“It’s not. Just me. You coming undone is only for me. I won’t share that with anyone else in the world.”
“Good. I don’t want to share it either.”
“I promise to make you come all night long as soon as this is over.”
“I can’t wait.”I bite my lower lip to keep another moan from leaving my lips as my back drives into the hard altar with one of Ambrose’s thrusts.
“So close, my queen,”Ambrose pants in a tormented whisper.
“Finish this,”I demand.
And then I feel his seed spilling inside me in warm ribbons as if he was waiting for me to give him permission.
I take a deep, long breath as Ambrose pulls out of me, pulling my dress down my thighs to ensure no one gets a view of my body. He quickly helps me into a sitting position with my legs dangling over the side of the altar. Stars twinkle in my vision instead of the crowd surrounding us.
“You okay?”
“Yes.”I blink, and my vision returns to normal as I look at him. He looks as perfect as when we first walked here, not at all like he just fucked me in front of a hillside of supernatural creatures. Even the crown atop his head hasn’t tilted.
He takes a deep breath that washes over me like a warm blanket, instantly calming me. And then adjusts my crown sitting on my curled white hair.
I’m composed, but I still refuse to look out at the crowd. I was barely exposed. No one saw anything, but it was still embarrassing, still too much.
Ambrose holds me tight to his body as he looks at Isolde. “Move on to part two.”
She nods. “Shift.”
“We are doing part two without shifting,” he says.
She smirks like she knew that’s what we’d say. “That’s not your choice. I know she can shift now.”
With a wave of her hand, magic burns into me hard and fast like lightning striking my body. Violent tremors wreck me as I try to maintain control. An explosive force of heat infiltrates every nerve, muscle, and flesh of my skin.
I consider shifting just to make the pain stop. But I remember Serenai’s warning—shifting when I’m this weak could kill me. Besides, I can barely feel my connection to my wolf inside me. And she’s made it clear time and time again that she won’t make an appearance to save my life. The only thing strong enough to bring her out is needing to save my mate.
“Ah!” a scream is pulled from my body as the witches in Moonfire’s coven begin to pour their magic into me one by one until all twelve are attacking me at once. They are going to force me to shift, giving them the ability to control my wolf for the rest of time.
I’m going to die. I’m too weak, and my wolf can’t appear when I’m this fragile.
“Lumi!” Ambrose screams, but his voice feels like it’s miles away from me. “Stop this, Isolde! She can shift on her own. Just give her a minute.”
“We don’t have a minute. The moon is cresting. It has to be now,” Isolde says.
“Lumi, hold on,”Ambrose says in a terrified voice that echoes in my head, but I can’t focus through the intense pain seizing my body.
I don’t know how long the magic pours through me. Time feels endless and meaningless. Fire burns through my body in the way it does before I shift. But it’s too intense. It’s too much. I feel my body give out as I collapse to the floor.
As soon as I hit the ground, the witches stop. It’s quiet, so quiet that I can hear every breath and heartbeat of every mortal and immortal creature within a mile radius.
I stand, ignoring the ache in every crevice of my body. With a heavy breath, I look Isolde straight in the eyes, and I say, “I will complete the ceremony in my human form.”
“You’ll never survive,” she says with a hint of pleasure in her tone.
“Watch me,” I growl with unrestrained fury.
I turn to Ambrose. “Shift.”
He watches me closely, waiting for me to second-guess myself. But I don’t. I won’t.
