His purr vibrates through his chest into mine. His hands are in my hair, at my waist, everywhere, learning me how he learns everything, thoroughly and completely. I dig my nails into his back and he growls, hips driving harder. I pull him closer—more, I tell him—and he gives it.
He gives me everything.
The orgasm builds and crests and I'm still coming when I feel it: the knot, swelling at the base of him, thick and insistent, and my body opens for it on pure instinct.
He groans.
Pushes in.
And then it locks.
The relief is overwhelming. Every cell in my body goesyes, finally, this—and underneath the biology there's something else, something that has nothing to do with scent matches, bonds or registry designations.
Just this man. Just me. Just the choice we made to find our way back to each other through everything that was between us.
His mouth finds my throat.
His teeth graze my skin.
I know what's coming. My whole body knows. And I want it. I tip my head back to give him access and his hands tighten in my hair—
He bites down.
The claim hits like light. Like inevitability. Like coming home. His teeth sink into my scent gland and the bond forms. It’s immediate and complete. An entirely different thing from the scent match that's gone. This is chosen and only ours. I cry out and he groans against my skin as the knot pulses and he fills me.
His.
Mine.
We stay locked together while the knot holds, his arms around me, his face still in my neck, both of us breathing hard. He tongues my new mark, soothing the precious ache. His purr is the deepest I've ever heard it. There’s something sweet and satisfied in it.
I press my hand flat against his chest to feel his heartbeat.
"Alex," I say.
"Mm."
"We're starting the pack over."
"Yeah," he says, wrecked and warm. "We are. It’s starting with us."
"You're my lead. I have a bonded lead now."
He lifts his head and looks at me. His eyes are dark and soft and entirely certain.
"I'm your lead," he says.
I have wanted this for so long. Not this specifically. I couldn’t have known. But this feeling. The feeling of being chosen. Of being first. Of being claimed by someone who looked at everything I am and decidedyes, this one, without a condition or a caveat or a five year waiting period.
I close my eyes and feel the bond move into place, real and mine, and I let myself have it completely.
After all of it.
Finally chosen.
Chapter 40
Vee
