Page 78 of Claimed By the Damned

“That’s what scared you?”

He nodded. “I’ve never had anything worth worrying about it being taken from me before, and I have never felt that kind of fear in my life. Especially since I was the last one to see you before it happened.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen now that he’s gone,” she told him reassuringly.

His shoulders slumped as he turned toward the ground. “You don’t know that. The guys and I… we still have a lot of enemies.”

“I figured as much, but we can deal with that as it comes.”

If this situation was anything to go by, the four of them were survivors. They would continue to be survivors too, and nothing was going to stand in the way of them being together as a family. She was determined to make him see that, one way or another.”

“Marry me,” Drake said suddenly.

Amara blinked. “What?”

He shifted on the bed so that he was facing her. He then took her glass and set it on the nightstand before taking both of her hands in his. “I know I fought this in the beginning, but I am in this now. I can’t imagine my life without you, and I want you to be mine in every possible way. I want you to be my wife, Amara.”

While it wasn’t typical for wolves to take on human traditions like marriage, she could understand where he was coming from. This was a big step for him. It was his way of showing her how important she was to him. For anyone else, it would be far too soon to even think about marriage, but they had already been through so much together.

“Okay,” she whispered with a smile. “Okay, I’ll marry you.”

Drake grinned before crushing his mouth against hers, stealing her breath. He rested his forehead against hers and said, “We will go get you a ring tomorrow.”

She shook her head, loving how excited he seemed to be. It was all sorts of insane, but she didn’t care. Nothing was standing in the way of their happiness anymore, and she was going to take full advantage of it.

“What about Zeke and Knox?” she asked curiously. “They’re going to want in on this too, you know.”

Drake just laughed. “I was the first to ask, so it’s my name you will be taking.”

A laugh escaped her lips when she thought about the drama that was going to cause. “It’s your funeral then.”

“At least, I’ll die a happy man.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Amara

Aloud thump and a bit of cursing roused Amara from sleep the next morning. She squinted at the clock on Zeke’s nightstand and realized that it was almost ten in the morning. It had been a long time since she had slept in that late, but without the shop to run, she didn’t need to get up as early anymore. While she couldn’t complain about the extra sleep, she did miss the shop. It had been the only thing she had left of her mother, and naturally, her father destroyed it.

A few moments later, as Amara was trying to tame her messed-up hair, she heard another bang against the wall followed by the sound of something falling and shattering against the floor.

“Damn it, Knox!” Drake exclaimed. “Watch where you’re fucking going!”

Amara laughed to herself as she climbed out of bed and ventured out into the hallway. She spotted the guys down by Drake’s room, the three of them attempting to shove a large mattress through the door. Because Drake’s room was at the end of the hall, there was an awkward curve around the wall, making it difficult for them to do so.

“Are you fucking pushing?” Knox yelled.

“I’m about to push you right into a fucking wood chipper,” Drake growled.

“What on earth are you guys doing?” Amara asked as she approached them.

Zeke’s head popped up from over the mattress, and he grinned at her. “What’s it look like?” he asked playfully. “We are replacing the bed in Drake’s room to accommodate all of us.”

“Yeah, this whole splitting up thing when it comes time to sleep isn’t fucking working anymore,” Knox added.

Amara pressed her lips together. “And what was wrong with the bed Drake had before? It was big enough, wasn’t it?”

“Not enough to fit all four of us,” Drake told her, using the bottom of his shirt to wipe his forehead.

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