Page 56 of The Alpha King's Mate

I raised my hand to stroke the stubble along his cheek. Rough, but not unpleasant—like whiskers, somehow. His fingers dipped lower, and Rev cleared his throat, the sound sharp in the silence.

“We’ll email you the updates,” he said, already clearing out of the room, Jax and Talon trailing close behind.

Ember gave me a little finger wave before she followed, her smile never once dimming.

Sorin never spoke. He was too busy pushing his fingers beneath the waistband of my trousers, his touch warm against my skin.

I didn’t speak either. I was too busy trying to part my thighs for him.

He pushed his chair back, and I stood to face him. He began working my trousers down as I tore his shirt open, buttons scattering somewhere across the floor.

Apparently, we weren’t over the mating honeymoon period yet.

???

His scowl deepened as the needle touched my skin.

“If she messes my tattoo up because of you, there will be consequences,” I snapped at Sorin.

He lay back in his chair as the other tattoo artist rolled into place beside him, ink and needle already prepared.

Jewel—young, quick-fingered, unbothered by the fact that she was currently marking the Alpha King’s mate—glanced up at me and grinned.

“He’s worse than my usual clients who are newly mated,” she said, nodding toward Sorin without looking at him directly.“Big man, tiny needle. Every time.”

“Every time,” Zach echoed from Sorin’s side, not even attempting to hide his amusement.

Sorin growled low in his throat, the sound more instinct than menace at this point.

I reached across the small gap between our chairs and found his hand, lacing my fingers through his. His grip was too tight, knuckles pale, but I didn’t complain. Whatever helped.

“Breathe,” I murmured.

“I am breathing,” he said through gritted teeth, though his eyes were fixed somewhere near the ceiling, refusing to look at either needle.

Jewel’s machine buzzed to life against my ribs, just below the curve of my breast. The sting was sharp at first, then settled into something almost meditative—a steady, rhythmic bite that I could breathe through if I focused.

Sorin’s hand flinched around mine at the sound alone.

“You’re doing beautifully,” Jewel said, though I wasn’t sure if she meant me or was speaking loudly enough for Sorin to hear and take the hint.

I glanced down at the outline already taking shape—his name, soon to be permanent over my heart, wrapped in small red flowers and trailing leaves. Below it, the space that would hold something else entirely. Something we hadn’t fully discussed yet, but I’d seen the design he’d sketched. A single heart. The first of many, he’d said. I hadn’t asked what that meant exactly, though I suspected the answer had something to do with pups, prophecy, and a wolf who’d already decided our future in explicit detail.

Sorin’s own tattoo was taking shape across from me—my name, in the same careful script, resting just above the place I’d once traced with my fingers. The void space he’d kept blank for years, reserved for a mate he hadn’t known existed.

Not blank anymore.

“Almost done with the outline,” Zach said, and Sorin’s whole body sagged with relief that lasted exactly as long as it took Zach to add,“Then we start the shading.”

The colour drained from Sorin’s face.

I squeezed his hand and bit back a laugh.

“You survived pack wars,” I reminded him.“You strung up an Alpha. You ordered executions before breakfast.”

“This is different,” he said, voice strained.

“How?”