Kaleb felt weak. It was more than just the blood loss and wolfsbane; he was well on his way to recovery, and Kaleb had unusually high pain tolerance. It was the emotional whiplash of going from so worried his heart might have exploded to so relieved it might have stopped that was sapping his strength now. 

A sharp blade of guilt was lodged in his chest, worse than the wound he'd gotten from Kaia's father. He'd been forced to kill a member of his Pack. It felt filthy. Still, he'd known there had been no choice. Grayson had never been loyal, not since Kaleb had taken up the title of Alpha after Alexander's rule ended. Grayson had always expected it would be him, that it was foolish to allow a boy to become Alpha. Maybe he'd been right, Kaleb didn't know. 

But Kaleb had faith that he could change things, that he was what the Pack needed, not Grayson. He regretted what he'd done, but he had to stand by it now. It was the lightness of Kaleb's soul that made his guilt worsen. Perhaps, Kaleb thought, the unrest in his Pack would disappear with Grayson. The bizarre concoction of relief and guilt in Kaleb's heart made his eyes sting. 

He reasoned that Grayson would most likely have been put to death or forced into becoming a Rogue should Kaleb have shown some self-restraint, not only for his open rebellion but his attack on the Pack's Luna-to-be. Perhaps a quick death was better than that future. 

His Luna-to-be. He was afraid for her. He cradled his moon in his arms. She was acting strangely. She'd said that she didn't feel any burning, which is what wolfsbane felt like to lycanthrope. It was like the moment the bullet had entered Kaleb's body, his blood had turned to lava, and it had blackened him from the inside out. But Kaia felt...clouds, whatever that meant. 

"What is happening to you? Your pupils are dilated," Kaleb said, readjusting his arm so that her head wouldn't fall. Kaleb had thought that, somehow, she was a lycanthrope. But Kaia would be dead if she were, no question. So what was she that wolfsbane had affected her like this? It didn't make sense. Wolfsbane was poisonous to humans if Kaleb remembered correctly. Maybe this had to do with her being able to read minds?

Kaia rolled her head on her shoulders. She was like a child, switching her train of thought the instant something more captivating crossed her path. She was acting as though she'd tried drugs for the first time in her life and didn't know how to handle it. 

Kaleb reached up with the hand he wasn't using to keep Kaia from tumbling away from him and tilted her head towards him. Her skin was hot to the touch, which was quite something considering Kaleb's own body was warmer than usual due to its recent efforts to stave off the wolfsbane. 

Kaia had pressed her body so close to Kaleb's that he was starting to get that feeling at the base of his throat. He wasn't quite sure what it was. It felt like a growl, like something low and powerful burgeoning in him the longer she kept her body close to his. It was the same one he'd felt when he'd first seen her. 

Kaleb looked down at Kaia, repeating her name again and again because it felt so right to say it, like sweet honey on his lips. He wasn't sure if she could hear him or if she'd even remember this, but he drew her against him anyway. 

He leaned down, ignoring the twinge of pain in his side, and swept a lock of Kaia's soft hair from her face. He brushed a soft kiss on her warm forehead. 

Domination. A need for Kaia to be his. That's what the feeling was, Kaleb realized. 

It was intimidating how all-consuming it was. It left none of Kaleb untouched. He had always thought of himself as a shadow. His life was dark and so was he, with his endlessly black fur. But this need for Kaia...it was like a shimmer passed over him, like car headlights moving across a room in the beat of a heart, illuminating a dark place. It was like the day he'd met her, his black fur turning light in the snow. 

Kaleb was jerked from his thoughts when his entire body lit up, each of his senses alert to her every movement. Kaia was touching him, her warm fingers perfectly searing his chest. And though she only touched his chest, he felt it everywhere, a shockwave slamming into him. 

Kaleb wanted to curl around her, to trap her against him. He wanted to explore every inch of her, to tangle his hands in her silvery hair and pull her roughly into the deepest, the most sensual, the most meaningful kiss she'd ever experience. He wanted to taste her, and he wanted her to feel him. 

But he couldn't. It took all he had, but he somehow managed to stop Kaia, grabbing her wrist and robbing himself of her touch. He hated himself a little bit for it, but he couldn't risk losing the Lunar Ceremony and losing Kaia with it. 

They were already on thin ice with the Pack--clearly, considering they wouldn't even be in their current situation if Grayson hadn't tried to kill Kaleb--so if Kaleb didn't follow proper Pack tradition, he might lose their faith. 

"Don't do that, Kaia." He wondered if she could hear the regret in his voice, could understand just how much he did want her to 'do that,' and to do so much more than just 'that.'

"But I want to touch you," Kaia whimpered. Oh god. "I always want to."

