Chapter 207: Darkness and necessity

Through the fog of need, one clear thought remained. My fangs scraped my own lip. The urge to sink them into the inviting column of his throat was magnetic, but I forced myself to choose differently.

"C-can’t bite your neck," I whispered, arms wrapping around his shoulders as I nuzzled the place just above his collarbone. Another gland waited there—but the pain would be far worse.

"Mmm. Bite wherever you want, my soul." The alpha’s voice was pure gravel against my ear. He dragged his tongue wetly over the lobe and nipped.

"It’ll hurt," I warned, pressing a soft kiss into the hollow.

"I’ll take any pain from you. I’ll endure all of it—just stay with me." His hands left my hips and settled at my waist instead. Trustingly, he tipped his head to the side and rested it against my shoulder.

I love you.

The simple surrender stung the back of my nose with unexpected tears. Trust tasted bittersweet on my tongue.

Fate had never been gentle with us. We did not mark each other the way soft werewolf romances promised—on silk sheets, in pure pleasure and perfect romance. Our marks were earned in darkness and necessity.

I gave myself no time for pity. I rode him harder, chasing the white-hot flash of shared release. The moment we both broke and tumbled into the abyss, I sank my fangs into the flesh above his collarbone, tearing through without mercy until I reached the gland.

One second later, liquid sin flooded my mouth—sweet iron and pure him—sinking into the deepest part of my nature and binding us tighter still. Whole. One.

I released him and licked the wound clean, slow and thorough. For the first time in three months, something inside me finally quieted. His arms closed around me, offering heat and shelter and the unbreakable promise of home.

I felt him as if he were part of my own body. The mark on my arm burned hot. We broke apart at the same moment and stared at our wrists.

The missing petals of the rose were blooming back into place on both of our skins, restoring the design that had crumbled five years ago. No empty spaces remained. The mark was whole again—perfect, as it had once been.

Only then did it seem we both remembered how to breathe. Our eyes met in shared shock. The bond between our hearts stretched taut, a single scarlet thread of fate pulling us closer still.

"I love you."

We whispered the words in perfect unison, folding into each other’s arms. The fierce heat that had consumed us only moments before melted away, leaving only quiet, profound tenderness in its place.

***

Wrapping my down jacket tighter in an effort to shield myself from the biting wind, I pressed my trembling lips together.

Deep inside my chest, behind my ribs, the ache was unbearable. If Magnus had endured this exact agonising pull for all five years we were apart, I had no idea how he hadn’t lost his mind. A gnawing anxiety prickled through every cell in my body, refusing to fade no matter what I did.

The moment I stepped out of the cell, numbness engulfed me. Time had been short—cruelly, agonizingly short. Yet considering we might have been granted no time at all, I supposed we were extraordinarily fortunate.

Magnus was fully intent on wringing his friend’s neck, and I was already secretly browsing resort tickets for a two-week getaway, hoping to intercept my husband before he could carry out his threat.

The man had been beside himself with worry, pressing me for every detail of what had transpired. After we finally pulled apart, we had barely five minutes left to talk while throwing our clothes back on. His fury over everything he learned burned so fiercely that the guard who had shoved me earlier could barely stand under the crushing weight of his aura when unlocking the door.

The poor bastard even suffered a nosebleed from the sheer clash of pressure—presumably from trying to aggressively suppress Magnus’s power.

In truth, I had only ever encountered one other male with a force and sheer malice comparable to Magnus’s, and that was my own brother. I had suspected the Alphas at the union council were far from weak, but none of them had dared release their aura in my presence.

"Get in the car. Your lips are already turning blue," Sayan growled, blowing a cloud of cigarette smoke toward the overcast sky.

"N-no. It’s too stuffy in there, and I need to cool my head," I muttered, pulling my collar higher as a shiver ran through me.

"And here I thought you two were making up for lost time and enjoying each other’s touch, but he was just chewing your ear off instead. You’re both losing your edge. Does this mean the funeral by the dumpster is off, and we’ll actually get some peace near your bedroom?" Sayan drawled with a smirking squint, snuffing out his cigarette butt with precision in the snow near the dock.

"Right. Rubbed ointment on our aching backs and went straight to sleep. Too old for romantic late-night rendezvous..." I shot back with a dry jab. He clearly hadn’t expected that level of snark, cause his eyebrows shot up before he broke into a grumble.

"I’ve created a monster. You were so sweet back when you kept your mouth shut, I swear. I made a huge mistake befriending Magnus. Instead of begging for martial arts classes as a kid, I should have taken up ballet."

"It’s never too late to pivot, though I’d rather not see you in sheer tights and a leotard. My fragile mental state wouldn’t survive the trauma, and therapy doesn’t come cheap these days."

"Please," Sayan snorted, glancing up into the dark expanse of the sky. "Your man has more wealth than three city budgets combined—and those are just his visible assets."

"Are they flying in?" I asked, burying my hands deeper into my pockets and shifting my weight on the crunching snow as I searched the gloom above. I was freezing to death, but being left alone with my own thoughts felt even worse. It was suffocating.