"Yours," she gasps. "Yours, Thane—"
When she tightens around me, her release pulls mine from me like a tide. I follow her over the edge, the bond blazing between us. Sealing us, marking us, making us one.
After, I gather her against my chest, both of us slick with sweat and trembling. The fire burns low. Outside, the storm has reached its peak, but here in the circle of my arms, she's safe.
"That was—" She stops, laughs softly. "I don't have words. And I thought I was good with words."
"Neither do I." I press a kiss to her temple. “But with Thurok’hai, words aren’t necessary.”
She tilts her head up to look at me. In the dying firelight, her expression is soft, open. Vulnerable in a way that makes my chest ache. "What happens now?"
"Now?" I trail my fingers through her hair, untangling the knots I put there. "Now the bond settles. You'll feel it more clearly over the next few days. We'll be able to sense each other—emotions, general location. Not thoughts," I add quickly. "Your mind is still your own."
"But you'll always know where I am?"
"Within reason. And you'll know where I am." I search her face for fear, for regret. I find neither. "Does that frighten you?"
"No." She traces the line of my jaw, fingers gentle on my skin. "It feels right. Like it was always supposed to be this way." She pauses. "Is it always this intense? With Thurok'hai bonds?"
"I don't know," I admit. "The others—my brothers—they've never described it to me. It's private. Sacred." I cup her cheek. "But I know I've never felt anything like this. Like I'm complete for the first time."
Her eyes shimmer with unshed tears. "I came up here to escape. To hide from a life that wasn't working. I thought I'd write my way through it, create happy endings for fictional characters since I couldn't find one for myself."
"And now?"
"Now I think maybe I was running toward something instead of away." She smiles, blinking back tears. "Toward you."
The words settle into my chest, warm and true. I kiss her, slow and deep and reverent. When I pull back, I'm smiling. "The mountain has a sense of humor. Sending me a woman who writes romance stories about monsters like me."
She laughs, the sound bright in the quiet cabin. "You’re the least monstrous man I’ve ever met. And none of the heroes in my stories came anywhere close to being as wonderful as you.”
I roll us carefully, pulling her on top of me and wrapping us in furs. She sprawls across my chest, head tucked under my chin, fitting against me like she was carved for this purpose.
"Thane?" Her voice is drowsy.
"Mmm?"
"Thank you for saving me."
"Thank you for letting me." I tighten my arms around her. "Sleep now. The storm will pass by morning."
"And then?"
"Then we decide together what comes next."
She yawns, burrowing closer. "Together. I like that."
I lie awake long after her breathing evens out, feeling the bond pulse steady between us, gold and warm and certain. Outside, the storm rages. Inside, wrapped in furs with my mate sleeping trustingly in my arms, I finally understand what my brothers tried to tell me.
This isn't just love. It'shome.
"Thane," she murmurs sleepily, "I’m a believer now. Fate really did bring us together.”
“Yes, my sweet Lila, it did.”
Chapter 5
Lila
