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He leaned back against the log, stretching his long legs out in front of him. “That was scary, huh?”

I swallowed hard. “Yeah.”

A beat of silence.

“Maybe you were right,” I whispered, my voice hesitant with rare uncertainty.

Silas turned his head slightly, his eyes gleaming in the firelight. “Oh?”

I shifted, pressing my palms against my knees.

I knew what he thought I was thinking. He was waiting for me to ask to hold off my punishment until we were back at camp, where things were safe, where I wouldn’t have to spend the rest of this trip nursing a sore ass. Ialmostdid.

It would have been the easier thing to do.

Silas wasn’t cruel. He would have let me wait, let me believe I had time before he followed through on his promise. Maybe he would have even softened just a little, let the punishment go entirely if I played my cards right, but that wasn’t what I wanted.

Deep down, there was something bigger I needed more than his forgiveness. I needed his strength.

I clenched my hands into fists, my pulse sounding in my ears.

I washuman.

The only human in this group, the only one without heightened senses, without the ability to heal quickly, without the strength and speed that the others had. It didn’t matter how well I could track or how sharp my instincts were, I would always be the weakest.

If I wanted to survive, if I wanted to truly stand beside them, I needed to be their equal. I needed to be one of them.

I needed to be a wolf too.

So instead of asking him to wait, instead of asking him to spare me, I lifted my chin, steadied my breath, and said, “I was going to ask if, after you punish me, if you’re going to mark me?”

The air stilled.

The fire popped, embers swirling up into the dark, but everything else was silent.

Silas didn’t move, didn’t breathe.

Then—slowly—his hand curled into a fist against his thigh.

I watched him carefully, my heart hammering, but I didn’t back down, because this wasn’t just about us anymore. This wasn’t about what had happened between us before, about the irresistible, inevitable pull of our bond. This was about me making a choice, a conscious choice to fully accept my fate as Silas’s mate.

His golden eyes burned into mine, and I could see the moment the realization clicked into place in his mind. Marking me would change everything. It would bind me to him. It would change me.

I wouldn’t just be his mate; I would be one of them. I could shift.

I couldsurvive.

And if the worst happened—if he died, if Rowan and Varek and the others didn’t make it out of those caves alive—I wouldn’t be left behind, weak and alone. I’d have a shot of making it out with my life.

Silas’s jaw clenched. “I shouldn’t do this because you’re scared.”

I exhaled shakily, gripping my knees. “I’m not scared.”

He was quiet for a long moment, still studying me like he was testing me, waiting for me to back down.

I wouldn’t. Icouldn’t.

Then, finally, he reached out, tracing a hand along my jaw. His touch alone made me stronger.