After the wedding is over, and also Alpha Marreck finishes giving his throne to his son and the whole pack celebrates, accepting them as the new Alpha and Luna of Ironvale, Tanner takes Jess's hand impatiently like he's been counting the seconds for this moment and couldn't care less about the cheers, the congratulations, or the endless blessings.
He leads Jess away, past the feasts, past the glowing lights, leaving the celebration behind like it was never meant for them.
Tanner's chauffeur rushes to open the car door, but Tanner lifts a hand to stop him.
"It's fine. I'll drive. You can stay and celebrate with the others," he says, his voice low, controlled, but carrying an undertone of urgency.
He opens the passenger door, and the gesture is gentle, reverent, as he helps Jess slide in.
He rounds the car and gets into the driver's seat.
Jess's heartbeat pounds like it's been caught in a trap, loud and restless in his chest.
All the confidence in his plans is shredded to ribbons now, replaced with anticipation sharp enough to cut, and a wave of panic that makes it hard to breathe.
Where is this man taking him?
But that's not the real problem. The real problem is Tanner himself.
He looks like a different man since the moment they were officially pronounced Alpha and Luna.
Like something primal has been triggered in him. Jess can feel it, can smell the heat that pulses off his skin.
Blood thrumming, body taut like a bowstring. There's a fire under his skin, and Jess knows the look too well, it's not lust. It's starvation.
It's the kind of hunger no feast, no applause, no title can satisfy.
Jess tells himself he shouldn't worry. He's not really a girl, after all. That's supposed to make this less threatening. Right? Because the moment Tanner finds out that he is male, he won't touch him.
But this thought doesn't calm him. Not even a little. The panic won't settle, because deep down, it's not about the reveal anymore. It's something else. Something he can't name but feels in his bones.
Tanner says nothing as he drives. Doesn't look at him. Eyes forward, jaw clenched. Every inch of him screams restraint, tense hands on the wheel, breath slow and heavy, body locked like it's keeping something wild caged inside.
Jess knows something is off.
After thirty minutes, they arrive at a gated property. The high walls are topped with electric wire. Jess's nerves spike like live current running up his spine. Is this some kind of beautiful prison?
With a click of a remote, the gate slides open, and Tanner drives inside.
Inside, it's breathtaking. The house is all glass and angles, set beside a glistening pool, surrounded by sculpted gardens.
It looks like something out of a dream, or a fantasy someone's held onto for years. Jess takes it all in, eyes sharp with his wolf sight, despite the lingering shadows of dawn.
Tanner kills the engine. Silence settles heavy in the car.
Jess can't move. His body is frozen, caught between fight and flight. He doesn't know whether to bolt or stay still and breathe through it.
It doesn't matter.
Tanner comes around and opens the door, offering his hand again. Jess hesitates. For a second, just one second, he wishes this was real. That there were no secrets, no lies, no looming deaths. Just them. Just this.
He takes the hand.
"How do you like it?" Tanner asks, voice hoarse, thick with something Jess can't place. "I always dreamed of the day I'd find you and bring you here. The pack house may be ours, but I wanted this place just for us. A place we could leave everything behind... Leave all judgements behind and just be us."
Just be us. Jess hears the weight in those words, the plea behind them. And judgements?! What does he mean by that?!
"No one knows this place," Tanner continues. "That's why I asked my driver to stay. Not even my parents know. It's just me and you now."
For a moment, Jess feels a pang of something close to guilt. Tanner sounds too honest. Too desperate.
Tanner pulls him inside, showing him each part of the house like it's a promise. And then, finally, they're in the master bedroom.
Jess's gut twists. This is it.
His panic is loud now, thunderous. The idea of revealing himself feels impossible. He doesn't want Tanner to know anymore. Not like this. Not while he's gentle. Not while his eyes look at Jess like he's everything he's ever wanted.
Jess doesn't want to see the look on his face when the truth comes out. Doesn't want to hear the disgust. Or feel the distance that would follow.
But it's too late.
Because Tanner turns. And kisses him.
Jess freezes but his body doesn't. His wolf responds instinctively, wildly, drawn into the fire before he can think.
The kiss burns into him, lighting every nerve on fire. It's not rushed. It's not tentative. It's reverent. Devouring. Full of longing that feels centuries old.
The desire Jess had to faceslap Tanner? Gone. It's drowned by the pull of lips, the brush of tongues, the heat of breath shared between them.
Tanner eases him onto the bed. Jess doesn't know how it happens. It's all a blur. One kiss melting into another, touches trailing down skin like they've always belonged there.
Tanner pauses, his body hovering above Jess, gaze locked to his face like he's seeing every secret hidden there.
Jess's heart stutters violently.
"I know you can tell how much I need you right now," Tanner says, voice ragged, "but I would never let myself go wild enough to overwhelm you. But anyway, Just bear with my desire. You have no idea how much I've suffered without you. How long I wished I could just have you under me like this. Just think of it... since I was seventeen... Shameless, right? Till now I'm twenty-five. How many years are those that I've endured? Without even considering someone else? But I'm still willing to be patient for you. That's how much love I have for you."
Jess's blood turns to ice. Seventeen?
That's before the bond is even supposed to hit. What is he saying?
Why is this man sounding this skeptical?!
What if I think I'm the master of this game, Jess wonders, but in reality... I'm not?
Tanner leans in again, catching his lips with a kiss so deep it leaves Jess weightless, dragged down into the moment, all reason lost.
Then Tanner pulls back, breath brushing Jess's lips, and murmurs something that hits like lightning:
"Come on... how far are you willing to let this go before you spill it? Or were you hoping I'd be struck by the shock of it all myself?"
His voice is soft, painfully soft, but every word lands like a blow to Jess's chest.
There's something behind them. Not just suspicion. Certainty. It steals the breath from his lungs.