THE MARK

Elaris's POV

Night falls down over the outer house and Neryss has taken the outer watch so she won't return unless her watch is called. Shuttered and the road empty beyond the windows, the main room is only for Elaris and Averic.

The fire has lowered leaving the house dark and toasty but there is no audience to act as the council, no witness to the pack ceremony beyond the walls. Whatever was decided by the day has to be made real.

I stand beside the hearth in the plainest clean dress I have and braided hair that does not overcomplicate the night. None of my old tricks to dress the moment as more than it needs to be.

I won't allow the moment to be dressed up as anything other than what it is. Across the room Averic waits. He does not walk towards me but gives me space to change my mind before I offer him the smallest nod.

He does not take up the space until permitted. Both of us unburdened of old words.

No invocation, no witness, no promises for the benefit of others. We know the one thing we need. That once it is offered neither of us can deny what comes next

I rest a hand lightly on my abdomen as reminder.

Averic pauses in front of me and raises a hand to the side of my neck, hesitating before finally touching me.

The spot in question is startlingly mundane despite what is about to happen. He waits one last breath, leaving it in my hands to refuse him. I meet his eyes and give him no reason to do so.

His fingers settle against my neck.

The mark is clean.

A flash of pain steals my breath away and then vanishes beneath a growing warmth. It spreads from the mark down my throat, over my shoulders and into my chest before settling somewhere deeper as if finding a place to settle inside me. It is not the cold, sharp devastation of Caedmon's bond and the loss of him, but it is something just the same. A sense of completion unlike anything else I have known.

The child moves once beneath my hand. Strong and sudden as if reacting to the mark.

For several breaths we don't move. I can feel it without seeking it. The new bond burns a path under the skin but it is a solid path. It is there and I can see every step of it. Nothing else has been overwritten. Caedmon's rejection still burns in my bones. My exile still holds. Averic's lost wolf is not replaced.

It is merely another part of the truth between us.

Averic removes his hand and he is clearly waiting for the moment to truly sink in. His breathing is uneven and I am beginning to understand the weight of what we have done when he finally looks away from me and towards the fire.

I turn slightly, testing the strange feeling without pressing against the fresh mark.

There is no command in it.

Nothing but a quiet addition that was not there before. I let myself acknowledge that much and nothing else.

I speak first.

"It is done. The child is under the oldest protection the pack still recognises. That is enough for tonight."

The words set the boundaries before we misunderstand what the marking means.

Averic offers a small nod. He does not allow the moment to turn into something else or ask me to call him anything else. He merely accepts what I have chosen.

I expect an awkward attempt to cross the distance afterwards but I am not offered one. Averic understands that the mark has not given him permission to claim the rest of my life and it is not something that will make the years behind us vanish or make me ready to return to the woman I have been before Caedmon destroyed the future I thought I had. For tonight the bond is enough. He remains where he is and I let the quiet settle comfortably instead of forcing either of us to fill it.

Scene 10

I call for Neryss.

She returns from her watch, pauses when she sees the fresh mark at my neck, and understands whatever there is to understand without questions. Without ceremony she takes up the household watch and adjusts it so only one person is outside and one person is resting.

The practicality of it all makes it feel almost like an ordinary night.

Almost.

Later I lie on the main cot with one hand under my head and the other resting over the child. The mark has a warmth running under my skin and I am not sure if it is comfortable or just strange.

The child is active.

My breathing is slowly steady.

Sleep comes in little bursts as I find myself half aware of something new under my skin before waking to find Averic awake across the room. Neither of us speak and eventually, I fall asleep again.

Just before dawn, I wake suddenly.

The mark changes.

Not hurting.

Not even warm.

Something rushes up the bond so suddenly I find myself sitting upright.

One disorientated second I don't know what I am sensing before Averic stands across the room.

He has a hand pressed hard against his chest and his face has gone completely still.

I can feel it too.

Something that should have vanished with the transfer.

Something that should not anymore exist.

Averic looks at me, disbelief breaking through his composure.

His voice is rough.

"The wolf..."

He presses harder against his chest.

"I can feel it."