“So then I came along,” Spence said, “and he wanted me romantically, but because fate can be a bitch, I legally belonged to him as his slave,andhe had to hold the leash to my wolf, since I couldn’t, at that time. The leash was wrapped around my willpower, the very thing he wanted to be all mine, and he was forced to hold onto the tether my former Master had wrapped around it.”
“I couldn’t touch him romantically,” Zander said. “Not while he was legally bound to obey me. It would’ve been the same thing I’d done to other romantic partners, making them love me and agree with me, and then convincing myself it was real.”
Emmy set her fork down, her full attention on them both. “So what did you do?”
“Found a way to free him.” Zander’s thumb rubbed small circles on Spence’s hand. “It took time and some grey-area legal maneuvering. But I released him from his bonds before I ever drank from him the first time as a romantic partner.”
“You freed him first,” Emmy repeated, understanding dawning. “So he could choose.”
“So the relationship would be real,” Zander said. “So I could be absolutely certain he wanted me because he wanted me, not because he was obligated or manipulated into it.”
Spence’s eyes were bright with emotion. “I chose him the moment he gave me the choice. Haven’t regretted it once.”
“So then, why were you so jealous of Kirsten?”
“She hurt him. He’d loved her, and he’d been so devastated when she broke up with him, he’d changed his entire lifestyle in some ways. I had this idea that, if she’d take him back, he’d go back to her in a heartbeat.”
“But you and Kirsten are friends now. Right?”
“Yes, but it took a while for me to trust that Zander had learned his lessons from her and moved on — that he’d chosen me.”
He tilted his head. “I didn’t understand for a long time what he’d seen in me, but eventually, I figured it out. Or, I guess he explained it better, but … he saw strength of character in me, the fact I held onto my kindness and ethics despite being broken and retrained, despite everything that’d been done to me.”
“He held onto his humanity even after being turned into a monster that they kept feral,” Zander said, his voice flat but his eyes full of affection.
Spence took a deep breath and settled a little. “Our first sexual experiences can create sexual preferences. I’m always going to submit in order to enjoy sex. I’ll always need pain mixed in with the pleasure. There’s nothing to be done about that, but Zander didn’t let that define the rest of my life.”
Emmy looked between them, seeing the depth of trust and love that had been built on that foundation. She looked at Zander. “But you’re still … Spence submits to you. You feed from him. You give him orders.”
“Orders he can refuse,” Zander said firmly. “And has refused, when something crossed his moral boundaries. He guides my flock, manages my household, and makes decisions that affect hundreds of people. He’s not weak. He’s not controlled. He chooses to submit to me in bed, and to stand by my side in life. He’s my partner, my assistant, and my love. I accept the submission he offers with the respect it deserves.”
Emmy’s throat tightened. This was what a healthy power dynamic looked like. Not control for control’s sake, but trust. Choice. A dominant who valued his submissive’s autonomy even as he accepted the gift of submission.
“Is that why you haven’t tried to get past my shields?” she asked Zander. “Why you haven’t used vampire powers on me?”
“Yes.” Zander’s blue eyes held hers. “I want you to choose me, Emerald. To chooseus. Not because I made you agreeable or pliable or convenient, but because youwantto join with us. I want the real you — stubborn, brilliant, fierce, and absolutely untamed.”
“I’m choosing,” she said, her voice steady. “For the record. I’m choosing both of you.”
Zander reached across the table to cover her hand with his.
“Good,” Zander said simply. “Now eat your lamb chops. You need your strength.”
Emmy picked up her fork and dug into breakfast, but her mind was spinning with everything she’d just learned.
Zander had changed. Grown. Learned from his mistakes in ways that mattered. He valued true partnership over convenient control.
And soon, they’d take the next step together — all three of them, to build on a foundation of trust and choice that would make whatever came next real in all the ways that mattered.
Zander watched Emmy leave for the gym, her movements eons stronger than they’d been a week earlier. She was improving by leaps and bounds, but he wouldn’t be satisfied until she’d put moreweight on.
And what he wanted would take more than good nutrition and physical recovery. He wanted her to be his, which would also mean he’d be hers.
And in his mind, that would happen when Emmy dropped her shields and let him in, but he’d never ask it of her.
She’d have to decide to do it herself, and he would have to build up the trust so she felt comfortable doing so.
The first step would be her wanting him to set up a telepathic connection. A truly intimate connection — a pathway between minds.
