Let me start off by wishing everyone a (belated) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I would love to hear what you guys got up to for Christmas, so please let me know in the comments :)

Stay safe, love you all!

-Jasmine

Chapter 44:

Camila woke that morning with a sense of peace in her heart that she had never felt before. She kept her eyes closed for a few more minutes to relish the feeling of comfort and warmth that seeped from the inside out. Outside in.

When she opened her eyes she saw Taine's limp hand near her face. She gazed at his fingers and was reminded of how they had felt against her bare skin the night before. The long scar across his palm reminded her of the deeper connection she now felt. To him and to their pack.

She felt the length of his muscular arm across her side and his chin above her head. She could hear and feel his even, sleep-filled breaths.

The rise and fall of his chest against her back made the moment, that much sweeter. It was such a simple thing, yet the beauty of her mate laying next to her brought her untold joy.

The fact that she was awake before Taine meant that he must have been exhausted. She didn't want to disturb his sleep but she would rather brush her teeth and run a comb through her hair before he saw her.

She gently lifted his arm and slid out of the bed. Tip-toeing to the bathroom and locking the door behind her.

-

The first thing she saw when she exited the bathroom was Taine's eyes. They lit up at the mere sight of her and the light spread to the rest of his face, causing a sleepy but elated smile to spread across his lips. His hair was in tufts, sticking up and pointing in unruly directions. It made him look younger, carefree.

He hardly smiled and it was scarcely ever genuine. Seeing it on his face now made her feel greedy. She relished in the way his eyes twinkled, the way his skin creased to fit the broadness of the expression. She wanted him to smile at her like that forever. Forever and always.

"Come here." He said with outstretched arms.

Camila couldn't help but grin. He had never been so open with his desires. Never told her he wanted her near, never opened his arms in expectation of folding them around her.

She walked to him and perched herself on his lap. He was sitting upright and staring at Camila's towelled covered body, with love and hunger. The look in his eyes made Camila blush.

She didn't protest when he pulled her close, began kissing her neck, and peeling the towel off her.

"How did you sleep last night?" He whispered.

His lips. The words against her skin made her shiver.

She ignored the question, letting her heart control her voice within the moment.

"Why did this take so long?"

"Huh?" he said, kissing her shoulders.

"For us to get here." She said, swatting him away still trying to maintain the conversation.

"Well, I think it was this." He ran his fingertip over her mark and smirked.

"I'm being serious." She grabbed his arms and held onto them so they couldn't roam any further.

"For things to be like this." She knew he felt it too. The serenity and pure contentment that had cast out all the resentment, anger and tension. It was deeper and stronger and blanketed itself around them like a force field.

Instead of brushing past her deep questions like he usually did, he pondered for a few moments before answering her.

"It had to happen like this Mila. We had to take our time, to get messy and to get hurt. We both have very unusual pasts. When people find their mate it's the moment everything changes, one of the final milestones. But for us, finding each other was just the beginning ...and everything in between needed to happen. They were just stepping stones and now we've crossed the river."

She looked at him in surprise. "When did you become so wise. I don't think I've ever heard you use an analogy before."

Now it was Taine's turn to blush.

"I mean I feel different." A light crease formed on his forehead. "We feel different. It's just deeper."

"I feel it too." Camila rested her head on his shoulder. "And I agree. I'm glad we waited to reach that point...emotionally before we did anything physical. I wondered...probably thousands of times why we were mated. I mean it makes no sense...but now I see that together we can heal all the hurt our family caused each other. Be a symbol of peace, to show that something good and beautiful can be created from the destruction.

She paused to look him in the eye. "but it's not always going to be sunshine and rainbows like the past few hours have been. We have a lot to work on."

He cupped her cheek with his hand and smiled.

"I know Mila. I made a promise to you. Just give me some time to show you."

He was grinning at her like a kid who had just been given candy. "Don't forget, I love you."

Her hands flew to her face in shyness. It felt odd to hear him say that to her and even stranger to hear the words echo back from her own mouth. "I love you too."

His hands moved from her face to encircling her wrist. The movement gave her a realisation.

"The watch. It was hers?"

Taine nodded. "Yes. She gave it to me while you were away and I wanted to give it to you as a gift. Since you already have a ring." He ran his thumb over the diamond on her mothers' engagement ring. "My father gave it to her when she found out she was pregnant with me.

She smiled at his thoughtfulness but something still felt wrong at the pit of her stomach. Considering the original giver of the gift it felt more like a representation of possession, not love.

"Thank you, but I don't think I can accept it."

"Well, you broke it beyond repair." He teased.

Camila laughed, not being used to his casual demeanour, but enjoying it.

She readjusted herself so that she was sitting "Yeah, I'm sorry." She said sheepishly.

"You're forgiven."

"That easy huh? All I gotta do is flash you next time?"

He laughed and pulled her lips to his. "No. You're forgiven. For everything you have done and could ever do. It will always be that way."

She couldn't help but smile against his lips.

"Taine, let's go home."

Authors note: (skip if you want)

So I just wanted to pop an authors note at the end of this chapter to check in with you guys!

If you've stuck with the book this long, you have no idea how grateful I am. I love my little corner of wattpad, so thank you for being here and supporting me! It is going to be a bittersweet ending when its over, but don't worry, we still have a little bit to go.

Writing is such a passion of mine and (I say this with a lot of love and humility) I know this book is something special. While writing brings me so much joy and seeing your comments literally makes my heart so happy, it can also be quite discouraging because the only way more people will see my writing is if people promote and share the book, which is really hard to do as an author.

I read the werewolf books that are 'big' on wattpad right now and while there are some AMAZING books on this platform...To see some books getting millions of reads when they have such poor grammar and such basic characters is super disheartening.

So again, I just want to thank the people who share, vote, comment and read, because it means the world to me and its what keeps me writing.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.