Chapter 18: The Marking
358 Words
The full moon burned white over Blackthorn Ridge.
The entire pack had gathered for the howling — a ritual as old as the blood in their veins. Firelight flickered. Music thrummed low. Wolves danced under starlight, half-shifted, wild with life.
But Elara?
She only saw him.
Kade stood across the flames, watching her like she was gravity itself.
Her wolf purred in her chest — not restless now, but ready. Finally, fully ready.
She crossed the circle to him.
Every step a declaration.
⸻
He didn’t speak.
Didn’t move.
Just waited — like if she wanted him, she’d take him.
So she did.
She slid her hands into his shirt and pulled him close.
“I’m yours,” she whispered. “If you still want me.”
Kade’s eyes burned blue.
He growled low. “Elara.”
“Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
That was all it took.
He crushed his mouth to hers, the kind of kiss that stole breath, bent time, and turned bones to ash.
The crowd disappeared.
There was only them.
⸻
They stumbled back to the cabin in a blur of claws and want.
Clothes vanished.
The bond thrummed between them, sparking under skin, begging to be sealed.
Kade kissed down her neck, slow and reverent.
“This is the last time I ask,” he rasped. “You say stop, and I stop.”
She wrapped her legs around his waist.
“Mark me,” she breathed. “I want you in my soul.”
⸻
He shifted — just barely — enough for his canines to extend.
Then, as she arched into him, sweat-slick and moaning, he sank his teeth into the curve of her neck—
And the bond exploded.
A wildfire of sensation.
A thousand heartbeats merging.
A tether forged in moonlight and lust and love.
She screamed.
So did he.
But it wasn’t pain.
It was freedom.
⸻
When the haze cleared, they lay tangled in the sheets, skin-on-skin, hearts syncing.
She traced the bite on her neck, still tingling.
“It’s warm,” she whispered.
He kissed it. “So are you.”
- Writer
