"Gasp!" My hand flew to my heart as I stumbled back in surprise. Fumbling for the light switch, I illuminated the room to discover Caden perched stiffly on the couch. His usually pristine suit looked rumpled, and the glass tray before him overflowed with crushed cigarette ends. How many hours had he been waiting in the dark? "You could've turned on a lamp—you nearly gave me a heart attack," I muttered, sinking into the opposite chair. My eyes darted to the overflowing ashtray before I ventured cautiously, "What's going on? Did something happen to the Eclipse Pack?" Caden remained motionless, only his gaze sliding toward me. His mouth pressed into a hard line as he demanded again, each word sharp as dagger, "Explain yourself. What have you been doing behind my back?" "Behind your back?" My forehead creased in genuine confusion. "You're acting like I've been sneaking around." What bee had gotten into his bonnet this time? Caden smirked—cold, humorless—before pulling out his phone and tossing it onto the table. "See for yourself." Puzzled, I examined the screen—and my blood turned to ice. Staring back at me was a photograph from today's rehearsal with Jasper. That unscripted moment when he'd pressed his lips to mine. The grainy image had clearly been taken from a distance, capturing us mid-scene with expressions that appeared ... disturbingly tender. Worse—it dominated every major news outlet. Damn it. Which bottom-feeding photographer had managed this? A sense of regret dawned, along with sudden clarity about Caden's stormy mood. I measured my words carefully. "I was just helping on set. Naomi struggled with the scene, so I demonstrated. I never imagined some lurking photographer would snap photos of it." "Then why did he kiss you?" Caden's whisper carried more danger than any shout, his handsome features twisted with barely restrained rage. Caden's POV:That damned image seared itself behind my eyelids. The urge to dismantle Jasper bone by bone thrummed through my veins. The audacity. Touching what belonged to me. "He got carried away in the moment!" Rosaline insisted, inching closer with pleading eyes. "Ask anyone who was there. Don't you trust me?" But when she gazed up like that—lips parted, voice honeyed—my restraint shattered. I fisted my hand in her hair and claimed her mouth with bruising force. Rosaline froze, unprepared for the violence of the kiss, but I didn't slow down. I consumed her, tasting, marking, until her resistance crumbled and she sagged against me. Edward, my wolf, roared approval as primal hunger surged through us. I didn't pause. In one fluid motion, I pinned her beneath me on the couch. Fabric tore as I ripped her blouse open, sending buttons skittering across hardwood. My palms shoved her skirt up, revealing flimsy lace barely concealing her warmth. "C-Caden, not here ... " Rosaline's fingers tangled in my hair, her voice breathless, cheeks flushed. Her lips already glistened, swollen from my assault. She had no idea how she looked—like temptation incarnate. And that feeble protest? It only confirmed she'd already surrendered. "Rosaline," I growled against her throat, "you'd better remember this: I don't share. Not your time, not your smile—not even a single damn hair." I stripped her bare. For the first time, she lay utterly exposed beneath me, those doe eyes wide with dazed vulnerability. "Since you've forgotten who owns you," I murmured, trailing kisses down her quivering body, "I'll remind you properly, right here on this couch. Until the lesson sticks." I began with her mouth, then lower—the curve of her breasts, the dip of her navel, the molten heat between her thighs. She cried out when my tongue found her core, back arching as I licked her clean, savoring every drop of her essence. Rosaline writhed, fists clenching couch fabric, chanting my name like a sacred hymn. The room filled with the scent of her arousal, thick and intoxicating.By the time she came, shuddering around my tongue, she was boneless beneath me—pliant, ruined. "Mate with her," Edward urged, his voice rough with need. "Let the Moon Goddess witness this night." Right now, Rosaline had melted into a puddled mess, completely conquered by my tongue as she achieved orgasm. As she lay there, dazed and breathless, I pulled back. She blinked up at me, confused. I kissed her cheek, then stood, straightening my clothes. This hadn't been about claiming her. It had been about punishment.