Aria's POV
Damon proposed we hold our bonding rites early, on the night of the next full moon. He hoped the mate bond would help steady my wolf nature.
The day soon arrived. I stood at the center of the ceremonial circle in my courtyard, my bare feet pressed against the cold stone while the night wind moved through my hair.
Around me, the pack's ancient runes glowed faintly beneath the moonlight, their markings carved into the ground for the purpose of the bonding rite.
My pulse hammered against my ribs.
Across from me stood Damon, impossibly calm in his black ceremonial clothing, but I could feel the tension rolling off him through the mate bond that already existed between us.
It was faint and incomplete, yet it was there like a thread that kept pulling me toward him no matter how
