When I crouch beside her, the air shifts. Heat, smoke, her scent—sweet and alive—wraps around me. The wind howls harder outside, and the cabin answers with its own rhythm:fire crackle, heartbeat drum.
"Storm's back," she whispers.
"It won't touch you." I mean it. "Not while I'm here."
She turns, close enough that firelight paints amber across her skin. "You keep saying things like that."
"Like what?"
"Like promises."
I swallow hard. "They are promises."
Silence hums between us, thick and waiting. She lifts a hand, fingertips brushing the scar on my jaw. The touch is tentative, then bolder when I don't pull away. My body goes taut, every muscle tuned to her.
"Thane..." Her voice trembles. "Why does it feel like I already know you?"
Because you do. Because you were made for me. Because the mountain whispered your name into my blood even before you were born.
"Because you're mine," I say, the truth slipping free. "My Thurok'hai."
She blinks, breath catching. "That word. It means—?"
"Fated mate." The words come rough. "It means I will spend my life keeping you warm. Keeping you safe."
Her pupils flare. "And if I’m not sure I believe in fate?"
"Then let me convince you."
The fire pops, sending sparks upward. She leans in first, small hands pressing against my chest. Her mouth grazes mine—soft, uncertain—and I'mgone. Her lips fit perfectly against mine, my tusks gently brushing her cheeks. The world shrinks to heat and breath and the taste of her.
When I deepen the kiss, she gasps, opening for me. Her tongue meets mine tentatively, then with growing confidence. The small sound she makes in the back of her throat goes straight through me.
I pull back just enough to look at her. Her lips are swollen, cheeks flushed, eyes dark with desire. "Lila," I say, my voice scraped raw. "I need you to understand what this means."
She reaches up, tracing the line of a tusk with one finger. The gesture is so gentle, so accepting, it nearly undoes me. "Tell me."
"The bond—Thurok'hai—it's not just words." I take her hand, press it flat against my chest where my heart hammers. "I can feel you here. Like you're part of me already. Your fear, your warmth, your—" I stop, struggling for human words. "When you're happy, something in me settles. When you're frightened, I want to destroy whatever caused it."
"Is it magic?" she whispers.
"The mountain's magic. Old magic. Older than my kind, older than yours." I slide my hand along her jaw, tilt her face up to mine. "It chose you for me. But you still have to choose to seal the bond. You have to choose me."
"What if—" She hesitates, and I can feel her pulse jumping under my thumb. "What if I'm not enough? I'm just human. I'm ordinary."
The laugh that escapes me is half-growl. "Ordinary.” I lean my forehead against hers. "You're not ordinary, Lila. You're brave and stubborn andmine."
"Yours," she echoes, testing the word.
"If you'll have me."
Instead of answering, she kisses me again. This time there's no hesitation. Her hands slide up my chest, mapping the planes of muscle, tracing scars. When her fingers find the laces of my shirt, she tugs.
"Show me," she says against my mouth. "Show me what it means to be yours."
I lift her easily, settling her more fully in my lap so she's straddling me. The position puts us nearly eye-level, and I watch her expression as I slowly unlace my shirt. Her gaze tracks the movement of my hands, then drops to my chest as I shrug the fabric off.
She's looking at me like I'm something precious. Like I'm not a creature that could break her with one hand. Her palms flatten against my chest, and I feel the bond pulse between us—a warmth that has nothing to do with the fire.
