“Do you remember the first time we danced?” she asks, her mismatched eyes bright with memory. “At that pack gathering before…”
“Before I was an idiot?” I finish for her, spinning her out then pulling her back against my chest. “I remember wanting you even then. Being terrified of that want.”
“And now?” Her voice carries a hint of challenge that makes my blood heat.
“Now I know exactly what I want.” Leaning down, I brush my lips against our mating mark. Through our bond, I feel her pleasure. “Want to find somewhere more private and let me show you?”
Her pulse jumps, but she maintains her composure as she leads me toward the sanctuary’s private office. As soon as the door closes behind us, I have her pressed against it, my hands sliding under her shirt to find bare skin.
“Someone’s eager,” she teases, although her own arousal floods our bond.
“Can you blame me?” I nip at her neck, loving how she arches into my touch. “Watching you all day, being so strong and capable. Making my father’s worst fears come true by teaching outcasts and changing traditions.”
She laughs, the sound turning into a moan as I find a sensitive spot. “If that’s what gets you going, just wait until you see what other changes I have planned.”
Growling playfully, I lift her up, letting her wrap her legs around my waist. “Tell me later. Right now I need?—”
A knock at the door interrupts us. Through our bond, mutual frustration spikes as Pack Amethyst’s alpha calls through the wood: “Sorry to interrupt, but we need to discuss the training schedule…”
Aurora’s eyes meet mine, full of promises for later. Straightening our clothes, we return to our duties as leaders. But the heat between us simmers, making every accidental touch electric with anticipation.
The rest of the evening passes in a blur of diplomatic discussions and celebration. I watch with pride as Aurora handles complex negotiations between packs, her natural diplomacy smoothing ruffled feathers and building bridges. Several more alphas pledge to send their people here for training.
“We’re really doing this,” she says later as we watch the last guests depart. “Creating something new.”
“We are.” Pulling her close, I breathe in her scent. “Together.”
Through our bond, I feel her happiness and contentment, her fierce pride in what we’ve built. But there’s something else too—a spark of mischief that makes me raise an eyebrow.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking,” she says, her hands sliding up my chest, “that we have this whole sanctuary to ourselves now. And that office door locks.”
Heat floods me as she takes my hand, leading me back inside. The building that represents so much of our new partnership becomes the backdrop for a different kind of unity—one celebrated with heated kisses and desperate touches, with moans and thrusts and nails digging into bare flesh.
Later, as we lie tangled together on the office couch, I trace patterns on her warm skin and marvel at how far we’ve come. The broken boy who let his father’s toxic influence push away his mate is gone, replaced by someone who finally understands how to be a leader better than the one who came before. And the outcast shifter who couldn’t shift has become a leader in her own right, teaching us all how to come together and work through our differences.
“I love you,” I tell her, meaning it with every spark of my soul that sings for hers. “Everything you are, everything you’ve helped me become.”
“I love you too.” She snuggles closer, radiating contentment through our bond. “Even when you’re marking me like I’m your territory.”
“I’m not—” Her knowing look cuts off my protest. “Okay, maybe a little. But can you blame me? You’re kind of amazing. I have to make sure all the other shifters who visit today can smell me on my mate.”
“Smooth talker.” But I feel her pleasure at the praise. “Keep that up and we might have to christen a few more rooms in this place.”
The suggestion sends arousal straight to my cock. “Is that a promise?”
Her answering kiss is all the assurance I need. As celebration continues in the distance and the sanctuary settles into itspurpose, I hold my mate close and thank whatever twist of fate brought us back together.
The future stretches out before us, full of challenges and changes. But we’ll face them as we should have from the start—side by side, stronger together than apart.
Just as fate always intended.
Epilogue
Dana
“Keep your guard up next time.” Pacing around the young shifter currently face-down in the dirt of the training arena, I try to keep my smirk to myself. “Just because you have supernatural healing abilities doesn’t mean you should take hits you can avoid.”
