Chapter 284: Chapter 284 Sihda’s Affirmation
After leaving the cafeteria, Addison stopped in the corridor leading to the stairs, clutching her chest as she tried to steady her erratic heartbeat. Heat coursed through her veins, her body trembling as desire threatened to overwhelm her.
"Great," she muttered through clenched teeth, forcing herself to shove the feeling back down. This wasn’t her Palace; she was still in someone else’s territory, and the thought of losing control here terrified her.
What if it happened again? What if she couldn’t suppress the thing inside her and ended up devouring more of her mates’ vitality than she should? The idea of harming them made her stomach twist.
She prayed her hunger was nothing like that of a succubus. A succubus drained men dry, leaving them frail husks, powerless and hollow once their limited vitality was consumed. Addison couldn’t bear to imagine her mates suffering the same fate.
Even though she had already accepted that she must feed the thing within her, the unknown still lingered like a shadow, and that uncertainty frightened her more than anything.
"Don’t worry. Your wolf will not hurt your mates. Just do what you must..." Sihda’s voice echoed faintly in Addison’s mind, soft yet firm, as though it had been waiting to answer her fears.
"How do you know?"
Addison whispered back in her thought, clinging to the reassurance. But there was no reply. Silence pressed in on her, and she realized Sihda must have only stirred briefly, just long enough to catch her anxious thoughts and soothe them, before slipping back into slumber once again.And more than that, Sihda could even sense her sealed wolf. Addison’s heart tightened at the realization. Sihda had just confirmed what she had only dared to speculate. So many questions burned in her mind. If Sihda could feel both the curse and the wolf within, then perhaps it could answer everything she longed to know.
But what unsettled her most was Sihda’s certainty that her wolf would never harm her mates. Did that mean her wolf was not truly like a succubus, even if it fed on men’s vitality? Was there a distinction she didn’t understand? Or perhaps... was it not vitality at all, but desire that her wolf consumed?
She didn’t know. None of the histories she had studied ever mentioned such a thing. No record in werewolf lore spoke of a wolf like hers. Maybe, just maybe, the answers lie buried in the ancient times, in the earliest stories from the creation of their kind.
Now that Addison had calmed down thanks to Sihda, she decided to return to her room and take a shower before starting work. After all, many of the pack members assigned to farming were likely still busy harvesting crops. But before she could even take a step, her feet suddenly left the ground.
"Ah!" she squeaked, startled. Her head whipped back, and her breath caught when she saw Maxwell. His face was dark and stormy, like a warrior marching to war, and Addison’s heart skipped a beat.
He had lifted her effortlessly with one arm, but then adjusted her gently, cradling her in his arms as if she were something precious. Almost instinctively, Addison looped her arms around his neck, and only then did his expression soften. A smirk tugged at his lips as he strode purposefully up the stairs with her.
"W-What are you planning to do?" Addison asked nervously, shifting uneasily in his arms.
"You’ll find out soon enough," Maxwell replied, his voice low and hoarse.
Her breath hitched at his words, and her expression changed instantly. She would have to be a fool not to understand what he meant. Still, she struggled to pull away.
The sun was high in the sky, and the thought of indulging in such things while everyone else was working tirelessly to finish the harvest felt wrong. It wasn’t just unthoughtful; it risked drawing resentment from the anxious, exhausted pack members who were depending on them to lead them.
"Maxwell, put me down. Really, we should go back and help everyone else," Addison protested, though her voice came out faint, lacking conviction. Even she wouldn’t have believed herself if she claimed that no part of her was expecting more.
The truth was, her body betrays her at times like this, craving the warmth and touch of her mates. No matter how firmly her mind whispered no, her body and soul screamed yes, urging her to surrender and sink deeper into their arms.
The contradiction gnawed at her, frustrating and relentless. And now, as Maxwell held her, she felt her stomach twist in anticipation, the heat she had only just managed to suppress flaring back with a vengeance, hotter and more demanding than before.
"Shh, baby. Don’t worry about anything..." Maxwell murmured as he strode quickly up the stairs. His pace was urgent, each step purposeful, even skipping stairs as though he wished he could just fly straight to the room.
Only sheer composure kept him from outright sprinting, as if restraint alone kept him from revealing just how desperately he wanted her.
"But—" Addison tried to protest, but the moment they reached the landing, Maxwell silenced her with a kiss. His hand cradled the back of her head, firm and unyielding, ensuring she couldn’t slip away.
"Mmm..." Addison’s muffled sound melted against his lips as her hands clutched at his shirt, seeking an anchor. But the more she tasted Maxwell, the more her body betrayed her, her breath hitched, her limbs trembled, and a shiver of heat pooled low inside her, spreading with every second his mouth consumed hers.
"Ugh..." Maxwell groaned, unable to hold back as the scent of Addison’s arousal hit him. His impatience surged, and he quickened his stride toward her room, kissing her without pause. The door slammed shut behind them in a rush of motion, and before Addison could steady herself, Maxwell pressed her back against it.
He meant to set her down, but the sweetness of her lips was too intoxicating to let go. Instead, he pinned her there, lifting her so her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist. Their mouths moved hungrily together, each kiss deeper than the last.
Addison’s restless hands roamed across his chest as he tore off his shirt in between kisses, her touch drawing low growls from his throat. "Baby... don’t push me away, okay?" Maxwell breathed against her lips, his thumb brushing her cheek as he cupped her face tenderly before claiming her mouth again.
Her gasp opened the way, and he plunged his tongue past her lips, devouring her with a passion that made her tremble. His hips ground forward with raw need, pressing his hardened cock against her damp core through the thin barrier of fabric, making her whimper into the kiss.
Maxwell devoured her mouth with relentless hunger, teasing and tangling with her little tongue as his hands moved to strip her of her clothes. But just as his fingers slid against the fabric, Addison caught his hand, stopping him. She broke away from the kiss, her breath ragged, though her body still trembled with need.
Maxwell didn’t relent. His lips trailed to her cheek, down her neck, and along the curve of her earlobe, each kiss deliberate, each touch meant to weaken her resistance.