For a fraction of a second, the stoic King of the North simply stared down at her. His icy blue eyes, usually calm and calculating lakes of restraint cracked.

The suffocating insecurity and deep, agonizing terror that had plagued his mind for days were entirely incinerated by the love blazing in Roxy’s brilliant green eyes.

A low, guttural growl ripped from Kaelen’s chest. His cool, elegant hands shot from her waist to her thighs. With a sudden, terrifying surge of pure Alpha strength, he hoisted her completely off the floor.

Roxy gasped, her legs instantly wrapping tightly around his narrow waist, her arms locking around his neck.

Kaelen didn’t say a single word. He carried her across the room and pressed her back against his massive desk, his body caging her perfectly. The sudden collision knocked a few maps and his polishing cloth to the floor, but neither of them cared.

"I have you," Kaelen growled, his voice a dark, jagged rasp that sent a heavy, liquid rush of heat pooling directly between her thighs. "And I am never letting you forget who you belong to."

He captured her lips again, but this kiss was completely stripped of his usual gentle reverence. It was punishing, ravenous, and fiercely demanding. His tongue swept into her mouth, tasting, conquering, and absolutely devouring her breath. Roxy whimpered against his mouth, her transmigrated soul completely melting under the sheer, unbridled dominance of the Northern Wolf.

He didn’t tear her clothes. His cool fingers deftly unlaced the front of her dark green tunic with a speed that left her dizzy. He pushed the fabric off her shoulders, letting it pool at her waist, exposing her flushed, shivering skin to the freezing ambient air of his quarters.

The contrast was absolute torture. The room was biting cold, but Kaelen’s breath, his hands, and his mouth were a blistering, suffocating heat.

Kaelen broke the kiss, his chest heaving as his darkened blue eyes swept over her exposed breasts. Her nipples were already tight and completely pebbled from the cold and the overwhelming arousal crashing through her system.

"Beautiful," Kaelen murmured, his cool hands coming up to cup her heavy weight. His thumbs brushed over her sensitive peaks with a deliberate, maddeningly slow friction.

Roxy threw her head back, a loud, breathless moan echoing in the quiet room as her back arched off the heavy oak desk. "Kae... please."

"Patience, Matriarch," Kaelen commanded smoothly, a dark, wicked smirk finally curving his lips. He was entirely in control now, his Warlord confidence completely restored by her absolute surrender. "You pushed my boundaries. Now, you are going to experience exactly what happens when I enforce them."

He leaned down, his hot, wet mouth closing over her right peak.

Roxy screamed, her fingernails digging violently into the thick, corded muscles of his broad shoulders. He suckled her with a rough, pulling rhythm, his teeth lightly grazing the sensitive nerve endings. It was a sensory overload of epic proportions. The tactical mastermind of the Vanguard knew exactly how to dismantle her defenses. He drew a wet, agonizing path down her collarbone, his tongue laving the skin before he blew a cool breath over the damp trail, making her entire body violently shiver.

He lifted her off the desk just enough to strip away the rest of her garments, leaving her completely bare. With effortless strength, he carried her the remaining distance to his colossal bed, tossing her gently onto the mountain of thick, white dire-wolf pelts.

Roxy sank into the soft, luxurious furs, her chest heaving, her green eyes heavy with absolute, blinding lust.

She watched with entirely starved anticipation as Kaelen stripped. He removed his dark linen shirt, revealing a torso that looked like it had been chiseled from pristine, unyielding marble. He lacked the heavy scars of Torian or Zarek, possessing instead a lean, lethal, and perfectly symmetrical musculature that screamed deadly agility. As he pushed down his trousers, his heavy, thick arousal sprang free, rigid and weeping with his own desperate need.

He crawled onto the bed, his knees parting her thighs, completely caging her beneath his towering frame.

Kaelen didn’t immediately enter her. He trailed his cool, elegant fingers down the curve of her stomach, bypassing her core entirely to grasp her hips. He lowered his head, pressing his face directly to the apex of her thighs.

"Kaelen—!" Roxy gasped, her eyes flying wide open as his hot tongue traced a slow, agonizingly precise line right up her slick slit.

