"What happens now?" she asks.
"Now we figure out what the hell is being summoned, why you're connected to it, and how to stop it before...” I stop myself, but she's already caught it.
"Before what?"
I meet her eyes. "Before worse things than Rafe find you in the dark."
Her eyes widen. "Worse things?"
"Much worse." I stand, pull her up with me. "The old magic your aunt documented? It's waking up. And when it does, everyone in Stormhaven—human and shifter alike—is going to have to choose."
"What side are you on?"
"Yours." The answer is immediate, absolute. "Whatever comes, whatever happens, I'm on your side. Always."
She looks at me for a long moment, then nods. "Then I guess you'd better teach me how to survive in a world full of monsters."
"You're not just surviving—you're adapting." I brush a strand of hair from her face, let my thumb trace her cheekbone. "And that terrifies me."
"Why?"
"Because adapting to our world means accepting you're part of it. There's no going back after that."
"Good," she says, and the steel in her voice makes me purr with approval. "I never wanted ignorance anyway. I want truth. All of it. No matter how dangerous."
I pull her close, wrap my arms around her, breathe in her scent mixed with mine. "Then truth is what you'll get. Starting with the pack meeting tonight. They need to know you know. And you need to meet the brothers who'll protect you almost as fiercely as I will."
"Almost?" There's humor in her voice now, teasing.
"Almost." I nip at her ear, feel her shiver. "Because none of them are bound to you the way I am. None of them would destroy everything for you. That's reserved for your mate alone."
She pulls back enough to look at me. "I still don't fully understand what that means. Mate."
"You will." I kiss her forehead, gentle. "I'll teach you. Show you. Spend the rest of my life proving it, if that's what it takes."
"The rest of your life?" Her eyebrow lifts. "That's a long time."
"Shifters live a bit longer than humans." I say it casually, but watch her face carefully. "We tend to stay healthier, age more slowly. My grandfather lived to a hundred and fifteen. I'll age, but I've got time."
The implications settle over her. I see her processing it, working through what that means for a mate bond between shifter and human. But she doesn't pull away. Doesn't reject it. Just nods slowly.
"One impossible thing at a time," she says. "Right now, I just need to process the fact that wolfshifters are real and I'm apparently fated to one."
"Fair enough." I press one more kiss to her temple, then force myself to step back. "Get some rest. Real rest. Tonight you meet the pack leaders, and I need you sharp."
"Will they accept me?" There's vulnerability in the question.
"They'll have no choice." My voice hardens. "You're mine. That makes you pack, whether they like it or not. And anyone who has a problem with it answers to me."
She studies my face, then nods. "Okay. But Declan?"
"Yeah?"
"Next time you show up at my door at four in the morning, maybe call first?"
I laugh, the sound surprising us both. "Deal. Though fair warning—when the mate bond fully settles, I'll be able to find you anywhere. Phone or no phone."
"That should probably terrify me."
