“My markings?” Ishaan rolled his sleeves back and looked at his wrists. There were looping dark blue markings circling his wrists. “Where did these come from?”
“You called her mate,” the Mother said, almost smiling. “She found joy in you naming her as such and accepted the title. Those are your mate markings, your bracelets and your collar. Do you find joy in them?”
He rubbed at the markings gently, but they didn’t smear and they didn’t fade. They were his mate markings and they made him slightly giddy. She wanted him to be her mate, her person. To be the one she trusted above all others, the one to support her as she bore the burden of the Flight. But he’d hurt her, he’d kissed Kathy and she thought he didn’t care. He had to fix that first, had to show her that she was more important to him than anyone else.