Maya turns sharply. “Wait—what?”
I squeeze her hand. “The final step in a mate bond.”
She looks around the circle. “Right now? As in—in front of everyone?”
Dax coughs somewhere behind me. Possibly trying not to laugh. I don't blame him.
I lean closer. “It’s not as public as it sounds. It’s just… a mark. A bite at the base of the neck. It seals the tie. Forever.”
She blinks.
Then tilts her head just slightly. “Forever?”
“If you want it,” I say, watching her closely. “Only if you want it.”
She breathes in. Out.And then—slowly, deliberately—she turns her back to me, pulling her hair away from her neck.
The pack gasps again.
Without a word, I step closer.
I lower my head to the warm curve where her neck meets her shoulder. The skin is damp from effort and radiating the unique, fierce scent that belongs to Maya and no one else.
When I bite, I do it carefully—just enough pressure to break the surface. Just enough to bind us.
Heat flashes through me. Through her.
It hums under my skin like lightning ready to strike.
When I pull back, Maya shudders—but not in fear.
In relief.
My mark glows faintly—silver and gold threads laced into the shape of a crescent moon, just like her father’s pendant.
When she turns to face me, her skin is glowing. Her eyes are molten.
She doesn’t look human anymore.
She looks chosen.
My father steps forward one last time. “It is done.”
The crowd erupts—not in chaos, but in collective breath. There are howls. There are stunned cheers. There are new questions—dozens of them.
But none of them matter right now.
Right now, it’s just me and her.
Maya squeezes my hand. “So… that’s it?”
I grin. “Not quite.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Of course not.”
“You still need to mark me.”
Her eyes widen slightly. Then—shockingly—she smirks. “Publicly?”
