The night before we leave feels stolen. Ryder calls me to his chambers—not for desire or curses, but for a goodbye we won’t name. His control is gone; he looks raw.
“You’re really doing this,” he says.
“It’s our best chance. Envoys demanded—I’ll ask. This just might work.”
“You’re everything important,” he says, palms cradling my face. “This could change us.”
It could—if Selena’s bloodline leads him to a mate, what we have might break. My wolf keens, but I hold his gaze.
"I know what I'm risking. And I'm choosing to risk it anyway because four years isn't enough time with you. I want decades, not years counted down like a death sentence."
His mouth crashes into mine, desperate and consuming. This kiss tastes different from all the others—salt and sorrow mixed with fierce possession. His hands tangle in my hair while mine grip his shirt, both of us trying to imprint this moment into memory. When we finally break apart, we're both breathing hard, foreheads pressed together.
"I don't regret anything," I whisper against his lips. "Not the dreams that brought you into my life, not the nights in your arms, not falling for you despite having two fated mates. Whatever happens in the north, whatever we discover, I need you to know that loving you was never a mistake."
"Coralina..." My name breaks on his tongue. "I'm terrified of losing you. Not to danger or distance, but to destiny itself. What if the Moon Goddess's plan doesn't include me? What if you're meant for just Nathan and Luca, and I'm the complication that needs removing?"
"You're not a complication," I say fiercely, gripping his face between my hands. "You're the choice I make every day, mate bond or not. The Moon Goddess gave me two fated mates, but my heart chose you too. That has to mean something."
He kisses me again, softer this time, like he's memorizing the shape of my mouth. His thumb traces the crescent scar at my collarbone. "Come back to me," he murmurs against my skin. "Promise you'll come back, no matter what you find."
"I promise," I breathe, even though we both know some promises are beyond our power to keep.
Three days out, the wilderness strips us bare—just three people around a fire, dodging the same question. Until we’re not.
“We need to talk,” Luca says, lounging on the ground. “If we find Selena’s line and Ryder meets his mate—then what?”
Nathan’s jaw works. He puts aside the branch he’s been meaning to break into kindlong. “Neat fix, right? She’s ours; he gets his. Curse solved.”
“You don’t really buy that,” Luca shoots back.
I stare into the flames. “I love him. I love you both. It’s different with Ryder—but just as real. My soul somehow has room for all three of you.”
Nathan moves to sit beside me, his pine and leather scent wrapping around me like armor. "I've been trying to make peace with it," he admits, voice rough.
"Part of me hoped finding his mate would simplify things. You're ours, fated by the Moon Goddess herself. Sharing you with each other is hard enough, but at least Luca's my brother."
"But Ryder's our friend too," Luca adds, moving to my other side. "Our king, yes, but also the man who's stood with us through battles and politics and every challenge we've faced. If anyone else deserves to love you, it's him."
"Maybe the Moon Goddess has plans we can't see yet," I suggest, leaning into Nathan's warmth. "Three mates, three months of shared dreams, three paths that keep intersecting. Numbers that significant can't be coincidence."
"Or maybe," Luca says thoughtfully, "love doesn't need the Goddess's permission to exist. Maybe some things just are, mate bonds or not."
“Since when are you so wise?” Nathan challenges him.
Luca beams. “The fact that you’re older by three minutes doesn’t mean I’m the stupid little kid.”
Nathan chuckles, but doesn’t answer. The fire crackles between us as we sit in contemplative silence. Eventually, Luca retreats to his own tent, pressing a kiss to my temple before disappearing. Nathan starts to rise too, but I catch his hand.
"Stay with me tonight?" The words come out smaller than intended. "Not for anything except... I just need to not be alone with my thoughts."
He follows me to my tent without question. I lie down, Nathan’s warmth behind me, his hands pulling me flush by my waist. We lay like this for a bit, enjoying each other’s silence, when Nathan gets… handsy.
The air inside the tent is thick with the scent of him—musky, earthy, like failing restraint and desire tangled together. His chest presses against my back, warm and solid, his breath hot on the nape of my neck.
I can feel every inch of him, his cock hard and insistent against the curve of my ass, even through the thin fabric of our clothes. It’s a tease, a promise, and it makes my pulse race like a wild thing.
His arm wraps around my waist, pulling me tighter against him, and I let out a soft gasp as his fingers slip under the hem of my shirt. The heat of his palm against my bare skin sends a shockwave of need through me, and I press back into him, craving more.
His lips graze my shoulder, leaving a trail of wet, open-mouthed kisses that make me shiver.
“You feel so fucking good,” he murmurs, his voice low and rough, and I can’t help but moan in response. His hand slides higher, cupping my breast, thumb brushing over my nipple until it’s hard and aching for more.
I arch into his touch, my breath coming in ragged gasps, as he teases me with slow, deliberate strokes.
His other hand slips between my legs, fingers tracing the seam of my soaked panties. I whimper, my hips bucking against his hand, desperate for the pressure, the friction, anything to ease the throbbing ache between my thighs.
He chuckles darkly, his breath hot against my ear, and I can feel the smirk in his voice as he says, “Patience. We’ve got all night.”
But I don’t want patience. I want him—every inch of him—inside me, filling me up until I can’t think, can’t breathe, can’t do anything but feel. I reach back, grabbing his wrist, and guide his fingers under the waistband of my panties. The first touch of his fingers against my slick folds is electric, and I cry out, my body trembling with need.
“That’s it,” he growls, his fingers sliding deeper, teasing my entrance before plunging inside. I bite down on my lip to stifle a scream as he curls his fingers, hitting that sweet spot that makes my vision blur. His thumb circles my clit, agonizingly slow, and I grind against his hand, chasing the pleasure that’s building like a storm inside me.
“Don’t stop,” I beg, my voice breaking as he works me closer and closer to the edge. His lips find mine in a messy, hungry kiss, and I can taste myself on his tongue, sweet and sinful.
He pulls back just enough to whisper, “Come for me, Coralina,” and that’s all it takes. My body shatters, waves of pleasure crashing over me as I cry out his name, clutching at his arm like it’s the only thing keeping me from floating away.
He holds me through it, his fingers still buried deep inside me, until the tremors subside and I’m left panting, boneless and spent. Before I slip into a dreamless slumber, I hear him whispering into my hair.
“I love you.”