Page 9 of An Ancient Bond

Mine.

And then the screaming began. Shouts of “Silver!” and “Coward!” filled the night. The scent of blood. The howls and cries of dying wolves.

Horrified, I watched as the shifter I’d only glimpsed threw himself into the battle. I never saw him again.

7

A Home in the Heart

REBIN

“It’s you,” Annalise whispered as we lay together, our bodies entwined. For some reason, tears streamed down her face, and mine. “It’s really you.”

While I held her, she whispered a story from her youth, back when she was almost a child herself, at eighteen. A visit to another pack, her first away from the Mountain packlands, that ended in death and, eventually, war.

“It’s you,” she repeated, moving a finger slowly down my profile, her eyes bright.

I was confused, but my wolf wasn’t.I let myself feel him inside me. He was quiet, but not sleeping as he’d done for so long.

That wasn’t what had my breath catching in my throat. It was the sheer strength of him.

Until today, I’d felt relatively young, and fairly inexperienced. But my wolf’s mind was wide and endless like the sky itself. Mighty as the sea, and deep as a glacier.

Old, my wolf mused, his voice a thrum of power. Our sweet young mate thinks she is old. Well, she is. We are.

We are old?

We are.

That was all he would say, but I caught a vision of two wolves running together, both with white coats. Then another, one red and small, one massive and silver-black. Another flash, and again there were two tawny gold wolves, curled around two babies, though the male was twice the size of his mate, and the infants were not much larger than his paws.

We are, my wolf repeated, though I am far older than she. Remind her of that. Guard her well, brother. Love her well.

I felt him withdraw from my waking mind the way a tide pulls back from a shore.

“What is it, Rebin?”

My own eyes were wide now as I shared his words with Annalise. Those lush lips parted slightly, and I couldn’t resist pressing a kiss to them.

She pulled back first. “I don’t understand. How is it possible? Your wolf… He’s older than me?”

“Far older is what he said,” I answered. “He feels strong. I’m—” I broke off, unsure how to express what I was feeling. Insecurity, fear… and a touch of awe.

Why did my wolf feel so different? If he was powerful, what had kept him from me for so long? Why did his voice echo with the same thunder I’d only ever heard in Alpha Samuel’s commands?

For all I knew, this was how every shifter felt when they met their wolf side. I’d been isolated from the pack for years, and before then, my former friends hadn’t spoken of their wolves in front of me, not wanting to rub salt in the wound of my failure.

“Rebin?” From the way she tensed, I could tell Annalise had picked up on my turbulent emotions. But when I focused on our bond, her own were every bit as wild. I felt a surge of what felt like wonder mixed with shock as she leaned across my chest, capturing my mouth.

I was grateful for the distraction, as the banked fire of our passion roared into flames again. The mystery of my wolf could wait. Exploring the mysteries of my mate’s perfection was far more enticing.

I rolled her to her back and worked my way down her body, wondering at the miracle that she was. Her brown skin almost glowed against the white sheets, and grew brighter as I explored her body once more, though my thoughts never fully quieted.

Eventually, we both slept, and woke again. This time, she spoke first. “Maybe… No. It’s crazy.”

I smiled as she turned to me. “What? Me loving you so much already?”

She covered her cheeks with her hands. “No, the… You love me? Really?”

---