Page 76 of Mane Squeeze
He set the stone down on the coffee table and then turned to her fully. His expression shifted. Gone was the teasing softness. In its place was the full, steady intensity that had always been so uniquely Dominic.
Alpha. Unyielding. Steady as mountain.
“Then I want something too,” he said.
She blinked. “Okay…”
“I want it official.”
“Official?”
He reached out and took both of her hands in his. “I want to marry you. I want you marked. Bound. Not because of magic. Because I’m yours. And I want the realms to know it.”
“Dominic—”
“I don’t care about ceremonies or courts. I don’t need a crowd. Just you, me, and whatever ancient spirits you want to invite to make it official.” His grip tightened, not in force but certainty. “Let me be your mate in every way.”
Her eyes burned. “You already are.”
“Then let’s seal it. Soul to soul.”
She hesitated only a second. “Yes.”
His mouth crushed hers in answer. The kiss was wild, claiming—but beneath it, the thread of reverence stayed.
They moved together again, slow and consuming. This wasn’t desperation or reunion. This was a beginning. A promise. Her rune-laced fingers tangled in his hair, his body mapped hers with hands that knew every scar and curve. When they lay together, breath mingling, magic humming between them, she knew she was exactly where she was meant to be.
Lillith wasn’t afraid of what was to come. Or who would see the real her. She simply… was.
34
DOMINIC
Dominic had survived curses, dream realms, and Thaloryn’s sociopathic smugness, but nothing prepared him for wedding planning in Celestial Pines.
He stood in the middle of the main square, arms crossed and brows drawn as the town bustled around him like enchanted bees in spring. Someone had conjured floating flower garlands that swooped from lantern posts. Markus was barking orders in his usual pine-smoke growl, and Rowan was elbow-deep in ribbon samples, arguing with a witch named Melba about color symbolism.
Dominic’s mate—his soon-to-be wife—was at the center of it all. Lillith looked like magic incarnate in her oversized cardigan and scuffed boots, hair swept into a loose braid that trailed over her shoulder. She was laughing at something Twyla said, her cheeks pink from the morning chill, and the sight of her knocked the wind out of him like it always did.
“Bet you didn’t see this coming when you strolled into town,” Rowan murmured at his side, nudging him with a smirk.
Dominic grunted. “Pretty sure I didn’t see anything past getting that damn tether off me.”
“You were feral about it,” Rowan agreed cheerfully. “And now look at you—domesticated.”
“Careful,” Dominic said, eyes still on Lillith. “I still bite.”
Markus passed them, arms full of chairs, and paused long enough to mutter, “Only one person you’re biting now, Dom.”
That earned a laugh from Rowan and a visible grimace from Dominic. He was still getting used to everyone in town knowing every inch of his business. Apparently being bonded by ancient magic and publicly declaring your mate at a council meeting had that effect.
“Speaking of,” Markus added, dropping the chairs with a heavy thunk, “you mark her yet?”
Dominic turned sharply. “Excuse me?”
Markus didn’t blink. “The mark. The bite. The soul tie. Shifter tradition. Alpha stuff.”
Dominic clenched his jaw. “No.”
