The Taming Ritual

Rhea couldn’t sleep.

Even after she stumbled back to her cottage half-frozen, lips still tingling from the stranger’s kiss her body would not let her rest. Her skin felt too tight, her blood too hot, as if she were burning from the inside out.

The mark on her collarbone pulsed with a dull, rhythmic heat, matching the throb low in her belly. Her dreams, when they came, were full of silver eyes, sharp teeth, whispered words she didn’t understand and hands. So many hands, ghosting over her skin like they were carving runes into her flesh with every touch.

She woke before dawn in a cold sweat, tangled in her blankets, and aching.

Something was wrong.

No something was changing.

And she needed answers.

Without waiting for the sun to rise, Rhea dressed, wrapped herself in her thickest cloak, and marched into the woods. Her boots crunched through fresh snow. The trees were still, branches bare and white, as if they too had gone silent in the presence of whatever curse was waking in her blood.

She didn’t know where she was going until she got there.

Kael’s territory was marked by tall, moss-draped stone pillars ancient and cracked, glowing faintly with runes that had no right to exist in the waking world. The moment she stepped between them, the air thickened. Her breath fogged heavier. The mark on her chest grew warm.

He was close.

She found him near the frozen riverbank, shirtless despite the cold, crouched low with one hand against the earth like he was listening to something only wolves could hear.

He looked up the moment she arrived.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said, rising slowly, his muscles tense beneath his skin. His eyes flicked down to her mark and narrowed. “Not like this.”

“I’m not leaving until you tell me what the hell is happening to me.”

Kael stepped toward her. The wind picked up, swirling his dark hair across his jaw. His silver eyes gleamed. “You were marked by the moon during a bonded howl. That doesn’t happen by accident.”

“Then tell me what it means,” she snapped. “Don’t talk in riddles.”

“It means the wolf in you is awakening,” he growled. “And if it fully surfaces before you’re properly bound… it will consume you.”

“Bound?” Her stomach clenched. “You mean mated.”

Kael didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. The look in his eyes said everything.

Rhea took a breath, then another. “What happens if I’m not?”

He looked away.

“Kael.”

“You’ll lose control,” he said, voice low. “Your body will enter the first full heat cycle without guidance, without tether. And the Moon Queen’s curse… doesn’t ease into anything.”

A beat passed. Then two. Her voice came out quieter than she meant.

“So what do we do?”

His eyes flicked to hers. Sharp. Hungry.

“There’s a ritual,” he said. “It’s old. It’s dangerous. And if we start, there’s no stopping it.”

“Why do I feel like this?”

“Because your wolf is fighting to rise.”

Rhea stepped closer. “And yours?”

His breath caught just slightly.

“It’s already watching,” he admitted. “And it wants to claim.”

Rhea’s pulse thundered. Her body, already burning from within, felt like it might combust.

“Then teach me,” she said. “Before I lose myself.”

Kael stared at her, silent. And then, with a speed that stole her breath, he moved his hand grasping the back of her neck, his other on her waist, pulling her flush against his body.

He didn’t kiss her.

Not yet.

But he looked at her like he would devour her if she asked. His voice came out low, guttural.

“The Taming Ritual is done in three steps: scent, touch, and bite. If we begin, I can’t hold back. My wolf will surface. He’ll want to mark you.”

Rhea tilted her chin, meeting his eyes. “Then stop talking and show me.”

His mouth finally crashed into hers.

There was nothing tender about it. No hesitation. Just raw heat,wild and consuming. Her cloak fell away. His hands found her hips, dragging her against him. Her own hands curled into his hair, nails raking his scalp as he growled into her mouth.

Every nerve in her body exploded.

His lips traveled down her throat, hot breath against her skin as he reached the mark.

“Say it,” he whispered. “Say you want this.”

“I want it,” she breathed. “I want you.”

Kael’s teeth grazed her neck not yet biting, but testing.

She moaned.

And then he stopped.

Breathing hard, chest heaving, he pulled away and stepped back, trembling like a man at war with himself.

“You’re not ready,” he said, voice hoarse. “The bond is too strong. If I finish the ritual now, you’ll be mine body, soul, forever.”

Rhea’s chest rose and fell. “And if we wait?”

He looked at her like it was already too late.

“Then you’ll burn from the inside out.”