THE ECLIPSE PACK
~~XANDER MORTAIN~~
The ceremony was successful. The moon had moved past its peak. However, the curse remained.
Every other wolf in this pack was granted the divine gift of recognizing their mate. But the curse had denied me the privilege. I could stand in a room with my soul’s match and regard her as nothing but a stranger.
Year after year, it was the same torture.
But I wouldn't even have the chance to endure this emptiness for much longer. I was twenty seven, nearing the age of my doom. If I didn’t find and mate my Luna by my thirtieth winter, it would be the end.
Three years. That was all the sanity I had left before I rotted from the inside out. Three years before I turned insane and became the very monster people feared I was.
Tonight yielded nothing, as always. But ironically, I noticed a girl at the ceremony who seemed to be practically begging to feel the kind of agony I endure.
What’s even more ironic is that I could almost understand the pain inside her.Standing beside her, I felt my own ache ease.But the only thing I could really do was stop Conor from using her pain.
I had left the ledge the moment the ritual ended, unable to withstand the suffocating atmosphere. I pushed open the doors and stumbled into the night air.
A cold, oily sweat broke across my brow. It felt as though my bones were being disconnected and rearranged under my skin.
I forced myself through the quiet streets, desperate to reach the larger woods without drawing attention.I needed to shift. I needed to let the beast take control until the pain dulled. It was the only relief, even if the shift itself would be agony.
It was during this crucial moment, while I fought for a shred of sanity, that the scent hit me.
Lilitu Root. Unmistakable.
"It has been banned for decades," I muttered through gritted teeth. "How could a—"
My thoughts shattered as another scent cut through the night air.
Jasmine and overripe blackberries.
I stopped dead, inhaling deeply to be certain. In that instant, the crushing weight on my chest lightened. My beast stopped its incessant snarling.
It was her. She was nearby.
The scent of the Lilitu Root wafted again, stronger this time. The pieces clicked into place: someone had drugged her.
Without thinking, I moved.
A primal urgency took over. With every step that brought me closer to her, the pain in my body waned. I tracked her to the corner of a quiet alleyway near the omega barracks.
There, I found a drunken wretch leaning over her, his filthy hands pawing at her dress.
Searing rage surged through me, purely possessive. I didn't just push him; I struck him with a force that cracked his ribs. He went sprawling into the dirt, scrambling back to look up at me as if he’d seen death itself.
“Run,” I growled, my voice vibrating with the beast's fury. “Before I decide to feed your remains to the crows.”
He didn't need a second warning. He scurried off, whimpering into the night.
I turned to her. Up close, the scent was overwhelming. The drug had forced her body into a feverish state, triggering a premature heat.
“Stand,” I ordered, my voice rough.
She looked up at me with trembling lips and unfocused eyes. “I... I can’t,” she whispered.
I reached down, my hands trembling slightly, and pulled her up.
The rumbling sound that emitted from my throat was involuntary. The relief her touch provided nearly brought me to my knees.
I scooped her up, tucking her small, shivering frame against my chest. My wolf let out a long, satisfied purr deep in my subconscious.
I knew the noble thing to do was to take her home. But I knew nothing of where she came from. I could have taken her to the guest house to sleep it off, but I knew the effects of Lilitu Root. She wouldn't just sleep. She would burn until the fever consumed her or until she found release.
That was why it was banned.
“I need you,” she whispered against my chest, her hot breath soaking through my shirt.
The admission stopped my heart.
She needed me. And God help me, I needed her more.
The rumbling sound that emitted from my throat was involuntary. The relief her touch provided nearly brought me to my knees.
I scooped her up, tucking her small, shivering frame against my chest. My wolf let out a long, satisfied purr deep in my subconscious.
But the man in me—the rational part that was rapidly losing ground—knew this was dangerous.
"Where do you live?" I grit out, my voice rough. "I'm taking you home."
She stiffened in my arms, her hands clutching my shirt in panic. "No," she gasped, shaking her head frantically against my chest. "Not home. Not Nana."
"She can take care of you," I insisted, though every instinct screamed at me to keep her close.
"No!" A sob tore from her throat. "She'll see... she'll be scared. And the smell... if others smell me like this..." She shivered violently, burrowing closer to my warmth. "Please don't..."
Her words hit me like a physical blow. She was right. The Lilitu Root had forced her into a chemical heat so potent that her scent was already leaking into the alley. If I took her back to the lower quarters, every unmated male for miles would catch her scent. Nana couldn't protect her from that.
