Hard to believe that just a month ago, Aylin had thought her future was lost. Now she was about to officially mate the chief of the largest clan in the Pacific Northwest. A chief who now commanded the respect of multiple clans. A chief who wasn’t just mating with her for political reasons.

He loved her.

She couldn’t wait to make it official. Especially because she’d insisted on keeping separate chambers until the ceremony, and tonight would be the first night she and Hunter spent together since the full moon.

Tonight was the new moon, when the female moon fever would rule, and she could already feel the pull tugging at her.

She cast a final glance in the mirror, wondering if the feather and turquoise headdress was too much. She adjusted it. Took it off. Put it back on.

Finally, a deep male voice made the decision for her. “If you wear that,” Hunter said from the doorway, “we won’t make it all the way through the ceremony.”

Smiling, she pivoted to face him. Nicole had conveniently disappeared, leaving Aylin alone with the male she was about to commit to.

And if she’d had any doubt before, the sight of him, his dark gaze glittering with excitement and admiration, demolished it. His ebony hair fell in a shiny curtain over his broad shoulders and chest, which were bare except for a silver and amber necklace fashioned in MoonBound’s symbol of the half-moon circled by a serpent. A single braid woven with a leather thong and eagle feathers hung from his right temple, secured by a miniature version of the MoonBound pendant.

And hanging low on his h*ps were supple buckskin leathers that hugged his muscular thighs as if they’d been painted on.

Reaching out, she put her palm on his chest. “We don’t have to wait until after the ceremony.”

“We’ll be late.” He stepped close and pressed his lips to the pulse in her throat. “But I’m sure everyone expects that.”

Heat flooded her veins, and beneath her hand, his heartbeat raced. “Then let’s not disappoint them.”

His hands circled her hips, and as if she weighed nothing at all, he lifted her so she could wrap her legs around his waist. “Thank you, Aylin,” he whispered in her ear.

She clung to him, rotating her h*ps against the hardness of his erection. “For what?”

“For saving my life.”

“You’ve already thanked me.”

“For bringing me back from the dead, yes.” He tugged on her earlobe with his teeth, sending a shock of arousal straight to her core. “But not for saving me. I was headed down a path that wouldn’t lead anywhere. Then Rasha happened, and if I’d mated with her, my path would have turned… ugly. You did more than bring me back from the dead, Aylin. You resurrected me.”

Emotion clogged her throat. “You did the same for me. I wouldn’t have survived being sent to NightShade.”

“I think,” he said roughly, as he slid inside her, filling her, completing her, “that you’d have done fine. You’re strong, Aylin, and it’s your strength that saved me. Saved us both.”

She moaned at the delicious possession. “You broke me out of ShadowSpawn’s chains and gave me the freedom to be strong,” she whispered. “I didn’t think I could belong to a clan and still be free, but here I am.”

He braced her between his big body and the wall and moved against her, his h*ps pumping slowly, sensuously. “I would never chain you, sweetheart.” He gave her a naughty smile. “Unless you want me to.”

“Mmm… maybe later.”

Leaning in, he scraped his fangs over her clavicle, and she shuddered with pleasure. “I have dreams about that,” he said, his voice dripping with erotic promise. “Having you at my mercy.”

“Before you came along, dreams were all I had. And you’ve made every one of them come true.” She reconsidered that. “Well, most of them.”

He froze. Pulled back. Looked down at her with heartbreaking worry. “What dream haven’t I fulfilled?”

Reaching up, she cupped his cheek. “Just one. But it’ll happen.”

He scowled. “What is it?”

“Children,” she murmured. “All my life, I was told I wouldn’t be allowed to have them. And in a way, it was a blessing. I couldn’t raise a child in a clan like ShadowSpawn or NightShade. But I can’t think of a better place to raise them than here, with you as their father.”

Hunter’s dark eyes grew liquid, and his throat worked over and over on swallows. When he finally spoke, his words were edged with emotion.

“Only if Nicole finds a way to make giving birth safe. I can’t lose you. I love you, Aylin. Samnult is a bastard, but he was right about one thing.” Dipping his head, he brushed his lips over hers. “I chose wisely.”

Yes, he had.

They both had.