You are mine, Am yours.

One night, Lucian and Jackson had traveled to a neighboring pack for a ceremony meant to reinforce peace among alphas and betas after a terrifying war.

It was an attempt to rebuild trust, to strengthen alliances, but the four packs that had caused the chaos in the first place weren't included.

There was no making peace with them.

From the moment Lucian stepped into the gathering, unease settled in his chest like a weight.

He forced himself to move through the event, shaking hands, exchanging nods, engaging in small conversations, but his skin prickled with a different kind of awareness.

The air felt heavy, charged, his wolf restless beneath his skin.

And then he knew.

The pull. The mate bond.

It was here. Around there.

Lucian clenched his jaw, cursing under his breath.

He knew this feeling well, he had read about it, heard warriors and elders talk about it.

He had always understood the undeniable force of the mate bond, how it could demand, consume, and overpower.

His heart pounded against his ribs as realization sunk in. His mate was around. In this very hall. And his wolf was straining to find them.

Panic gripped him.

He knew the risks. He knew what could happen if he let himself give in.

No matter how strong his love for Aiden was, the mate bond had the power to pull him in directions he didn't want to go.

It could make him crave someone else in ways he didn't want to. And that was the last thing he needed. The last thing he could afford.

Lucian exhaled harshly and shut his eyes for a second, forcing control over himself. He couldn't let this happen.

He wouldn't.

Without another thought, he turned to Jackson. "Something's come up. I need to go. You'll handle the rest."

Jackson frowned. "What? Lucian, we just got here..."

"Stay," Lucian interrupted, his voice leaving no room for argument. "You can represent me. Make an excuse."

Before Jackson could question him further, Lucian was already walking away, shoulders tense, fists clenched at his sides.

His pulse was hammering as he stepped out into the night, the cold air doing nothing to calm the fire burning inside him.

His wolf growled in frustration, but Lucian pushed forward, his only destination- home.

His only salvation, Aiden.

By the time he reached the packhouse, his body was humming with unresolved tension, a frustration so deep it had his hands shaking.

He didn't stop, didn't think, just stormed up the stairs, straight to Aiden's room. He barely knocked before pushing the door open.

Aiden, who had been sitting up in bed, arched a brow. A smirk tugged at his lips. "That was fast."

Lucian's chest heaved. "I missed you."

Aiden narrowed his eyes, catching the way Lucian's breathing was uneven, the way his muscles were coiled too tight, like something was clawing at him from the inside. "Missed me, huh?" He leaned back against the headboard, watching him carefully.

Lucian didn't answer.

He didn't have the words. He just moved, climbing into bed, over Aiden, bracing his weight on his arms as he hovered above him.

Aiden laughed softly. "Really now? You seem a little bit off."

Lucian's gaze darkened. "Because I missed you." He leaned in and kissed him.

The moment their lips connected, Lucian felt it, his body, his soul, every part of him responding to Aiden like he was the only thing in the world that mattered.

The tension that had gripped him from the moment he felt that damned mate bond shattered, replaced by a fire that burned just for the man beneath him.

Ever since Lucian and Aiden had been together, they had never made love. Lucian claiming he was waiting for Aiden to turn eighteen.

But at that moment, his body no longer registered that promise. He was burning, overwhelmed by the frustration of the mate bond he didn't want, and the desire he had been suppressing for Aiden all those years.

Driven by desperation, the need to belong to Aiden and no one else, he just wanted to mark him.

Wanted Aiden to mark him, so that maybe the mate bond would disappear from his fate.

His kisses grew more intense, slow but deliberate, his hands restless. He wanted to ravish Aiden.

His hands were everywhere, tracing the body he had longed for. And since Aiden had been harboring the same desires since the day his feelings for Lucian began, his own hunger awoke. He wanted Lucian just as much.

Aiden didn't hesitate. He met Lucian's intensity with his own, fingers tangling in his hair, pulling him closer, deeper.

Their breaths mingled, ragged and hot, their bodies pressing together, fitting like they always had.

Lucian's hands were everywhere, roaming Aiden's skin, memorizing, relearning.

It wasn't enough.

It would never be enough.

His wolf wasn't resisting this. It wasn't pulling him away. If his mate was supposed to be someone else, why the hell did his entire being crave Aiden and only Aiden?

Lucian didn't care about the answer. Not now.

He got rid of Aiden's t-shirt, exposing Aiden's smooth skin. That was when he lost control, his lips marking their way down Aiden's body, leaving trails of heat behind.

His blood ran wild, surging through his veins like fire, threatening to consume him.

His name left Aiden's lips in a breathless whisper.

His control was slipping, his body reacting purely on instinct, on years of built-up tension.

Aiden was his. He had always been his.

Lucian's shirt had buttons, but Aiden didn't have the patience to unfasten them one by one. Instead, he grabbed the fabric at the collar and tore...

Lucian, in his uncontrollable state, let the words slip before he could stop them. "I want you right now in ways that I've never had you, Aiden. I... I..."

"Take me…" Aiden cut him without hesitation.

Lucian completely lost it at those words. His trousers were on the floor in an instant, and so were Aiden's.