Page 45 of Once You Go Pack
Cade lowered her onto his bed with a gentleness that made her heart ache. The softness of the blankets beneath her contrasted with the hard lines of his body as he hovered above her, his piercing green eyes locking onto hers like she was the only thing anchoring him to reality. His hands moved with deliberate care as they began to remove her black dress, his fingers brushing her skin with reverence, as if she were something sacred.
“This isn’t just about tonight,” he murmured softly, his lips tracing a path down her neck. “You’re not just a moment to me, Mila. You’re my forever.”
She shivered as he peeled the dress from her body, leaving her in nothing but her black lace bra and panties. His gaze lingered on her, intense but tender, like he was memorizing every curve, every breath, and every flicker of vulnerability shecouldn’t hide. Her skin prickled, not from discomfort, but from the sheer intensity of his focus.
“Cade,” she whispered, her voice trembling with need as his fingers unhooked her bra and pulled the fabric away. She then lifted her hips as he slid her panties down her legs next, his touch leaving goosebumps in its wake.
“Tonight is about us,” he said softly, his breath hot against her ear.
He stood up straighter to remove his own clothes, stripping off his button-up shirt, slacks, and boxers with a fluid ease that made her stomach tighten. His body was a masterpiece of strength and power—broad shoulders, defined muscles, and the faint scars that told stories of battles fought and won. His arousal was undeniable, thick and throbbing, and yet the way he looked at her wasn’t predatory or commanding. It was worshipful.
She reached for him, her fingers brushing his chest as he returned to the bed, his weight pressing her into the mattress. He kissed her deeply, his tongue sliding against hers in a rhythm that mirrored the slow, deliberate movements of his hips as he settled between her thighs. The tip of his cock pressed against her entrance, and she gasped at the sensation, her body arching instinctively toward him.
“Do you feel it?” he asked, his voice strained with restraint as he began to push inside her. “How perfectly we fit together?”
She nodded, her breath hitching as he filled her inch by inch, stretching her until she felt impossibly full. Her hands gripped his shoulders as he started to move, his thrusts slow and measured, drawing out every moment of pleasure.
“This is real,” Cade murmured against her ear, his breath hot and ragged. “You and me.”
“I feel it,” she gasped, her legs wrapping around his waist as he moved deeper. The heat coiled low in her belly, building witheach thrust and each brush of his skin against hers. Her fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him closer as the rhythm between them intensified.
Just as she felt her climax approaching, Cade paused, pressing his forehead to hers. “Let me mark you,” he whispered, his voice trembling with primal need. “Let the mate bond be completed and forever—let everyone know you’re mine and I’m yours.”
Her mind raced with the enormity of the decision—the permanence of the mate mark and the significance it carried, not just for them but for his pack. She thought of her ancestors, of the guardians who had stood beside wolves like Cade centuries ago. She thought of the pull she’d felt the moment she stepped onto Nova Aurora, the way her soul had recognized this place and this man as her true home.
With tears in her eyes, she whispered, “Yes. I choose you now and forever. I think this was always meant to happen.”
His thrusts resumed but much faster and deeper, and his fangs lengthened, gleaming in the firelight. Just as their orgasms were ripping through their bodies simultaneously, he bit into the curve of her neck. She cried out as warmth flooded her veins, radiating through her body like liquid light. The mate bond cemented into place, thrumming between them with a resonance that felt ancient and eternal.
The mate mark glowed faintly with silver, and her eyes reflected the wolf’s light for a fleeting moment before returning to their familiar blue. Cade pulled back, his eyes wide with awe as he traced the mark on her skin with his fingertips.
“You’re part of us now,” he growled softly.
She felt it pulsating between them so strongly—the completed mate bond and the undeniable truth of their union. It wasn’t just love. It was destiny made visible, the culmination of lifetimes of searching and finding each other at last.
As Cade finally drifted to sleep with his head resting on her shoulder, Mila studied his face in the dimming firelight. The king who carried the weight of an entire shifter territory looked peaceful in her arms, vulnerable in a way he never allowed anyone to see. She felt the mate bond humming softly between them, warm and alive. It was a promise that no matter what challenges lay ahead, they would face them together.
The mark burned softly on her skin, but what it awakened inside her was far older—and far stronger—than she could ever have imagined. Whatever came next, she belonged to him and to this world completely.
SIXTEEN
CADE
Dawn crept through the windows of Cade’s chambers like an unwelcome intruder, casting pale silver light across the rumpled sheets where he lay with Mila curled against his chest. Her golden hair spilled across his shoulder, and the mate mark on her neck gleamed faintly in the morning light—a permanent reminder that she was his now, completely and irrevocably.
I don’t want this moment to end,he thought, tightening his arms around her sleeping form. The warmth of her body pressed against his, the steady rhythm of her breathing, and the way their heartbeats had synchronized through the completed mate bond—it was perfect peace in a world about to be consumed by grief and ceremony again.
But reality crashed back as thoughts of the day ahead flooded his mind. His father’s funeral procession. The burial in the ancient ceremonial grounds. Hundreds of pack members and dignitaries watching him say goodbye to the only parent he had left, expecting him to be the stoic king they needed while his heart shattered into a million pieces.
Mila stirred as he shifted, her blue eyes fluttering open to meet his gaze. “Good morning,” she whispered, her voice husky from sleep.
“Not really good, I’m afraid.” He brushed a strand of hair from her face. “Today is?—“
“The funeral.” She pressed her palm against his chest. “I know. I can feel your anxiety through our bond.”
The mate bond pulsed strongly between them, carrying his turbulent emotions directly to her. There was no hiding from her now, and no pretending he wasn’t terrified of breaking down in front of his entire pack.
He reluctantly extracted himself from her embrace and began pulling on his clothes—black dress pants and a white shirt that would soon be covered by his formal ceremonial jacket. “You need to go get dressed in your funeral attire. I’ll be at your suite in fifteen minutes.”
