connection to her was more than just physical. It was everything. She was everything. “There’s something I’ve never told you—something about the first day we met. It’s a truth I’ve struggled with because… honestly, it scares me.” He huffed a humorless laugh.
“What do you mean?” Ella’s expression was attentive, her presence a steady comfort that slightly eased the tightness in his chest.
She reached out, gently touching his arm, encouraging him to continue.
“The day Doug died,” Stone continued, the memory vivid and sharp in the back of his mind, “I was thrown into chaos, rushing to handle the aftermath of the accident. I was so angry—so hellbent on revenge because I knew what Silas was doing—what he’d already done. But when I saw you, everything else just... stopped. It wasn’t just concern for a stranger caught in a terrible situation. It was more profound—fucking instantaneous.”
“What was?” Ella asked, shaking her head.
Stone worked his jaw back and forth, then he breathed out his truth in a rush. “I felt an overwhelming urge—a need to claim you as mine. In all senses. In, fuck—” he paused, struggling to articulate the complexity of that moment. “It terrified me, Ella. It terrified me because my attraction to you wasn’t normal. It was a primal pull so strong that it felt like an imperative from the core of my very soul. Nothing else mattered—but I…”
She watched him with those big, soulful brown eyes of hers, allowing him to continue without interjecting. Stone didn’t know if that made it easier or worse to continue.
He reached out, rubbing his knuckles across her jaw as he remembered the internal conflict of that day. “You were human, with no idea about our world or its rules. And there I was, feeling a bond that our kind experiences only with a true mate. The part of me that knew what you were to me wanted to burn the world down and claim that bond anyway.” His voice lowered, each word laden with the weight of what he had suppressed. “But I fought it. I fought those instincts because I couldn’t just act on them—not without scaring you. And certainly not without pulling you into a reality you were unprepared for. It would have been more like rape at that moment and I couldn’t—” A tear slid down his cheek as his voice gave out.
“Stone, I knew something significant happened that day, too. It was like a switch had been flipped inside me. I didn’t understand it then, but I felt... drawn to you in a way that went beyond anything logical. It was compelling, powerful, and it scared me as well because I didn’t know what it meant. I mean, like you said, I didn’t even know yet what I was about to become.”
He nodded and dropped his hands to hold hers between them. It felt like the connection he needed to ground himself to this moment—to their shared truths.
Her gaze held his and he searched for signs of judgment or retreat. Instead, he found only an open acceptance.
“Why was this so hard for you to share with me, Stone? Why hold it back if you felt it so strongly? Especially after I understood what we were to each other. After—” she breathed out, still maintaining eye contact with him.
Stone felt a rush of emotions at her questions—relief, love, and an old, lingering fear.
“I held back because I thought acknowledging it might push you away. You were dealing with so much. If I admitted how deeply I wanted to claim you—how much I felt like you were mine from that first encounter, I thought it might make you see me as something... less than what you wanted. And I couldn’t bear that. I’ve never felt anything this powerful, Ella.”
Ella squeezed his hands, her warmth seeping into him.
“Stone, the fact that you felt that way and fought it—that you respected me enough to give me time to understand—to catch up... It doesn’t push me away. It pulls me in closer. I see the man you are—one who respects, despite his own desires. That’s not something lesser—it’s something far greater. I’m incredibly proud of the fact that we’ve been connected this way. I’m so sorry if I made you question that.”
Her words washed over him, soothing the raw edges of his confession. Stone felt a shift—a loosening of the tight knot of fears that had bound his heart for too long.
“You didn’t, Ella. I always felt connected. But”—he dropped his gaze to their joined hands—“I’ve been so afraid that revealing the depth of this instinct... would be too much. Unfortunately, holding it back has been a barrier between us—one I don’t want anymore. I need you to know, I wanted to claim you that day in the forest. I never meant to reject our bond…”
Ella nodded, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears and something else—understanding, maybe even admiration. “We’ve both been holding back, haven’t we? Maybe it’s time we stop letting fear dictate how we live and love.”
“Yes,” Stone whispered, feeling a newfound strength coursing through him. “I don’t want to hide any part of myself from you. Not when every part of me already belongs to you.”
Without a word, Ella closed the distance between them, her hands reaching up to cup his face gently. Her eyes searched his for a moment, a silent communication passing between them.
Then, she pulled him down and pressed her lips to his and it was everything he needed.
