Chapter 43 Rowen
ROWEN
As we leave the office, laughter echoes from down the hall. The scent of stew and sourdough lingers, inviting us to spend this time with family. My heart craves it after all we’ve been through, but I crave something else more.
I need to be alone with my mate. To hold him for real, to believe all of this is really over.
I reach for Tobias’ hand, threading my fingers through his. “I’m not hungry. Are you?”
His gaze flicks to mine, voice a little rough. “I’m hungry for something else, if that’s what you mean.”
I tug him toward the stairs, trying not to grin when he nearly trips on the first step in his hurry to follow. We slip away unnoticed—except maybe by Forest, who hides his smile with a cough.
We can get some of that homemade ice cream later. Right now, we both just need this.
The creak of the bedroom door swallows the sound of our breath. The moment it shuts, I pull him close. His warmth hits me like sunlight after a storm, rejuvenating and calming all at the same time. Everything we’ve been fighting for has been for this—right here. Us.
I cup his jaw and kiss him slowly, deeply, like relearning something sacred. His mouth opens under mine, and everything in me exhales. The ache and the fear all dissolve away.
Tobias shudders against me, his breath just as relieved.
I lift his shirt and break the kiss only long enough to tug it over his head. The mate mark catches the light, just a line of pale scars now, but it still steals my breath. I press my lips to it.
This man is mine. All mine. Rip no longer has a twisted hold over him, no claim to his body or mind. Tobias is only mine.
My pulse quickens when Tobias pushes at the waistband of my pants. I kick them aside and suck in a breath as his fingers meet bare skin.
The rest of our clothes disappear until there’s nothing between us but heat and need. We fall into bed with a soft laugh. His mouth finds mine again, hungrier this time, teeth scraping my lower lip.
“Tell me the truth. Do you ever bottom?”
I hesitate. “Not usually.”
He chuckles. “Figured. That’s okay though. I love your dick in my ass.”
I snort, but his quick fingers around my length pull me out of the conversation. I suck on his lip and grind against him, sliding a hand down his side. Tobias hooks one leg around my waist, tipping his head back. I kiss down his throat, grunting when I feel the first drips of precum.
Tobias pushes at my chest, flipping us to straddle my waist. His eyes are dark with lust, mouth parted until it crashes against mine. He groans against me, hips pressing down as fingernails scrape my flesh. The way he moves, his breath on my skin—I could drown in it and be happy.
I press my head back into the mattress, hands digging into his hips. “Fuck, Toby. I need you.”
He licks up my neck, twisting a nipple until my toes curl. When he nips at my throat hard enough to draw blood, I gasp—but not in pain. He pulls back in alarm, guilt flickering across his face.
“I didn’t mean—”
“Yes, you did.” I smile, almost laughing at his adorable stunned expression.
When he realizes what his instincts were trying to do, Tobias breaks out into a huge smile. “I can claim you now. Can’t I?”
I nod, throat thick.
He claps a hand over his mouth. But his smile fades when he touches my collarbone. “Rowen, I… I’d love to. But I don’t even know how to control my shift yet, let alone—”
I pull him in until our foreheads are together. “That’s okay, hon. We have time. And even without it, I know I’m yours.” I take his hand and press it over my heart. “Right here.”
The tether between us vibrates, stronger than ever and full of love and belonging.
He kisses me again, slow and certain. Reaching for the bottle on my nightstand, he smears some around his hole and down my shaft. He doesn’t bother stretching himself at all—just positions me at his entrance and sinks down.
“Toby—” My voice cuts off as the most amazing pressure surrounds my cock.
Tobias drops his head back, inching himself lower. “Yes! Shit, I needed this.”
Seeing his lust, his need, and feeling the heat in his ass, is making it hard not to drive up into him.
I pull him down for a kiss. The world quickly fades to the warmth of his skin, the rhythm of his breath, and the quiet promise between us. When he bottoms out, we both groan.
He rocks slowly, breathing against my lips. “How’d I get so damn lucky to have you? You’re the most amazing person I know.”
I sit up to wrap my arms around him, and his deep moan as he sinks down on me again makes me growl. I lick up his throat to his ear, but whatever I was going to say is lost to his sudden cry of passion.
