Page 245 of Unmarked
“Next time you decide to weaponize your last name, maybe tell me first.”
Lucian’s lips twitch - half amusement, half regret. “Noted.”
Theo exhales slow through his nose. “So. You’re in?”
Lucian doesn’t blink.
“If that’s what Rhea wants, then yes. I’ll mark her.” He looks at me, then -reallylooks at me. “And together,” he says quietly, “we’ll form a pack.”
Something in my chest swells. A lightness, a warmth. Like every scattered part of me finally remembered where it belongs.
I reach across the counter to take his hand. Lucian’s fingers curl around mine instantly, strong and steady and sure. The connection between us sparks to life again, low and golden, the bond humming like it knows exactly what we’re choosing.
He feels it too. I can tell.
His thumb brushes along my knuckles, and for a moment, the world fades out.
I lean over the counter before I can second-guess it and press my lips to his. It’s a chaste brush - all soft and warm and certain - and for once, it’s not about possession or heat or claiming. It’s something else. Something simple.
Yes.
When I pull back, I don’t say it out loud. I don’t have to.
Lucian’s eyes are warm and a little wide, like he wasn’t expecting the kiss, but felt every second of it. And I know he hears me through the bond, that he feels the calm inside me, the joy, thepeace.
The happiness I’m sharing with him freely.
His mouth lifts into something real. Something unguarded.
Behind us, Theo doesn’t speak, but I see the faintest hint of a smile tug at the edge of his mouth.
For the first time, it doesn’t feel like chaos.
It feels likehome.
Chapter-Fifty
Rhea
The library is gorgeous in a pretentious,I have generational wealth and an unsettling obsession with mahoganykind of way.
But I’m not here to ogle the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves or wonder whether that leather armchair costs more than my rent used to. No, I’m here because Theo called a meeting like he’s the world’s hottest school counselor, and apparently, when the gentle alpha summons, the rest fall in line.
Kai’s the last to arrive. Obviously.
He strolls in with a handful of grapes he definitely didn’t wash and flops onto a couch with all the dignity of a cat knocking something off a table.
“What’s the crisis?” he asks, grape in mouth. “Rhea stubbed her toe and now we’re legally married?”
Lucian exhales sharply through his nose. Not quite a laugh.
But then his gaze finds mine - sharp and hot - and holds.
The bond between us is a taut wire now, humming with everything we’re not saying.
Frustration. Want. Possession.
An ache I can feel like fingerprints against my skin.
