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I don't stop. I work her with my tongue, circling her clit, sucking it between my lips. She comes apart. Her whole body seizes, back bowing off the bed, and she gushes against my mouth. I lap at her, swallowing every drop, and she shudders through the aftershocks.

But I don't pull away. I keep going , slower now, building her back up. My thumb replaces my tongue for a moment, circling, while I kiss the inside of her thigh. Then I dive back in, tongue fucking into her, and she moans. Her second orgasm hits harder than the first. Her core clenches around my tongue, spasming, and more wetness flood my chin.

"Please ... I ..." Her voice is wrecked.

I ease off. Blow a breath across her swollen clit. She twitches. I suck it gently, one more time, and she shatters again , a third wave crashing through her, quieter, deeper, her body rippling with contractions. A sob tears out of her throat.

I press a kiss on her thigh and look up. Her chest heaves. Her black hair is wild across the pillows. Moonlight catches the sheen of sweat on her skin.

She turns her head. Her eyes find mine. A slow, lazy smile curves her lips.

"Shift," she says.

I blink. “What?”

“Shift.”

I look at her. She looks back into my eyes. My Lycan practically leaps to attention.

Yes.

“What?”

Do it.

I stand. Selena watches me. A moment later, my Lycan stands beside the bed. She points toward the nest. “In.”

He doesn't need to be told twice. He climbs onto the bed and settles among the pillows and blankets. Selena moves closer. Then she curls into his fur. A soft purr rises from her chest. My Lycan goes still. Then his satisfaction rolls through me.

Finally. Mate.

I close my eyes. “You're enjoying this.”

Very much. Mine.

Selena rests her head against him, one hand buried in his fur. The room feels quiet. Safe. Everything is right in the world when my mate is near me. For the first time in days, I stop looking for something to fix. I just stay with her.

Later, as Selena rests against me. “I've made up my mind,” I tell her.

“About what?”

“Who I want as my Beta.”

*****

The next day, I sit in my office and open a mindlink.

“Darian, can you come to my office?”

“On my way.”

A few minutes later, he knocks. “Come in.”

He steps inside. “Alpha.”

“Have a seat.”

He sits across from me, and I look at him for a moment. “Darian, I'd like to offer you the Beta position.”