Then his teeth found my throat.
I felt the sharp sting of his bite breaking skin, felt the rightness of it settling into my bones like a key turning in a lock. The taste of iron bloomed in my awareness—not my blood, but his, because I was already turning my head, already finding the thick column of his throat where his pulse hammered wild against my lips.
His scent flooded my lungs—pine and earth and Alpha, concentrated and overwhelming this close to his skin. I opened my mouth against his throat, feeling the heat of him, the rapidflutter of his heartbeat beneath my lips. My teeth pressed against his skin, harder, harder—and then broke through.
His blood hit my tongue—copper and salt and something deeper, something that tasted like home, like safety, like forever. I bit down harder, sealing my mouth over the wound, claiming him as surely as he was claiming me. His whole body shuddered, a sound tearing from his chest that was half groan, half sob, vibrating against my teeth where they were buried in his flesh.
The bond snapped into place.
His arms tightened around me, crushing me against his chest, and I tasted salt mixing with the copper on my tongue—his tears or mine, impossible to tell. The bond hummed between us, new and raw and overwhelming, and I could feel his emotions bleeding into mine until I couldn't tell where I ended and he began.
Then the intensity faded, settling into something quieter. A presence in my chest. A connection that hummed alongside Harper and Remy—different, but part of the same whole. Three threads woven into one. When I could think again, I was still in his lap, still locked on his knot, his arms wrapped around me like he'd never let go. Tears streamed down my face, and his cheeks were wet where they pressed against my hair. My teeth had released his throat, and I could see the mark I'd left—my mark, claiming him as surely as he'd claimed me.
"Mine." The word came out broken, fierce, his arms tightening around me. "My omega."
"Yours." I reached back to touch his face, tracing the line of his jaw, feeling the tears that matched my own. "And you're mine. All of you."
He made low whine, pressing his face into my hair, breathing me in. We stayed that way as the fire burned down to embers, as his knot finally softened and slipped free. He cleaned us both upwith gentle hands, then pulled me back down onto the blanket, tucking me against his chest with my head on his shoulder.
Above us, the stars blazed on, infinite and eternal.
"I meant it." His voice was rough in the darkness, his fingers tracing idle patterns on my hip. "Love you."
I pressed closer, my fingers finding the mark I'd left on his throat—my mark, raised and tender, proof that he belonged to me as much as I belonged to him. "I love you too."
His lips brushed my forehead, soft and reverent. I smiled against his chest, feeling the three bonds settled in my chest—Harper steady, Remy bright, and now Silas, deep and solid like the earth itself. Different from each other, but all part of the same whole. All part of me.
"Stay." The word came out quiet, his arms tightening around me. "Watch the sunrise with me."
"Yes." I was already drifting, my body heavy and sated, surrounded by his warmth and his scent and the distant crackle of dying embers. "Yes to tonight. Yes to tomorrow. Yes to everything."
The last thing I felt before sleep claimed me was his heartbeat beneath my cheek—steady and strong.
Finally complete.
Chapter Fifty-One
Artemis
Iwoke to birdsongs and the smell of woodsmoke. For a moment, I didn't know where I was—just that I was warm, safe, wrapped in strong arms that held me like I was something precious. Then the night came rushing back. I shifted slightly, feeling the pleasant ache between my thighs, and his arms tightened around me immediately.
"Morning." His voice was rough with sleep, his breath warm against my hair. We were still on the blanket beneath the pines, though at some point during the night he'd covered us with another blanket, cocooning us against the early morning chill.
"Morning yourself." I twisted in his arms to face him, the blanket sliding off my shoulder, cool morning air kissing my skin. I reached up to trace the mark I'd left on his throat, feeling the raised edges beneath my fingertips. He shuddered at the contact, his pale eyes darkening to slate, a low sound building in his chest. "Sleep okay?"
"Best sleep I've had in years." He caught my hand, pressing a kiss to my palm, his lips warm and soft against my skin. His stubble rasped gently, silver in the early light. "You?"
"Mmm." I stretched, feeling muscles protest in the best way, a delicious soreness that reminded me of everything we'd done. "I could stay here forever."
His mouth curved—that rare, soft smile that transformed his whole face, smoothing the hard edges and making him look almost boyish. "Tempting. But I think we have two very anxious Alphas waiting for us."
Right. Harper and Remy. They'd know by now—would have felt the bond snap into place, the pack finally complete. I touched my throat, feeling all three marks.
"They're probably pacing holes in my floor," I admitted, imagining Harper's heavy boots wearing tracks in my hardwood.
"Harper definitely is." Silas sat up, pulling me with him, the blanket pooling around our waists. He began gathering our scattered clothes from where they'd been tossed in the heat of the night. "Remy's probably stress-baking."
"Remy bakes?" I couldn't keep the surprise from my voice, accepting my shirt from his outstretched hand.
