“I feel you,” she whispered, her voice full of wonder.“I can feel you.”
“I feel you too.”My voice cracked.“Lena.I feel you.”
The tears came without warning.
I had not cried since my mother died.Had not allowed myself that weakness.But now, with my mate in my arms and the bond singing between us, I could not stop.Decades of fear came pouring out of me, decades of certainty that I would become the monster, decades of knowing that love would destroy anyone I allowed close.
And she was alive, safe, happy in my arms.I could feel her happiness, warm and golden, wrapping around me like an embrace.
I had not destroyed her.I had not become my father.
“Raphael.”Her arms came around me, holding me as I shook.“It’s okay.I’m here.I’m not going anywhere.”
I wept into her shoulder while she held me, and the roles were reversed now.She was protecting me.Holding me together while I fell apart.
“I love you,” I said when I could speak again.“I love you.I should have said it before.I should have told you.”
“You’re telling me now.”She kissed my temple, my cheek, the corner of my mouth.“That’s enough.”
“It’s not.”I pulled back to look at her, needing her to see me.“I love you, Lena.Both sides of me love you.The man and the wolf.We are yours.”
“And I’m yours.”She touched the claiming mark on her shoulder, wincing slightly at the tenderness.“I can feel it.You.Here.”She pressed her hand to her chest.“Living inside me.”
“Forever,” I said.“The bond is permanent.You’re stuck with me now.”
Her smile was everything.“Good.”
I gathered her close, tucking her against my chest.Through the bond, I felt her exhaustion, her satisfaction, her deep and abiding love.She felt me too, I knew.My relief, my joy, my wonder that she had chosen this.Chosen me.
“Sleep,” I murmured against her hair.“I’ll be here when you wake.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”I pressed a kiss to the claiming mark.“Always.”
She drifted off in my arms, her breathing slow and even, her heartbeat steady against my chest.The bond hummed between us, a warm presence at the edges of my consciousness.
Ours.My wolf sighed, content at last.Finally, completely ours.
I closed my eyes and let myself believe it.
The threat was gone.Joe was dead, his obsession ended.My mate was safe, claimed, bonded to me in a way that could never be broken.
23
LENA
My fingers found the bite mark on my shoulder before my thoughts caught up with my body.
The wound was tender and raised, a mark I would carry forever.Two half-moons where his fangs had pierced deepest, surrounded by the lesser impressions of his other teeth.I traced the edges of it, learning the shape of what he had done to me, what we had done together.
Through the bond, a pulse of satisfaction that was not my own.
That was new.That was everything.His emotions lived alongside mine now, a second heartbeat pulsing in tandem with my own.His contentment bled into me, slow and golden, and I knew without looking that he was watching me.Knew he was happy in a way that had nothing to do with my own feelings and everything to do with this new thread connecting us.
I turned my head on the pillow to find him propped on one elbow, his expression unguarded in a way I had never seen before.The hard lines of his face had smoothed into something soft, and his eyes were warm gray with no trace of amber.The wolf was quiet this morning, content in a way I could feel thrumming through the bond.
“Does it hurt?”he asked.
