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“Yes, it is,” I agreed, drinking in the sight of her with the moon dripping down her pale features. She really was such a sharp contrast to my deeply tanned skin, dark hair, and darker eyes, but I loved that about us. I loved how we really were two halves of the same coin, opposite in strength and weaknesses, the perfect complement for each other.
Ayla didn’t seem to realize just how sappy I was in the moment until her head eventually shifted downward and she noticed my eyes on her. At that, she blushed, before practically leering at me, then pinching my ass.
“Hey!” I yelped, which was not a sound I’d normally admit to making before bursting into laughter. “Hey, buy me dinner first.”
“You betcha,” Ayla shot back before tilting her head back and cackling like the witch she was. I was sure her ancestors would be proud, whoever they were. But then she pulled her hand back, and I realized she intended to smack my ass.
As adorable as she was, I caught her wrist and yanked her close to me, making sure to put plenty of rumble into my voice. “Be careful, darling. You don’t want to start something you can’t finish.”
I loved watching the way her pupils dilated, her entire body responding to me in a single instant, but instead of succumbing to me, she just pushed herself up on her toes and yanked me into a kiss.
Now, this I could get used to. The way her lips moved against mine, seeking, beseeching. Now my body was responding to her, hardening in my pants as my blood rushed through my veins. Before I could so much as wrap my arms around her and lock her into me, she wiggled out of my grip and started running.
“Ayla, what are you doing?” I called, trying not to laugh. We were being silly, yes, and yet it was just so incredibly lovely to be silly, to just act like young people instead of people with the weight of the world on their shoulders.
My mate didn’t answer, at least not verbally, and instead burst out of her skin and into her wolf form, who began to happily bound away down the path to our cottages. It was so rare to see her animal form that I had to just watch her for a moment.
It was amazing, really, seeing that such a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Already I was daydreaming about a life together where I got to see her be more playful, no longer encumbered by the curse that’d punished her so much for daring to exist.
“Hah, you gonna run all the way home?” I called after her, knowing she would be more than able to hear me with her enhanced senses.
You’ll have to catch me to find out!
I was taken aback for a moment at the sound of her shifter voice in my head. I couldn’t say the last time I’d heard it, and I absolutely loved it. It was a connection on a primal level that just didn’t exist outside of shifters.
“If you insist,” I said, laughing yet again. Gods, I felt like I was full of so much joy—more than I had been in ages. I didn’t want to give it up for anything.
But I may have to in order to properly sit on the throne.
I shoved those thoughts out of my head and instead let my wolf instincts go wild. He was thrilled at the idea of running alongside his mate through the jungle and took over what was the smoothest transition I’d had since all of the mess got started.
I didn’t have words for just how freeing it was to bound across the damp earth and rocky path, but it was magnificent. So many scents filled my nose, but one took president.
Ayla’s.
My mate’s scent was like a panacea to anything that could be remotely bothering me. The last time we’d even had a chance to be wolves together was back when we ran through the shifter woods in the palace, and even then, we’d had to be careful about it. Covert. It’d been a risk that never left the back of our minds. But here, it was just Ayla and me. Two shifters interacting naturally as we’d always been meant to.
I could have easily closed the distance between Ayla and me, but where would be the fun in that? The chase was what we were after, so chase her I did, feinting at her occasionally, or trying to cut her off around a tree, but always letting her slip away. It was exhilarating in the best way, and we kept it up all the way to the cottage.
Ayla shifted back into her human form, grinning as she stood in front of the door, panting slightly. She looked like she was about to say something snarky to me, but I rushed her, shifting at the last moment so our bodies collided and we propelled ourselves inward.
My hands were all over Ayla, who gasped into my mouth when I kissed her. My wolf and I were of the same mind, charged full of hormones, desire, and all-around elation.
Somehow, I had the wherewithal to kick the door closed behind us as I kept shepherding Ayla deeper within the cabin. I wanted her underneath me asap, or on top of me, or both, but not at the same time as that would be physically impossible.
“Kai,” she moaned as our mouths moved against each other, tongues sliding, teeth nipping. I gripped her harshly, knowing she liked the way my fingers would bite into her side, assuring her I was there. That I wouldn’t let her go.
“Ayla,” I rumbled right back, the two of us speechless in our desire for each other.
I felt the heat ramp up between us, the way our bond always made things crescendo. But I loved it. I loved it and I wanted more. More. Mor-
A knock jolted me out of the moment, and the both of us froze. Right, other people existed, and someone was knocking on our door.
“Occupied!” I called out, eager to forget the interruption and get back to ravishing my mate. Although we’d been able to share many intimate moments, I had no doubt her curse always lingered in the back of her mind. But now there was no curse to speak of. No lingering Malignant Shadow to make her worry if she was being selfish by daring to share in any physical joy with her mate.
“Ah, Prince Nikolai! It’s Samir! I’m happy to report that not only have I returned in one piece, but I have a message for you!”
“That’s great, Samir!” I called, my voice sharper than it would normally be, but who could blame me? “I’ll find you later, and you can tell me all about it.”
