"Hold the rod steady," Gabriel instructed, his hands covering mine. "Feel the tension."
The fishing line went slack again. My third failed attempt.
"This is hopeless." I thrust the rod at him. "You do it."
"Katherine—"
"I'm terrible at this, Gabriel. Accept it."
He laughed, reeling in my tangled mess of line. "Fine. But you're missing out on the meditative qualities of—"
"Of standing still for hours waiting for something that might never happen?" I kicked off my shoes, toes digging into the sand. "Hard pass."
"Then let's try something else." He abandoned the fishing gear, pointing to two paddleboards beached nearby. "Ever been on a SUP?"
"Do I look like someone who paddleboards?"
"You look like someone who needs to stop overthinking." He dragged both boards to the water's edge. "Get on."
The lake stretched before us like glass, mountains reflected in perfect symmetry. I wobbled upright on the board, paddle gripping the water awkwardly.
"Relax your knees," Gabriel called, gliding past me with infuriating ease. "You're too rigid."
"Says the man who's apparently part dolphin."
"Part wolf, actually." He circled back, close enough to splash me. "Though you seem to have forgotten that."
"Gabriel…"
"Race you to that point." He indicated a rocky outcrop. "Unless the future Luna is afraid of losing."
"You're on."
We flew across the water, paddles cutting through the calm surface. Gabriel pulled ahead, his strokes powerful and sure. But I had better balance, taking a sharper angle that brought me alongside him.
"Giving up already?" I taunted, drawing even.
"Never." He angled his board toward mine, creating a wake that sent me wobbling.
"Cheater!"
"Strategic advantage." He grinned, pulling ahead again.
I swung my paddle, catching the edge of his board. The impact sent him tumbling into the lake with a spectacular splash.
"Katherine!" He surfaced, sputtering. "That's playing dirty!"
"Strategic advantage," I echoed, paddling past his floating form.
His hand shot out, grabbing my ankle. The world tilted. Cold water engulfed me, Gabriel's laughter mixing with my shriek as I went under.
We surfaced together, treading water, boards drifting forgotten.
"Truce?" he offered, swimming closer.
"Never." But I was laughing, wrapping my arms around his neck. "You started it."
"I'll finish it too." His mouth found mine, salty and urgent.
We sank slightly, legs tangling, the kiss more important than breathing.
"We're going to drown…" I gasped when we broke apart.
"Worth it." He pulled me toward the shallows, boards abandoned to drift. "Goddess, Katherine, when you laugh like that… you're devastating."
The words from yesterday tried to surface—be strategic, be restrained—but I shoved them down. Tomorrow we'd return to war councils and impossible choices.
Today, I wanted this. Just this.
I chose the present over prudence, tucked my fears into a drawer, and locked it. By evening, the cabin was all hush and heat—shadows climbing the walls while Gabriel’s hands mapped me with desperate precision, every touch a kept ration against the hunger to come.
Every touch felt like goodbye, like storing sensation for the famine ahead.
His fingers dug into my hips, dragging me closer until our bodies were flush, heat radiating between us like a goddamn wildfire. His breath hit my neck, hot and ragged, before his lips claimed the sensitive skin there, sucking hard enough to leave a mark that screamed mine.
“Stay with me,” he growled, his voice fucking vibrating through my core. “Whatever happens, promise you'll stay, or I swear to fuck—”
“I promise,” I gasped, my nails clawing down his back as he lifted me, pinning me against the rough wooden wall of the cabin.
My legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him in closer, grinding against the hard ridge of his hard cock straining against his jeans.
He tore at my clothes, fabric shredding under his claws until I was bare beneath him, trembling with need.
His eyes glowed fucking gold, the predator in him barely restrained as he stripped himself, revealing the hard planes of his body, every muscle flexing with the sheer effort of holding back.
His shaft stood thick and heavy, slick at the tip, and I whimpered, reaching for him, desperate to feel him inside me.
Gabriel didn’t make me wait. With a snarl, he slammed into me, filling me so completely I saw stars.
His hands gripped my thighs, holding me open for him as he fucking pounded into me, each thrust harder, deeper, more punishing than the last.
The mate bond screamed between us, a fucking electric current that lit up every nerve ending in my body. I was fucking unraveling, clinging to him as he fucked me like I was the only thing keeping him tethered to this world.
“Mine,” he growled, his teeth grazing my shoulder, sharp and claiming. “Fucking mine.”
“Yours,” I moaned, my back arching as his thrusts hit that perfect fucking spot inside me.
His hand slipped between us, fingers rubbing tight, desperate circles around my clit until I was fucking screaming, my orgasm crashing through me like a tidal wave. He followed me over the edge, his cock pulsing inside me as he came with a roar that shook the fucking cabin.
But he wasn’t done. Not even close. He carried me to the floor by the fireplace, laying me down on the fur rug like I was some goddamn prize.
His mouth was everywhere, licking, sucking, biting, claiming every inch of me as he flipped me onto my hands and knees. I whimpered as he lined himself up again, sliding back into me with a filthy, wet sound.
“Again,” he growled, his hands gripping my hips as he slammed into me. “Fucking again.”
And we did.
Again. And again. And again.
Until the cabin was filled with the sounds of our passion—skin slapping, groans, growls, and the crackling of the fire. Until the mate bond burned so fucking bright it felt like we’d set the whole goddamn lake on fire.
And still, he wasn’t satisfied.
Neither was I.
"The full moon's tonight," he said later, our bodies still entwined. "Look."
Silver light flooded through the windows, turning everything ethereal. Elsie stirred, restless and hungry.
"About my wolf—" I started.
"Stop." Gabriel sat up, pulling me with him. "Yesterday, what I said… you misunderstood."
"Did I?"
"What we must be for the pack doesn't dictate what we are together." His hands framed my face. "Here, with me, you don't have to perform. Show me who you really are, Katherine. All of it."
The words hit like lightning. My wolf exploded through my consciousness—not gentle, not restrained, but fierce and wild and free.
"Gabriel—" My voice came out wrong, distorted.
"You're shifting." His eyes widened with wonder.