Kaleb was standing on an edge, staring down at Kaia and unable to look away. It was like peering over a cliff face and wondering if he'd survive the fall. Once Kaleb threw himself from such a height, there was no going back. No matter how goddamn badly he wanted to, he couldn't kiss her now. He couldn't.

Kaia was practically torturing him, not that she knew that. If she was in control of herself, she might not have gone further, might have noticed how Kaleb tensed at her touch or how hard he was trying to resist her. But Kaia was blind, and she beckoned to him where she danced at the foot of the cliff.

And then she leaned forward and bit him.

It was more of a nip. She trapped the smallest bit of Kaleb's skin right on his collarbone between her teeth.

For a second, Kaleb couldn't move. She doesn't know what she's doing, Kaleb reminded himself. Don't lose control. But no matter how hard he tried to ignore his instincts, Kaleb could only feel her lips on his skin, her teeth by his neck.

Kaleb's heart was pounding. Shockwave after shockwave coursed through his body with each beat, spreading heat to every inch of him.

"Kaia," Kaleb breathed. Her name felt rough on his tongue like he wasn't supposed to be using his mouth to speak. At least, not now. There were so many other things he could've been doing with it.

Kaia let out a whimper, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck and hanging there like a sloth. Why was it that even when she didn't know what she was doing, Kaleb felt that Kaia could ask anything of him and he'd bend to her will? He'd never met anyone who had such a hold over him, and he wasn't sure how to feel about it. What he was sure of, though, was that, at that moment, Kaleb would have done near anything for the Lunar Ceremony to be behind them.

Kaia looked like she was going to cry, "I thought you'd taste like honey." Her eyes were glassy, and she felt feverish. Kaleb wondered if it was wrong to find her reddish cheeks irresistible. "But you don't," she huffed.

If there is a higher power somewhere out there watching this, please give me some self-restraint. I beg of you.

Kaleb had to focus on anything other than the little beauty mark on Kaia's neck; it was such a small thing, a speck of dark where her neck met her shoulder. Did she have more? Something, anything! But he couldn't. Not when her hair had fallen away from her face, exposing her pale, delicate throat; the possessiveness that Kaleb felt at seeing her so vulnerable was staggering.

Kaleb swallowed, hard. He felt weak and powerful simultaneously. His body felt like it was on fire. He'd kidnapped Kaia and whisked her away to his quiet heaven, a separate reality, where no one and nothing could bother them. Or maybe Kaia was that heaven.

Kaleb slid the tips of his fingers along her neck and she shivered in his arms, causing all sorts of ideas to whirl around his head like evil little blackbirds. Touch her. Taste her. Take her.

"My mom said that he'd kiss it."

"What?" Kaleb asked, his tongue gliding along his lips.

She was staring at him, her gaze suddenly steadier. "This," Kaia said, turning her head and touching the base of her neck. Kaleb placed his hand over hers, his fingers brushing her mark.

"Who would kiss it?" Kaleb demanded. He tried to ignore the anger he felt at the thought that someone else would ever touch Kaia. She was his, simple as that.

Kaia smiled, taking Kaleb's face, "You, I think."

Kaleb couldn't do anything about it now. That sweet smile had been the last note of a blissful song. The silence that came after was perfection. It was like the quiet after a raging storm, a sinking back into peace after a thrill. 

Kaleb's lips met Kaia's mark softly, just a little taste of what he'd have. The closer he got to her, the stronger her vanilla scent was, but with his nose against her jaw, he could detect lavender, too.

Kaleb's tongue barely touched Kaia's neck before she let out a little moan, her fingers tightening on the back of his neck.

And Kaleb left his mark on her, a sign to all other lycanthrope that they could never touch her. If they did, he'd probably kill them.

When Kaleb straightened and looked down at her, she was unconscious. He didn't blame her. Her body had already been weak, so receiving Kaleb's mark had taken the last of her strength.

But it was there now, a little red spot no one would notice but the two of them. It would fade slightly over time, but it would always be there right next to the one she'd have from birth. 

☾

"You don't remember?" Kaleb asked. He had been expecting this, but it still caused a little ache in the back of his throat. A small flame of frustration flickered to life in him. 

"No," Kaia breathed. She looked annoyed. Kaleb sighed and sat up, looking down at her where she lay beside him. Her hair was fanned out around her shoulders, and he ran his fingers over the velvety waves. "But it feels..." 

Kaleb met her eyes and realized that she was blushing deeply. He felt his lips lift into a half smile of satisfaction. Kaia touched her fingers to her neck, "It feels weird."

"Weird?" Kaleb prodded. 

Kaia smiled, closing her eyes. In the morning sunlight, Kaleb was struck again by how divine she looked. She glowed. "But good," Kaia whispered, her eyes still closed, "Like chocolate."

Kaleb sat up straighter, confused. "Chocolate?"

