She beams up at him like he hung the moon.
I stare at the flicker of his jaw muscle.
He's thinking past her question.
Past soon.
Past logistics.
He's thinking about the next step.
My step.
For the first time in months, my brain lets itself imagine it.
His mark on my neck.
Not as a reward for obedience.
Not as a leash.
As a promise.
A permanent, visible declaration that I'm not a placeholder. That I'm not second-hand. That I am theirs in a way no one can easily walk away from.
I imagine Eli's mark alongside it someday. Drake's teeth at my shoulder, gentle and sure.
I imagine walking past another pack in public and feeling no urge to curl in on myself.
Taken.
Wanted.
Kept.
The image terrifies me.
It also warms me from the inside out.
I don't know if Ragon remembers his promise in this exact moment.
He didn't mention my name.
He's not looking at me.
But Jasper is.
Eli is.
Drake's gaze flicks from Marie's thrilled face to mine, something like guilt and hope tangled together.
"Soon," Ragon repeats, voice flat and certain.
Marie practically vibrates with happiness.
I stay very still, Eli's arms around me, my heart doing vicious acrobatics.
Permanent part of the pack.
