28. Archer
ARCHER
The drive to my place takes forty minutes, and every second of it is torture. Tessa sits in the passenger seat of my truck, quiet, her fingers tracing the healing mark on her neck where I claimed her. I can feel her through the bond—calm, steady, unafraid—and it makes me want to scream.
She should be afraid. Rogues, coordinated, waiting. If Conrad hadn't been nearby…
"Stop," Tessa says softly, not looking at me.
"Stop what?"
"Blaming yourself." She turns, and her eyes catch the dashboard light, reflecting gold for a moment—the bond changing her, connecting her to my world in ways she still doesn't fully understand. "I could feel it from the back seat, Archer. The guilt. The fear. You're drowning in it."
I grip the steering wheel harder, knuckles white. "They knew where you'd be. They were watching you, waiting for me to slip up." My voice cracks. "If I had been thirty seconds later getting to the car—"
"But you weren't." She reaches across the console, her hand covering mine. Her touch sends warmth up my arm, through the bond, but it doesn't calm the panic. "I'm here. We're here. Together."
I pull onto the long dirt drive leading to my cabin, surrounded by forest, protected by pack land. Three of my enforcers already patrol the perimeter—I can sense them, wolves moving through the darkness. Safe. She's safe here.
But for how long?
Inside, I light a fire more for comfort than warmth. Tessa stands by the window, looking out at the trees, and I watch her—really watch her—memorizing the curve of her spine, the way her hair falls past her shoulders, the stubborn set of her jaw. My mate. My weakness. My everything.
"I could send you away," I say, the words tasting like ash. "There's a pack in Montana, remote, heavily fortified. You'd be safe there. Away from me, away from this target on your back."
Tessa turns slowly. Her expression isn't angry—it's worse. It's sad. Disappointed. "Is that what you want?"
"No." The word rips out of me. "God, no. I want you here, in my bed, in my life. I want to wake up every morning with your scent on my skin. I want—" I stop, the need rising like a tide, threatening to drown me. "I want things I have no right to want while you're in danger."
She crosses the room until she's standing right in front of me, close enough that I can smell her—vanilla and something wilder now, the bond awakening her own latent nature. She’s still human.
She’ll always be only human. But… humans are animals too in the end.
And Tessa’s animal side is awakening as the mate bond burrows deeper into her energy.
"I chose this," she says, her voice low and steady. "I chose you. I chose Redwood Crossing knowing exactly what I was getting into. Don't take that choice away from me because you're scared."
"I'm terrified," I admit, my hands finding her waist, pulling her closer despite my better judgment.
"I've never been afraid like this. Not in combat, not during the pack wars.
But the thought of losing you—" My fingers dig into her hips, and I drop my forehead to hers.
"It would destroy me, Tessa. There would be nothing left. "
"Then don't lose me." Her hands slide up my chest, over my shoulders, linking behind my neck. "Hold onto me, Archer. Tight."
I kiss her then—not gentle, not careful, but desperate.
My mouth claims hers with all the hunger I've been trying to suppress, all the need I've been fighting since the moment I marked her.
She meets me equally, her tongue tangling with mine, her body pressing against me until I can feel every curve, every breath.
"Need you," I growl against her lips, but I'm already lifting her, her legs wrapping around my waist as I carry her toward the stairs.
"Take me," she pants, her teeth finding my earlobe, biting hard enough to make me groan. "Need you inside me. Now."
The bond flares between us, bright and hot, her desire mixing with mine until I can't tell where she ends and I begin. I take the stairs two at a time, her weight nothing in my arms, her mouth trailing fire down my neck.
We crash through the bedroom door, and I drop her onto the mattress, following her down, covering her body with mine. She's already pulling at my shirt, and I tear it off, hearing buttons scatter across the floor. Her hands roam my chest, my shoulders, mapping me with greedy touches.
I try to tell myself to go slow, but Tessa is unbuttoning her jeans, shimmying out of them, and then she's naked beneath me, all soft skin and inviting heat, and slow becomes impossible.
"You feel it too," I whisper, watching her eyes glaze, the bond shimmering between us like a living thing. "The pull. The need to be closer. Deeper."
"I feel… everything," she admits as I strip off the rest of my clothes, settling between her thighs. "Your pleasure. Your fear. Your love. It's all mine. Just like I'm yours."
I slide into her in one smooth thrust, and we both cry out—her from the fullness, me from the perfection of it, the rightness.
The bond snaps tighter, golden threads weaving through us, connecting soul to soul.
I can feel what she feels—the stretch, the burn, the overwhelming sensation of being claimed even as I'm the one doing the claiming.
"Archer," she gasps, her nails raking down my back, her hips rising to meet mine. "More. Give me everything."
I set a rhythm that's deep and relentless, each thrust driving us both higher. The bed creaks, the headboard knocking against the wall, but I don't care about the noise, don't care about anything but the woman beneath me and the bond blazing between us.
"I want to feel you come apart. Let me feel what I do to you."
Her hand slides between us, her fingers finding her clit, circling in time with my strokes. The sensation echoes through the bond, doubling back on itself—her pleasure becoming mine becoming hers—until we're caught in a feedback loop of sensation that threatens to consume us both.
"I can feel you," she breathes, wonder in her voice. "Inside me. Around me. Everywhere."
"That's the bond," I groan, thrusting harder, losing control. "We were officially one after I took you the first time, Tessa. Body and soul. Now, each time we’re together that bond will only deepen and intensify. Tell me you're with me. Tell me you're mine."
"Yours," she cries out, her body tightening around me, her orgasm building, cresting. "Always yours, Archer. Always—"
She comes apart beneath me, her release rippling through her body, through the bond, crashing into me like a wave.
I feel every pulse, every spasm, and it triggers my own climax.
I bury myself deep and let go, spilling into her with a shout that sounds more tiger than man, marking her from the inside, completing the bond all over again.
The aftershocks last forever—small tremors of pleasure rocking through us both, the bond humming with satisfaction and love and something deeper now. Permanent. Unbreakable.
I collapse beside her, pulling her against my chest, our legs tangled, our hearts slowing together. Her fingers trace lazy patterns over my skin, and I feel her contentment through the bond—complete, total, absolute.
"I love you," she murmurs, her voice drowsy.
I kiss her forehead, her temple, the mark on her neck that I left days ago and renewed tonight. "I love you too. More than my own life. More than anything."
We drift together, the bond wrapping around us like a blanket, and I let myself believe this might work. That we might actually have a future.
Hours later, I wake to darkness and the distant howl of my patrol. Tessa sleeps curled against me, her breathing even, her hand resting over my heart. I stare at the ceiling, feeling the bond pulse between us, strong and unbreakable.
The rogues came for her today. They'll come again. They know what she is to me now—my mate, my heart, my only vulnerability.
I won't wait for them to strike again.
I kiss Tessa's forehead gently, careful not to wake her, and slip from the bed. At the window, I stare out at the forest, at the territory I protect, at the threats gathering beyond the tree line.
Tomorrow, I end this. Not by hiding, not by running, but by hunting. I'll tear through every rogue stronghold, every shadow den, until none remain who would dare threaten what's mine.
Tessa chose me. Chose this life. Chose the danger. Now I choose to make sure she never regrets it.
I return to the bed, sliding back under the covers, pulling her warm body against mine. She murmurs my name in her sleep, and the bond flares with affection, with trust.
"I'll keep you safe," I whisper into her hair. "I swear it. Whatever it takes."
Sleep takes me slowly, but my resolve remains ironclad. The hunt begins at dawn.