“The pack will accept you,” she says confidently. “Ryker already sees you as one of us. The others will follow his lead.”
“And Levi?”
She’s quiet for a moment, and I feel her working through complicated emotions. “Levi will be fine. He’s a good man—he deserves to find someone who can love him the way he deserves.”
Through our bond, I sense there’s more to the story, but I don’t push. Whatever complicated history exists between them, it’s in the past now. We’re mated, bonded, committed to each other in the most fundamental way possible.
“I should go,” she says eventually, though she makes no move to leave my arms. “Pack business, mission debriefings, all the tedious details of being Beta.”
“You should,” I agree, running my hand down her spine. “But you won’t. Not yet.”
“No,” she admits, snuggling closer. “Not yet.”
We stay like that as the sun climbs higher, learning the feel of our new bond, memorizing this moment of perfect peace before the world intrudes again. Because it will intrude—there are still prisoners to rescue, Zella to hunt down, the complex business of integrating our mated bond into pack life.
But for now, none of that matters. For now, there’s just us—mated, bonded, complete.
“I love you,” she whispers against my throat.
“I love you too,” I reply, and mean it with every fiber of my being. “My mate. My partner. Mine.”
“Yours,” she agrees, and in that single word is a promise that will last forever.
Outside, I can hear the den coming alive—voices in the corridors, the sound of pack life continuing. But in here, in this room, there’s just the two of us.
Finally,my wolf sighs, settling into contentment.
Finally,I agree.
And for the first time in twenty years, I truly know what it means to belong.
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
The ancient traditions of wolves have always run deep, carved into our bones like the runes that mark our territory stones. Tonight, under the full moon’s silver light, Kier and I will complete the claiming ceremony that binds us not just as mates, but as part of the pack’s eternal legacy.
“You ready for this?” Dane asks, adjusting the ceremonial wreath of mountain flowers in my hair. The blooms are white and silver, their petals catching the full moon’s light.
“As ready as anyone can be for running naked through the forest while their mate hunts them,” I reply, checking the ties on my simple white dress.
Mate. The word sends a thrill through me every time I think it. After years of believing I’d never have this—never allow myself to have this—the reality feels almost too good to be true.
Inside, my wolf practically purrs with contentment. She’s been restless for weeks, pacing beneath my skin, demanding I acknowledge what she’s known all along. Now, finally, she settles with deep satisfaction.
Ours,she growls.
I smooth the white fabric with hands that want to tremble—not from nerves, but from pure, overwhelming joy. When was the last time I felt this kind of happiness? This bone-deep contentment that comes from being exactly where I belong, with exactly who I belong to.
He chose me. This incredible man who could have anyone. He looked at all my walls and fears and sharp edges, and he said yes.
I’ve never felt so essential to another person, so fundamentally needed. Not as Beta, not as a protector or leader or weapon, but simply as Lithia. The woman behind all the roles, the one I’d almost forgotten existed until a finger touched mine in the dark.
The flowers in my hair catch the moonlight, and I can’t stop the smile that tugs at my lips.
Finally,I think.Finally, I’ll truly be Kier’s.
“This issoromantic,” Kitara observes dryly from her position near the sacred circle. Despite her advanced pregnancy, she insisted on overseeing the ceremony. “Nothing says ‘eternal love’ like a primal chase.”
