Chapter 8 #3
I keep the angle, the pace, driving us both higher.
My fangs extend without my permission, and I know what's coming, know what the wolf is going to demand.
"When you come," I rasp, "I'm going to bite.
The claiming mark. My DNA will enter your bloodstream and begin changing you.
It's going to hurt for just a second, and then...”
"Do it," she gasps, her hands fisting in the sheets. "I want it, I want—oh god...”
She shatters, and the sensation crashes through the incomplete bond.
At the exact moment of her climax, I lower my mouth to the space just to the right of the hollow of her throat and bite down.
My fangs pierce skin, and I taste her blood, the magic in it, the humanity, the absolutely perfect essence of my mate.
The bond snaps into place like a rubber band pulled too tight and finally released.
Everything floods through at once—her pleasure amplified tenfold, her acceptance, her overwhelming trust in me, her fear transmuted into exhilaration.
I feel her, truly feel her now with a clarity that wasn't there before, and the intensity of it sends me over the edge.
My own climax tears through me with a force that feels like it's going to tear me apart and remake me into something new.
When I finally release the bite, licking the wound to help close it, the claiming mark is there—a perfect scar that will never fade, marking her as mine to anyone with eyes to see.
The bond thrums between us, alive and electric and complete now.
Her wonder bleeds through, her awe, her absolute lack of regret.
"Holy shit," she breathes, her fingers coming up to trace the mark at her throat. "I can feel you. In my head. In my chest. It's so much stronger now. Is this...” She looks up at me with wide eyes. "Is this what you've been feeling?"
"No." I press my forehead to hers, trying to catch my breath.
"It's complete now. Before, I could sense your emotions, feel your presence.
Now I can sense when you're in danger, always know where you are.
The bond works both ways—you'll feel me too.
" I cup her face gently. "And the change has started.
My DNA is rewriting yours. You'll start feeling it soon—heightened senses, increased strength.
The first shift usually happens within a few weeks. "
"I already do." Her voice is filled with wonder.
Through the bond, I feel her testing it, feeling the edges of my emotions—possessive satisfaction, fierce protectiveness, something deeper that I'm not ready to name.
"This is incredible. And the change—when will I know it's starting? What will it feel like?"
"Eliza." I cup her face, running my thumb over her kiss-swollen lower lip. "We just completed a mystical mate bond. You're officially claimed."
She grins, unrepentant, and through the bond I feel her amusement mixed with genuine curiosity. "You knew who I was when you decided I was your mate. Did you expect anything different? I'm about to turn into a wolf—I'd like to know what to expect."
No, I think, pulling her up for a slow, thorough kiss.
I expected exactly this. Incisive, fearless, perfect.
"The changes start differently for everyone," I murmur against her lips.
"Some feel it within hours—heightened senses, increased strength.
For others it takes days. The first shift usually comes within two to three weeks, once your body has fully integrated the new DNA.
It won't be easy, but I'll be with you through all of it. "
We stay tangled together as her contentment drifts through the bond, mixed with lingering curiosity and the first stirrings of exhaustion.
I'm mapping the freckles on her shoulder with my fingertips when I feel it—a shift in the wards.
Not a breach, but a presence testing them. Familiar, but unwelcome.
My body tenses automatically, and Eliza picks up on it immediately. Through the bond, I feel her shift from contentment to alert concern in an instant. "What's wrong?"
"Someone's at the wards," I tell her, already sliding out of bed and reaching for my jeans. "Someone who knows better than to be here right now."
She sits up, pulling the sheet with her, and her spike of wariness pulses through our connection. "Is it dangerous?"
"Not to you. Not while I'm here." I pause, pulling on my shirt. "But it's going to be complicated."
Through the bond, her determination overrides her wariness. That reporter's instinct—never back down from a story. "Then I guess it's time for me to meet your pack."
I look at her—rumpled and marked and absolutely fearless—and feel a surge of possessive pride. "Not the pack," I correct. "Just my sister. And she's going to have a lot of questions."
Eliza's eyes light up with interest rather than intimidation. Through the bond, I feel her curiosity spike. "Your sister? You didn't mention you had a sister.”
I cross back to the bed, stealing one more kiss before this moment of peace is shattered. "She's the pack's best hunter," I murmur against her lips. "She's protective of pack secrets, but Jax—my beta, my most trusted ally—he's the one with the strongest feelings about humans learning what we are."
"Oh." Her quick mind processes this immediately. Through the bond, I feel her putting the pieces together. "So if she's here now, barely an hour after you claimed me..."
"It means someone else knows what I've done." I help her dress, feeling her nervous anticipation flutter through the bond like a trapped bird. "It means the pack knows."
She catches my expression as she pulls her shirt over her head, and I watch that fearless determination settle over her features. My mate. Mine to protect now, whether the pack accepts her or not.
"Your sister can wait five more minutes," Eliza says, reading the conflict on my face—or feeling it through the bond. She crosses to me, rising on her toes to press a kiss to my jaw. "But she shouldn't have to. I'm ready when you are."
I catch her hand, pressing it against the steady thrum of my heart. Through the bond, her resolve flows into me, her trust, her absolute certainty in her choice. And beneath that, a hint of nerves she's trying to hide.
Tessa's presence pulses against my wards like a heartbeat—patient but insistent. Impatient, even for her.
I take Eliza's hand and lead her toward the door. "Stay close to me. Let me do the talking at first. Tessa can be..." I search for the right word.
"Protective?" Eliza supplies.
"Territorial," I correct. "But she's family. She'll understand."
Even as I say it, I'm not sure I believe it. Because bringing a human into pack business, claiming a human mate without consulting the pack first—these aren't small transgressions. These are the kind of decisions that start wars.
But when I look down at Eliza, at the claiming mark on her throat and the courage in her eyes—courage I can feel thrumming through our bond now—I know I'd do it all again.
The pack will have to adjust. Because she's mine now, and that's not changing.
Not for anyone.