Page 107 of Moonlight & Mayhem

Moon's eyes held his. “I don't want you because fate says you're mine.” Mayhem went completely still. “I don't want you because my wolf does.” She brushed her thumb over his jaw. “I don't even want you because my mother's journal told me to trust you. I want you because you're you.” That nearly fucking broke him. Mayhem pulled her against his chest, and Moon held him. Neither spoke, because they didn't need to.

Finally, Mayhem kissed the top of her head. “I love you.” Moon stilled. He'd known it in Black Hollow—probably before that. Maybe he knew from the moment he'd woken on her table, and his wolf had recognized what his stubborn human half hadn't been ready to see. Mayhem pulled back. “I love you, Moonlight.”

“You sure?” she asked.

“No,” he mumbled. She blinked up at him, and Mayhem grinned. “Thought I'd give you a taste of your own medicine.”

“You asshole.” She shoved him, and he caught her. Moon laughed, and Mayhem kissed her again.

“Yes.” His forehead touched hers. “I'm sure.”

Moon smiled. “I love you too.” His wolf practically lost his mind. Mayhem kissed her harder, and Moon met him without hesitation.

When they finally broke apart, both were breathing harder. Mayhem looked toward the clinic door and then back at her. “Should I lock that?”

Moon's cheeks flushed. “Maybe.”

His grin returned. “So, we’re getting to the good later part?”

Moon bit her bottom lip. “Very good later part.” Mayhem crossed the room and locked the door. When he turned back, Moon stood beside their kuttes, and she held out her hand. Mayhem went to her. They were just a man and a woman who'd survived long enough to decide what came next for themselves.

Mayhem took her hand, and Moon pulled him close. “This is my choice.”

He kissed her forehead. “I know.”

She smiled. “And we're going to make this work.”

Mayhem wrapped his arms around her. “Baby, we're going to make everybody else regret putting the two of us together.”

Moon laughed. “That sounds more realistic.” He kissed her, and the bond opened between them again—warm and waiting. She whispered his name and drew him closer, and Mayhem followed her willingly—not because an ancient wolf prophecy had decided Moonlight belonged to him. She didn't. Moon belonged to herself. That was exactly why hearing her choose him meant everything.

Moon

The click of the lock sounded ridiculously loud. Moon stared at Mayhem from across the clinic. For days, she'd touched him because she had to. She held his hand to slow the night root, and pressed herself against him to calm his wolf. She slept beside him because distance made the poison spread. She kissed him in Black Hollow because she thought she was losing him. Every touch had come with a reason. She had done all those things because it was an emergency, a necessity, or a consequence—but not this time.

Mayhem leaned against the clinic door, watching her and waiting for her to make the next move. That was what finally settled the last of Moon's nerves. He wasn't moving toward her, wasn't reaching for her, and wasn't letting the bond decide what happened next. He was waiting for her.

Moon glanced toward the chair where their kuttes rested together. Dark Chaos and Silverfang were two clubs working together, but neither one sacrificed for the other. Her mother had never gotten that. Selene had loved a man who had eventually decided his pack mattered more than she did. When forced to choose, he'd handed her over. Moon had spent years believing that was what mates did. One claimed while the other surrendered. One led while the other followed. One eventually became more important than the other. But Mayhem had blown that belief straight to hell.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked.

Moon looked at him. “My mother.”

Any hint of teasing disappeared from his face. “Good thoughts or bad?”

“Both,” she admitted. Mayhem nodded, but he didn't push her for more answers, and Moon loved him for that too. “She would probably tell me I'm being an idiot.”

“About me?” he asked.

“Yes,” she whispered.

He frowned. “I'm starting to like your mother less.”

Moon laughed. “No. She'd tell me I'm an idiot for fighting this as long as I did.”

Mayhem considered that. “Okay. I like her again.”

“You're ridiculous,” Moon chided.