"That would be nice." I sip the tea, and the warmth settles the restless thing in my chest. "How do you handle it? The fear of losing them?"
Quinn's smile is sad. "I remind myself that Eli's been doing this his whole life. That he's trained for exactly these situations, that his bear is strong and his instincts are good. That worrying won't help him, but trusting will." She pauses, staring into her tea. "And then I make sure I'm strong enough to stand beside him when he needs me. That's the part that matters—not being safe, but being ready."
"Is that what you're doing now? Being strong?"
"No." Her laugh is hollow. "Right now I'm terrified. But I'll be strong when it counts. When he looks at me before he has to fight, I'll be the rock he needs."
Cilla joins us, carrying her own tea. She moves with the confidence of someone who's weathered storms and survived. "Anabeth's inside helping Calder with the ritual preparations. She wanted me to tell you that what you're about to do is incredibly brave."
"Or incredibly stupid," I mutter into my tea.
"Sometimes those are the same thing." Cilla's voice is gentle. "But you're choosing to stand with your mate. To fight for yourclan. Not whether you're scared—we're all scared. But whether you let that fear stop you."
"I've been clan since this morning." The words taste bitter. "And now I'm supposed to help save everyone."
"Doesn't matter." Cilla's hand is warm on my shoulder, steady. "You're one of us now. The moment Jonah's blood mixed with yours, the moment you transformed—you became Hayes clan. Family. And we protect our own."
My throat tightens. These women—Quinn who only recently transitioned herself, Cilla who knows what it's like to be turned and thrust into chaos, Anabeth who's been part of this family longer—they're my sisters now. My family.
"The bond is stronger than you think," Cilla continues, her voice dropping lower. "Calder and I—" She pauses, choosing words carefully. "There have been moments when I thought his walls would break us. Times when he's been hurt and I felt it like my own injury. But the bond held. It always holds. That's what mate bonds do—they refuse to break."
"How do you trust it so completely?"
"Because I've tested it." Cilla's smile is soft, sad. "Not on purpose, but life tests everything eventually. And every single time, the bond proved stronger than my fear. Stronger than danger or doubt. That golden thread between you and Jonah? It's forged in magic older than any of us understand."
"Trust it," Quinn adds. "Trust Jonah. But most importantly, trust yourself. You're stronger than you think, Maren. Strong enough to survive the transformation. Strong enough to stand up to an alpha bear and tell him no. Strong enough to do what needs doing."
The tea scalds my tongue, but I drink it anyway.
I find Jonah in our cabin, methodically checking equipment. Flashlights, rope, the ceremonial knife from our bonding. Hismovements are precise, controlled, but I feel his tension through our connection.
"Hey," I say from the doorway.
He looks up, and something in his expression softens. "Hey yourself."
I cross to him, sliding my arms around his waist from behind. Press my face between his shoulder blades and just breathe him in. Our connection settles, warm and steady.
"I'm scared," I admit.
"Me too." His hands cover mine where they rest against his stomach. "But we're going to make it through this."
"Promise?"
"Promise." He turns in my arms, framing my face with his hands. "The mate bond is the strongest magic that exists. It brought me home once already. It'll do it again."
I rise on my toes and kiss him. Not desperate or claiming, just steady. Real. A promise between equals that we'll fight for this, for us, for the life we're just beginning to build.
When we break apart, the sun is lower in the sky. Shadows stretch long across the compound.
"It's time," Calder calls from outside.
Jonah takes my hand, lacing our fingers together. The bond between us pulses steady and sure.
We step outside. The clan has gathered—Calder and Cilla, Eli and Quinn, Beau and Anabeth, Sawyer standing ready. My new family, preparing to defend our home. They fall into formation as we walk through, creating a path toward the forest.
The weight of what we're about to do settles heavy between us.
We head north toward the convergence point. The forest changes as we move deeper, oppressive in ways that have nothing to do with fading light. Trees lean over our path, branches reaching toward us like grasping fingers. The air growscolder with each step, my breath misting despite it being late afternoon in Northern California.
