His mouth finds my neck, and for a split second I think he’s going to kiss me again—then I feel it.
A sharp, sacred sting.
His fangs break the surface of my skin.
And the world—the whole universe shatters into light.
It isn’t pain.
Not really.
It’s heat.
White-hot, all-consuming, flooding through me like liquid fire as he seals his mouth over the mark and draws blood from the wound—sealing our bond.
My vision goes bright.
Blinding.
My body arches into him, a sound tearing free from my throat that I don’t recognize as my own.
Because this?
This isn’t just physical.
This is something deeper.
Something ancient.
I feel it the moment it happens—the shift.
The matebond. Our matebond.
It sparks at the point of contact, then spreads—through my veins, through my chest, through my very soul.
Like something dormant inside me just woke up and recognized him.
Mine.
My Bear surges forward, no hesitation now.
No fear.
No doubt.
And I answer.
My hands curl, claws slipping free as instinct takes over—not wild, not out of control, but guided. Intentional. Right.
I turn my head, finding him the same way he found me, my teeth breaking his skin in a mirrored claim.
The taste of him—warm, rich, unmistakably his—sends another wave through me, deeper this time, anchoring us together.
Binding.
Sealing.
I feel it.