The kiss was soft at first, hesitant as if testing the waters, but it quickly deepened as if it released pent-up emotions too powerful to contain any longer.
Encouraged by Ella’s boldness, Stone felt a surge of liberation that loosened his last tethers of restraint. Her touch, warm and insistent even on this strange plane, ignited a response deep within him that was raw and pure.
Something elemental awakened by her acceptance of him and desire for him.
With her encouragement echoing in his senses, Stone allowed his hands to roam over her back, drawing her closer still. He needed to feel her—allow her to feel his need for her.
Each touch reinforced their connection and grounded him in the here and now.
Though, how they could do any of this in the astral realm, he had no idea.
Something to ponder another time.
Stone felt the heat of Ella’s skin through the fabric of her clothes—a heat that matched his own rising temperature. He’d burn up if he couldn’t have her.
Ella moaned against his lips and it just about unraveled him. They needed to lose their clothing—now.
The need he’d only spoken of rushed back to him like a tidal wave.
He needed to claim her. To be inside her.
They needed to repair their bond.
Take the reins back and accept it.
The sensation of Ella’s lips against his became the focal point of his world as he ripped at her shirt, wanting it gone.
She gasped at the sudden burst from him, but her eyes blazed with the same desire burning through him as they broke their kiss momentarily.
Then, she was doing the same to his clothes.
His wolf howled inside, singing its praises of finally being allowed to unleash.
To claim her wolf as his mate.
To claim her.
Now.
Here.
Forever.
The primal urge he had battled against for so long was now welcomed and reciprocated.
How did this happen?
How did he get so lucky?
He kissed her with a hunger that was honest and unguarded—a physical manifestation of all the emotions he had bottled up for so long—and thank fuck, she did the same.
Her hands worked his pants, dropping them to his feet.
He deepened their kiss, allowing the powerful, primal wolf side of him to rise and be felt fully as she sprung him free.
Stone’s hands explored her with a new boldness, removing Ella’s jeans, and then tracing the contours of her sexy hips. He lingered for a moment before dragging his hands up to her breasts. When she shivered under his fingertips, he smiled against her mouth.
God, why had he been so afraid to give in to this?
He drew her in against his body—needing her contact against his cock.
The connection sparked a wildfire of emotions, each one burning away the shadows of past fears as his body came alive.
But it wasn’t enough.
There needed to be no space left between them.
They needed to become one.
The ethereal light of the astral plane seemed to pulse in rhythm with their escalating heartbeats, reflecting the primal energy that flowed between them. It was calling to them—egging them on.
Celebrating with them.
He knew whatever came next, it would not be just a physical union—it would be a spiritual amalgamation of two souls who had fought through shadows to find their truth in each other’s arms.
They were truly fated.
The raw energy that Stone unleashed was met with an equally passionate force from Ella, proving that she was not just accepting but embracing the full might of his wolfish nature. And maybe… accepting her own.
Their movements were fluid and natural, as if each knew instinctively how to answer the other’s silent calls.
Because they did.
As they continued exploring this newfound depth between them, the atmosphere thrummed with power. The astral realm, with its boundless expanse, felt like the only place vast enough to contain the magnitude of their connection.
Both stripped naked, Stone lifted Ella effortlessly, her legs wrapping around his waist. Then, he moved to the stone altar where the Breathe of Selene had once hovered appeared.
With no sign of the glowing crystal orb, the altar pulsed with an eerie light, and seemed to call to them—its surface a promise of unity and strength.
Laying Ella gently on the smooth surface of the altar, Stone gazed down at her with a reverence that transcended the physical. Here, they were not just two beings consumed by desire—they were the embodiment of a profound bond that had weathered trials and transformations.
The altar was not just a place of offering but a foundation of their new beginning—a witness to the purity of their union.
As Stone positioned himself at her entrance—the sense of completion overwhelmed his senses. His brain fired off so many feelings, and sensations, and there were none that he could hang onto. His brain was short-circuiting with the pleasure.
He entered her slowly, reverently—each movement a sacred rite.
Ella’s gasp of contentment was a sound more beautiful than any chorus, and as he began to move, their bodies found a rhythm that was both ancient and new—primal yet fucking perfect.
With each thrust, waves of energy pulsed around them, the light from the altar rising in intensity, mirroring the incoming crescendo of their passion.
They were meant to do this. They were meant to fit like this.
Always.