Page 92 of Knotting the Firefighters

Decisions await.

But for now—just for now—we lie together in the warming light, watching the sun rise, and the realization of what we just did finally sinks in.

Calder…knotted in me…and what did I just do…?

BONDED BY DAWN

~CALDER~

The moment Wendy's teeth sink into my flesh, everything changes.

Everything.

Not gradually, not subtly—instantaneously, likeaswitch being flipped, like a circuit completing, like a missing piece of a puzzle suddenly snapping into place with satisfying certainty that this is right, this is correct, this is what was always supposed to happen.

Her bite isn't gentle—there's desperation in it, need that transcends conscious decision-making, instinct overriding rational thought. Her canines pierce the junction where my neck meets my shoulder, that vulnerable spot Alphas protect fiercely because marking there means something, signifies a claim that society recognizes even when individuals refuse to acknowledge it.

She's marking me.

Claiming me.

Making a statement through biology that her words haven't been voiced.

The sensation is indescribable—sharp pain that immediately transforms into pleasure so intense my vision whites outmomentarily. Every nerve ending ignites, flooding my system with endorphins and pheromones and chemical reactions I don't have the vocabulary to describe.

Mine.

The word thunders through my consciousness with possessive certainty, Alpha instinct recognizing what just occurred, even if my conscious mind is still processing.

She's mine.

Marked me.

Something clicks deep in my soul—a fundamental shift that rewrites my understanding of connection, of belonging, of what it means to be part of something larger than individual existence.

I can't let her go.

The realization arrives with crushing finality, obliterating every argument I'd been constructing about LA, about career advancement, about practical reasons for leaving.

Can't envision being apart.

Unable to imagine existing in a different city, state, or life.

No longer dare fathom voluntarily creating distance from this woman who just made a claiming bite that rewrote my entire nervous system.

My hands grip her hips with sudden urgency—instinct guiding action, Alpha biology demanding completion of the bond that her bite initiated. I push her down onto my knot with deliberate force, creating a connection I've fantasized about countless times but never believed would actually occur.

Knotting.

Locking inside her.

Creating a physical bond that mirrors the emotional and biological claims we just exchanged.

I've never done this before—never felt confident enough, comfortable enough, connected enough to any Omega toattempt knotting. The vulnerability is extreme, the intimacy profound, the trust required absolute.

But with Wendy, it's not even a question anymore.

Not a conscious choice.