Kaia opened her eyes and nodded, still smiling, "Like I've had a long, lonely day. And I get home and sit down and bite into the richest chocolate I've ever tasted. And, like that, my loneliness is gone. Because I'm happy." 

This woman was a miracle. 

Kaleb leaned over her until his head hovered over hers and he could look at her. "Does it work like that?"

"What?" Kaia asked, touching his arm. 

"Can you forget all your loneliness with such a little thing?" Kaleb asked, doubtful. He'd felt his fair share of loneliness, and it wasn't the sort of emotion that could disappear with sweets. 

Kaia looked sad for a flicker of a moment, "Yes. But only for a second, and then it comes back worse than before."

Kaleb softened. He reached down and touched his mark on her neck. She flinched like she'd been surprised by some unexpected sensation. It was a soft spot for her now, a vulnerability he fully intended to take advantage of in the future. But, for now, it was merely proof that they were together, in this and everything. No matter how lonely they'd been, they weren't alone any longer. 

Kaleb wondered how Kaia had lived her life, how her heart had survived her years and how it could still be so perfectly gentle. She'd lost her mother, and her father, as far as Kaleb had seen, couldn't have given her what she'd have needed from a parent. Kaleb wondered if what she'd had was better than what he'd had for a moment, but then thought better; such a comparison was impossible and unfair. 

"I'm sure Rosy told you this, but I've lived through loss," Kaleb said, touching Kaia's face. Instantly, Kaia's eyes were shining. Her heart was so good that any mention of his pain and she was on the verge of tears. "And after I lost my parents, my world changed. It was more than just being alone. It was taking on the title of Alpha."

Kaia slowly sat up, and Kaleb watched her, worried that she'd get dizzy. He didn't know what the aftereffects of the wolfsbane were for her. When Jaeger had examined her, he'd said that her vitals were normal save for a slight fever. Jaeger couldn't explain why she was perfectly healthy. It left Kaleb worried.

When he was satisfied that Kaia was alright, when she was sitting up entirely and sliding her hands along his arm to coax his words from him, he continued. "There are secrets and lies. They're my responsibility, and they exist to keep people safe. I'm stuck in it." 

"In the darkness," Kaia said quietly, watching him, listening. Kaleb slowly nodded. She took his hand, and he felt like his heart could finally rest. 

"It's hardship, pain, and blood. It isolated me for so long that I forgot what it was like having someone," Kaleb said. Kaia let her tears fall openly. She didn't need to hide them from him. 

"And then I saw a silvery girl as bright as the moon," Kaleb continued, "And she could steal my secrets with a touch." 

Kaia smiled, "Snapshots."

Kaleb let out a breath of a laugh. "And this girl, she had the most beautiful doe eyes I'd ever seen." Kaleb touched the side of her face again, and she placed her hand over his, pressing his palm to her cheek. She pursed her lips, an expression of quiet joy on her face. "But there was a hint of sadness in them that I recognized...and I thought that maybe she had a dark side, too. Just like the moon, mystery and all."

She was beautiful, delicate, peacefully human. "And I didn't want her to be alone any more than I wanted to be alone myself. I'd have done anything to rescue her from her solitude." Kaleb's voice grew darker as he felt guilt invade him. He tried not to let it show on his face, but it didn't matter. Kaia knew. She always knew. 

"So I did. I selfishly brought you here, into my dark world." For once, Kaleb let her see into him. It felt horrible at first like he was tearing his chest open so that Kaia could peer into his rib cage and see his heart. It began as a gruesome affair, a procession of Kaleb's filthiest regrets. 

But Kaia, in the way that she always seemed to do, changed it. It was like she was reaching into his chest and picking out flowers, gazing at them and kissing them. Kaia forgave him even before he got the words out. "Kaleb," she said quietly, "You know I hate the idea of destiny, but my ending up here wasn't your sole doing. I was the one who walked into those woods that day, on my own volition. And I was born the way I am."

Kaia let her hand drop away, easing Kaleb's chest closed again. She left the rest of his secrets intact. "I think our lives are like balls of tangled string, rolling in every unexpected direction possible. And our strings fall where they may, crossing each other when they happen to."

Kaleb's lips had parted as he'd watched her weave her words. It was an unfamiliar feeling to have one of the many cracks in his heart mended by Kaia's touch. "I don't think we should hurt ourselves trying to discover whose fault it is that our strings ended up together, but you should know that I wouldn't change the way things are here, with you."

Kaleb leaned down and slipped her shirt off of one shoulder. He pressed his lips to his mark and Kaia shuddered as she hid her fingers in his hair. Kaleb rested his forehead on her warm shoulder and closed his eyes, leaning lightly against her. 

He'd thought it before, and he'd think it many times again.

"Kaia, you are my miracle."

Awwwww. Hopefully, you guys liked this chapter, (I know I did). Vote or comment if you've got the time! :)