My alpha was gone and all I knew was screeching pain. I screamed through my agony and then the impossible happened.
His heart started to beat once more.
One.
Then two.
And then for a third time.
I swallowed air. My own heart pounded at a frantic pace.
His chest rose. He sucked in a breath and I froze. I pushed against his chest, needing to see. His hard eyes met mine, full of warmth and love and everything I’d ever wanted. With one breath after another, the paleness in his face receded. His heartbeat strengthened with each passing second, as did my hope.
I blinked through my tears and pushed back, tearing my gaze to the open wound that the Cultist had inflicted.
Only…
It wasn’t there anymore.
In its place was a single narrow scar, pale white against the tanned skin of his chest. Almost in disbelief, I reached out to touch it, not believing it was real and praying that it was. His clothing was still soaked with his blood, but he was whole.
My alpha was whole.
My alpha was alive.
My sobs turned from grief to stark relief. His arms curled around me and with a soft whimper I crawled closer to him. His chest pressed against mine. He held me and I clutched at him, terrified that if I let him go, he would disappear as if he was a figment of my imagination.
I could have laid there with him for hours and maybe I did. The blue sky turned dark outside, and I didn’t care. He was alive.
We’d made it. Together.
Chapter 14
Ariana
It took time to convince myself that I hadn’t dreamed the whole thing. The longer I lay there with him, the more convinced I was that his breathing was steady and that he was still mine.
It wasn’t until the light of the moon shone through the window that he took my hand in his and beckoned me to follow.
The two of us finally slipped out of the tower room in the middle of the night. I refused to let go of his hand because I was afraid that I might lose him. His fingers curled around mine as if he felt the same. We escaped to the safety of his chambers and he didn’t put me in my room. Instead, he brought me to his bed.
“You will sleep with me tonight, my little sigma,” he murmured, and I shuddered hard.
“Yes, Alpha,” I breathed softly, and he picked me up. Gently, he deposited me on the mattress and I slid underneath the covers. He followed and I curled into his strong form.
I was still naked with his drying blood on my skin, but that didn’t matter. I clutched onto him with everything left in me.
Exhausted, we slept until late in the morning. The servants brought us breakfast, and neither of us wanted to let go of the other in order to get up and eat it. Eventually though, my stomach growled angrily, and he chuckled with amusement. I whined when he unfurled his arms from mine, but when he climbed out of bed, I was rewarded with a view of the hard muscles of his backside. I watched him as he put together a plate for me to eat and brought it back to me, picking up a piece of cheese and pressing it to my lips.
“You will eat,” he commanded.
I opened my mouth immediately and bit into the cheese. I chewed and swallowed the small bite, before he fed me another.
“Magnar,” I breathed.
“Shhh, my beautiful angel. You took care of me and now I am going to take care of you,” he said firmly.
I didn’t argue.