“Blood of my mate, I take thee.”
“United as one,” Thomas says. “May you be mated forevermore.”
A cheer shoots through the crowd. The shifters are hollering and laughing, happy their Alpha is finally
one with his bride. I’m happy. I’m fucking thrilled. Red is mine. I grab her and pull her close, kissing her for the first time as a mated couple. This is it: we’re together forever. Red and I are one.
Nothing can tear us apart now.
I see Thorn moving through the crowd and he smiles and nods.
“Just one more thing,” he holds up the tattoo gun and I turn to Red.
“Ready?” I ask.
“Ready.”
***
“It looks good,” Red says, looking at her new tattoo. She twists her hand around, looking at it from different angles. “It still hurts, but I like it.”
“Mine too,” I tell her, admiring the way our skin matches now. She chose to get hers on her wrist. Mine is on my left shoulder.
“Are you glad we went with something custom instead of just getting regular rings tattooed on?”
“Of course.” Somehow, after all we’ve been through, getting regular ring tattoos seemed wrong. Thorn was able to design something perfect for us that we’ll be able to show off for the rest of our lives. “You look beautiful with yours.”
Red and I have the pack’s initials – SC – and the outline of a howling woof. It’s appropriate, I think, considering how much of an impact the pack has had on our relationship and our lives. We both love it, though, and that’s the important thing.
“Thorn does good work. I had no idea he was a tattooist.”
“He’s full of surprises,” I murmur.
“He doesn’t have a mating tattoo though,” she says. Mating tattoos are different from regular ones. Thorn used a special ink that won’t just show up on my skin now, in human form. It also shows up when I shift. It’s one way wolves can tell another is mated even when in shifter form. The tattoo will speak for itself. There will never be any question about the fact that I am mated for life.
I’m spoken for.
“That’s a story for another day.” Honestly, it’s not my story to tell. Thorn has his reasons for not being mated. Part of me thinks he’ll come around someday, but that day won’t be for awhile. He’s been hurt in the past and he’s seen a lot during his 30 or so odd years. Finding a mate is hard enough as a human. Learning to love someone who can handle a shifter – and all it entails – is even tougher. Thorn might be single forever, but something tells me there’s someone out there for him.
Red raises an eyebrow, silently letting me know we’re going to come back to this. As much as I want to tease my mate, though, and as much as I want to be playful, there are a few things we need to talk about before we can celebrate our mating ceremony.
“Tell me about this note,” I whisper, picking up the folded piece of paper she left on the table. The note doesn’t make me want to run. It doesn’t make me want to cry. It doesn’t break my heart that she left. It breaks my heart she felt there was no other choice.
“I…” Red suddenly looks devastated as she stares at the note. Moving swiftly, I pull her in for a deep kiss, then I lead her to a chair. I sit and pull her so she’s on my lap. She has no choice but to stay put for me while we talk. Her side is to my front and I wrap my arms around her, pulling her close.
Red automatically leans her head on my shoulder in a gesture of comfort and acceptance. Yeah, this is where my baby belongs. She belongs right here with me.
“I don’t care that you ran, baby. I care that you ran without talking to me about it.”
“I thought you’d be better off without me,” Red admits, her voice scared and shaking.
“You know that’s not true.”
“I know, but I doubted that I was good enough for you, Nash.”
“Because you’re human?”
She nods and I can smell the tears running down her cheeks without even having to see them.