I glanced at her neck, the vein pumping right beneath her skin, and normally, I would’ve, appreciated a taste, a distraction, but tonight, the idea soured my stomach. It felt empty. Wrong.
Just as I was opening my mouth to tell her no, Nova slowly leaned over my lap. Her voice was smooth and controlled when she said, “You’re switching sections with James, Lisa. Go. Now.”
The vibrations of her authority made the fairy woman freeze, eyes wide with dread, before she scurried off as she professed her apologies.
I almost laughed as a sense of giddiness took me over for a second. Possessive, territorial… Gods, it looked good on her. I turned to tease her for it, excited that she was jealous, and then I saw it.
A mark.
Small, diamond-shaped, and slightly darker than the skin behind her neck, it was half-hidden beneath the fall of her white hair.
The second my gaze locked on it, everything in me detonated. The world blurred out, sound and movement collapsing into silence until only she remained. My pulse thundered. My body heated from the inside out, every instinct clawing toward her.
My mark.
She was wearing my mark.
It pulsed, faint but alive, and she must’ve felt it too because she sat up and lifted a hand to rub the spot, her brow furrowing in confusion. Then someone called her name, and the spell broke. She turned, smiling at whoever it was, while I sat there like a man struck by lightning.
Even as the crowd rose to applaud the first fighters, I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. My mind was a blur of disbelief, hunger, and something dangerously close to joy.
My mate.
Nova Rossey was my fucking mate.
For a second, the thought filled me up, making me feel reckless. My chest felt too tight for my ribs. Ideas started tripping over themselves—merging businesses, houses, lives. I imagined her in my home, her things scattered among mine, her scent in every room. Or maybe I’d move in with her, both of us running operations under the same roof.
Butterflies, actual goddamn butterflies, churned in my gut, and I almost laughed at the absurdity of it.
I’d stopped believing this could happen a long time ago. Turned supes weren’t supposed to find their mates. Our bloodlines were fractured, our threads of fate frayed with watered-down magic. The chances were slim, and I’d accepted that. I’d learned to live without the ache of wanting something that wasn’t meant for me.
Then here she was. A woman carved from steel and fire, strong enough to hold her own in a world built to break us. My perfect match. My anchor. My undoing.
Beneath the joy, fear slid in like a crack through glass. The memory of her face in the woods, cool and detached, as she pulled away before the sweat had dried. The way she’d made it clear that whatever had happened between us was an indulgence, nothing more.
That memory gutted me now.
She didn’t know. Or she didn’t feel it. Either way, if I lunged too soon, I’d lose her before I even had her.
So, I forced myself to breathe. To steady my pulse. To mask the chaos boiling beneath my skin.
If she wasn’t feeling the bond yet, pushing it would only drive her off, and the last thing I wanted was for her to walk away. I’d been abandoned before. Lost in a world that didn't have time or mercy for a turned vampire whose sire had left him on the side of the road. The thought of her disappearing the same way scraped at something raw inside.
No, I’d be smarter. Slower. Patient. I’d make her fall without realizing she was falling.
When she finally looked at me andfeltit, when she realized what we were, she wouldn’t just accept the bond.
She’dwantit. Her wolf would want it.
“Nova Rossey!”
A fire mage with a thick Latin accent swept up to her before I could blink, dragging her into a bear hug and kissing both her cheeks like they were old lovers. My eye twitched. “Thank you, thank you! I promise you won’t be disappointed in Deslen. He’s top tier, top notch. I swear on my grandmother.”
My jaw flexed. The sound that left my throat was almost a growl. My vampire fangs poked out on instinct, sharp and aching for a throat,histhroat. Every inch of me screamed to rip him away from her, to make him remember whose air he was daring to share.
The words he just said registered in my head, and I took a step back. Deslen. That was the fighter she had put in last minute. This was business.
Nova smiled at him, but it was all teeth and polish, the kind of smile that said,you’re useful, not special.My chest loosened a fraction, then the frustration came back, sharp and bitter. I looked around. Where the hell was Zeth? Wasn’t it his damn job to keep idiots like this away from her?
