Cold gripped Vivienne in a tight vise. She couldn’t stop shivering and hurt everywhere, but especially around her neck. Something terrible had happened to her. She knew as much because her wolf was fighting hard to heal her broken body. She kept quiet in a remote corner of her mind, knowing that it was beyond her power to do anything.

It felt like déjà vu. She had been in this dark plane of existence before. Neither alive nor dead. Forever waiting on the outcome. Always falling.

“With this bite, I bind myself to you. Forever.”

The words floated toward her, illuminating what looked like a tunnel stretching ahead.

Her heart thumped against her chest, once, twice when there had not been a heartbeat until a moment ago. Warmth spread through her body.

“With this bite, I bind myself to you. Forever.”

She heard it again, louder this time. A warm wind carried her forward. Light as a feather, she glided across the tunnel, moving at increasing speed toward the light that had just appeared at the end.

Before she reached the mouth of the tunnel, a small pup appeared at her heels. She knew him. Pure love filled her. She grabbed the pup she had once carried in her womb and cradled him in her arms as the wind brought both of them outside.

A dragon waited for them in a beautiful meadow.

“Come, let me heal you,” the majestic creature told her.

She was in wolf form now, and her pup was playfully running between her legs and the dragon’s.

Time flew both slow and fast in that eternal plane where everything was possible.

“I want to stay here,” she said, nuzzling her pup as he rested against her, his small body warm and soft, smelling like wildflowers and sunshine.

“No,” the dragon said. “Your mate and your daughter need you.”

The pup happily woofed when the dragon nudged him with his nose.

“He’ll be with me,” the dragon said. “Safe.” He began licking her fur then. “You can go back now.”

With each of the creature’s gentle strokes, Vivienne felt her attachment to that plane lessen. The wind pushed her away from the meadow. She was human again and watched her pup joyously barking and playing hide and seek with the dragon.

Carried by the warm breeze, she entered the tunnel. As she retraced the path backward, the pain she had always carried within her lifted. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw that the light shone at both ends.

A sense of peace descended upon her. The gentle breeze became a strong wind, but Vivienne wasn’t scared of the maelstrom that propelled her forward, faster and faster until she didn’t know what was up and what was down. Past and present became one.

“You are ready,” the dragon’s voice echoed inside her, coming from her heart and spreading throughout her like a net made of love and acceptance, and hope.

Finally free to live, Vivienne accepted the dragon’s gift without reserve and let his healing power knit her back together.

---

Vivienne’s wolf opened her eyes and found herself in the too-bright room where she had fought the she-dragon. The evil stench of the creature lingered beneath harsh chemicals, but there was also a more pleasant and familiar scent. As her senses came back to her one by one, she felt the weight pressing against her flank.

She was weak and barely able to raise her heavy head, but she managed a glance over her shoulder. A large he-dragon was slumped against her. His chest rose and fell in the way humans slept, but he wasn’t just resting. She could sense that. He was healing, too.

Words echoed from the outside. A moment later, the door opened, and a woman entered. She was a were-panther and smelled like a friend, but nobody would get close to the he-dragon under her watch. Vivienne’s wolf bared her fangs, protecting the he-dragon at her side.

The woman talked to her. Vivienne’s wolf understood that the shifter was happy she was awake. When the woman stepped closer to the he-dragon, Vivienne’s wolf let out a powerful snarl, and the shifter raised her hands and slowly stepped back.

Only when the intruder left the room and closed the door did Vivienne’s wolf lower her head. Exhausted, she slouched down and snuggled closer to the he-dragon, falling into a deep slumber.

---

Vivienne blinked a few times. A feeble gloom illuminated the room, and she couldn’t see where she was. She wondered if she was still dreaming. It was difficult to be sure of anything when her hold on reality was tenuous at best.

Soft breathing came from her side, grounding Vivienne to the here and now. She focused on the sound, regulating her breathing on the calming rhythm.

Little by little, her memories came back, and when she turned, she wasn’t surprised to find Max resting beside her on the floor of the waiting room. He was sleeping. The dark circles under his eyes hadn’t been there the last time she had seen him, and she felt an overwhelming need to protect him. She moved, molding her naked body to his clothed one and raised one arm over his shoulder.

At her touch, Max stirred and turned to face her. “You’re back.” His voice was hoarse. “Thank you,” he said, his green eyes bright.

“For what?” she whispered.

“For coming back to me.” He leaned in to brush her lips.

Before she could say anything back, he added, “We are mated.”

“What?” she shrieked. Her hand went to her shoulder. Sure enough, a bite mark ridged her skin.

Max had marked her.

It was a surreal feeling, but the circular mark under her fingers was real. The sweetest of emotions filled her heart. They were mated. It was sudden and unexpected, but wonderful nonetheless. “Oh, Max,” she began saying, but he stopped her.

“My head is killing me.” He brought a hand over his eyes. “You can yell at me all you want—”

“I wasn’t yelling.” She smiled.

“But I had no other choice,” he continued as if she hadn’t interrupted him. “We are mated. You are my soulmate, and I was going to lose you—”

“I almost died.” Saying the words out loud made her shiver because it made it real. She had been close to leaving everything and everyone behind to join her son in the forever-fields.

“I know,” Max said.

In his voice, she heard fear and love, and her heart jumped in her chest. “You thought I was dying and still bound yourself to me, knowing that—” she couldn’t finish the sentence.

By binding himself to a dying woman, Max had committed himself to the possibility of a loveless life. A shifter bond lasted beyond mortal life.

“You are my soulmate,” he repeated. “Even if I hadn’t said the mating words, I would’ve always honored your memory. There wouldn’t have been another woman for me.”

“Max,” she whispered. “I—”

Steps interrupted Vivienne from finishing her thought.