I shattered.
The orgasm rolled through me in gentle waves, my inner walls fluttering around him, and I heard his breath catch—felt his rhythm falter as he followed me over the edge. His release flooded me, hot and thick, and he buried his face in my neck with a broken sound that might have been my name.
We lay tangled together, trembling, our heartbeats slowly finding the same rhythm. His hand was still pressed between my legs, his fingers gentle now, and I could feel the evidence of our coupling cooling on my thighs. I didn't care. I never cared. Not with him.
"I'm sorry," he said finally, his voice rough. "For waking you. For—"
"Don't." I turned in his arms, facing him in the darkness. His amber eyes glowed faintly, the wolf still close to the surface, and I cupped his face in my hands. "Don't apologize for needing me. For wanting me. That's what I'm here for, Lucien. That's what we'reallhere for. To hold each other up when we're falling apart."
He stared at me for a long moment, his expression raw and open. Then he kissed me—soft, tender, a complete contrast to the desperate claiming of moments before.
"The coven," he said when he pulled back. "The detective. All of it. It's wearing on me. I keep thinking about what they could take from us. From you."
"They can't take anything we don't let them." I stroked his cheek, my thumb tracing the sharp line of his jaw. "We're stronger than them. Stronger together."
"I know." He pressed his forehead to mine. "But I'm still scared. I've never had anything worth losing before. Now I have everything."
The words settled into my chest like a physical weight—heavy, but not unwelcome. I understood that fear. Felt it myself every time one of them walked out the door, every time Darius's silver eyes grew distant with strategy, every time Selene's magic flared with protective fury, every time Azrael's golden gaze turned inward to whatever realm he inhabited when he was gathering intelligence. I had everything now. And the thought of losing any part of it was unbearable.
"Then we fight," I said. "Together. All of us. And we win."
His lips curved in a small, fierce smile. "You sound like Darius."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
He laughed—a real laugh, low and rough and beautiful. "It is. He's the best strategist I know. And you—" His amber eyes softened. "You're our heart, Lizzie. The center that holds us together. Without you, we'd just be four broken creatures going through the motions."
"Darius said something similar."
"Darius is right. For once."
I swatted his chest, and he caught my hand, pressing a kiss to my palm. The gesture was so tender, so at odds with the feral wolf who'd claimed me in the armory all those weeks ago, that my throat tightened.
"When did you get so soft?" I teased, my voice thick.
"Since you." He pulled me closer, tucking my head under his chin. "Since you looked at me like I was something other than a monster. Since you touched my nose and called me adorable."
"I said you were adorable when you were trying to be scary."
"Same thing."
I laughed, and the sound filled the dark room like sunlight. Outside, the manor was quiet—the party long over, our guests departed, our family scattered to their own beds. But here, in Lucien's arms, I felt the weight of the past weeks lift slightly. The coven. The detective. The endless, grinding tension of protecting what was ours. It was all still there, waiting for us in the morning. But for now, just for now, we had this.
"Sleep," Lucien murmured, his hand stroking my hair. "I'll keep watch."
"You need rest too."
"I'll rest when you're safe." His arms tightened. "When all of you are safe."
I wanted to argue, but exhaustion was already pulling me under—the deep, bone-tired weariness that came from weeks of stress and sleepless nights and the constant, low-level fear oflosing everything I'd found. Lucien's warmth surrounded me, his heartbeat steady beneath my ear, and I let myself drift.
"Tomorrow," I mumbled. "We'll figure it out tomorrow."
"Tomorrow," he agreed.
The last thing I felt before sleep claimed me was his lips pressing a soft kiss to my forehead, and the quiet, fierce whisper of his voice:
"I won't let them take you. Any of you. I swear it."
