Page 30 of Shifting Hearts

SIXTEEN

Kieran

S he reaches for me.

Not with fear, not with hesitation.

With fire.

And I feel it, her pulse, her power, the prophecy thrumming between us like a second heartbeat. The mark on my back flares, answering hers. The bond is already forming, even before the knot, even before the bloodline binding seals what fate has already claimed.

“You’re sure?” I ask, though I already know the answer.

She doesn’t speak; she doesn’t need to. Her storm-dark, flame-bright eyes say everything.

I slide my hand to her waist, anchoring her to me. Her breath catches, and I feel the tremor in her body; not fear, but awakening. The fire inside her stirs, sensing mine. The sanctuary responds. Runes blaze. The air thickens.

“Once I knot you,” I say, voice low, “you’ll carry my legacy. My bloodline will wake yours. You’ll feel every ancestor, every oath, every exile, and they’ll feel you .”

She leans into me, lips brushing my jaw. “Then let them burn.”

Gods.

I grip her tighter, the restraint I’ve held unraveling. The prophecy roars in my veins. My dragon claws at the surface, demanding release, demanding her . Not just to claim, but to bind. To seal. To remember.

Bind the blood. Awaken the flame. Burn the world clean.

I lower her to the thick furs beneath her, pinning her there. The moon is rising, the sky darkening, the world around us growing still.

I kiss her, the taste of her mouth intoxicating, the scent of her skin overwhelming.

I run my hand up the inside of her thigh, teasing her, savoring her tremors. She grips my hair and tugs me closer, her breath mingling with mine.

I tear off our clothes and press her further into the stone altar, the cool furs contrasting with her scorching heat.

My lips graze her ear, and she shudders again. "You're mine, Raven. My queen, my mate, Mo Lasair ."

I slide my hands behind her, cupping her ass. I lift her, her legs wrapping around me.

I enter her with a single, deep thrust. Raven cries out, her head falling back.

"Fuck," I growl.

I'm so deep inside her, the pressure almost overwhelming. I begin moving, her soft cries urging me on.

"Oh, gods. Please."

I thrust harder, deeper, and her nails dig into my shoulders. She's tight, so tight, and every time she clenches around me, it's almost more than I can take.

But I don't stop. I lean down, capturing a nipple in my mouth, biting lightly.

"Oh gods, Kieran, I'm so close," she whimpers.

I bite a little harder, and she moans, the sound going straight to my cock. I slide my hand between us, finding her clit, and when I press down, Raven shatters around me.

Her eyes squeeze shut, and her head falls back, the most exquisite cry ripping from her throat.

Her body arches beneath mine; not in surrender, but in recognition. The prophecy pulses between us, ancient and alive. The knot begins to form, and I feel it, magic coiling, bloodline awakening, the tether locking into place.

I pull her closer, burying my face in her hair.

“You’ll carry them,” I whisper, voice rough. “Our children. Our legacy. The prophecy will live through you.”

Her breath catches.

Not from fear.

From knowing.

The runes flare brighter, casting her in gold and shadow. She’s not just Raven anymore—she’s the vessel. The flame. The mother of what comes next.

“They’ll be born marked,” I murmur. “Bound to the old power. Feared. Hunted. Chosen .”

She grips my wrist, where the mark burns. “Then let the world come for them. I’ll burn it down before I let them fall.”

Gods.

She’s mine.

Not just by blood. Not just by knot.

By will .

And as the binding seals, as our magic fuses and the prophecy roars its approval, I know this isn’t the end of the story.

It’s the beginning of a bloodline the world tried to bury.

And now?

It will rise.