(Catherine POV)
I leaned down until my lips were barely an inch from his, close enough to feel the warmth of breath that had been growing steadily weaker. His scent filled my senses—pine and winter air and the particular musk that clung to his skin like aromatic evidence of his dual nature—but underneath lay something else now, something that smelled like hope mixed with magic.
"I choose you," I whispered against his lips, the words carrying more weight than any vow I'd ever spoken. "Not because I have to, not because circumstances leave me no alternatives, but because you're what I want. What I need. What I've been looking for without knowing it since I was old enough to understand that home was something you found rather than something you inherited."
The kiss was soft at first, gentl
