Page 87 of The Beta's Heart

“It’s beautiful,” I said sincerely, and River leaned closer, his golden eyes shining with happiness.

“Love you, Dovie. So much.”

“I love you, too, River. You are my life now. I don’t have a box of treasures to give you, but Idohave something else I want you to have.”

“A surprise? Forme? FromDovie?” His face morphed into pure happiness, making my heart clench in my chest.

“If you want it. You can say no if you don’t.”

“Me want! Me want it, Dovie!”

“You don’t even know what it is yet, my love,” I laughed.

“If from my Dovie, is good. Is wonnerful!”

That made my smile grow, and I made sure Peri and Tyler were both good with what I wanted to do. Getting their consent, I told him that I wanted to mark him. He blinked at me several times, and Peri told me he was talking with Tyler, who was explaining that, by marking him, I was binding him to me for the rest of his life.

“Already am,” he said, his face wrinkling up in confusion. “Me is Dovie and mate’s til last breaf, Ty-Ty.”

“It would deepen the bond between us,” I told him, unsure now if this was a good idea, “and it’s a symbol of how honored I am to be your mate.”

“Honor? Honor wif Charlie at dah O.”

The feeling we had when the alphas asked us to be luna’s beta,Tyler jumped in.That is what it means to be honored. She is proud to be your mate.

“More than that, I respect you and the love and commitment you are offering me, and I want to recognize that with my mark, but I don’t have to if you don’t want me to,” I added quickly.

“No! No, Dovie!” His brow lowered and his eyes flared even brighter gold.

Nodding, I started to move away, thinking he might want or need space, but the next thing I knew, he was pulling off his shirt. NowIwas the confused one, especially when he clumsily tugged me into a hug and angled my face to press right above the scar on his chest. I have to admit, I wasn’t much for physical contact, but the mate sparks made me feel nice and warm, and he smelled so very lovely.

“River?” I murmured, taking a deep inhale of his lilac scent.

“Dovie mark me. Honor me wif mark.”

Oh.Oh!

“Is this… Is this the right spot?” I wasn’t really interested in kissing around to find out, and Peri giggled at my distaste.

“Yep-yep! Right spot! Ty-Ty go all shivy when mate kiss it!”

Thankfully, Peri guided me to theexactlocation, and I glanced up at my mate to make sure he was really okay with this, and his brilliant smile convinced me. Dropping my canines, I plunged them in, purring as the moon magic flowed between us, then withdrew and lapped up the tiny dots of blood.

Examining my handiwork with a satisfied grunt, I pulled back and used the link to show River—and Tyler—the rather simple line drawing of me walking along the top of his scar as if it were a path I wanted to follow. Riv, I knew, would need the symbolism explained, but I was sure that Tyler would appreciate it.

“Wonnerful, Dovie,” River rasped, his eyes glittering with tears, as Tyler voiced his compliments and gratitude to Peri. “So nice. Tanks you. Me love it.”

“You’re welcome, and I loveyou.”

20. Through Thick and Thin

Peri

Most shifters took a week of vacation when they found their mates, similar to how humans went on honeymoons, and Tyler was made to do so, too, regardless of whether he wanted to or not.

When he showed up for fighter practice the second day after his birthday, Ash literally carried him out to his SUV and alpha-commanded his ass to go back home.

So we enjoyed ourselves and our alone time, but by day three, we were both rather raw from ‘rabbiting,’ and our wolves were getting annoyed with our constant requests for healing, so we decided to get out of the house for a bit.

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