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I licked the mark gently, sealing it, before resting my forehead against hers. “You’re mine now,” I whispered. “And I’m yours.”

Her lashes fluttered. “Always.”

Drew was next. He crawled in closer, cradling her like she was made of starlight, his voice shaking. “May I, pretty girl?”

She smiled and nodded, tilting her head for him too. He pressed a kiss to her jaw, then up to her lips, where he bit down.

Asshole.

That was a clever move.

She gasped, one hand flying to his back, holding him close.

He lingered a second longer than I had, his lips brushing her skin as the bond tethered into place between them. I felt it. Not just their joy, but the way my bond to him deepened too, like we were being stitched together through her.

Anton came last.

He didn’t speak. He didn’t need to. Christa turned to him like a tide pulled by gravity, and he bent over her slowly, his hand gentle on her cheek. He nuzzled her once, then bit low on her shoulder—hard enough she whimpered.

And then she exhaled. Sagged into the nest with a dazed, dreamy sound, all her bonds humming in the air like golden threads.

But there was one left. I could feel him in the bond I shared with him. His worry at being left behind. But he should have known better.

Christa blinked blearily at Annerly, then reached for him.

“Come here,” she whispered, a little hoarse. “I want you too.”

He laughed, choked and wet. “You sure? It’s a bit different with a Beta…”

“I know how it works,” she said, tugging him closer until he was kneeling beside her. “Silly Beta, thinking I wouldn't want to bite him and claim him for myself.”

A pause. He swallowed hard, eyes shining. “You're right. Such a silly Beta.”

She kissed the underside of his jaw, soft and sure, before she bit him on the opposite side of my claiming bite on him. Just deep enough to break skin and seal what was already there. Loyalty, love, something older than instinct.

Annerly let out a quiet sigh as the bond snapped into place.

And then she slumped back into the nest, surrounded by us, bound to us, glowing from the inside out.

It was done.

We were a pack.

I looked at the others. At my brothers, my partner, my mate. Ather.

Christa, our brave, battered, beautiful girl, who had survived the fire and walked back into our arms with her chin lifted.

She was still glowing, eyes half-lidded, lips parted in a blissed-out smile. “Feels good,” she murmured. “Feels like…everything’s complete.”

“That's because it is,” I said, curling around her again.

Anton stroked her hair. Drew wrapped around her legs. Annerly held her hand.

And for the first time in years, the silence between us wasn’t heavy with loss.

It was full of peace.

Chapter 27