I had no need for a soul without Eleanor.

I couldn’t see the woman’s lips, so why did I have a feeling that she was smiling?

I blinked, and the heat of the sun suddenly hit my skin. The stench of death was thick in the air, and my body felt heavier.

No. I wasn’t heavier—it was the weight of Eleanor in my arms.

The woman was gone and I was back in the valley, with my blood-drenched mate in my arms.

No. No.No.

My chance was gone, and the woman had ignored my request.

I hugged Eleanor’s body, tears streaming down my cheeks as I finally accepted the fact that I’d lost her.Forever.

Self-loathing consumed me.

I should have protected her better, I never should have left her alone in the pack, I should have?—

I felt something press up against me, a tiny protest squeaking in my ear.

“Can’t…breathe…”

I must have misheard. I pulled back from Eleanor…and she blinked up at me with wide emerald eyes, her cheeks flushing a warm pink when a minute ago they’d been pale and cold.

I checked her wound, but there was nothing there—just bloodstained, unbroken skin.

The woman had healed her at no cost?

But even as that thought occurred to me, I noticed the sudden emptiness in my mind.

For the first time in my life, I was alone in my head. The monster was gone. I didn’t have a wolf anymore, couldn’t feel my psychic powers…and the mate bond between Eleanor and I was gone.

My mind was mine and mine alone. And Eleanor was alive.

I almost wept in relief.

I didn’t care if I still only had two months left or not. It didn’t matter if my powers were gone for good. She was all that mattered.

Eleanor shifted out of my arms and onto the ground, a confused expression on her face as she pressed her hand to her chest.

“Alexander, what ha?—”

“I love you, Eleanor,” I said, taking her hands in mine. “I’ve loved you from the first day I laid eyes on you.”

This was a miracle, and a second chance I didn’t intend to waste. I wouldn’t make the same mistake of hiding my feelings from Eleanor.

I wanted to spend whatever time we had left with no lies between us.

“I thought I could keep you safe by pushing you away and keeping you in the dark, but I was wrong. I should’ve stepped up and been a better mate. I should’ve been the reason for your smiles, not your tears. I was an idiot.”

My voice trembled as I laid my heart bare to her.

“I want to spend the rest of my life, however long that is, with you. I want to go to bed next to you and wake up with you by my side. I want to kiss away the wrinkle between your eyebrows when you argue with me about the silliest things, and…”

Goddess, I had so much more left to say, but the blank expression on Eleanor’s face made fear clench around my heart.

She’d proclaimed her love for me earlier, but she’d been delirious from blood loss.