"Now." His teeth found the back of my neck, that vulnerable spot at the base of my skull, and bit down hard.
The bond that formed was different from the others — darker, deeper, rougher around the edges. It was shadows and silence and the fierce protectiveness of someone who had learned to guard his heart, now laid bare and offered freely. Itwas understanding without words, comfort without touch, the knowledge that someone saw all of your broken pieces and loved you anyway.
"Need to mark you too." I gasped, the words barely coherent, my body still shaking with aftershocks, but the need was overwhelming, primal. "Need you to be mine. Turn... let me..."
He shifted us onto our sides, still locked together, his knot tugging inside me with the movement in a way that made us both groan. He tilted his head, offering me the scarred column of his neck, his pulse pounding visibly beneath the skin.
"Do it." His voice was wrecked, barely recognizable, his pale eyes meeting mine with raw vulnerability. "Mark me, Aster. I've been yours since the moment I saw you."
I found the junction of his neck and shoulder, opposite his largest scar, where his earth and leather scent was strongest, and sank my teeth into his flesh.
He shouted, his whole body jerking, his knot swelling even larger inside me as my teeth broke his skin, as his blood — hot and rich and tasting like coming home — flooded my mouth. The bond between us flared, doubled, became something so strong it felt like it could anchor me to the earth, like nothing could ever tear us apart.
I came again as the bond solidified, a secondary orgasm that had me screaming against his throat, my body clenching around his knot as he spilled inside me with a guttural roar that shook his entire body. I could feel him filling me, pulse after pulse, his teeth still locked in the back of my neck, his bond settling into place beside the others like the final piece of a puzzle. When he finally released his bite, licking the wound with gentle care that contrasted so sharply with the roughness of moments before, I was floating. Four bonds now hummed in my chest — cedar and pine and sunshine and earth, all braided together, all part of me, all mine.
Sawyer pulled me against his chest, still locked inside me, his arms wrapping around me from behind with surprising tenderness, his scarred hands gentle on my skin. His lips found the mark he'd made on the back of my neck, pressing soft kisses to the healing wound.
"I've got you." His voice was rough, wrecked, stripped of all its usual gravel to reveal something almost tender, something precious. "I've got you, sweetheart. You did so good. Took all of us so perfectly."
"Sawyer." I couldn't form more words than that, just his name, but it seemed to be enough, his bond pulsing with understanding in my chest.
The door opened and three figures slipped inside — Reid and Nolan and Kol, their scents mingling with Sawyer's, their bonds humming in harmony with his, their bodies climbing onto the oversized bed and arranging themselves around us. Reid at my front, his hand stroking my hair, his dark eyes soft with love. Nolan at my back, pressed against Sawyer, his arm draping over both of us, his touch gentle and grounding. Kol curled at our feet, his head resting on my ankle, his golden eyes soft with love, his bond pulsing warm and bright.
Four bonds hummed in my chest. Four marks burned on my skin. Four matching marks now graced their necks — my claims on them, proof that they belonged to me just as surely as I belonged to them. Four men surrounded me, their scents and touches and love wrapping around me like the quilt beneath us — antlers and mountains and pine trees and sunflowers, all woven together into something whole.
"How do you feel?" Reid's voice was soft, his dark eyes searching my face with concern and love in equal measure, his thumb tracing gentle patterns on my cheekbone.
"Complete." The word came out barely a whisper, tears sliding down my cheeks again, but these were good tears, happy tears, tears of joy too big to contain. "I feel complete."
Sawyer's knot slowly softened, releasing me, and I felt the trickle of his release mixing with the others. I should have felt embarrassed, should have felt messy and used and overwhelmed. Instead, I just felt loved.
I turned in their arms, making sure I could see all of them, making sure I could touch all of them, needing to reassure myself this was real.
"Thank you." I whispered, my hands finding Reid's face, Nolan's hand, Kol's hair, Sawyer's chest, touching each of them in turn. "Thank you for waiting. For fighting. For choosing me. For letting me choose you."
"Always." Reid pressed a kiss to my forehead, his bond pulsing warm and steady in my chest, solid as the earth beneath us.
"Forever." Nolan pressed a kiss to my shoulder, his bond soft and gentle alongside Reid's, soothing as a summer rain.
"No matter what." Kol pressed a kiss to my ankle, his bond bright and golden and bursting with joy, warm as the sun on my face.
"Mine." Sawyer pressed a kiss to the back of my neck, his bond dark and deep and fierce with protection, steady as a mountain. I closed my eyes and let their scents wash over me, let their bonds settle into my soul, let their love carry me into sleep.
Four alphas. Four bonds. Four marks on my skin, four marks on theirs.
One pack.
One home.
One forever.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
ASTER
Six Months Later
The morning sun slanted through the curtains of the pack room, painting golden stripes across the nest where five bodies lay tangled together. I was in the center, as always — surrounded by warmth and scent and the steady rhythm of four heartbeats that had become as familiar to me as my own.
