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The scent of Ember’s heat was way too strong.

“Cade, please!” she cried from the bathroom. “I need you! Come back!”

Once the painting was secured, I hurried back down the steps and out of the house. I slammed the door behind me, transformed into my wolf, took the painting into my mouth, and ran as fast as I could to get the fuck out of here.

My wolf tried to stop me, tried to turn me around, tried to get me to mate her.

I couldn’t. No, I fucking couldn’t.

If I marked her, I’d betray her. If I marked her, she’d hate me for good.

But if I marked her … she’d be mine.

When the thought crossed my mind, I halted in the middle of Black Hollows. If I marked her, she’d be mine. All mine. I wouldn’t have to compete with that asshole she was mated to. I wouldn’t have to explain myself to Pavel. I wouldn’t care at that point.

Why? Because I’d have everything I had wanted for so long.

I turned back in the direction I had come from. Mine.

She’d be mine. She wanted to be mine. She wanted me to claim her.

She didn’t need to say it. Almost every time I was with her, she was desperate for me to touch her, begged me to be with her, her pussy dripping fucking wet and so fucking tight, pumping every last drop of cum out of me …

“Mate her. We need to mate her.”

My wolf’s words echoed through my mind. Over and over and over.

Every single time they repeated, I’d take another step closer to home.

Goddess, I needed her too. So badly. She was fucking perfect for me in every way.

Fifty feet from the house, I spotted another wolf lurking in the forest, right outside of Ember’s window. I set the painting down on the forest floor, a low growl leaving my throat almost subconsciously. The wolf snapped his head around, and I caught sight of glowing red eyes.

While the scent from the house was becoming stronger by the second, I found enough self-restraint to stop.

Glowing red eyes? What was the Crimson Order doing here? And around our house? While Ember was in heat?

Who was watching her? Smelling her? And what the fuck did they want?

Another growl left my mouth, and suddenly, the wolf disappeared, almost out of thin air.

Howls erupted through the forest behind me, and I turned in the direction of Davix’s pack. They were getting attacked, just as I’d predicted, by the River Pride Pack. The red-eyed wolf was gone. Davix was distracted. And me?

Well, I needed to get the fuck out of here.

I had snapped out of my wolf’s little trance, my self-restraint becoming stronger.

Ember would hate me if I marked her, and I couldn’t risk it.

No, not now. Not today.

So, I picked the painting back up and sprinted toward Davix’s property.

While his pack was being attacked by the River Pride Pack, I snuck into his packhouse and navigated to his room easily. I had been there before, many times, and I knew exactly where it was. I pushed the door open to be met with silence. That fucker was going to get it tonight.

Before anyone could sense I was there, I left the painting on his pillow.

I’d never have a mate again, but Ember was the closest I’d ever get to one.