The night after the gathering, the den was quiet. Wolves slept uneasily, but Kael and Aradia remained awake, their bodies drawn together like flame to air.
He pulled her into the furs, his heat wrapping around her, his lips claiming hers with fierce hunger. But there was no battle-lust in him this time—only devotion.
His hands traced her body, slow, reverent, as though worshipping every curve, every scar. His lips lingered at her throat, her collarbone, her trembling wrists, as though branding her with his vow.
"Do you know what you've done?" he murmured against her skin.
Her breath trembled. "What?"
"You've made me surrender." His green eyes burned, his voice raw. "Alpha. Wolf. Warrior. I would burn the world to ash if you asked it."
Her tears spilled, her fire rising, not dangerous but warm, a crown of gold around them. "And you've made me believe I am more than fire."
Their lovemaking was long, slow, and unyielding. Not desperate, but eternal—two souls finding each other across centuries, binding again in body and spirit.
And when sleep finally claimed them, Aradia whispered against his chest: "I will find you in every life."
His lips pressed to her hair, his voice a vow: "And I will never stop searching."