"Cassandra?"

"Shhh."

"Why are you shushing me? And why do you have Alpha Alrik's soul? I hope you're not–"

The Moon Goddess raised her head to eye her mate in slight annoyance, "I'm not doing anything, my love. I'm waiting."

He furrowed his eyebrows, "Waiting for what?"

"For Jaslynn to mark Alrik."

"And you're watching?" He asked, horrified at the thought of intruding on such a private moment.

The Moon Goddess snorted in amusement, "You insult my morals. I didn't have an audience when I marked you, why don't they deserve the same respect?"

He sat beside her and cocked his head at the glowing white sphere, "So you are watching his soul because?"

"Have you never seen what happens to a wolf's soul when they are fully mated?"

She smiled and lifted the box up carefully to rest it in her lap, "Then watch closely. This is a monumental moment in his life."

He raised his eyebrows and stared at the luminescent ball curiously, waiting for it to grow bigger or for little fireworks to burst out of it as a celebration of the Alpha's completed mating.

However, none of that happened.

Instead, a small, shimmering line of gold shot of the sphere and whirled around the circumference like a mini equator. And as soon as that line was drawn, several glistening streams of gold began to burst out of the sphere and whizz around the surface from all angles, weaving a lattice around the Alpha's soul.

And when the cords of gold settled, all that remained was a glittering net that covered his soul, adding onto the light it emitted and nearly blinding the eyes of those who stared too long.

The smile that grew on the Moon Goddess's face was just as blinding as she traced the little net with her fingertips. Her mate, on the other hand, was squinting as the brightness burned his eyes, "What do the golden lines signify? That he is trapped?"

"That he has been captured, that his heart has been captured," The Moon Goddess explained, "And the woman who captured him gives him more strength than he ever had."

Her mate nodded, although he was a little confused, "We already knew that."

"But this makes it official," she pointed out with excitement, "His soul will be entwined with hers for eternity, no matter life or death."

"Just like us," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her knuckles.

She smiled, "Just like us."

I woke up feeling completely at bliss and at peace with my surroundings.

–Until I realized that I was hugging a pillow against my chest instead of my kroskha.

I threw the pillow aside and sat up quickly, frowning as Jaslynn was nowhere in sight. Our clothes were still scattered around the room so she had either showered and gotten a new pair or she was wandering around naked.

For her ass's sake, I was hoping it was the former.

I trudged into the bathroom miserably and began brushing my teeth when the front door to the cabin squeaked open and a soft patter of footsteps made its way toward the bathroom. I waited with a glare on my face as Jaslynn appeared in the doorway with a small smile on her face that created a small ache in my chest.

"Good morning," she chimed, wrapping her arms around my torso. I ignored the goosebumps that swarmed my skin as she kissed the mark on my neck and grunted in reply.

She furrowed her eyebrows, "What's wrong?"

I rinsed my mouth and huffed as she continued to stare at me with that confused, puppy-eyed look on her face.

"Where did you go? You left me," I grumbled, wiping my mouth with the towel.

Her lips twitched, and she hugged me from behind again, "I went to the main house to talk to Dario. I translated the pages and discovered some information that could quite possibly throw a wrench in our plans."

"What information?"

She kissed my shoulder blade and backed away, "Come, I'll show you. We have to go back to the main house in about an hour or so for the final plans."

As she made a move to exit the bathroom, I grabbed her arm and pulled her back, placing her on the counter, "No. I want a proper kiss. In fact, I should punish you for leaving me with a fucking pillow."

"First of all," she argued, lifting a finger up to my face, "You've done that to me twice and nearly gave me a heart attack the first time. Second of all, you passed out after I marked you. And lastly, you wouldn't let me go so I had to hump a pillow a few times so my scent was all over it and shove it between us."

"I passed out and you humped a pillow?" I could feel my ears starting to burn in embarrassment.

She poked my cheek and grinned smugly, "I guess my mark took it out of you."

I groaned and buried my face into the crook of her neck as she laughed, "Don't be embarrassed. I loved knowing I could do that to you."

"The things you to do me make me sound so weak."

"Was that an insult or a compliment? Cause I can tell you right now, no one doubts your strength. You should have seen Wilbur's neck before he wrapped a scarf around it."

A surge of anger flooded my veins at the thought of that idiot.

I popped my head up and narrowed my eyes, "Did he say anything else to you?"

"Actually, he apologized," she said, stroking my jaw in a soothing manner, "I've never had issues with Wilbur before so it was just the grief talking."

I rolled my eyes and nuzzled her neck, enjoying how she shivered, "You're too forgiving for your own good."

"There's no point in holding a grudge over something like that," she replied, "Now, how about we go eat breakfast and I can explain what I translated?"

I hummed and pulled her dress up as she curled her arms around my neck, "What are you doing?"

"You said eat breakfast."

A quiet moan escaped her plump lips, and I couldn't resist leaning in and sucking her bottom lip into my mouth, "Do you think we have time for a quickie?"

"I would say we have about twenty minutes."

I ripped her underwear off and threw it aside, much to her dismay, "That's all I need."

***

One mouthwatering breakfast and one steamy shower later, Jaslynn was glaring at my reflection in the mirror as she tied her hair up. I tucked the towel in around my waist and put an arm around her hips, kissing her mark with a smirk, "Don't look at me like that."

"You said a quickie," she snapped, "Now, we don't have time for breakfast."

"With the way you sucked me off, I thought I was breakfast."

