81: Emma

"You mark me straight after," he said, and there was something vulnerable beneath the playfulness of his tone. "I want to be yours as much as you'll be mine, little wolf."

A smile bloomed across my face, unbidden and genuine. "Of course."

In one fluid motion, he rolled onto his back, pulling me with him until I straddled his hips. The new position sent a jolt of renewed desire through me, and I felt him stir beneath me in response. He sat up, his hands sliding up my back, holding me close against the hard planes of his chest.

Our lips met in a kiss that started gentle but quickly blazed into something fiercer. When he broke away, his breathing was ragged, his eyes luminous in the moonlight. He trailed kisses along my jaw, down the column of my throat to the juncture where my neck met my shoulder—the spot where his mark would soon reside, declaring me his for all to see.

"Are you really sure?" he murmured against my skin, his breath hot.

Artemis surged forward, her eagerness making me light-headed. "Shut up and bite me already," I managed, my fingers digging into his shoulders.

He laughed, the sound vibrating against my skin. "Impatient Queen," he murmured, and then his teeth—no longer entirely human—sank into my flesh.

Pain flared, sharp and bright, but before I could even gasp, it transformed into a wave of pleasure so intense I cried out. My back arched as sensation crashed through me, and with it came something else—a flood of emotion that wasn't entirely mine. Theo's love washed over me, his fierce protectiveness, his pride, his desire, all of it flowing into me through the bond forming between us.

‘Ours, ours, finally OURS,’ Artemis howled in triumph, and I felt her joy merge with my own until I couldn't tell where her happiness ended and mine began.

Theo's tongue, warm and gentle, lapped at the bite, soothing the sting and sealing the mark. I felt it like a brand on my skin, a tangible testament to what we'd become to each other. My hand drifted up to touch it, feeling the raised edges already healing beneath my fingertips.

He tilted his head to the side, baring his neck to me—a gesture of absolute trust from a Lycan king. "Your turn," he whispered, his voice rough with emotion.

I kissed my way down the corded muscle of his neck, feeling the rapid pulse of his blood beneath my lips. I took a deep breath, letting my wolf come forward, feeling my canines elongate slightly as Artemis surged to the surface, eager to claim her mate.

‘Together,’ I told her, and felt her agreement rumble through me.

We bit down as one, teeth breaking skin, tasting the copper-salt tang of his blood. His hands tightened on my hips as a groan tore from his throat. I felt our connection snap into place—a tether between us, humming with life and power.

I licked the mark clean, watching with satisfaction as the flesh knit together, leaving behind a silvery imprint of my teeth—a mirror to the one I now bore. Theo captured my mouth in a kiss so deep, so all-consuming that I felt it in the marrow of my bones. He held me close against him, and I could feel the rapid beating of his heart matching the tempo of my own.

"Mine," he breathed against my lips.

"Yours," I agreed, then added with a possessive growl that was partly Artemis, "And you're mine."

His eyes darkened at that, pupils expanding until only a thin ring of amber remained. "Always," he promised.

Theo smiled up at me, something fierce and proud in his expression. "My queen," he said, and the title no longer felt foreign or uncomfortable—it felt right, a mantle I was ready to wear.

I rolled my hips experimentally, feeling him hard beneath me, and was rewarded with a hiss of pleasure. My body, still sensitive from our earlier lovemaking, thrummed with renewed desire.

"Again?" he asked, his hands sliding up to cup my breasts.

In answer, I rose up on my knees and then sank down onto him in one fluid motion. The sensation of him filling me, combined with the new bond humming between us, tore a moan from my throat. I threw my head back in ecstasy, feeling the pleasant ache of his mark on my neck stretch with the movement.

As I began to move above him, setting a rhythm that had us both gasping, I felt something settle within me—a certainty, a belonging. This was where I was meant to be. This man, this king, this bond. With every rise and fall of my body, with every shared breath and touch, the truth of it resonated through me.

I was his. He was mine. And together, we would rewrite history.