“Um, you bit me,” Summer said with a chuckle when Dyami collapsed onto her, his weight somewhat balanced on his forearms. His arms shook from the mind-blowing pleasure still rocking his body.
“I did.” He kissed the fading mark on her shoulder.
She craned her neck to look. “It’s disappearing!”
“That’s part of the magic. The wound closes and fades very quickly, leaving the bond behind.”
Summer shifted her head so she could look at him. “I feel like you’ve done that before.”
He nodded, rolled onto his side as she pushed herself up, leaning her body on her hands behind her.
“You did do that before! In the shop when Vic attacked! I’d forgotten about that!”
Vic had put a symbol on her, making her forget. She couldn’t say when exactly, but she could feel its presence unraveling as she focused on it.
Vic.
She sighed. Bonded to Dyami, she knew she was meant to be with him, beast or no beast. Vic though… She might never completely understand why he acted the way he did, why he lost his shit in those last hours of his life. If he’d been meant to be her soul mate, just as Dyami was, then perhaps his actions were those of a desperate man. It didn’t excuse them though—it just made them a little easier to swallow. Talia had said that there was a battle, and that she had to choose sides. So she had. Wolves ruled and Dyami was hers, but she would always have a place in her heart for Vic. Gone but not forgotten.
Dyami traced a finger along her thigh, staring up at her like he knew what she’d been thinking. She felt a tingle of guilt. Two men in her heart. He would have to accept it. He won, after all. They stared at each other, silent words passing. An understanding coming through, unspoken.
He cleared his throat. “My wolf needed you marked. It’s what brought your powers out.”
“Like a catalyst?”
Dyami nodded as he continued to trace a finger up her leg, over her belly. “Yeah, something like that. It brings out your powers.”
Summer stared down at her body, skin still glowing with a hint of pink, a sheen of sweat everywhere. “I feel like we’re connected.”
“It’s part of the bond. Our destinies are entwined. Meant for each other.”
“I have a lot of questions.” She smiled, her face growing red, a blush on her cheeks that made him want to kiss her there.
“I bet. Shoot.”
“Does the transformation hurt?” She motioned up and down his body. “When you go from wolf to man?”
Dy shrugged. “Nah, not really. It happens fast, no time to really think about it. My wolf pushes through or I do, depending on what time of day it is. The pack is governed by Mayhem’s cycles, and he is ruled by the sun and moon. When the poison was eating me alive, my transformations stopped.” He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, wincing at the memory. “And yeah, that fucking hurt like hell.”
“So you can’t control it?”
“No, not yet anyway.” Dy winked. “I’m still considered young in the werewolf world, maybe with time—”
“And your clothes, they don’t shred to pieces like in the movies? Do you think like a human while you’re in your beast form? Do you eat raw meat? Like little bunnies? Do you hunt for prey? Do you play with your food?”
She was teasing him, her eyes glinting with amusement.
“It’s all part of the magic. It’s powerful stuff.” He leaned forward. “I can tell you that anything you’ve seen or read, or otherwise believe about werewolves is not really how it is, not usually anyway. And I don’t know all of the answers. But we’ve got time to figure it all out, together.”
She laid a hand on his cheek, cupping his face, stroking her thumb over his lips as she moved toward him. “I hardly know you.”
He smiled, kissed her thumb. “What does your gut say?”
“It says I never want to hear those words again.” She chuckled, leaned into him and replaced her thumb with her lips. “It also says that getting to know you is going to be a lot of fun.”