He growled low in his throat. Deni recognized the sound, her eyes becoming darker, filled with need. She ran her hands up his back and to his neck.

Jace knew that once he started kissing her, he’d not be able to stop, and he didn’t care. He slanted his mouth over hers, tasting her heat, her frenzy. It built and grew, calling to his own frenzy, which answered.

The kisses turned fierce. Jace bit down on Deni’s lower lip, eliciting a gasp from her but also laughter. She arched against him while she laughed, her body moving in wonderful ways.

Jace held her down with a strong hand and entered her. As he slid inside, his world changed.

The selfish wildness that had infused him when he’d realized he’d lost the Collar whirled into one tight focus. Deni. She alone mattered. He wanted to be with her—forever—and nowhere else. Even if he had to return to Shiftertown with her, to still be a captive, it didn’t matter anymore. Jace would find a way to be with her, he vowed this. And with Deni, he’d always be free.

He fit into her as though she’d been made for him. Jace kissed her lips, her face, her lips again as he drew back then stroked inside her even deeper.

Deni sucked in her breath and then she smiled, her eyes darkening in pleasure. She touched his cheek as she liked to, her fingertips a soft counterpart to the crazed need inside him.

Jace rocked into her, her body squeezing down on him and turning him wild. Raw need flooded him, relieved only by the wonderful feeling of thrusting into her. Stroke after stroke, loving her, cradling her body with one arm so the hard dirt wouldn’t cut into her.

“My mate,” he whispered. “I saw you, and never wanted to be without you.”

Deni shook her head, fingers threading through his hair. “Jace.”

“Be mine,” Jace said. “Say it. Always mine.”

Deni smiled. “Mine.”

He returned the smile, his fierce. “Forever.”

“Yes.”

The word turned into a groan. Deni’s grip bit into his shoulders, and she held him while she shuddered and cried his name, her thrusts meeting his. Jace bent his head and nipped her neck, tasting the metallic tang of her Collar.

He’d have it off her—he’d figure out how. And she’d be free, with him. The pain would be gone, and Deni would heal. He’d be with her, next to her, helping her all the way.

“Jace.”

Deni’s groan filled him with frenzy. His thrusts grew faster, his growls deeper. He’d go to ground with her, and they’d do this all day long and into the night. She’d smile at him, beautiful and sensual, and wrap her arms around him, wanting to do it again.

“Deni. Goddess.” Jace lost his seed into her, pumping his hips while she laughed to the stars.

Jace raised his head, his body slick with sweat, and kissed her lips, her mouth hot with afterglow. “I love you,” he said, his heart in every word.

“I love you too, Jace. Always my mate.”

Jace was still hard, pulsing with need for her. He gave her a feral smile as he thrust into her again, beginning the rhythm once more.

Deni gave him a startled look, and then she laughed. The laughter soon turned to groans, and they gave themselves over to the frenzy, their cries ringing against the millions of bright stars.

* * *

Ellison found Jace and Deni where they lay together in the warm Texas night. Of course he did—Deni knew they’d given him plenty of time to find their scent, and they must have been throwing off pheromones like crazy, providing an easy trail to follow.

Ellison came trotting up as his wolf, then shifted to human and groaned. “Not again. I swear, I can’t come near you two without finding you tangled together.” His voice held relief though, even rejoicing.

Jace helped Deni to her feet and put her behind his warm body, but when he faced Ellison, he wasn’t defensive and angry—he showed his open hands, a posture of peace.

“Congratulate us, Ellison,” Jace rumbled. “I’m mate-claiming your sister, Deni Rowe, under the light of the moon, the Goddess, and in front of a witness—you. I plan to ask Liam or my dad to perform the mating rituals as soon as they can.”

Ellison stopped, moonlight gleaming on his light hair and wolf-gray eyes. He was Deni’s alpha, the leader of her small pack, but answering the mate-claim was Deni’s choice. “You good with that, Den?” Ellison asked, his voice going soft.

“Yeah.” Deni slid her arms around Jace from behind, loving the tall solidness of his body, his warm scent, the feel of his skin as she kissed his shoulder. “I’m good with that. I accept the mate-claim. Jace?” She heard the shaking in her voice. “You ready to go home? To my home I mean—it’s closer right now. We can call your dad from there. I be he’s worried sick.”

Deni held her breath, waiting for Jace to want to return to the leopard, to insist Deni come with him into the wild, or leave on his own if she wouldn’t. He wore no Collar now—there was nothing to stop him.

Even so, life in the wild was dangerous. Jace could be found, hunted, killed. And he could still go feral—Shifters who lived on their own, letting their beasts take over, often did go feral. The Shifters Ellison’s mate, Maria, had been rescued from had refused to take Collars, hidden out, and become feral and cruel. Collars, for their pain, and the Shifter laws, for their restrictions, at least worked to help keep Shifters sane.

Jace turned in Deni’s arms and looked down at her, his face in shadow. Ellison waited behind him, tense, uncertain.

Deni’s heart ached, both with the bond and with worry. Jace looked better, his burns pale streaks in the moonlight. He looked stronger too, and more at ease, any uncertainty he might have felt for his place in the world gone.

Then he smiled. Every bit of love was in the smile, every bit of tenderness. He brushed back a lock of Deni’s hair, his fingers warm.

“We’ll want to tell your cubs you accepted my mate-claim,” Jace said. “So yeah. Let’s go home.”

* * *

A Shifter meeting was called in Liam’s house the next day, after Jace and Deni had rested from the long drive back to Austin—well, Deni remembered with a blush—they’d done more than just rest. The meeting included Eric Warden, Jace’s father.

Deni’s heart squeezed as Eric strode across the house to meet Jace when he came in, father enfolding son in a long, hard embrace. Eric’s mate, Iona, who was heavy with Eric’s child, also hugged Jace, wiping away her tears when she released him.