Page 60 of The Hunt of Night

I still can’t decipher if it’s a prayer, a curse, or a plea, but the weight of it is heavy on my tongue. My fingertips only fall from his face when not a single mark remains, and he swipes a hand over his cheek to confirm it for himself before he offers me a response.

“The duel.The one you’re fighting for is the only one who can heal you.” I remember him telling me those exact same words after I had my first duel. We were in Raiden’s room, the words heavy in the night as he healed me too. Except…

“But you weren’t fighting for me. You were fighting for you.”

That’s what he said. That’s what he means. It still doesn’t explain how I did this. I look down at my hands, searching for an answer in the creases of my palms, but it’s Cassian’s next words that give me the understanding I wasn’t prepared for.

“Addi,” he breathes, waiting until he has my gaze. “I’malwaysfighting for you.”

25

CASSIAN

My heart ricochets in my chest as I stare up at the fucking wonder that is Adrianna Reagan.

In the beginning, I wanted to hate her for so many reasons. Simply breathing being one of them. I wanted to despise the fact that she was fae, more so because she’s royal, but it’s impossible. So much has changed since then, and it’s not even because she’s part wolf. It’s more than that.

It’s her.Justher. Irrevocably, undoubtedly her.

A shiver runs down my spine. Imagine if I’d harmed her, written her out of my fate before I even got a peek beneath the layers she holds so guarded.

Fuck.

The mere thought of her has the power to bring me to my knees. There’s no fucking way I could ever do anything that may have a negative impact on this woman ever again.

I’m sure she could give me a long ass list of all the ways I’ve fucked her over already. I’ll deny it out loud, but in my head, I’m free to admit that I will spend the rest of my life repairing every last piece I put out of place. My feelings are desperate to be released because they’re so strong, so fierce, and I don’t know how to contain them.

Growing up on the compound as a Kenner taught me that you fight for your own, you fight for your family, and you fight for your compound. I believe in all of those values; I just don’t believe in the Kenner name. Not when I’ve borne witness to what it’s capable of.

There’s not a family-rooted bone in my father’s body. He’s selfish, strategic, and reckless; none of which a true alpha should be. Instead, he has all of a vampire’s traits in a wolf’s body, and he’s going to lead everyone to slaughter.

Yet, when I look into the emerald eyes that peer down at me like an angel from above, I know those values can still be ingrained in me. Except my family, my compound, isn’t the Kenners; it’s mine.

There was a reason Raiden, Brody, Kryll, and I were all meant to find each other and start an unwavering friendship. It was for her. They’re more than my friends now, they’re the family I had no idea I was searching for, let alone needed so desperately. Now we have our center, the piece to hold us all together.

I gulp, desperate to find the words to express what brews inside of me without scaring her away with the first syllable.

She’s my Alpha. My fucking queen. And she healed me, just as any Alpha would. If there wasn’t a dormant wolf lying deep in her veins, there’s no way she could have aided me just now.

But I don’t know how to do any of this shit. I don’t know how to do anything other than isolate myself. Even my friends don’t get the full version of me, but with Addi, fuck…I want to feel everything instead of tampering it all down.

Yet all I know how to do is worship her using my body. At least I know I can show her how I feel that way.

My mind grows quiet as my body comes alive.

Instinctively reaching for her, my hands splayed across the side of her thighs as I inch my way up to her waist, I watch as her pupils dilate, inviting me in deeper.

My fingers run under the hem of her t-shirt, revealing her toned abdomen as I stroke across her skin in awe.

“Cassian,” she breathes, a rasp taking root in her words as she shivers.

“Shh.” I look up at her for a beat as I swipe my tongue over my bottom lip before focusing back on her body again.

Inching the material higher, I spread my hands wide across her skin, watching as goosebumps rise in my wake. My breath is lodged in my throat, desire curling through every fiber of my body as I try to calm the thundering pulse in my ears, but it’s futile. The pent-up need in my bones won’t calm until I’ve taken a piece of what’s mine.

The smallest distance remains between us, and with one stilted breath, I erase it, skimming my lips over her exposed stomach as my fingers wrap around her waist.

She gasps, stilling at the soft touch, and when I trail my lips around her belly button, eyes fixated on hers, her gasps turn to moans.

---