I laugh, the sound low and real. “Not unless you want to give the pack a show.”
She rolls her eyes. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter 15
Maya
Everything smells different now.
I know how ridiculous that sounds. I’m still me. My sweater still smells like pine needles and detergent. The truck still smells like old leather and Bolton’s woodsy cologne. But underneath all of that—there’s more. Layers I couldn’t sense before. The distant rain trapped in the roots. The nervous sweat of the boys walking out of the arena. The pride rolling off Mom like thunderclouds ready to burst.
The world has teeth now. And I can feel every one of them.
We’re riding in silence through the trees, Bolton’s truck rattling over the uneven trail that leads back to paved roads. Branches scratch faintly along the windows as we pass, the headlights carving narrow tunnels of silver through the woods. It’s quiet.
He hasn’t said much since we left the clearing. Maybe he’s giving me space. Maybe he’s processing, too. Or maybe—maybe we’re both just caught in this heavy thing hanging betweenus. Not words. Not even thoughts.
I glance sideways. His hand rests on the wheel, steady and sure, but there’s a tightness in his grip—like he’s trying to hold everything together without making a sound. His shoulders are relaxed, but his jaw’s firm, like he’s thinking too much and doesn’t trust his mouth not to betray him.
He doesn’t speak. Neither do I.
We don’t need to.
The space between us is charged and quiet, like the air right before lightning touches down. It’s not awkward—it’s just full. Full of something new. Something huge.
Because I shifted.
And because he’s mine.
Because I said yes to it—maybe not out loud, but in every way that mattered. My wolf chose his without a second of doubt.
This is real. And permanent.
Mate.
The word hasn’t stopped echoing since the moment I felt his teeth at my neck. It sounds too big for my brain. Too forever for someone who hasn’t even finished senior year. But it’s there now. Tied into every breath I take.
Bolton looks straight ahead, like the road’s the only thing keeping him grounded right now.
Maybe it is.
Because we both know this isn’t just crushes and hallway looks and slow dances. This is bigger. Older. Cosmic, maybe.
And I’ve never had another love before this.
I won’t ever have another after.
That doesn’t scare me as much as it should.
It just feels… inevitable.
Like this was always going to be our road.
I turn back to the window as the forest blurs past. My own reflection in the glass looks sharper than I remember—the same eyes, the same braid over my shoulder—but something behind them changed. Something that won’t fit back into the life I had before.
I shifted. I bonded.
And I’m his.
