“Of course.”Dad’s face flushed crimson. “That’s different.”
“Not really,” she replied, pulling him toward the door. “They deserve this moment without prying eyes.”
“Give her this moment,” Hunter whispered to Nebula as he walked out.
The others followed, and Skel winked at me as he closed the door behind him.
Agony roared back, my muscles convulsing as nausea churned in my stomach.
Bram and Dex moved to the bed, climbing in on either side of me with careful precision, their touches featherlight against my skin.
“I wanted to do this differently,” Dex murmured, his voice thick with regret. “To ease you into my magic.”
“And I wanted to earn this,” Bram added, his magic flickering before Chaos manifested. The cute, wolf-like spectral creature emerged, and he rested its head on my lap.
Jerking my arm up slightly, I managed to stroke his ghostly fur once before my arm fell to my side again.
“But we can’t watch you suffer anymore,” Dex said.
“We’d do anything for you,” Bram rasped. “Including this.”
“Do it,” I rasped, the little strength I had was fading.
Please.
Dex’s warm hand enveloped mine, and his lips brushed my palm. “I’ll mark you here, okay?”
Bram’s tail coiled gently around my torso, raising my shirt up as its tip rested over the scar on my stomach. “And I’ll mark you here.”
Our magic flared, and in sync, they marked me.
Dex’s tongue flicked out, piercing my palm with an audible crack that reverberated through my bones. One black swirl flared to life on my skin, a mark of shadow magic.
“It’s perfect,” Dex croaked after his tongue slipped back into his mouth.
Bram’s magic surged as his tail warmed, transferring chaos magic into me. A tattoo of a small wolf with glowing red eyes formed over the scar on my abdomen, the image searing with a dark, chaotic beauty.
“Perfect,” Bram agreed, staring in awe at his mark on my stomach.
I reached out my trembling hands, sliding up their shirts until my palms rested on their bare chests.
I summoned the last reserves of my magic, pushing it into them and flooding our matebonds. Their fears and doubts about not being worthy of me came to my realization, and it broke my heart.
Summoning more strength than I knew I had, I sent acceptance and love surging back to them.
As their magic intertwined with mine, my soul knit itself together. My matebonds pulsed with our magical essences, and my soul was stronger than it had ever been.
It was whole.
All five matebonds surged in harmony.
Chaos magic sparked. A small black wolf pup sprang forth from the mark on my stomach, and she landed on Bram’s lap. Her red eyes gleamed with mischief.
“Hi,” I whispered.
She barked, tilting her little head before fading away almost as fast as she appeared.
“Your chaos manifestation,” Bram explained, “a smaller version of mine.”
