Page 50 of Mate Night Snack
"So what does that mean?" Katniss asked. "In practical terms, I mean. If we're mates but we're choosing it rather than just accepting it, how does that work?"
Emmett was quiet for a moment, considering. "It means we make our own rules. Create our own bond instead of letting instinct drive us." He traced his thumb over her palm, feeling the delicate bones beneath her skin. "It means we promise each other things that matter more than magic."
"What kind of promises?"
"The kind that hold even when everything else falls apart." He shifted closer, close enough that her citrus and bergamot scent wrapped around him like comfort. "I promise to trust your judgment even when my wolf wants to lock you away somewhere safe. I promise to tell you the truth, even when it's ugly. I promise to fight beside you instead of just fighting for you."
Katniss turned their hands over, lacing their fingers together. "I promise to stay and fight instead of running when things get hard. I promise to see the man you choose to be, not just the one you used to be. I promise to trust you with my heart and my safety and my future."
"And if the mate bond kicks in anyway? If the magic tries to take over?"
She leaned closer, her forehead almost touching his. "Then we remind ourselves that we chose this first. That whatever the bond gives us is just a bonus on top of what we built ourselves and we will always have control, especially against Ashwin. Just because he broke the others doesn't mean he can break us."
Emmett lifted his free hand to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing over the soft skin beneath her eye. "You sure about this? Once we do this, once we acknowledge what we are to each other, there's no going back. Ashwin will use it against us."
"Let him try." Her eyes blazed with determination and something fiercer, something that looked like love mixed with lightning. "I'm tired of letting fear make my choices for me in life. I’m finally ready to have my own story instead of trying to write someone else’s."
The space between them disappeared as naturally as breathing. Emmett leaned in and kissed her, soft at first, then deeper when she responded by sliding her hand into his hair and pulling him closer. She tasted like Twyla's magical tea and something sweeter, something that was purely her own.
When they broke apart, both breathing hard, Katniss rested her forehead against his.
“I feel like we just said wedding vows,” she said with a soft laugh.
“In a way, we did.” He let himself finally smile
"So how do we mark this?" she asked. "How do we make it official without all the traditional magical compulsion?"
"With our words," he said simply. "With our choices. With promises we make to each other instead of to fate."
She smiled, the expression transforming her face from pretty to radiant. "Then mark me, Emmett Hollowell. Make me yours the way I want to be yours."
He kissed her again, slower this time, savoring the moment. Against her lips, he whispered, "You're mine, Katniss Greaves.Not because the fates decided it, but because I choose you. Because you choose me. Because we're building something together that's stronger than magic.”
"And you're mine," she whispered back, her breath warm against his mouth. "Because you make me braver than I thought I could be. Because you see me and love me anyway. Because home isn't a place anymore, it's wherever you are."
“And when the time is right, I’ll mark you the shifter way," he promised with a low sexy growl followed by a deep, promising kiss.
"I love you," he said, the words coming easier now that he'd said them once. "Whatever happens with Ashwin, whatever this town throws at us, that's not going to change. I’m not running from you anymore."
"I love you too." She curled against his side, fitting perfectly beneath his arm like she'd been made for this exact spot. "And whatever happens, we face it together."
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, watching the fire dance and listening to the evening sounds of the forest beyond the windows. Emmett's fingers traced idle patterns on her shoulder, marveling at how natural this felt, how right. Like coming home after a long journey he hadn't realized he'd been taking.
"So," Katniss said eventually, her voice lazy with contentment. "What happens now? Do we tell people? Make some kind of announcement?"
"If you want to." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her shampoo mixed with pine and woodsmoke. "Though honestly, I think most of the town already knows. Twyla's been giving us knowing looks since you got here, and Maeve's been making jokes about my 'mate scent' since the day you arrived."
Katniss laughed, the sound vibrating through his chest. "Of course they have. I should have known it wasn’t as subtle as I had tried to make it."
"Nothing's subtle in a town this size." He tightened his arms around her, already dreading the moment when he'd have to let her go back to the inn. "Especially not when it involves the local grouch falling head over heels for the mysterious stranger with the sharp tongue."
"Hey," she protested, poking him in the ribs. "I prefer 'charmingly sarcastic' to 'sharp-tongued.'"
"I'll make a note." He caught her hand and brought it to his lips, pressing a kiss to her palm. "Stay tonight?"
The question was quiet, hopeful, carrying the weight of everything they'd just promised each other. Katniss looked up at him, her eyes soft with affection and something that might have been relief.
"I thought you'd never ask."
