I pull him down. “You fit better than you think you do.”
He curls against me, holding me tight. Tobias falls asleep first. I stay awake, listening to the wind scrape the windows and the steady beat of his heart through the bond.
Rip felt my claiming bite. He knows not only where Tobias is butwhohe is to us. He knows we’ll defend him.
Let him come.
When he does, we’ll be ready.
When he does, I’m going to kill him.
34
TOBIAS
The living room is quiet except for Taren and Red’s voices. They’re sitting at the table surrounded by open books and sketches, comparing notes like professors preparing for their next class. Outside, the pack is preparing for our guests.
Apparently, Forest called in the cavalry.
Two more packs are arriving today, along with a couple of rogue shifters that Neal knows from the city. It all seems unreal that they would do all this for me or for Jericho. It’s unreal that we even have to.
Ivy plops down next to me. “What’s that?”
I turn the digital camera to reveal a photo I had taken earlier this morning before Rowen caught me outside and nearly had a hernia. He, and the others actually, have forbidden me to go outside now that Rip knows where I am.
They allow Jericho, of course, even though he’s hunted too. But he isn’t a weak human like I am.
Ivy smiles at the photo. “Beautiful.”
She’s almost completely healed. Red’s magic plus shifter healing is a miraculous thing. But I can’t look her in the eyes yet. Too clouded with guilt. It’s my fault she was hurt.
Jasmine calls Ivy outside. Ivy squeezes my knee before walking away.
The camera keeps me grounded. Gives me something to focus on. It always has. Framing the world through a lens makes everything quieter, more controlled. But even through the viewfinder today, my thoughts won’t stop looping back to last night: the raven attack, Rowen’s claiming bite, Rip’s sudden anger.
Always Rip.
His anger overshadows the joy I should be feeling. Rowen claimed me, marked me as his—yet all I can think about is the damn vampire.
“…it’s definitely changed,” Taren says, drawing my attention. She’s studying the page laid out before her. Probably the inked diagram of the mark on my shoulder. “Look here. The lines are bolder now, and some of them have deepened enough that I can see structure beneath. That was impossible to see before, buried under everything else.”
Red hums. “So it’s as we feared. The bond evolved.”
“The only question is, how? I don’t get how he could’ve changed it without touching Tobias.” Taren traces one line with her fingertip. “Before, I thought there were three distinct rune layers. Ownership, protection, and the time sequence. But now…” She taps her pen. “I think there are four.”
“Four? Is that even possible? I’ve heard of two runes working together, but that many?”
She nods. “It’s definitely possible. It’s just difficult to do.”
“Could one of them be the Shadow Bond?”
Taren shakes her head. “Based on my research, the Shadow Bond doesn’t originate from a rune or sigil. It’s more an intent to bind other spells.”
“So the protection, ownership, and time?”
“Exactly.” She taps her finger on the paper. “It’s why I’m trying to figure out the last mark. I know I’ve seen it somewhere, but I can’t…” She trails off, thinking.
My fingers tighten around the camera. All this talk about the mark and its purpose, along with the increased heat beneath my skin… takes me back to the night when Orem placed it there. When he burned it into me.
