Chapter 4—Sealed by the Moon

Celeste's POV

Two weeks in I decided I needed something of my own. Life at Ulfsang was warm and more than I expected but I was not built to sit still and I knew that about myself.

I updated my CV the same night I made the decision, found the listing for Mercer and Vale Financial Consultants and applied before I could talk myself out of it.

They called back the next day to schedule an interview.

The interview was on a Wednesday morning, fourteenth floor, three senior partners sitting across from me with their folders and their carefully neutral expressions.

I was not nervous. I was too determined to be nervous.

"Your background is impressive, Ms Reed," the woman in the centre said. "Financial consulting at your level usually takes people a decade. You're twenty four."

"I started early," I said.

She held my gaze for a moment then wrote something down. I got the call two days later.

Mason was in the living room when I came to tell them. He looked up from his laptop and I saw it in his face before I even opened my mouth, that quiet certainty of his, like he already knew.

"I got the job."

He closed the laptop. "Of course you did." He said it simply, no fuss, and somehow that landed harder than any celebration would have.

My wolf settled at the sound of his voice in that particular way she did around him, calm and certain, like she already knew we were safe here.

Jason appeared from the hallway and read the room in half a second. "Wait." His face broke into a grin. "You heard back?"

"Just now."

He crossed the room and pulled me into a hug before I could react, warm and genuine and completely unself-conscious about it. "I knew it. I told Mason last week you were going to get it."

"You said that after I applied," I said into his shoulder.

"Because I believed it after I met you." He stepped back, still grinning, hands on my shoulders. "We're celebrating tonight. Mason, tell her we're celebrating."

"We're celebrating," Mason said, already reaching for his keys, and the look he gave me over Jason's shoulder was warm in a way that stayed with me longer than I expected.

The months settled into something good. I threw myself into work and found I was better at it than I remembered, sharper, more focused.

The three of us fell into a rhythm that nobody planned. Evenings together with good food and easy conversation.

Jason carried opinions about everything. Mason said less but when he spoke it was always worth hearing.

They took care of me naturally. The walls were cracking. The Destiny Bond ran warmer and steadier now.

There were moments that made it harder to pretend. Mason's hand at the small of my back. Jason tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I did not pull away.

Then Mason told me about the weekend. "Pack a bag Friday evening. We're going away somewhere quiet. You need a break."

***

The lodge sat in the hills, tucked into a hillside with a valley stretching wide below the deck. Floor to ceiling glass, dark wood, a fireplace already going.

Jason looked more relaxed the moment we arrived. Even my wolf exhaled.

We cooked together that first evening, easy and unhurried, our arms brushing.

That evening we sat on the deck under the stars, warm from wine.

"Can I ask you something?" I said.

"Always," Jason responded.

"Why did you both step forward that day. At the ceremony. You didn't have to."

Mason looked at me. "Yes we did."

"You know what I mean. It would have been easier not to."

"Easier isn't the same as right." He held my gaze, steady the way he always was. "You were standing there alone in front of everyone and you were ours. That was never a question."

Something in my chest came undone when he said it and my wolf went completely still, the way she only did when something important was settling into place.

Jason leaned forward. "We've wanted you because of you, Celeste."

The last wall dissolved quietly.

Mason's hand found mine and I did not pull away. I turned my hand over under his and that was the only answer any of us needed.

A quiet tension hummed between us, thick and sweet like honey in the warm firelight.

Jason shifted closer, his fingers brushing my arm. "We've waited so long for this, Celeste, let us show you how much you mean to us."

Mason's voice was low and warm against my ear. "You're safe with us. Always."

He leaned in and kissed me deeply, his tongue sliding against mine in a slow dance that made heat pool low in my belly.

When he pulled back, Jason cupped my face and kissed me next. "God, you taste perfect," he murmured.

Their hands moved together, easing my sweater over my head, then my thin top. Cool air brushed my bare breasts.

Mason's mouth found my neck, sucking and licking until I moaned. "Mason..."

Jason mirrored him on the other side. "So beautiful," he whispered.

They lowered me back. Mason's lips closed around one nipple, sucking firmly, tongue flicking the hard peak. Pleasure shot through me.

Jason took the other breast, sucking and licking until my nipples were wet and aching. "I love how you respond to us, he said."

I arched into them, hands in their hair. Clothes fell away until skin to skin, their hard cocks pressing hot against me.

Mason positioned himself tenderly between my legs, gazing down at me with warm eyes. "Look at me, love," he murmured softly. "I want to see every beautiful moment of you feeling this."

He pushed inside slowly, stretching me with his thick length. I gasped. "Oh god, Mason... you feel so good inside me."

He groaned and started a deep rhythm. "You're ours now. All of you."

Jason kissed me, fingers on my breasts. Then they switched. Jason thrust in smoothly. "Fuck, Celeste, you're so wet and tight for us," he breathed, moving faster while Mason sucked my neck and rubbed my clit.

The bond flared deep and warm between us with every thrust and moan, like threads of light weaving our souls tighter together.

Pleasure coiled tighter inside me until it broke in a crashing wave. I came hard around Jason, crying out their names as my body trembled.

They followed right after, spilling deep inside me with low, broken groans. In that shared release, the mating bond finally snapped fully into place, flooding me with a rush of warmth, certainty, and belonging that left me glowing from the inside out.

We stayed tangled, their arms around me.

***

I woke to pale light through the glass and both of them still there, arms draped over me like they never planned to let go.

Something in my chest was so settled it almost startled me.

The grief was still somewhere inside. One night did not erase months of hurt. But it shifted, made room for something steadier.

I was not waiting for it to fall apart anymore.

I was just here, fully in, and for the first time in a long time that felt like exactly enough.