“You’ll know. There won’t be any fear or pain, only heat. You’ll knot her, and it’ll seal the mate bond. That’s when the real fun starts. She’ll pull your magic through her, and the two of you will get into a feedback loop. Like an addiction, but less messy. Separation could get physically painful for a few days. And if one of you dies—”
“Stop there.” My voice was sharp as a snapped chain. “Don’t need that part right now.”
Another low laugh from Menace, gentler this time. “Didn’t think you would, but a man’s got to be thorough.”
“Just do it right. Bond her; let her magic lead. It’ll be messy, it’ll be wild, but it’ll be the strongest mate bond this state’s ever seen.” Menace paused, then added, “I wish I could be there to see it. Parker still owes me fifty bucks from the last time we bet on you.”
The air around me shifted, charged with something electric, and for the first time in years, my wolf pressed close to the surface. Not to fight, or to kill, but to howl for the promise of a future.
“Thank you,” I said, and meant it.
Menace’s voice softened, a rare thing. “You’re good for her, Jonas. And she’s good for you. You deserve this.”
The call ended with a final, deliberate click. I pocketed my phone and let the wind scour my face until my eyes watered and my blood cooled. I stood there for a while, letting the porch creak under my weight, the memories of war and pain and all the old disappointments sifting through my mind like sand. Then I turned and headed inside, ready to claim what was mine.
Tonight, I would take Aspen Waters. Not with violence, but with every ounce of devotion and longing I’d kept hidden. I’d bind her to me, let her magic thread itself through every scar, every healed broken bone, every breath I had left to draw.
Let the world watch.
I stepped over the threshold of my house and stopped dead in my tracks, because the living room looked nothing like the one I’d left. It was as if a hundred fireflies had taken up residence in the air, sparkling and shifting with every breath. In the center of it all sat Aspen and Oscar, hunched together at the dining table like the world’s strangest study group. The grimoire lay open before them, its pages bathed in a gentle blue-gold glow, so alive with magic I could feel it rippling through my teeth and nails.
Aspen didn’t notice me right away. Her whole body leaned toward the book, her eyes wide with wonder, fingers tracing the lines of a sigil as if reading Braille on a lover’s back. The light caught her face and painted it in all the colors of sunrise: gold at the brow, pink at the cheeks, a fierce green glint to her eyes that made her look otherworldly. Oscar sat ramrod straight at her elbow, forepaws folded with the solemnity of a royal advisor. He peered at the book, then at Aspen, then at me, and nodded once like I’d passed some secret test.
I just watched her, let the warmth of the moment settle over my bones. For all the chaos that had brought us together, there was nothing but peaceful “rightness” in that room—like the universe had finally stopped fighting itself, just for one evening, so a girl and a prairie dog and a broken old wolf could breathe the same air without fear.
She caught my stare and beamed at me, her whole face opening like the first full sun after winter. “Hey, Papa. You’re back.”
“I’m always coming back to you, Sunshine,” I said, and the words came out easier than breathing. “What’ve you got there?”
She giggled, just a little. “We found my mom’s spell for protecting the bakery. Oscar says it’s the best one in the whole book. He also says we need to do it first thing tomorrow.”
Oscar bowed in my direction, voice crisp as starched linen. “It is my professional opinion that you copulate and completeyour mating bond at the earliest available opportunity, sir. Your mutual longing is so potent I am shocked there isn’t structural damage to the house.”
I laughed, feeling every old ache slide away. “Noted, Oscar. You’re a hell of a wingman.”
“Thank you. I am, as ever, at your service.” He glanced at Aspen, then back at me, and for a second, I could have sworn he winked. Then he blinked out of existence, leaving a little puff of stardust on the tabletop and a scent like fresh lemons in the air.
Aspen closed the grimoire, the magic fading to a dull shimmer along the leather. She turned to face me, her knees knocking the table as she stood. I held out my hand, and she took it with both of hers, her grip cool but her touch electric.
For a long second, neither of us spoke. I felt my pulse pick up, the wolf in me howling for what he knew was coming.
“You sure about this?” I asked, voice so low it barely cleared my own throat.
She nodded, eyes bright and wet. “I want to be yours in every way.”
I drew her in, held her close, her hair tangling in my beard as she pressed her cheek to my chest. I could feel the heartbeat through her shirt, and it matched mine, beat for beat.
I picked her up, one arm under her legs, the other behind her back, and carried her down the hall. She buried her face in my neck and laughed, breathless. “You’re really going to do it. The big claim.”
“Only if you want it,” I whispered.
She kissed my jaw, the tip of my chin, the corner of my mouth. “I want it,” she said. “I want you, Papa. I want everything.”
When we reached the bedroom, I set her down and closed the door behind us. The house was silent. The world was silent.There was only the two of us, and all the heat and want and hope that had ever been bottled up, finally let loose in the same room.
She turned to face me, hands at her sides, body trembling just a little.
I took a step forward, then another, until there was nothing between us but the question of how long we’d make it before we lost ourselves. I wanted to take my time, but the wolf in me was already clawing for the surface. Aspen saw it in my eyes and smiled, sharp as any predator.
