Page 87 of Roaring Spell

“You could have died.”

“Didn’t.” I try to smile. It feels wrong on my face—muscles not quite responding, nerves still recovering from the overload. “Bears are sturdy.”

“You are not sturdy. You are bleeding from your ears, Torin. There is blood coming out of your ears.”

Oh. That’s probably not good.

“Just need... minute.” I try to sit up. The world tilts alarmingly. “Where’s Valesh?”

“Unconscious. The wind knocked her into a tree.” Sakura’s hands press against my shoulders, keeping me down. “Don’t move. Don’t you dare move. I’m going to save your life, and then I’m going to kill you for making me save your life.”

“That seems... counterproductive.”

“Shut up.” But her voice cracks on the words, and fresh tears spill down her cheeks. “Just shut up and let me help you.”

Her magic touches me—not the violent elements she wields in combat, but the gentle healing energy I’ve watched her use on clients. The power that makes plants grow, crystals sing, and broken things slowly mend. It flows into me like warm water, easing the cold, pushing back the darkness.

Underneath it all, building like pressure before a thunderclap, I feel the mate pull finally snap into place. But not from my bear. From Sakura.

She leans down and bites my shoulder. Not hard enough to seriously wound—just enough to break skin. Just enough to leave a mark.

I gasp and my hands come up to grip her arms.

“Sakura.” Her name on my lips is reverent. I pull her down and kiss her. When we finally break apart, we’re both crying. The rain has stopped—the weather finally, impossibly calm.

“You claimed me.” My voice is rough. “You bit me.”

“The biting was impulsive.”

“I’m not complaining.” My hand touches my shoulder, where the mark of her teeth is already healing into a scar that looks like storm clouds. “I’ve been waiting for you to do that since the first day.”

“You could have mentioned that.”

“You weren’t ready.” I cup her face with hands that shouldn’t be steady but somehow are. “I would have waited forever, Sakura. However long you needed.”

“I know.” She turns her head to kiss my palm. “That’s why I love you.”

“I love you,” I say because it bears repeating. “I love you, and I’m sorry it took almost losing you for me to say it.”

“I love you too.” Her smile is everything I’ve ever wanted.

The Network arrives in a chaos of voices and movement.

Caius’s wolves spread out, securing the perimeter, checking the unconscious Preservers. Anouk kneels beside Valesh, binding her with magical restraints that glow faintly in the disturbed air. Rhodes is documenting everything—the shattered siphon, the battle damage, the blood magic circle that never completed.

And Aslan crouches beside me, his tiger’s intensity focused on assessment.

“He absorbed the siphon’s power.” Sakura’s voice is steady despite the tears still tracking down her face. “All of it. To stop the discharge.”

“That should have killed him.” Aslan’s expression is grim. “That should have killed anyone.”

“Bear’s resistance.” I manage. “Gambled... it would be enough.”

“You gambled your life.”

“Won.” I try to smile again. It works better this time. “Didn’t I?”

Aslan stares at me for a long moment. Then, surprisingly, he laughs.