Her cheeks flushed, and she slapped my chest, "Shut up. I was looking forward to eating crêpes."

"Too bad, I got to eat your cre–"

"Alrik!"

I chuckled and nuzzled her hair, allowing my wolf to get his daily dose of her heavenly scent, "Come on, we might be able to squeeze some food in after the meeting."

"About that," she started, pulling a fresh pair of underwear on, "I'm going back to my coven today."

I froze with my shirt half-buttoned, "You are?"

"Dario said we're all heading back today to get our warriors ready, then we can meet in the middle."

A part of me wanted to tell her that she did not even need her coven–that my pack was more than enough–but I knew she wouldn't approve. I had to remind myself that she was a leader too so she knew what she was doing, and I had to trust that she would not make any wrong, impulsive decisions.

Although out of the two of us, she was the one who acted on a whim. I was the more planned and calculated one.

"Let's go, koala," she clapped her hands and glided over to me, giving me a calm, confident smile to reassure me as if she knew my inner turmoil.

I sighed and held her close as we left the cabin and headed for the main house.

***

It took me around two minutes to get annoyed with all the glances and whispers the mark on my neck was garnering.

Sure, I might have unbuttoned the collar of my shirt to display it, but it was not so that I could become some sort of exhibit.

But Jaslynn's mark was a work of art.

I spent almost ten minutes studying it in the mirror. The indents were not as deep considering she did not have canines, but they were large, if not larger than mine. She made sure her mark was very visible even if she was not a complete werewolf.

"Alpha Alrik."

I turned around and narrowed my eyes at the leader of the griffins, "Mr. Wilbur."

My eyes were drawn to the purplish bruises that were peeking through the scarf. He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head, "I apologize for what I said yesterday. It was unacceptable, and I understand the course of action you took as a result of my idiocy."

"Apology not ac–"

Jaslynn pinched my arm, and I sighed, "I don't like you, but I will accept the apology for Jaslynn's sake."

He nodded with a tight smile and turned to walk to the conference room as we followed behind him at a distance.

"Your bluntness never fails to startle me," Jaslynn murmured as I shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm not going to stand there and pretend that I like him. It's better to be upfront about these things."

She shook her head, "As long as you're civilized."

We entered the room where the rest of the leaders and Dario were already waiting and took our seats as he began speaking immediately, "Jaslynn, would you like to explain what you discovered in the translations?"

"Basically," she pulled the pages out of the folder she had been carrying, "The portal will open only at midnight on the next full moon night. It will be open for exactly twenty-two minutes, and in that time, Malcolm will attempt to summon as many demons as he possibly can or else he'll have to wait till the next full moon to open the portal once again."

She paused for a moment, "Here's the issue. We had assumed the portal would be able to open everywhere, but it doesn't. It only opens in the Mortiferum Abyss."

There was a simultaneous chorus of sharp inhales.

The Mortiferum Abyss, otherwise known as the Deadly Abyss, was the supernatural equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle. Those who fell in the abyss or attempted to cross it were never seen again, and it was no wonder why.

They probably fell straight to hell if that was the only location the portal could open.

"Does Malcolm just need the portal open for all the creatures to crawl out or does he need to recite more spells?" Reagan asked.

"It depends on the demon. If he wants the more powerful ones, he has to recite more spells to awaken them," Jaslynn answered, a bit of a worried look on her face as her eyes darted over the text on the pages, "But you also have to recite spells to force them back in, which worries me because of the time constraints."

There was silence as everyone pondered over the situation before Jaslynn spoke up again, "I do have a rough idea for a plan, but it's a bit risky."

"What is it?" Dario asked cautiously.

She nibbled her lip nervously, "We let Malcolm open the portal."

"What the fuck?"

"Are you insane?"

"Jaslynn, I don't think that will–"

"Hear me out," Jaslynn held her hands up to put a pause to our exclamations, "I think no matter how early we get there, Malcolm will still be able to open the portal. He's planned this for over a century, and there's no doubt in my mind that he's made sure his plan is foolproof."

"So we let him open the portal. Then what?" Daxton frowned.

"First, we make him think we've fallen behind. He probably has spies flying all over the place to keep an eye on us. Seeing as the abyss is closer to us than it is to him, he'll be even more cautious. Once we do that, we'll launch a surprise attack the second the portal opens. Our goal is to kill as many demons and Malcolm's followers as possible and then force all of them into the portal along with the remains of the book. So we get rid of the book, the potential for anyone to try to open the portal again, and Malcolm."

We all sat there, mulling over her idea that seemed so simple, but difficult to execute.

Dario cleared his throat, "How about all of you think this over for an hour and we'll meet back here for the vote or to discuss any other idea you may have?"

The rest of the leaders nodded and exited the room quickly as Jaslynn and I slowly got up with Dario. He beamed at us and nodded at my neck, "Congratulations, you two. Finally fully mated."

Jaslynn raised an eyebrow, "When are you planning on finding your woman?"

The beam on his face transformed into a mysterious smile, "I've actually had my sights set on someone for a while now. It's just a matter of her accepting me. She's very stubborn."

"Who is it? Do I know her?" She asked excitedly.

He bit his lip to hold back his grin, "Someone who's been a huge fan of my family."

"Oh my God, you mean Meredith!"

Dario only shrugged and raised his palm before Jaslynn could interrogate him further, "Before you go, I did want to give you something."

He reached under the table and pulled a large staff out, causing her eyes to widen as she recognized it.

"Jas, I want you to take my father's staff with you."