Defying the Rogue Alpha
Chapter 199: Bone

Chapter 199: Bone

Ava’s brows pulled together. She stepped closer to him and placed a hand on his chest, right where his heart was punching against his ribs.

"Well... we knew it was going to happen," she said gently. "Don’t worry, babe. I’m sure they can be reasoned with."

Lucas barked a humorless laugh. "They locked me and Damien up for days when we went asking for help to rescue you. ’Reasonable’ isn’t exactly in their vocabulary." He gritted his teeth. "I still have a bone to pick with them. A very large bone."

"But you did rescue me," Ava said. "Without their help. You and Dennis, stubborn brutes that you are."

Lucas tried to keep his expression neutral, but the corner of his mouth twitched. "We also almost got executed for it, if you recall."

She waved a dismissive hand. "Minor details."

Ava grabbed his hand and tugged gently. "Come... come see what I got for our little one."

Lucas groaned under his breath, dragging his heels dramatically. "Just how many clothes do babies need, woman? Are we preparing for a fashion show or a military parade?"

He was immediately hit with the glare. A patented Ava glare. He straightened and gave a mock salute.

"I’m sorry. Please, proceed," he said, deadpan.

Satisfied, Ava returned to the tiny mountain of baby clothes, sorting them.

They spent the next twenty minutes debating nursery wall designs, and Ava’s dream christening.

Lucas said little. Not because he wasn’t interested, but because watching Ava this excited—animated and glowing with joy—was worth more than words. Her cheeks flushed pink as she described each little outfit and how "this one would be for naptime" and "this one for tummy time" as if the baby was already here, running a tight schedule. Her laughter was music to his ears. For a man who never thought he’d have this; love, family, a home, he wanted to capture this moment and burn it into his memory forever.

"I love you, Ava..." The words escaped him before he even realized they were forming.

She paused mid-fold, her eyes locking with his, shining with warmth. Then, without a word, she crawled across the bed to him. Her belly made her movements a bit clumsy, but Lucas didn’t laugh. He watched her.

She kissed him. "I love you too," she whispered against his lips.

Lucas held her close, resting his hand gently on her belly. "I’d give everything up in a heartbeat if that means I can be with you in peace. You know that, right?"

"I do," she murmured. "But it won’t come to that, Lucas. We’re going to be okay."

He kissed her again, deeper this time, one hand cupping her cheek. He eased her back onto the bed, careful with her now-rounded form.

He undressed her slowly, every gesture a promise.

He hovered over her, resting his forehead against hers, their breaths mingling. "The woman who tamed the beast," he said.

Ava arched toward him, kissing his throat, whispering, "You were always meant to be tamed, Lucas."

And so he romanced her, his mate, his wife, his partner, his Luna. With hands that once wielded death, he now cradled life. With lips that once barked orders, he now worshipped every curve of the woman he would burn the world for.

He ran a calloused hand reverently over the swell of her stomach, fingers grazing her skin as though he were memorizing the exact shape of her. He paused at her belly button, pressing a tender kiss to the center of their world before lifting his head, eyes glassy with vulnerability.

"Is it weird," he said quietly, like he was confessing a sin, "that I don’t want to fuck you right now? I just want to love you."

Ava’s brows rose, and a wicked little smile played on her lips. "I would think both go hand in hand, considering I’m lying here very naked, and very available." She arched an eyebrow, gesturing to her completely unclothed state like a model on display.

He chuckled low in his throat. He leaned down again, his kisses trailing slowly back up the soft slope of her belly, up to the curve beneath her breasts. "I want you lying here just like this, without a single thing on... and let me worship at your feet," he murmured. "I want to look at you forever. I want to be with you forever."

There was something in the way he said it, bravado, seduction, truth.

And Ava... she melted.

The sincerity in his tone, the gentleness in his touch, and the quiet reverence in his eyes all unraveled her. Her wolf, Willow, stirred inside her, ears twitching, heart thrumming, listening closely for every drop of affection that fell from his lips like holy water. Willow wanted to curl into his warmth and stay there forever.

Her body betrayed her composure. Her thighs squeezed together instinctively, chasing friction, desperate for a touch. But Lucas, ever attuned to her, gently parted them again, laying his hand flat on her thigh.

"Lucas..." she breathed.

He leaned over her again, his face close, his lips ghosting over hers but not quite touching. "Every exquisite detail of your body," he said, eyes locked to hers, "every scar, every curve, every sigh, it’s all mine. And the realisation that you belong to me, and I to you, it satisfies me in a way I can’t even explain."

He did nothing else.

He just looked at her.

He held her gaze with such intensity it made her tremble. Love so deep, so consuming, it lit every nerve in her body on fire. He whispered to her, both sweet nothings and everything. Promises. Dreams. Memories. He told her the moment he knew he loved her. The moment he saw her laugh for the first time.

He spoke, and her body responded.

Ava writhed beneath him from the words alone. Her breath came out in short, desperate gasps, and every cell in her body cried out for him. For this. For them.