Page 114 of The Fated Hunter Wolf

“Of what could happen. Having a completed bond with a hybrid who’s never really been part of any single pack.”

His thumb brushed across my knuckles. "I'm bonded to the strongest person I know. Why the hell would I be scared?"

Something in my chest loosened. "Most shifters would be."

"I'm not most shifters." He pulled me back down against him. "And you're not most anything."

We lay there in silence, wrapped around each other. His wolf wasn't restless anymore. Wasn't tearing at him, wasn't in pain. Just settled.

Complete.

With my head on his chest, I sought out his inner energy, his soul. The place where only blackness had resided.

And it wasn’t like before. My breath hitched and I pushed up from his chest to look him in the eye. “You’re changed.”

"Makes sense, my wolf has his mate. Both halves of her." He caressed my cheek. "He'd been going feral since I rejected the bond. Now he's finally at peace, with all sides of you."

"Good." I traced my fingers along his collarbone. "Because with me, you get all or you get nothing."

"I want it all." His hand cupped my face. "I want everything."

"You have it." I let the bond carry my certainty to him as I sank back on his chest. "Forever.”

“No take-backs." He squeezed me and I felt his love swell through our connection. "I like the sound of forever."

I laid my head on his chest again, but this time I could tell what was different. Sensation rushed through him, an unveiling. Whatever had been hiding his true essence was fleeing like dust in the wind. "Rhys, the blackness I used to see in your soul isn’t the same. A shroud has lifted in you.” I pressed a kiss to his chest, right over his heart. “Instead of emptiness, there’s a sense of waiting. In the shadows. The blackness isn’t sinister anymore."

I glanced up at him and found him looking expectant, like he was afraid to believe what I was trying to tell him.

“Rhys, I think we’re undoing the curse.”

A sigh escaped his lips, and his eyes shone in the reflection of the moonlight through the window. He pulled me tighter against him. His chest rose and fell, and I sensed the hope that coursed through him.

But exhaustion was creeping in. My body felt wrung out, satisfied, complete. Through the bond, I knew he felt the same.

“Logan and Eve are expecting us to join for dinner tonight in the city,” I murmured. “We should sleep.”

"Probably," he said, but neither of us moved.

The city hummed outside the window—distant traffic, the low pulse of music from somewhere below, the constant background noise of Dallas at night. Inside the room, it was just us. Our breathing. Our heartbeats. The bond connecting us.

I smiled against his skin.

Through the bond, I felt his wolf's answering contentment. Felt his vampire-touched magic settling into place. Felt his human heart, full and certain andmine.

The bond pulsed once and then settled into something steady and permanent and completely ours.

Forever.

As my mate said, no take-backs.

I ran my finger down his abs, knowing that we’d consummate this bond again before going out for dinner. Rhys shivered under my touch. I lifted my hand and looked at him, unable to stop the smile that was bubbling up inside me.

Until I saw the strange look on his face.

My stomach dropped. "Rhys?"

He suddenly sat up, cradling his head between his hands.