Page 434 of Pucking Feral: Part Two

He nods, swallowing, then panting again.

"Then trust me when I say I'm okay. I know my own body. I'm fine. I'm better than fine."

The knot keeps us locked together, and I use it, settling my weight down onto his chest, draping myself up his massive torso with my cheek over his heart. He holds me automatically, laying back onto the ice with his arms wrapping around my back, pulling his coat higher over my body with the hand that isn't still pressed to the bleeding mark.

His heartbeat slows under my ear.

Mine slows with it.

I gaze up at the aurora, blue and green ribbons folding and unfolding over the stars, and I feel the throbbing bond settling inside me.

Five alphas, all interwoven with my soul.

"Look," I whisper.

Wraith turns his head.

The bleeding has finally stopped. A soft silver shimmer creeps across the punctures now where Wraith's hand doesn't fully cover them, sealing one by one, his jagged bite knitting into a permanent shining crescent. It's slightly bigger than the others, wrapping around all four of theirs, claiming each and every layer.

The last cut silvers and the pack bond seals itself whole.

Somewhere miles away, four alphas are feeling it, too.

A delirious laugh bubbles out of me even as the tears start flowing all over again. Because I know they are. I feel their shock and their elation echoing through the connection that's finally complete.

And then I see them.

Tiny bursts of gold and red and silver, blooming one after another after another, painting the far southern edge of the horizon where the aurora doesn't reach.

Military grade fireworks.

Nothing else would be visible from this far away.

"No fucking way," I choke. "Whiskey?"

Wraith shifts beneath me. I feel his chest expand with a slow, shuddering breath, and then his huffs vibrating through my entire body. He lifts one hand and signs lazily.

I warned him he shouldn't. He's going to get arrested.

"And Plague is so going to turn him in."

Another volley blooms, and my phone starts buzzing somewhere on the ice near my abandoned skates. But I don't need to read the messages to know what they're saying.

I feel all of them through the bond.

Chapter 91

Epilogue: Thane

It's been a week since Wraith marked Ivy.

And I feel it every time I breathe.

The bond is complete, the tendrils fully forged between us as if we're twins. Five strong threads, instead of four with the one closest to me dangling loose.

Right now, I can feel his nervousness as if it's my own, but it's subtle. He's been at peace. Sometimes slightly less at peace after an outing that doesn't go well, but honestly… he's like a new person.

I pull into my parents' driveway and kill the engine.