Chapter 458:

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I shattered a third time with his name on my tongue. This time he followed, burying himself to the hilt and spilling deep inside me with a guttural groan that sounded like surrender and victory all at once. Hot pulses filled me; the bond lit up like pure sunlight. For a long moment we stayed locked together, trembling, breathing as one.

He eased out gently, gathered me against his chest, and pulled a soft blanket over our sweat-slick bodies. The fire painted gold across his skin. I traced the mating mark on his shoulder—the one I had given him—and felt an answering pulse through the bond.

Nero kissed my forehead, my eyelids, the corner of my mouth.

“Two days,” he whispered. “I’m going to love you in every way I’ve dreamed about since the moment I first scented you. Until you forget what it felt like to be without me.”

“Then you’d better get started, Dark Alpha King,” I murmured. “We have a lot of lost time to make up for.”

Outside, the Freeland night settled quiet and deep around our little cabin. Inside, in front of the fire, the Dark Alpha King and his Luna began again—slow this time, tender, endless—learning the shape of forever with nothing left to stand in their way.

Nero POV

S𝘁𝗈𝘳𝘪е𝘴 yo𝗎 𝗐𝗈𝗇’𝘁 𝗉𝘂𝗍 𝖽o𝗐ո 𝘰𝗇 𝗴𝘢𝗅𝘯o𝘃𝘦𝘭𝗌.𝘤o𝘮

“Twenty minutes.”

Remi looked at the clock above the fireplace, then sighed and pulled the blanket higher around herself. “You keep saying that as if it will make midnight come faster.”

I smiled. “You were the one who insisted we stay awake.”

“I know.” She shifted closer until her head rested against my chest. “But now that we’re actually waiting for it, I’m impatient.”

I wrapped my arm around her and looked toward the fire. The cabin was warm, but the night outside was cold enough that the windows had begun to fog around the edges. Everything was quiet. Just Remi and me, and midnight.

For most of my life, I had hated that hour. Midnight was when the curse usually reminded me that it owned a piece of my body. My muscles would tighten, my wolf would grow restless, and whatever darkness lived inside me would claw its way to the surface. Tonight was different. Tonight, I wanted to watch the clock reach twelve. I wanted to see if the curse was truly gone.

Remi tilted her face toward me. “What do you think Kade is doing?”

I laughed softly. “Probably regretting every decision that led him to becoming king.”

She smiled. “And Damon?”

“Standing beside him.”

“Publicly?”

I raised an eyebrow. “That’s the interesting question.”

Her smile grew. “Do you think Kade will finally stop pretending?”

“Kade has never been good at pretending.”

“He hides his feelings.”

“He hides them from everyone except Damon.”

She laughed quietly. We talked about them for a while, imagining what was happening back in Moonstone. Kade had probably buried himself beneath reports while Damon tried to force him to eat. Abel was probably flirting with someone despite the kingdom being on the edge of war, and Pipper would be furious that we weren’t back yet. Even Mitch came up in the conversation, and Remi laughed when I reminded her that he could complain about absolutely anything.

“What about Alpha Manuel?” she asked.

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