"Then I won't send you away," I promised, my voice dark with a finality I couldn't take back.
I moved swiftly, heading straight for my private wing—the sanctuary where no one was permitted without an invitation I never gave.
I pushed through the doors.
The late shift maids froze. Their eyes widened in a bewilderment they did not bother to hide.
I couldn’t blame them. They had seen me indifferent, cold, brutal. And they had never seen me carrying a woman.
Especially not a girl in a torn linen dress.
I didn't glance at them. I didn't need to. They all knew enough to keep their heads bowed and their questions locked behind their teeth.
I took the stairs two at a time, my wolf pacing inside me with a rhythm I couldn't control.
Once inside my chambers, I kicked the door shut. The room was cold. I usually preferred it that way to numb the burn of my blood—but now it seemed as though a bit of warmth wouldn’t be a bad idea.
I laid her on the dark silk of my bed. The scent of jasmine and blackberry filled the room, mixing with the heady musk of the Lilitu Root. It was intoxicating.
Her breath was coming in short, pained gasps. Her skin was flushed. Sweat dampened the hair at her temples.
I forced myself to pull away, seeking a shred of the discipline I had spent twenty- seven years perfecting. It was wrong to stay, even more dangerous to be this close.
But I didn't get far.
Her trembling palms shot out, clutching my wrists with surprising strength.
“It hurts,” she choked out, her eyes pleading. “You have to help me get rid of it.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking. Once I start. I won’t be able to stop.”
Half lidded eyes looked up at me. “I’ll never ask you to.”
Every ounce of self-control I had fought to maintain shattered in that instant.
I groaned, pulling her small frame against me. I lowered my forehead until it touched hers, inhaling her breath.
I tried to list the reasons why I should be gentle. Why I shouldn’t hurt her. But all logic flew out the window the moment her arms wound around my neck.
Her lips brushed mine. She whimpered, tilting her head forward, silently begging for more.
"Patience," I traced the seam of her lips with my tongue. It was a kiss that didn't just silence the storm in my mind; it drowned it.
I took all she offered, hungrily because I needed every bit of it.
My inner beast roared in sheer satisfaction.
Her trembling hand shot out, not to push me away, but to grab my belt. Her grip was surprisingly strong, desperate. She tugged, trying to pull me closer, her hips arching off the mattress to meet me.
She didn't wait for my permission. She hooked her leg around my waist, dragging me down until my chest hovered inches above hers. She ground her pelvis against mine, a brazen, needy friction that nearly sent me over the edge right then and there.
"I need you inside," she begged, her inhibitions stripped away by the root. "Now."
I groaned, crashing my body against hers. I lowered my forehead until it touched hers, inhaling her breath, feeding off her desperation.
I didn't bother with gentleness. I rolled with her, pinning her wrists to the silk sheets above her head. She arched into the restraint, letting out a keen of approval.
My hands slipped beneath her dress, trailing fire over her bare skin, claiming every inch I touched. I stripped the linen from her body, leaving her bare to my gaze.
My breath hitched. She was beautiful. And she was begging for me.
"Xander," she gasped, her legs wrapping tighter around my waist, urging me closer. "Please."
I buried my face in the curve of her neck, biting lightly at the sensitive cord of muscle there.
She screamed my name, her fingers digging deep into the muscles of my back, scratching down my spine.
“Continue,” she hissed, bucking her hips against me. "Don't make me wait."
I succumbed.
The feel of her healed me in ways I couldn’t comprehend. Every time I tried to pace myself, she pulled me closer, her nails scoring my skin, her body milking mine for every drop of sensation.
I couldn’t maintain control. Not with her. I lost it completely.
I felt her tighten around me, dragging us both over the edge. We collided into ecstasy together, the world narrowing down to just this moment, just the sound of her crying out my name.
The frantic gasps slowly quieted into steady, rhythmic breathing.
I stayed draped over her, my head buried in the crook of her neck, listening to the beat of her heart. For the first time in twenty-seven years, the air didn't burn my lungs.
I looked down at her. She had fallen into a deep, exhausted sleep, her hand still loosely gripping my arm as if afraid I would leave.
I brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead.
She was mine now. I had tasted her, filled her, and marked her with my scent.
And woe to any man, god, or demon who ever tried to take her from me.