"For now," Cade agreed, though his expression remained tense. "But we need to do more than just stabilize it. We need to repair the damage."
The inn groaned around them as another tremor shook the foundation, reminding them both that time was running short. Above their heads, the supernatural storm continued to rage, though its fury had diminished since they'd joined their magic together.
"How do we repair something this old?" Lyra asked, kneeling beside the rune. "I barely understand how it works, let alone how to fix it."
"The same way the founders did originally," Cade said, settling beside her. "With intention, sacrifice, and absolute trust in each other."
His words carried weight that went beyond the immediate crisis, and Lyra found herself studying his profile in the rune's ethereal glow. "You mean the bond. The complete bond."
"I mean choosing each other," Cade said, turning to meet her eyes. "Not because magic is forcing us to, not because the town needs us to, but because we want to. Because what we have is worth fighting for."
The distinction mattered in ways Lyra was only beginning to understand. Everything that had happened between them so far had been colored by external pressures—magical compulsions, supernatural necessity, the weight of responsibilities neither of them had asked for. But this moment, here in the cellar with the storm raging above and the ancient seal failing beneath, felt like the first time they were truly choosing each other freely.
"The founders' bond wasn't just about power," Lyra said, understanding beginning to dawn. "It was about trust. About being willing to share everything—magic, emotion, even vulnerability."
"Especially vulnerability," Cade agreed. "Magical bonds require truth, Lyra. Complete honesty about who we are and what we want."
"And what do you want?"
Cade's green eyes had gone dark with intensity, and when he spoke, his voice carried the rough edge which was a sign his wolf lurked close very close to the surface. "I want you. Not just for tonight, not just until this crisis passes, but for as long as you'llhave me. I want to build something real with you, something that exists because we choose it to exist."
The words hit Lyra in the heart, body and soul, sending warmth spiraling through her chest and making her magic sing in harmony with his wolf's energy. "Even knowing what it means? What we'll have to share?"
"Especially knowing what it means." Cade reached up to cup her face in his hands, his thumbs tracing the line of her cheekbones with careful precision. "I've spent years convinced I was better off alone, that caring about someone meant giving them the power to destroy me. But you've already destroyed me, Lyra. You've taken apart everything I thought I knew about myself and put it back together in ways that make me stronger."
"Cade," she breathed, leaning into his touch.
"I love your chaos," he continued, his voice dropping to the intimate rumble that made her bones melt. "I love your stubbornness and your courage and the way you threaten people with butter knives when you're scared. I love that you stayed in this town even when everything about it should have sent you running. And I love that you're willing to sacrifice yourself to protect people you've known for less than two weeks."
Tears pricked Lyra's eyes at the conviction in his voice. "I love you too. I love your grumpiness and your overprotectiveness and the way you carry everyone else's welfare on your shoulders like it's your personal responsibility. I love that you see something in me worth protecting, even when I can't see it myself."
"Then let me show you," Cade said, and the words carried the weight of ancient ritual and modern promise alike.
When he kissed her this time, it was nothing like the desperate claiming in the cellar that had started their bond. This was reverent, deliberate, a conscious choice to open themselves completely to each other. Lyra could feel Cade's wolf throughthe connection, no longer a separate entity but an integral part of who he was—protective, devoted, fierce with love that went beyond rational thought.
Their magic began to merge as they kissed, wolf energy and chaos power weaving together in patterns that felt both ancient and utterly new. The founder's mark on Lyra's palm blazed with warmth that spread up her arm and through her entire body, and she could feel Cade's wolf responding with equal intensity.
"Not here," he said against her mouth, pulling back enough to speak. "Not on a stone floor with the world falling apart around us. You deserve better."
"The world is falling apart around us," Lyra pointed out, though she was already letting him help her to her feet. "And I'm not sure we have time for romance."
"We make time," Cade said firmly. "This matters too much to rush."
They made their way upstairs to her bedroom—the room she'd claimed as her own in the inn's residential wing. It was simply furnished but comfortable, with a four-poster bed that had probably been there since Vera's time and windows that looked out over the garden toward the falls.
The supernatural storm was still visible through the glass, lightning fracturing the sky in patterns that definitely weren't natural. But here, in this room with its thick walls and protective wards, the chaos felt distant and manageable.
"Are you sure about this?" Lyra asked as Cade closed the door behind them. "The complete bond—there's no taking it back once it's formed."
"I've never been more sure of anything in my life," Cade said, moving toward her with the fluid grace that marked him as predator even in human form. "Have you?"
Lyra considered the question seriously, thinking about everything that had brought them to this moment. The magicaldisasters, the supernatural politics, the weight of responsibilities she'd never asked for—all of it had led to this choice, this person, this love that felt bigger than both of them.
"No," she said finally. "I've never been sure of anything. But I'm sure of you."
Her statement seemed to break something in Cade’s careful control.
He crossed the room in three powerful strides, his eyes burning, his jaw tight with emotion. When he gathered her into his arms, it wasn’t just lust—it was desperation threaded with reverence, the aching vulnerability of a man who’d almost lost everything and still couldn’t believe she’d chosen him.
