Smoke billowed from the exposed server core. Anya didn't wait. She dove through the jagged hole Kaelan had created, ignoring the searing heat and the sharp edges of the torn metal. She was guided by instinct, locating the manual override switch for the memory banks.
She slammed the switch down, locking the data instantly. The processors began to cool, the immediate threat averted.
Kaelan, however, was in a state of primal meltdown. The second the mission was complete, his mind fixated entirely on the danger he had forced his Mate to face. The Mate Bond screamed with violent, unrestrained Fear & Relief.
He reached into the hole, pulling Anya out with a terrifying gentleness. He ignored the fire and the damage, focusing only on her.
"Are you injured?" he demanded, his voice thick with raw emotion, examining her face for burns.
Anya was breathing hard, covered in soot, but unharmed. "The data is safe," she managed, her hands shaking.
Kaelan didn't respond. Driven by the overwhelming flood of post-crisis instinct, he shoved her against the closest wall and caged her with his arms. He lowered his head and pressed his mouth to her throat, not in a kiss, but in a deep, guttural Scenting.
His tongue tasted her skin, his nose inhaled her presence, marking her, checking her life force, reaffirming the claim against the danger she had just faced.
The primal act was a terrifying, absolute assertion of possession. Anya gasped, the violence of his need overriding her resistance. Her body responded instantly, flooding her system with an agonizing surge of safety & submission.
When Kaelan finally pulled back, his eyes were still dilated, black with adrenaline and raw dominance. "You are mine," he repeated, his voice barely a whisper. "And you will never put yourself in danger like that again."