“Good. Because that’s not going to happen.”
“No?”
“No. And that’s why you’re here, isn’t it? Why you’ve come to find me? Becauseyouwant what I want.”
“How do I know what you want?”
In a flash, Zio had Devan pinned against a nearby tree. “You’ve always known. It’smethat took too long to see it.”
Devan’s gaze darkened. “See what? Be clear, Zio. I need to hear you say the words.”
“I love you.”
Devan blinked. “What?”
“I said, I love you.” Zio pressed impossibly closer. “Fuck the bond. Fuck biology, Iloveyou.”
He hadn’t realised how true it was until he spoke the words aloud, tracked them through the cosmos, and registered the moment they collided with whatever Devan was thinking. But itwastrue.Every fucking syllable.Shifter fate had brought them together, war had kept them that way, but nothing on earth could keep Zio from Devan now. Nothing could keep him from claiming his mate. That he was lucky enough to be head over heels in love with him already? He’d thank the gods for it every day he lived.
Devan cupped Zio’s face in his magical palm, seeking out his gaze. “I didn’t know you loved me. I knew your wolf wanted the bond, felt it from the start, but I didn’t think you’d ever— Gods. I love you too, you know that, don’t you?”
A rush of joy flooded Zio’s veins. “I do now. Devan, I-I almost lost you to this bond bullshit. I had no idea it could put you in danger like that. If I had—”
“What? You’d have disobeyed your alpha’s orders and completed the bond?Iknew, Zio, and I couldn’t do it.”
“You knew not being together could weaken you?”
“No. I knew it could weakenyou. Michael told me. It’s why I didn’t let you out of my sight when all I wanted to do was run and run and run until my heart didn’t hurt anymore.”
Puzzle pieces clicked into place. “I knew Michael was hiding something. And I knew you were unhappy too. I thought it was because you were homesick, not that you were trapped by a misguided responsibility to me.”
“Misguided?” Devan moved like a snake and reversed their positions before Zio could blink, forearm pressed to Zio’s throat... the way Zio liked it. “There was nothingmisguidedabout it. I was unhappy because I couldn’t handle the thought of a bond you didn’t appear to want putting you in danger,andbecause I knew on every level that bonding with you was everything I’d ever wanted.”
“You want the bond?”
“Of course I do. I want to claim you, bite you, and bond us forever. Loving you just makes it easy.”
Nothing about the two of them together had ever been easy, but as Devan sealed his words with a brush of his lips over Zio’s, the shackles of everything that had come before this moment fell away. The kiss deepened. Tree bark dug into Zio’s back, and he lost himself in all that was Devan—his scent, his taste, his unyielding body holding Zio hostage against the tree.
Zio’s teeth ached and his neck arched of its own volition, desperate for the bite. “Now, Devan. Please. We have to do it now.”
Devan pulled back, eyes wild. “You never said you wanted it.”
“I love you.”
“That’s not the same as wanting this bond. You can’t take it back. It’s forever until one of us dies.”
“I know that. I want it. Please.”
“You want me to bite you?”
“Yes.”
Another kiss, sweeter than before, and though Zio’s blood still boiled red hot, a sudden calm blanketed him, the itch in his heart soothed. Devan kissed him one more time, then pulled back. “I knew you wanted it... just had to hear you say it.”
Zio bounced on the balls of his feet. “And I’ve said it, so bite me already.”
Devan laughed. “We should probably have a conversation about what happens after—”