Page 57 of The Alpha Wolf Defying Fate

My hands reached out to her face, my body flinching from the movement. She rested her own hand over mine and watched me with concern.

“I’m fine,” I assured her. “What I mean is, you aren’t a princess. Not anymore. By this point, with that understanding of yourself and the way you are holding yourself with strength in front of me.” I smiled at her, my thumb brushing over her cheek. “You’re a gods damned warrior queen, Sasha. An Alpha Queen.”

I watched her brows rise for a moment before her face softened and she leaned in close to press her lips to mine.

I could feel her joy and appreciation through the bond, her own desire and the longing to deepen the kiss to a fire we both craved. However, my injury wouldn’t permit us to push that far, so we both settled on a kiss and the intimacy of the bond itself.

“Will you lay down next to me?”

She nodded and carefully climbed into the bed as I slowly shifted my body over to make room for her. I growled at the pain as my body revolted against the movement, but I pushed against that. I could feel my wolf and hers touching as we pressed together on the small bed. Her nearness seeming to ease the sting of the pain just enough for it to be bearable.

“Are you still okay?” she asked me gently.

I nodded and lifted my arm to drape over her as she curled against my side.

“I’m fine,” I said. “So long as you’re by my side, I don’t think I’ll ever truly not be okay.”

She smiled and pressed her lips to mine again before settling into the bed and closing her eyes.

Behind her, I stared out the window at the setting sun and the growing shadows, and the image of the dark fate and the prophecy of his sisters’ loom ebbed into my mind.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Sasha

Thesunkissedmybare skin as Ayden’s fingers traced over the warm skin and my lips curled into a content smile at his touch.

“That tickles,” I sighed happily as I leaned closer into his touch.

I felt his lips against my cheek. The touch was gentle and sweet as he moved up along the side of my face to my temple, then back down towards my lips.

“Ayden,” I sighed. I opened my eyes to peer up at him, his body silhouetted by the sun as a soft halo shone around his head. I traced the lines of his jaw with my finger and smiled as I watched his lips curve just the same.

He bent down to my lips, and the world slipped away as our hands roamed each other’s bodies.

Our bodies were floating in the air. Our breaths blending as one. I arched my body against his as his hands ran along my spine and my leg intertwined with his.

“I love you, Ayden,” I moaned against his lips.

Icy wind rushed around me, and the warmth of Ayden’s body and the sun vanished. I felt myself falling as the air rushed from my lungs. The world went dark around me, and the ground slammed hard against my back.

I gasped as my throat and body fought for air that seemed to still all around me. Air that refused to come into my lungs.

My gaze moved frantically around me for any sign of help to come for me. For Rory, who had always been there for me in my time of need. Or Baer, who had become like a brother to me over the years that he and Rory had been together. I cried out down the bond to Ayden but found only silence at the other end.

I was completely cut off.

“There, there,”a dark voice came from the darkness.“There is really no need for panic, Sasha. The darkness won’t hurt you. Just feel how it caresses you. You only have to relax, and it will give you everything you need.”

I turned towards the sound, a sense of dread coming over me as the shadows shifted and moved, and a tall figure stepped from the darkness.

His hair was as dark as the shadows that clung to him, though a soft shine of light somehow reflected from the kempt curls. His eyes were the darkest of browns that I had ever seen, voids that seemed to swallow up the smallest hint of light within their sight. And he was handsome.

Like a statue of David come to life, his shoulders broad and his body lean with muscles. His face appeared flawless as he came closer, not a single fleck of discoloration or markings. It was as if he was the dreamed up perfect man from every magazine cover come to life.

I felt my eyes watering as the air still refused to enter my lungs, flashes of my near-death experience with the kelpie coming to mind as I felt myself drowning in the darkness.

“Just relax, Sasha,”the man said again, his voice triggering more memories of that night and every other time I heard the silky darkness in my mind.

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