p.s I know the end of this chapter sounds like the end of the book, but dw, we still have a bit more to go.

Chapter 43:

As soon as she had said the words the atmosphere in the room had changed. Camila knew that words weren't what Taine needed to hear. He needed to see and feel that she wasn't going to run away anymore. That she was all and only his.

Taine traced his fingertips along the curve of her neck. He stared at her skin it adoringly.

For an Alpha, marking your mate was the ultimate symbol of unity.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

He looked into her eyes hesitantly, about to ask again.

"Taine, if you don't mark me right now then I'm going to mark myself."

And without another moment of delay, she felt his lips map out the place where they wished to make their mark and then his teeth sunk into her flesh...and the rest of the world melted away and there was only her and her mate.

-

Camila found herself panting for air, like she did in her wolf state. Her lungs couldn't seem to take in enough air.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Taine asked for the eighth time in the space of five minutes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, leaning into his touch and trying to make sense of the feeling that went through her body.

"What does it feel like?" He asked.

She reached up and gently touched the place where Taine's fangs had pierced her skin.

"It felt weird...Like a rush of pain and then heat..." and then lust, she almost said. "Weird but right."

She could feel that the bond between them had deepened. Like another part of her soul had been unlocked. A void filled that she didn't know she had.

Taine looked more than pleased with himself at the mark he created. He grinned at her like he had just won an Olympic medal. He pulled her close and kissed her. From the way, he kissed her she knew he felt it too.

On her lips

On her neck

On her mark

Camila lost herself in the haziness of his touch. The air felt charged and electric between them. If the sexual tension was high before, then it was suffocating her now.

From the way he was touching her, hungrily and passionately, she knew they were both basking in this newfound electricity.

Love has the power to heal and to change. The love of her family, The Harts, Libby, Pat, Sammy, Auntie Cheryl...They took her from the deepest and most broken of places and they each loved her back together. It took time and patience but ultimately, it is what made her a complete puzzle.

Camila had always thought it was some cruel twist of fate that brought her and Taine together, but for the first time, Camila could think of a reason why they were mates. That their definition of true love was healing. They were fated so that they could love each other and heal each other until the broken pieces became whole again.

"I love you too" She whispered, somewhere in the space between the end of him and the start of her.

She broke apart to pull her t-shirt over her head. Taine let his hands roam all over her bare skin, stopping to unclasp her bra.

She pushed him down on the floor feeling him under her. The heat of his skin under the thin shirt he was wearing, the feeling of him pressed against her.

"We are not doing this on the itchy carpet." She said in between kisses.

He smiled against her lips.

She felt him lift her up and onto the bed. Somewhere along the way, his shirt came off and so did her shoes.

Their lips spoke the words written on their hearts. The pain they had both endured. The weight of their secrets, their guilt. Their healing and their love.

Soft sheets and romance.

Ripped jeans and werewolf kisses.