Page 96 of Knotting the Firefighters
With Wendolyn?
What does that even?—
"Bonded what?" I croak, the question requiring monumental effort to vocalize.
Losing the battle.
Consciousness slipping despite determination to understand what Aidric's talking about, why he's calling, how he possibly knows anything about my morning activities.
The relief flooding my system is too strong to fight—a warm, comforting blanket that's smothering every other sensation, including the anxiety that's been eating me alive for weeks. All the worries about abandoning Wendy, about choosing career over love, about making a wrong decision that destroys everything valuable?—
Gone.
Vanished like smoke dissipating in the wind.
Replaced by certainty that I won't lose her, can't lose her, that whatever just happened created a connection thattranscends distance and career opportunities, and practical considerations.
Aidric is still talking—voice distant now, words muffled like he's speaking from far away rather than through the phone pressed against my ear. I catch fragments—"pack bond," "permanent," "idiot"—but can't assemble them into coherent meaning.
Don't care.
Can't care.
Sleep is calling with irresistible seduction, offering escape from confusion and questions and Aidric's inexplicable panic.
My eyes close despite the remaining shred of willpower trying to keep them open. The phone slips from my grip, probably still connected, Aidric probably still ranting about something I'll have to deal with later.
Later.
Everything can wait until later.
After sleep, after rest, after I've had a chance to process what just occurred and what it means for every aspect of my existence.
But even as unconsciousness claims me, even as the world fades into blessed darkness, one truth remains crystal clear:
I won't lose her.
Can't lose her.
Whatever bond we just formed—whatever permanent connection her bite and my knot created—ensures that separation isn't an option anymore.
She's mine.
I'm hers.
We're bonded in a way that transcends geography and career ambitions and every practical reason for being apart.
The relief is overwhelming, flooding every cell with satisfaction that makes sleep feel like a reward rather than anescape. Because I don't have to choose anymore—don't have to weigh dreams against love, professional advancement against personal connection, captain badge against Omega who marked me as hers.
The choice was made.
The moment her teeth pierced my flesh.
The second, my knot locked inside her.
In the bond that formed, whether we consciously intended it or not.
LA can wait.
