Once sealed, the den becomes its own world. The storm muffled to distant rage.
“Now what?” she asks.
“Now you recover. Eat. Rest. Let the storm pass.”
“That's it? No more tests? No more making me beg?”
“You threw a rock at comfort to stay in my path. What more proof do I need?”
She laughs, exhausted. “When you put it like that...”
I show her to the thermal pool. The supplies. The sleeping area with furs piled thick. Everything prepared but nothing assumed.
“This is your home?”
“One of them. I have several dens throughout the territory.”
“Smart. Options for different seasons?”
“Options for different needs. This one is for storms.”
She strips off what's left of her suit without ceremony. No performance. Just practicality. Her body is marked with ourtime together. Bruises from my hands. Scratches from stone. The map of claiming without the final bond.
“I still need you,” she says simply. “Even after yesterday. Especially after yesterday. My body won't accept substitutes anymore.”
“I know.”
“But you're still going to make me wait.”
“No. I'm going to feed you. Tend your wounds. Then give you what we both need.”
“Just like that?”
“You chose me over easier paths. Threw violence at comfort. Crawled through storm to reach me.” I move closer. “What more waiting could prove what you've already shown?”
She shivers despite the warmth. “So we're done with games?”
“We're done with tests. What comes next isn't games. It's truth.”
The storm rages outside. Inside, we have time. Finally.
“Show me true, then,” she says.
And I will. But first, food. First, healing. First, the foundation for what we're about to become.
The storm will last eight hours.
More than enough time for truth.
MARA
DAY 5 - STORM
The den is bigger than it looked from outside. The main chamber opens into smaller alcoves, each serving a purpose. Storage. Sleeping. The thermal pool that steams in blue-green phosphorescence. All of it carefully prepared, waiting.
“Strip,” Khor says.
Not a request. A command. My body responds immediately, wetness gathering between my legs just from his tone.
