Page 76 of The Reaper's Vow
“When I was young,” he says slowly, “my grandmother used to tell me about bonds so rare the Moon Goddess herself intervened. She called them true mates. Two souls cut from the same breath of the moon. It’s said their wolves recognize each other instantly, no matter rank, bloodline, or pack. But that kind of connection…” He shakes his head, half-laughing under his breath. “I thought it was a fairytale. Every wolf does.”
The bond hums between us, alive, pulling tighter with each heartbeat. I can feel everything inside him. His pulse syncs with mine until I can’t tell whose heart is beating faster.
“So we’re…” I try to speak, but the words catch in my throat.
“Bound. Completely. This isn’t just instinct or proximity. It’s the Goddess’s mark. No one can undo it. Not my father. Not Lockhart. Not anyone.”
His thumb lingers, the glow fading slowly between us but the bond thrumming stronger, steady as breath. “I used to think true mates were just something elders said to make the bond sound holy,” he admits quietly. “Now I know why they feared it. You can’t control something the Goddess claims for herself.”
Relief floods me so completely that it blurs my vision. In a world where everything else has been taken from me—my identity, my past, my sense of self—this connection is the one thing that cannot be stolen.
“I can feel you,” I say softly, reaching up to touch his face. “Not just physically. I can feel you inside me. Your thoughts, your emotions...”
He turns his face to press a kiss against my palm.
I close my eyes, focusing on the sensation. It's like having another heartbeat alongside my own—steady, powerful, undeniable. Where before I felt his emotions as vague impressions, now they flow through me with crystal clarity. His fierce, protective love that burns so bright it almost hurts to feel it.
“I thought it would happen tomorrow,” I murmur, tracing my fingers the mark on my neck. It feels different now—settled, permanent.
“So did I.” Damien shifts his weight, carefully pulling out of me before gathering me against his chest. The physical separation doesn't diminish our mental connection at all. If anything, it grows stronger as he cradles me against him. “Thistype of bond doesn't follow normal rules. They're governed by something older than pack law.”
I curl into him, my body still trembling with aftershocks. For the first time in what feels like forever, I feel more like myself than I ever have. The future is still uncertain, the danger far from over—but in his arms, I find something solid to hold onto. Something real.
We lie in silence, the kind that doesn’t demand to be filled. Outside, the wind rustles through the trees, and somewhere in the distance, a wolf howls.
The sound doesn’t frighten me anymore.
Because I’m not alone.
And I never will be again.
Damien
We’ve spent the entire day in my room. Fucking and sleeping. We’ve claimed each other in every sense. Karina’s scent has seeped into every inch of the room—into me, too. Wolf and man both satisfied but never sated. Over and over again until her body couldn’t take it anymore. She fell asleep hours ago in my arms just as the sun began to set.
For hours, I lie awake. Unable to close my eyes for even a single second for fear that she will just disappear. That the last few days were a daydream. Afraid that I will wake up and none of this was real. Even now, watching the sunrise paint gold acrossKarina's sleeping face, I’m unable to look away, The world could be ending around us, and I would not notice. Maybe it is.
I brush a strand of dark hair from her cheek, my fingers trembling slightly. Even this small touch sends ripples through our connection, echoing back to me in waves of contentment that aren't entirely mine. The silver mark on her neck gleams in the early light—proof that the impossible has happened. True mates.
My wolf paces beneath my skin, no longer restless but watchful, protective. He's finally at peace after a lifetime of searching for something I didn't even know was missing.
“I will burn the fucking world down before I let anyone touch you,” I whisper, though she can't hear me.
But she can feel me. Even in sleep, I sense her consciousness brushing against mine—a feather-light touch that makes my chest ache with something I've never felt before. Is this what it means to be whole? This certainty that part of my soul now lives outside my body, wrapped in her skin?
Karina sighs in her sleep, turning toward me like a flower seeking the sun. The sheet slips down, revealing the curve of her shoulder, the gentle slope of her breast. My body responds instantly, hardening with want, but I make no move to wake her. She needs the rest after everything her body has endured.
A soft knock at my door breaks the morning quiet. I'm up instantly, my body moving with predatory silence as I slip from the bed without disturbing her. The knock comes again, more insistent this time.
I pull on a pair of jeans and pad barefoot to the door, cracking it open just wide enough to see Gabriel standing in the hallway. His expression is carefully neutral, but I catch the tension in his shoulders.
“What?” I growl.
“Your father requests your presence. Immediately.” Gabriel tries to peer past me into the room, but I block his view with my body. “There's been a development.”
Ice floods my veins. “What kind of development?”
“Lockhart's people were spotted at the southern border an hour ago. They're requesting a meeting.”
