My fingers tug at his shirt, the fabric tearing under my grip, and I feel Eric’s hands on my shoulders, his lips moving lower, trailing fire across my skin. It’s raw, consuming, the kind of heat that could burn this whole pack house down. 

I want more—more of Rick, more of Eric, more of this bond that makes us whole, even without her.

“What the hell are you guys doing?” a voice snaps, sharp and raw, cutting through the haze.

I freeze, my lips still on Rick’s, my hands gripping his hair. I turn my head, slow and deliberate, and there she is—Lia, standing in the doorway, her eyes wide with shock, her face a storm of fury and something else, something that makes my wolf howl. 

My smirk widens, slow and deliberate, as I meet her gaze, letting her see every bit of the monster she hates.

Chapter 43: Shackled in Fear 🐺🔥🌙


I glare at Lucas, this so-called husband, his smug face making my blood boil. Who does this bastard think I am, some prize he can claim? The mate bond aches in my chest, a faint, burning pull to Dorian, Eric, Rick, and Dean, but it's drowned out by the fury and fear clawing at me.


I stand, my chair scraping hard on the stone floor, ready to bolt, but two guards move behind me like the world closing in. Their faces are flat, their bodies a wall I can't push through. I sink back down, my heart thudding in my throat. Lucas watches me with that slow, hungry smile and it makes my skin crawl.


"If I was your wife back then, that's the past," I say, my voice raw. "This is now. I don't want you. Can't you let me go?"


He laughs — low and mocking. The sound slides over me like ice. "Let you go? Your parents begged me to take you, Lia. Said they wanted nothing to do with you. You didn't know?"


Chapter 44 - chapter 43