Page 269 of Evil Hearts

The beast wascoming.

The thought rang through my head as I sprinted through the forest. The sun peeked through the canopy of trees but it was dim and cool under their leaves. I jumped over a fallen branch and pushed on.

Until I came to the clearing. I froze on the edge, knowing without a shadow of a doubt it was the ones my clansmen had died in. The flowers that had brought me such joy just days before lay trampled. Their blue petals still shone red with Aleksi’s blood. Their bodies no longer lay on the forest floor, having been dragged off by the animals. But I could still hear the sound of Peeter’s body breaking against the tree. Liam’s terrified screams still echoed in the once peaceful place.

Something shifted in the woods behind me and I started. I didn’t have time to stand around feeling sympathy for men who had tried to harm me. I had to get away.

I sprinted across the clearing, my skirts hiked up to my knees as I tried to flee. I took a turn toward where I thought the river was, hoping to get across the narrow flow of water.

My heart raced at the rush of water ahead. I was so close. But just as I burst out onto the river banks, a roar came from behind me. I pushed faster, my lungs burning and a burst of panicked laughter bubbling up inside of me.

I was nearly to the water’s edge when something hard and heavy landed on me, taking me down to the ground. We rolled, keeping me from bearing the brunt of the impact and the laughter escaped me.

“Caught you, my love. I told you, there’s no getting away from me.” Beast pushed up, giving me enough room to roll over to face him.

“I was close!” I argued, wrapping my arms around his wide neck. “You must admit, I almost lost you for a few minutes there.”

“Not even for a moment.” He gazed down at me, his red eyes shadowed. “You found the clearing.”

My arms tightened around him and he lowered himself to rest most of his weight on me. We stayed like that, embracing in the sunlight and silence for a long time.

“I don’t think I’ll ever fully be okay with what happened. But they made their choices and I will never be upset about you saving my life.” I pushed against him, demanding he look at me so he could see the sincerity on my face. “In a million lifetimes, I will always choose you.”

He blinked and nuzzled into my neck, against the bite that lingered there. His tongue swept out to brush across his mark.

“I’ve lived many lifetimes and never expected to have anyone like you. I’ll never let you go.”

He rolled off of me, taking me with him so I rested on his much larger body. His arms wrapped around me, claws digging into me to keep me from trying to squirm away. Together we laid in the sun with the birds singing and the water rushing by.

Contentment washed over me as I basked in the warmth of my mate and the sun. Months ago, I had thought my life was over. I had been given to the beast and everything I knew had come to an end. I could have never imagined it would only be thebeginning of something so much better than anything I had ever imagined.

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