“You belong to me, Astrid. And I to you.”
The possessive words make her eyes flash, her wolf responding to mine. She moves suddenly, flipping our positions so she straddles my hips, looking down at me with a mixture of desire and newfound wildness that makes my breath catch.
"Yes," she says, and it's not a question. Her hands pin my wrists to the furs on either side of my head, her strength surprising and arousing in equal measure. "The wolf says it’s forever."
"The wolf is right," I agree.
The word forever resonates differently when you've been alive for centuries. Forever is not an abstract concept to me, but a vast, stretching reality I've endured largely alone. Until her. The thought of traversing the rest of my life with Astrid at my side fills me with a profound peace I've never known. What was once an endless burden now feels like a gift. Forever with her will never be enough.
She leans down, her silky hair falling around us like a curtain as her mouth descends on mine. The kiss is different this time—she leads, setting a pace that's both teasing and commanding. Her teeth catch my lower lip, tugging before soothing the sting with her tongue.
When she moves lower, trailing kisses down my throat, my chest, I struggle to maintain control. Her mouth finds a sensitive spot just below my ribs, and my hips buck involuntarily beneath her.
She smiles against my skin, clearly pleased with the response. "I’ll remember this spot," she murmurs, and demonstrates by pressing an open-mouthed kiss to the same place. My entire body tightens in response.
"Astrid," I groan, her name both warning and encouragement.
Her exploration continues, unhurried and thorough, as if she's committing every inch of me to memory. The casual confidence of her touch, the way she takes what she wants, drives me to the edge of my sanity.
My muscles coil tight. Every gentle touch from her fingertips stokes the savage need building within me—to take her, to bury myself inside her, to sink my teeth into the tender junction where neck meets shoulder and mark her as mine for all eternity. The mating urge pounds through my veins. I grip the furs beneath us, claws threatening to emerge as I battle for control, wanting to savor her boldness even as instinct screams for completion.
When she returns to claim my mouth again, I move my hands moving to her hips. In one fluid movement, I flip us again, pressing her back into the furs, my body covering hers.
"Mine," I growl against her throat, feeling her pulse leap beneath my lips.
I trail kisses down her body, worshipping her with mouth and hands. Her skin tastes like salt and pine. Each gasp, each moan, each whispered plea of my name is a gift I never expected to receive.
When I reach the apex of her thighs, her hands tangle in my hair, her breath coming in short, sharp pants. I glance up to find her watching me, her eyes now more gold than blue, her wolf as close to the surface as mine.
"Please," she whispers.
I comply eagerly, my mouth finding her most sensitive spot. Her back arches off the furs, a cry escaping her that echoes in the small cabin. I hold her hips steady as she writhes beneath my tongue, watching with fierce satisfaction as she comes undone.
I move back up her body, capturing her mouth as she trembles with aftershocks. The taste of her lingers on my tongue as I devour her lips, my body positioned above hers, ready to join us completely.
The magnitude of this moment strikes me with breathtaking force. After centuries alone, after losing her to death itself, I hover at the threshold of something sacred and irrevocable. For one heartbeat, I pause—not from doubt, but from reverence.
"Fen," she gasps against my mouth, her eyes finding mine. "I need you. Now."
She reaches between us, her touch bold and sure, guiding me to her entrance. The heat of her nearly undoes me before we've even begun.
“Once we join, once I bite you and you bite me in return, there's no going back, Astrid."
Her eyes soften slightly. “I know.”
"You don’t know everything." I say honestly. "You will always be able to feel me, sense my emotions, know when I am in danger. I will feel the same with you. Distance will become painful if prolonged."
"My old life is gone," she says quietly. "You are my life now. I choose you.”
Relief and desire crash through me in equal measure. "Are you sure?" I ask, searching her eyes for any hesitation, but I see none.
Her answer is to pull me down for a kiss that leaves no doubt about her decision. When we part, her eyes are bright with determination and something deeper that makes my heart clench.
"I've never been sure about anything in my life," she admits with a small, wry smile.
Time shatters. Reality fractures. As I sink into her welcoming heat, the sensation transcends the physical—though that alone would bring me to my knees. This is something magickal. Something sacred.
Her eyes widen, the gold in them flaring brighter, wolf-light mingling with the glow of the soul shard. "Fen," she gasps, her fingers digging into my shoulders, her body arching beneath mine.
