A growl built low in my chest.
I swallowed it down.
Barely.
Because the thought had already come.
Ugly.
Beautiful.
Fucking unbearable.
Pups.
Perse round with my child.
Perse carrying something made from us.
Perse’s scent changing because of me. Her body keeping proof of me somewhere deeper than skin, deeper than a mark, deeper than any bite I could leave on her throat.
Inside her.
A piece of me taking root in the woman asleep against my chest. A life made from her gold and my darkness. Her blood and mine tangled so deep no one could separate it. No poison could silence it. No warlock could dig it out. No enemy could look at her and pretend she was untouched by me.
Mine.
This mine had claws.
This mine wanted to lock the door, bare my teeth at the world, and keep her warm and