He ignored her shocked protest, his hands clamping down on her thighs to hold her completely still. He began to worship her with his mouth, his tongue flicking and swirling over her swollen clit with a devastating, rhythmic perfection. He knew exactly how much pressure to apply, exactly when to slow down, and exactly when to suck hard enough to draw a frantic, sobbing wail from her lips.

"Let go for me, Roxy," Kaelen murmured against her dripping core. "Show me you trust me."

She couldn’t hold back even if she wanted to. The sheer, overwhelming ecstasy short-circuited her brain. Her hips bucked wildly against his mouth, her hands tangling into the thick white furs beneath her. Within minutes, the first blinding climax ripped through her transmigrated soul. She cried out his name, her inner walls violently spasming as she shattered completely under his expert, terrifyingly focused attention.

Kaelen didn’t let her come down from the high.

While she was still whimpering, her body twitching with the aftershocks, he moved up her body. He settled his narrow hips between her thighs, his icy blue eyes locking directly onto her blown, hazy green ones.

With a single, smooth, and breathtakingly deep thrust, Kaelen buried his entire length inside her.

Roxy let out a ragged, tearing scream, her back arching off the mattress. The fullness was absolute. He was incredibly thick, hitting the very depths of her core, completely claiming her from the inside out.

"Look at me," Kaelen commanded, his voice a dark, vibrating rumble.

Roxy forced her eyes to focus on his face. He wasn’t relying on magical illusions or draconic heat. He was using nothing but his pure, unadulterated, mortal strength to completely unmake her. And it was exactly what she needed.

Kaelen began to move. His pace was relentless, a deep, grinding rhythm that completely consumed her senses. He pulled her hips up slightly, angling her to ensure maximum, punishing friction with every single thrust. The sound of their bodies slapping together echoed loudly in the quiet, freezing quarters, accompanied by his low, feral grunts and her breathless, frantic moans.

She wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, her heels digging into his lower back, completely anchoring him to her. She wanted him to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he was her ultimate shield. He didn’t need magic. He just needed to be Kaelen.

"You are my King," Roxy sobbed, completely losing her mind as the friction built to an unbearable, blinding crescendo. "You are enough, Kaelen. You are my everything!"

The absolute, profound validation completely shattered his remaining control.

Kaelen roared, a deafening, feral howl that echoed the deepest, most ancient instincts of the Northern wolves. He increased his pace to a brutal, dizzying blur, completely devastating her core.

Roxy’s second climax hit her with the force of a localized tectonic shift. She screamed, her fingernails scoring down his back as her entire body locked up, milking him with violent, tight spasms. Kaelen followed her instantly. He drove his hips forward, burying himself to the absolute hilt as he poured his seed deep into her, his powerful body shuddering violently as he marked her as his Matriarch once more.

For a long time, the only sounds in the room were their ragged, synchronized breathing and the soft rustling of the dire-wolf pelts.

Kaelen slowly collapsed forward, resting his forehead against the crook of her neck, his broad chest heaving against her breasts. The crushing weight of his Warlord physique felt incredibly grounding, completely banishing the shadows of the past two days. Roxy stroked his damp hair, her transmigrated soul utterly at peace.

Slowly, as their heartbeats began to settle, Kaelen shifted.

He didn’t pull out. Instead, he propped himself up on his forearms, his icy blue eyes now completely soft, burning with an ocean of ancient, unyielding devotion. He began to slowly retreat down her body, pressing incredibly tender, adoring kisses along her skin.

He kissed the inside of her thighs, tasting her. He kissed the soft curve of her stomach, his tongue trailing a wet, deliberate path over her flushed skin. He moved up to her chest, pressing a lingering, reverent kiss to her sternum, right over her wildly beating heart.

Finally, Kaelen reached her face. He cupped her cheeks with his cool, large hands, his thumbs gently wiping away a stray tear of pure joy from her cheek.

He captured her lips in a deep, agonizingly sweet kiss that sealed the absolute depths of their reconciliation. He pulled back just a fraction of an inch, his breath ghosting over her mouth, his blue eyes entirely fearless.

"Even if you were taken, I will come find you."