They’d been fighting it ever since they’d met—the biological imperative insisting they belonged together, the growing emotional connection defying logic and timing and every rational reason that it was complicated and dangerous and inconvenient.
But standing in the empty hall where they’d just helped save the entire shifter community from systematic destruction, she surrendered.
I love you,she said, the words coming out rough with honesty.I don’t know how it happened so fast, don’t understand why the universe decided to pair me with someone whose pack I was hunting.But I love you.
Joy and relief flooded their connection as Conall closed the distance between them in two swift strides.
I love you too,he said against her mouth, his words barely audible before his lips claimed hers with desperate hunger.
The kiss said everything their bond was singing to them, carried all their suppressed emotion, his wolf’s satisfaction at her surrender, her wolf’s howling desire.Her own recognition that this moment marked the end of running from what they were and his that it was the beginning of building something together.
All their love for each other.
When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, she rested her forehead against his and marveled at how right this felt.
The bond,she said, not quite a question.If we stop fighting it…
It completes,he finished, understanding exactly what she was asking.Full mate bond.Permanent.No going back.
The possibility should have terrified her—that level of connection, the vulnerability, the way their lives would be fundamentally intertwined in ways she’d never experienced.
Instead, she found herself smiling with a fierce joy that had nothing to do with tactical advantage and everything to do with choosing to trust someone completely.
No going back,she repeated, then met his gaze with no trace of the fear that had defined so much of her adult life.Good.I’m tired of running from the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
This time when he kissed her, the mate bond didn’t just pulse between them—it opened completely, barriers dissolving as their emotions merged in ways going far beyond simple connection.
Suddenly she could feel his wolf as clearly as her own, could sense his thoughts and reactions and the profound relief that came from finally accepting what biology and choice had created between them.
The completed bond was overwhelming—not just shared awareness but shared strength, enhanced healing, perfect coordination that would make them more effective together than either could ever be alone.
But underneath all the biological advantages ran something simpler and more precious: absolute certainty that they belonged together, that they’d chosen each other completely despite every obstacle that had stood in their way.
For the first time since childhood, Nadine found herself looking forward to an uncertain future with anticipation rather than dread.
She’d spent years as Gregory’s weapon—then, when she’d met Conall while hunting innocent people based on her father’s lies, she’d pivoted to fighting a connection that terrified her with its intensity.
Now she was exactly what she’d chosen to become: protector, partner, and mate to someone who saw her not as a tool to be used but as a person to be loved.
For a moment, Nadine simply reveled in her certainty that she’d finally found her real family.Not the father who had shaped her into a weapon, but the pack that had chosen to trust her despite every reason for suspicion.
The mate who had refused to let her face danger alone.
And the twin brother who had learned that love multiplied rather than divided.
Let’s go home,she said.
As her mate wrapped one arm around her waist and led her out onto the sidewalk of downtown Sunburst, she glanced around at all the pack members going about their day around her.In Conall’s arms, surrounded by the pack that had become her family, Nadine truly understood whathomemeant.
And she’d never been more ready for anything in her life.
EPILOGUE
TWO DAYS OF COORDINATINGpack communications had given Quinton enough time to recognize the patterns everyone else was missing.
The Stardust Pack’s responses to their intelligence briefings arrived either too late or too detailed, suggesting someone was filtering information before it reached Alpha Dylan Montoya.
Cross-references between their asset lists and Stardust’s personnel records showed gaps where there should have been matches.
