CHAPTER 34

CHAPTER 34
I snapped out of daze slowly, like someone was pulling me out of warm water. My eyes blinked open to darkness, the soft glow of the bedside lamp barely touching the room. For a moment, I didn’t remember where I was.

Then I felt an arm around my waist, strong and warm. Holding me too tightly, like I might slip away if he loosened even an inch. I smiled, knowing that it was Raven.

He slept behind me, chest pressed to my back, breath warm on the side of my neck. His body was tense even in sleep, muscles drawn tight, his hand fisted lightly in the fabric of the shirt I was wearing. I tried to shift just a little, adjusting my position.

He suddenly growled possessively. I looked at him, confused why he was growling in his sleep. It's probably his wolf is scared that something might happen to me and I would vanish again.

“Raven,” I whispered, my voice tired and barely there. His hold tightened. He pulled me completely back against him, forehead dropping to my shoulder as if he were trying to fuse us. I felt his fingers shake against my hip; he is in deep slumber.

“Hey,” I tried again, placing my hand over his. “I’m here.” His breathing hitched, and then he jerked awake, sitting up so fast that the mattress dipped. He looked around the room in panic until he found me.

“Aine,” he breathed, almost collapsing forward again. “Thank the Goddess.” I sat up slowly. “It’s okay. I’m right here.” His eyes were wild, hair messed from sleep, shoulders rising and falling too fast. His wolf was right under the surface. I could see the faint glow in his eyes, the tips of his claws out, small but sharp.

“What happened?” I asked softly.
Raven took a shaky breath and dragged a hand down his face. “I woke up and couldn’t feel you. Your warmth moved, and I—” He stopped, swallowing hard, voice breaking just a little.

“After everything that happened after losing track of you for two weeks. You fought so hard yesterday I was so scared for you to get hurt. I keep thinking I’m going to wake up and you’ll be gone.”My chest tightened, and warmth spread across my body hearing those words.

I didn’t expect those words from him, not from the Alpha who always appeared unshakable. I reached out and touched his cheek. His eyes fluttered closed for a moment, like the touch grounded him.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I whispered. He opened his eyes again, softer this time but still stormy. “You say that like you choose to stay. Like this bond didn’t drag you into my world.” He said with a smirk.

“Maybe it did,” I admitted. “But I’m still choosing to stay.” Something shifted in him at that, quiet and vulnerable.

Raven looked down, his voice barely above a whisper. “When they dragged you out earlier when I couldn’t reach you.?” His jaw clenched. “I’ve never felt fear like that.”

I covered his hand with both of mine. “I know.” We stayed like that for a moment, breathing the same air, the silence heavy but gentle.

Then he lifted his hand and brushed his thumb along my mouth, slow and careful, like he was memorizing the shape of me.

“Aine,” he murmured, eyes holding mine, “I want to mark you.” My breath caught.
He must have felt it, my sudden stillness, the way my heartbeat stumbled. 

“Not to control you. Not to bind you to me in some tradition you don’t understand.” He added, his voice softened, deeper, rawer.

“I want to mark you because I love you. Because I need you anchored to something that won’t ever let you go. I need to know you’ll come back to me, even when everything around us is falling apart.”I didn’t even realize tears had gathered in my eyes until one slipped down my cheek.

“I love you too,” I said sounding out of breath, I had been waiting for him to tell me he loves me for the longest time. He has finally confessed.

He brushed it away gently. I felt confused by the emotional look on his face because he is not always like this. Right now, he looked like a man afraid to hope.

I took a slow breath. “I want it too.”
His eyes snapped to mine, breath catching. “You do?”
I nodded. “I’m tired of running. I’m tired of everything pulling me apart. If marking me means I get to be with you forever then yes. I want that.”

His relief was almost physical. His shoulders dropped, tension leaving him in one long exhale. He cupped my face with both hands and kissed me slowly, softly, nothing like the desperate kisses we shared before.

Like he didn’t want to take, only give.
When he pulled back, he leaned his forehead against mine. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” I whispered. He kissed me again, deeper this time, and then gently moved my hair aside. His breath touched the curve of my neck, warm and steady.

“Aine,” he murmured against my skin, “this won’t hurt. But you’ll feel it.”

“I trust you.” He hesitated only a second then his teeth brushed my skin. A shiver shot through me, heat rolling under my skin like a wave. His wolf hummed through the bond, a warm pull that wrapped around my chest and settled inside me. Then he bit down.

Not painfully, just deep enough for the bond to snap into place, glowing hot under my skin. I gasped, every hair on my body lifting. Power surged through me like someone lit a match in my veins.

My hand shot up to grab his shoulder, not out of fear, but out of instinct, needing him close. He didn’t pull away until the mark sealed itself. When he did, he kissed the spot softly, almost worshipfully.

“Mine,” he whispered, voice thick.
I pressed my forehead to his. “And you’re mine.” The bond felt alive, warm, like a thread of fire connecting our hearts.
He kissed me again slow, deeper this time his thumb caressing my cheek, then my jaw, then my lips like he couldn’t stop touching me.

We fell back onto the bed together, tangled in the sheets, tangled in each other.

Just two people are finally breathing again.
His hand found my waist. “Sleep. I’m not letting go tonight.”I rested my head on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart, steady and strong under my ear.

For the first time in a long time, I felt safe and belonged.