Page 40 of The Alpha Wolf Defying Fate

“There,” she said at the sight of my amused grin. Her eyes lit up as she smiled back at me. A smile I found far brighter and more beautiful than my own. “There’s a glimmer of that light I’m talking about.”

“Are you sure you aren’t the one full of this light you are talking about?” I teased. “After all, your dad has that fire magic.”

She chuckled back at me and shook her head. “I know I have the reputation of being the sunshine in my family. But I have nothing inside of me that comes close to the comparison of that bright beautiful light you carry inside you and spread with such ease. That’s why there is no way that you are darkness. It just isn’t physically possible for anything dark to survive inside you with a light that bright.”

I could feel her words warming my heart. The icy grip of fear easing its grip on my chest. I could almost swear that the dark voice in my mind had grown fainter at my cousin’s words.

I smiled a little brighter as I felt the darkness recede in my mind, my hands reaching out to hold my cousin’s hands.

“Thank you, Rory,” I said. “I needed to hear that.”

And it was true. While I still felt the fears at the edges of my mind, her words had chased them back some. I at least could think of other things than the worry of what we would find at the end of the road.

I turned and looked ahead of us, noticing that Baer, along with Ayden, had stopped. Their gazes locked on both of us as we stood still on the path behind them. Ayden’s gaze locked more firmly on me; his head tilted slightly as if to ask if I was okay.

It surprised me to see some concern in his expression towards me. Especially since he had barely spared me a glance since he brought up the possibility of me being the evil half in our destiny as enemies.

‘He is our mate,’my wolf sighed lovingly.‘He never believed that. Not really.’

‘No,’I disagreed.‘He meant it when he said it. Even if I had to force it out of him. Ayden doesn’t say what he doesn’t mean.’

My wolf huffed.‘Then he didn’t believe it for long. You should have let him have more time to think before making him talk to you.’

I couldn’t argue with her there. I had asked for it. Demanded it really. But what did they want from me?

He hadn’t spoken to me for days after we had slept together. I thought he was reconsidering rejecting the bond. I needed to know what he was thinking.

Did I regret it now? Maybe.

It had hurt me deeply to hear, but I wasn’t sure that I would have been grateful to not ever know that he had thoughts of me as a monster. That it hadn’t ever crossed his mind.

Rory nudged me before linking our arms together.

“Come on. It’s almost time to make camp. Let’s get a little further before the sun sets.” She glanced at Ayden, then back at me. “And maybe you two can have another chance to chat. I think he owes you an apology. But don’t feel like you have to immediately accept. Make him work for it a bit, first.”

I laughed with her as we slowly made our way towards the men. Baer’s eyes twinkled as he watched us, while Ayden’s eyes seemed to burn with desire as he stared at me.

It shocked me for a moment as I registered the look in his eyes. It sent little tremors throughout my body that I couldn’t ignore. But it also begged the question.

Was it me he wanted? Or was it just the mate bond driving us to follow the instincts of our wolves?

Chapter Nineteen

Ayden

Wemadecampatthe top of a hill that overlooked a large valley. I could see what appeared to be buildings in the distance, the path we had been following leading directly towards it. My curiosity about what a city in the Forgotten Realm might look like, peaked at the possibilities.

I looked over my shoulder to signal for Baer to come have a look as well, but found that he and Aurora had mysteriously disappeared again, leaving me and Sasha alone in the camp.

My attention to the distant city vanished as I looked at my mate. Her shoulders weren’t as slumped as earlier. Whatever Aurora and she had stopped to talk about must have eased her mind.

It had killed me seeing her so broken. Even more so knowing that it had been my words that had put her in that state. I had wanted to talk to her myself, but I could feel through the weakened bond between us that she hadn’t been ready to hear anything I had to say to her yet.

‘She is now,’my wolf assured me.

I had to agree. Whatever it was that Aurora had said to her, it had worked. Her face regained its color and she had a smile on her face as she looked up at me. It put her in the perfect mood to hear my apology wholeheartedly and not think that it was insincere.

My feet moved before I could talk myself out of my plan. I must have moved even faster than I had meant to. My wolf most likely having taken over, because Sasha looked up with a startled expression as I stood in front of her.

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