Page 40 of Trusting Her Mate

He looks at me. Not at the mark. Not at my dress. At my face.

“Wren Smith. I can smell the bond. It is sealed and awakened. That is not in question.” His voice is gentle but firm. “What I need to know is whether you chose it. Not whether you accepted it. Not whether you submitted to it. Whether you chose it.”

The question lands somewhere deep. Somewhere that still aches when I think about Dax’s hand on my neck, about the joining dinner, about my father’s signature on a contract I never agreed to.

“I chose it,” I say. “I chose Boone. Not because of the bond. Not because of sanctuary. Not because anyone told me to.” My voice shakes and I let it. “I chose him because he asked. Every single time. He asked before he touched me. He asked before he kissed me. He asked before he bit me. And every time, I could have said no.”

Gavin’s expression doesn’t change.

“Dax Mercer never asked,” I continue. “He told me what my future would be. He put his hand on my throat to show everyone I belonged to him. He never once asked what I wanted.” I swallow. “Boone never told me. He asked. And when I said yes, it meant something. Because I could have said no.”

Gavin is quiet. The clearing is quiet. Even the birds have stopped.

“I chose him,” I say one final time. “I will choose him again tomorrow. And the day after that. And every day after that.”

Gavin nods once. “That is sufficient.”

We walk back, but the distance feels longer in the silence. Peyton’s hand brushes my arm, grounding and present. When we reach the clearing, every wolf turns. Boone stands where I left him, rigid and golden-eyed, his wolf barely leashed. When my gaze finds his, the bond flares with relief so intense it staggers me.

I cross to him and my hand finds his. His fingers close around mine, tight and desperate.

Gavin steps to the center of the clearing. He faces Alpha Mercer and Alpha Caine.

“The bond is verified,” he says. “Awakened, sealed, and mutual.” Alpha Mercer’s face goes rigid. “The female confirmed willing consent,” Gavin continues. “No coercion was detected. No evidence of a forced bond. The herbal residue in her system is fading and does not affect the bond’s authenticity.” He pauses. “The claim stands.”

The words hit the clearing like a thunderclap. Katu wolves exhale. Raine grabs Max’s arm, Talon’s shoulders drop an inch, and Calum’s jaw finally unclenches.

Boone’s hand tightens around mine and the bond floods with relief, with victory, with something fierce and bright that tastes like forever.

Alpha Mercer’s face turns gray. His mouth opens. Closes. “This is...” he starts.

“Final,” Gavin says. “The claim is recognized under pack law. Ashstone’s challenge is formally rejected.”

Dax hasn’t moved. He stands beside his father, frozen, staring at me. At the mark on my throat. At my hand in Boone’s. At everything he thought he owned, standing beside someone else.

I meet his gaze and hold it.

He looks unhinged. The polished mask has crumbled and what’s underneath is worse. Raw hatred, festering wounds, and humiliation that borders on madness.

“This is wrong,” he says, but Gavin doesn’t respond. “She’s lying.” Dax’s voice rises. “She’s always lying. The bond is fake. He forced her. She...”

“The adjudicator has ruled,” Caine says. “Ashstone will leave Katu territory.”

Dax doesn’t hear him. He’s not looking at Caine. He’s not looking at his father. He’s looking at Boone. And then he snaps.

It happens fast. One second, he’s standing, the next, his body is ripping apart. Bones crack. Skin tears. The shift is violent and uncontrolled, driven by rage instead of intention. His clothes shred as the wolf explodes out of him, golden-furred and massive, lips peeled back over teeth.

He launches at Boone and everything happens at once. Enforcers surge forward, Caine roars a command, wolves shift on both sides, and the clearing erupts into noise and movement and chaos.

But I’m faster.

The shift takes me before I decide it. One second, I’m standing beside Boone. The next, my bones are breaking, my skin is splitting, and my wolf is tearing out of me with a scream that becomes a snarl. I hit Dax mid-air, and the impact drives him into the ground. Dirt and pine needles explode around us. His jaws snap at my throat. I twist, claws raking across his shoulder, and he howls and blood sprays. His, not mine.

He’s bigger than me. Heavier. Trained in Ashstone’s brutal style, all force and intimidation. But I’m faster. I’m angrier. And I have something he doesn’t. Something worth protecting.

Dax lunges and I sidestep. My teeth find his hind leg, and I bite down, hard. The crunch of bone beneath my jaws sends a jolt through me. He screams, tries to turn, and I release. He limps, falls, and tries to rise.

But I don’t let him.