Aysel's POV The chaos of the night-the stunned stares, the whispered gossip, the little storms born from classmates' posts on their packs' social feeds-none of it mattered once I finally introduced Magnus to the class president he'd quietly held a grudge against since some days ago. I didn't make him linger with people I barely remembered. Instead, I laced my fingers through his-my Alpha, my Shadowbane wolf-and pulled him straight out of Mistyhowl Mountain Lodge and back toward the villa. If we didn't leave then, I was genuinely afraid his gaze would scorch right through me. Fine. It had been few days since we last saw each other. I could admit it now: I missed him too. The front doors swung open. The lights hadn't even flickered on before Magnus pressed me against the wall with a hunger sharpened by distance and the wild shadow-wolf inside him. His kiss crashed into me-heat and storm and the familiar pull of our bond-drowning me like a rising tide. By the time we finally tore apart for air, we were breathing hard, our noses brushing, our foreheads pressed together. His wolf's low growl reverberated in my bones, sending a shiver down my spine. "Someone sent you flowers tonight?" he murmured. I dragged a fingertip down his chest, slipping it beneath the two buttons he'd undone on the drive back. "Someone did. But whether I accepted them..." I tilted my head, teasing. "...you really don't know?" As if I wasn't under his watch the moment I stepped into Mistyhowl Mountain Lodge. Magnus huffed a soft laugh, brushing his mouth against the corner of mine. "Mm. Clever girl." My turn to interrogate. I fisted his shirt collar, pulling him lower until I could kiss the tip of his nose. "And you? You didn't answer my calls. Because you were on the flight back?""Mm." His lips trailed to my neck, warm and deliberate. He pressed a rough palm to my waist, thumb tracing slow circles that made my wolf shift under my skin. "Besides that one guy and the class president... any old classmates I should worry about?" "No." My breath hitched. I bit my lip, then shot back, "And you? Anyone you ran into abroad? Some old flame in a foreign pack? A distant white-moon beauty?" Magnus chuckled low in his chest. His grip on my waist tightened just enough that I felt the shadow-wolf flash in his eyes. "No. Jackson can testify to my tragic, work-obsessed existence." Right-he'd barely been sleeping four hours a night. Working himself raw just to return sooner. I caught his wandering hand, leaned in, and nipped the strong line of his throat-right over his pounding pulse. "So," I whispered, "with such perfect behavior tonight... what reward do you want?" His movements froze for a heartbeat. Then his gaze lifted to mine-dark, wolfish, bottomless. "Anything?" he breathed against my ear. The rumble of his voice vibrated through me, making my ears twitch. "Anything," I answered, slipping my hand beneath the hem of his shirt, trailing heat across his skin. He paused, expression fierce and strangely vulnerable. "Did it go away?" he asked suddenly. In the dark, the faint green of the Shadowbane wolf lit his eyes. And though my heart slammed wildly, I leaned up and kissed the shell of his ear. "You can check, Magnus." That was all he needed. A slow, dangerous smile curved his lips before he swept me up into his arms-effortless, possessive-and carried me toward the stairs with his long, sure strides. Clothes marked our path in a scattered trail-from the door, to the stairs, across the hall, toward the sanctuary of the master bedroom.Outside, the moon dipped behind thick cloud, veiling the world in silver-shadow. Inside, the darkness thickened, pulsing with wolf magic and the magnetic pull of our bond. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, mountains and drifting clouds stretched like a quiet kingdom. My lips trailed down his jaw, to the sharp angle of his neck. Then lower. I pressed a kiss to the hollow of his throat. His Adam's apple jumped. A low groan rumbled from his chest. I could feel the tension beneath his skin-how hard he was holding himself back. I wasn't thinking anymore. Just acting. Like instinct had taken over. I kissed along his collarbone, and every time my lips touched his skin, he reacted like it meant something. And I liked it. Suddenly, he moved. In one breathless blur, Magnus flipped me beneath him, pinning my wrists above my head with one hand, his other bracing himself above me. He stared down at me, chest rising and falling, lips slightly parted. "You little minx," he rasped, voice almost broken with restraint. "Where the hell did you learn that?"