When we are one

Chapter 6 Ezra’s POV

She is mine.

I knew it the moment I scented her. No doubts. No questions. No hesitation.

And yet… my human hesitates. He resists. Fights me every step of the way.

Why?

Because she’s a rogue?

Because the world told him to be afraid?

Foolish.

I feel her. Every emotion. Every breath. When she hurts, it rips through me like claws down my spine. And today… today I felt her break. The pain that flooded us when she dropped into that trance—gods, it was unbearable.

I begged him to stay. To hold her. To protect her.

But he walked away.

He left our mate behind.

Weak.

He hits the bag at the gym, and I snarl in his mind. That bag isn’t the enemy. The enemy is within—the fear that claws through his thoughts, telling him she doesn’t belong. That she’s dangerous. That she will ruin everything.

She will save us.

When he sees her with Briar, I feel the rage boil again. She laughs. So freely. So beautifully. That sound wraps around my soul like a tether—and still, he pushes her away.

She steps close. Close enough for me to taste her breath in the air. My instincts scream to take her, to claim her. But Corbin... he turns his back.

He leaves her again.

And she watches him go, fury rising in her. She’s not afraid. Not broken. Not yet. But we are pushing her to the edge.

I try to claw forward. To speak through him.

Let her in.

Let her see us.

But he shuts me out.

Later, when we patrol, I remain restless beneath his skin. Every rustle of leaves makes me turn. Every scent on the wind, I test. I am looking for her. Always.

Then—there she is.

Her scent curls around us like silk, silver and wild.

He feels it too. He stops. Eyes narrowing as moonlight breaks through the trees.

She stands in the lake.

Glowing.

My heart—if I have one—pounds. Every instinct in me howls.

Mine.

She shifts. Her first time. Her wolf emerges.

And I can’t stay hidden any longer.

I break free.

The shift is fast. Fluid. Bones crack and stretch, muscle tears and reforms. My paws hit the earth and I run.

I race to her.

And she runs to me.

Our bodies crash together like lightning and thunder. She pins me, wild and glorious. But I’m stronger—I roll, press her beneath me, snarl, then stop.

Her scent is right. Her heartbeat, her breathing, the soul within her—it’s all mine.

I rest my head on hers.

Peace.

I haven’t felt peace since before she came. Now I remember what it means to be whole.

She shifts back, her hands in my fur, her forehead against mine.

“Mate,” she says. “You’re my mate… aren’t you, Corbin?”

I lower my head. My tail tucks beneath me. Because I know what’s coming.

He won’t say it.

He won’t let me have her.

I release control. Return to the shadows inside his mind.

And I feel the silence echo as she waits for an answer he won’t give.

I howl silently in the back of his mind.

Not because I’ve lost.

But because I know this war is far from over.

She is our mate.

And I will not let him forget it.