I bite.
The bond slams into place.
Cara.
She’s everywhere. In my blood, in my bones, in every cell of my body. I feel what she feels—pleasure so intense it’s almost pain, relief so deep it brings tears, love so big I can barely hold it.
And underneath all of that—her. The real her, laid bare through the bond. The loneliness she carried for years that she never let anyone see. The fear that she wasn’t enough. The way coming home felt like failure until it didn’t. And now—now she feels like a garden after rain. Like new growth. Like something that was dormant for a long, long time finally blooming.
I feel the other bonds too. Nate’s, steady and deep. Lucas’s, sharp and bright. And now mine—warm and golden, sunshine flooding through the cracks.
We’re connected. All of us. Not just to Cara, but to each other.
“Theo.” Her voice is wrecked, her hands stroking my face. Tears are streaming down both our cheeks. “I feel you. I feel all of you.”
“I know.” I lap at the bond mark on her neck, sealing it. “I feel you too. Can feel how much you love us. How happy you are.”
“So happy.” She laughs, a broken sound. “So full. Your knot feels—god, I can feel you pulsing inside me. Feel your cum filling me up.”
“Mmm.” I rock my hips, and she gasps as the movement shifts inside her. “Going to stay locked in this pretty pussy for a while. Keep filling you up until there’s no room for anything but me.”
“Yes.” She clenches around me, and we both groan. “Want that. Want to stay like this forever.”
I can feel Nate and Lucas through the bonds now—not just their emotions, but their satisfaction. Their joy. The pack is complete, and they feel it as strongly as I do.
Nate moves closer, pressing against Cara’s side. His hand finds mine where it rests on her hip, squeezes. Through the bond, I feel his gratitude. His love. Not just for Cara—for me. For Lucas. For all of us.
“You did good,” he murmurs. His voice is rough, but I can feel the warmth underneath. “She needed that.”
“I needed that,” I admit. “Been wanting this for so long.”
Lucas settles on her other side, his fingers tracing the bond marks on her neck. All three of them now—Nate’s, his, mine. Our claims, side by side.
“Perfect,” he says softly. Through the bond, I feel his analytical mind cataloging—her temperature dropping, her heart rate stabilizing, the heat starting to ease. But underneath that, pure emotion. Pure love. “She’s perfect. We’re perfect.”
“Everything looks good on her,” I say, watching the marks bloom red against her skin.
“Sap,” Lucas mutters, but he’s smiling.
“Like you weren’t reciting poetry in your head during your bonding.”
“It was not poetry. It was... internal narration.”
Cara laughs against my chest, the sound vibrating through both of us. “You’re all ridiculous.”
“You love us,” I say.
“I do.” She sighs, her body going soft beneath me. My knot is still locked inside her, still pulsing, and she clenches around me like she wants to keep me there forever. “God help me, I really do.”
“Forever sounds good.” I press my forehead to hers. “I love you, Cara. I’ve loved you for so long.”
“I love you too.” She kisses me, soft and sweet despite the filthy position we’re locked in. “Thank you for waiting. For being patient. For?—”
“I’d wait forever for you.” I mean it. “I’d wait a hundred years if that’s what it took.”
Her fingers trace my jaw. Through the bond, I feel what she’s feeling—gratitude and wonder and a sense ofrightness, like puzzle pieces clicking into place. And I send back everything I’ve held for ten years. The ache of seeing her in town and staying silent. The loneliness of my greenhouse at night, growing things because I couldn’t grow a future with her. The stubborn hope that never died no matter how hard I tried to bury it.
She makes a soft sound against my chest. Sends back understanding. Apology. And underneath it all, fierce and certain—a sense ofbelonging. Of finally being where she was always meant to be.
