Page 38 of Once You Go Pack
“I’ve never felt like this before,” she whispered, her fingers tracing patterns on his sweat-slicked skin. “So seen and so cherished.”
He tightened his arms around her, his heart pounding with a mixture of awe and fear.
Now that I’ve claimed her, I can never let her go.
The thought terrified and exhilarated him in equal measure.
“You’re mine now,” he murmured, his lips brushing against her temple. “And I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you by my side.”
When they finally stood up and got dressed, his mind raced with worry. The stakes were higher than ever now. The pack politics and the rival threats—they loomed larger with her at his side.
But he knew one thing with absolute certainty: he would burn everything down to keep her.
THIRTEEN
MILA
The afterglow of their explosive encounter still hummed through Mila’s body as she smoothed down her t-shirt. The broken workout bench lay in pieces around them—evidence of just how completely they’d lost themselves in each other. Her cheeks burned with the memory of his mouth between her thighs, and the way he’d claimed her with such primal intensity that she’d forgotten her own name briefly.
Best sex of my life.The thought flickered through her mind as she watched Cade pull on his shirt, his movements fluid and predatory even in something as mundane as getting dressed. Every muscle rippled beneath the fabric, and she had to bite her lip to keep from reaching for him again.
But beneath the exhilaration, uncertainty gnawed at her chest.
What did this mean for them now? For the impossible situation she’d walked into just days ago?
Cade was about to become king, his father was dying, and she was expected to transform from ordinary paralegal to future queen. The weight of it all pressed against her ribs like a vise.
Yet she couldn’t deny what had just happened between them. The connection that went soul-deep, and the way he’d madeher feel not just desired but cherished. She felt truly seen—no longer the invisible woman keeping everyone else’s lives running smoothly, but someone worth claiming and worth protecting.
This is exactly what I’ve been wanting,she realized.
Not just the mind-blowing sex—though that had been a revelation—but the feeling of being with a man who was wholly, completely present with her. Who looked at her as if she was the most important thing in his world.
The gym doors burst open with a crash that made them both freeze. Martin stood in the doorway, his face pale as winter moonlight and his chest heaving like he’d run the entire length of the castle. His normally composed demeanor had cracked, revealing something that made Mila’s stomach drop to her feet.
“Your Highness,” Martin gasped, his brown eyes finding Cade immediately. “You need to come now.”
Cade’s entire body went rigid, his alpha authority snapping into place like armor. “It’s my father, isn’t it?”
The Beta’s grim nod confirmed what Mila had already read in his expression. “It’s not good.”
The transformation in Cade was instantaneous. Gone was the passionate lover who’d worshipped her body with such reverence. In his place stood the Crown Prince, duty settling over his shoulders like a heavy cloak. His green eyes had already shifted away from her, his mind racing toward whatever crisis awaited in his father’s chambers.
“I’ll come with you,” Mila said, stepping forward instinctively. The words tumbled out, driven by an overwhelming need to be at his side during whatever was coming.
“No.” The single word cut through the air with finality. Cade’s gaze flickered to her briefly, but his expression remained shuttered. “You should wait in your guest suite.”
The dismissal hit her like a slap in the face. After everything they’d just shared—the trust, the intimacy, the earth-shattering connection—he was cutting her out. Relegating her to the sidelines like she was still just a visitor testing out life on an alien planet.
“Cade—“
“Please, Mila.” His voice gentled slightly, but the emotional distance remained. “This is family business. There are royal protocols.”
She wanted to argue, to point out that he’d just claimed her in the most primal way possible, and that she thought that meant something. But the look in his eyes stopped her cold. The prince had reasserted dominance over the man, and she was on the outside looking in again.
“Of course,” she managed, forcing her voice to remain calm. “I understand.”
But she didn’t. Not really. Yes, she’d only been here two days. Yes, she knew nothing about royal protocols or family emergencies. But somewhere in her heart, she’d started to believe she was becoming part of this—part of them. The way King Drake had smiled at her over breakfast yesterday, the warmth in Lyra’s eyes today, and the earth-moving connection she just shared with Cade.