Tobias arches his back, eyes closed and arms around my neck. I must be nailing his prostate. He rocks hard, adding some lift. “Yes. Shit. Yes!”
Heat flows south, making my cock pulse in rhythm with my heart. A deep rumble in my chest vibrates our tether, and I curl my arms protectively around him.
“Mine,” I growl.
Tobias gives me a lust-drunk smile, and I feel the echoing mine through our connection.
He rides fast—every touch needy, every sound desperate.
I bury my nose against his skin as I inhale.
The rapid, tight motions combined with his aroused scent and warm body sends me over way too soon.
Heat floods my shaft, blood rushing to the tip.
It swells as I come, nuts drawing up tight.
Tobias grins, rocking harder. His lips crash down on mine, fingers slipping into my hair. His deep, guttural moan tells me I’m hitting him just right. A few more needy whimpers, then his hot cum splashes against my belly.
He pants hard, still tugging at my hair and riding the high. “You know what I think? Unfated mates are really, really missing out.”
I laugh hard. “Like the knot, do you?”
“God, yes.” Tobias moves his hips. “I’m so going to get addicted to it. Just warning you now.”
He rocks more, working himself into a second orgasm before melting against me.
As gently as I can, I pull him down on top of me, holding him for a long time in shared silence. My heart has never been fuller. Tobias’s either, if his tether is any indication.
As we lie tangled in the sheets, I think about the last three days.
Not the battle with Rip and Orem, but the time together in the forest. How calm my wolf had been, even in pain.
I don’t think I’ve been this calm since before my dad died.
Not really. Everything felt too hollowed out, too pointless. Now it’s alive.
I’m alive.
Moonlight slips through the curtains, painting silver across Tobias’s shoulder. He lifts his head. “You know what I just realized?”
“Hmm?”
“I haven’t heard any whispers since I shifted back. I don’t know why, but I still kind of expected it. Like I feared it, I mean. You know? That it was my half-blood and not just Rip.”
I trace slow circles across his back. “Red had a theory you’d be in more control than your mom was, so you might not have the same symptoms. I think you’re proving him right.”
He huffs a quiet laugh. “Yeah, he thought because I knew about it before the shift, I’d accept it easier or something. But I don’t know. It’s still my genetics. And I’m still not in complete control, obviously.”
“You’re in control enough,” I say. “Don’t fear it.”
“I don’t. I just mean that I hope they never come back. That’s all.”
“Your animal is stronger than you give him credit for. Trust him. Half-bloods usually have those side effects because they can’t shift, remember? You can. You have full shifter blood in you too.”
He hums weakly. “Can I tell you a secret?”
I nod.
He lowers his voice to a whisper. “Once I got past the shock of it, I kinda loved being a fox. I mean, until when I really wanted to shift, anyway. But the time in between? I enjoyed it.”
I laugh. “I could tell. You were seriously the cutest thing.”
He pinches my side, earning a soft laugh.
“It’s the tail and big ears.”
He looks at me then, eyes full and open. “You were so patient when I got here, Rowen. I mean, all of you were really, but you especially. I was skittish as hell. Even hid in the stupid closet. I didn’t know how to trust anyone.” His fingers trace small lines against my chest. “Except you.”
“Me?”
Tobias nods. “I never understood it, but I trusted you from the beginning.”
My throat tightens. “Your heart must’ve known.”
“Mmm.” He kisses my chest.
I bury my nose in his hair, breathing him in. All his warmth, his familiarity, his friendship—it’s all home to me now. Sure, this house and the pack are too, but this… right here… this is where I belong.
In this fragile, quiet peace, I know exactly who I am now.
The world outside is fractured, with threats lurking and shadows gathering, but I know where my place is in it.
And I’m stronger than I’ve ever been, thanks to him.
More certain now of my path. My purpose isn’t on some stage, or wrapped up in some destiny. It’s right here.
In my arms.
With this man.
“I love you, Tobias,” I whisper.
He smiles, brushing his lips against mine. “I love you too.”
And for the first time in what feels like forever, everything is right.
We’ll regroup and save our brother, but for tonight, for this moment, everything is as it should be.