Page 35 of Orri

It's her! But she's not alone — and I'm not talking about the screeching stampede that surrounds us. There, only a few strides behind, is the shape of a man, bloody and limping, but with such pure hatred in his eyes I know what's happened at once.

Everything clicks together in a fraction of a second. The man. The very same man Isabella told me about from her past. It's him. The vile, worthless creature she'd called Adik.

And the very man I swore to destroy with my own two hands if I ever crossed paths with him.

Looks like it's my lucky day.

Something snaps within me. The part of myself I always try to keep controlled — the raw, alpha mentality that permeates my very being — smashes through every shred of rationality I have left.

I let out a bone-shaking roar straight from my chest. The world narrows and slows. All my senses hone in on Isabella...and the snarling man running after her. The dactyls don't matter anymore. I'll take a million scratches from their talons if it means keeping Isabella safe.

And if it means finally ridding the world of that pathetic excuse for a life-form.

Adik. A fitting name fora dick.The word tastes like poison on my tongue. As the gods are my witness, he will not see the dawn.

The sound of my war-cry doesn't have an affect on the dactyls, but it's loud enough to startle Isabella and Adik. She looks up, sees me heading toward her, and her face lights up with unthinkable relief. I want to remember that gaze of awe for the rest of my life. I'll be the best damn mate she's ever had, but first, it's time to take out the trash.

Isabella changes directions, running away from the hover bike I now see stashed among the trees to the east and toward me instead. This sudden change, however, catches her off balance. She loses her footing with a cry and I'm already rushing toward her as fast as I can when I see her ankle twist and her body fall toward the ground in slow motion.

It's then that I realize the instinctual way that she cradles her belly as she falls, almost as if...

Another surge of adrenaline and power and fury shakes the forest as I cry out her name. It all comes together at last. The subtle change in her scent. The way I can feel her calling out to me, even from so far away. The crazed look in her attacker's eyes. And the way she holds her stomach, as if protecting something within.

She's pregnant!

I leap off my mount still in motion, flying toward Adik with my sword raised. Consumed with bloodlust, all I can think about is ripping his head from his body. Spilling his guts upon the ground and showing him the true power of an Aesirheim alpha.

He's lunging toward my mate, but I'm faster. He doesn't know what's hit him as I slam into his body and knock him to the ground. Stunned, he stares up at me with glassy eyes. "Who the fuck are you?" He groans, still trying to lean around me to get to Isabella. The dactyls screech and swarm around us, coming in for the kill.

I grab his greasy hair, yank his head back, and press my blade to his pale throat before leaning over to speak into his bleeding ear.

"Her mate, you son of a bitch." And with that, I make one simple slicing motion, and it's done. He gurgles, clutching helplessly at his throat, and collapses to the ground.

The beasts are all around me, screeching and baring their talons, but when I move away from Adik's body and sheath my weapon, holding up my hands to show I mean them no harm, they flow around me like water. They're going straight for something — no, someone — else.

And the last thing I see before I turn away and rush to Isabella's side is Adik's broken corpse being brutally picked apart by a writhing mass of monsters. A fitting end.

Another second and Isabella's in my arms, sobbing and trembling, but she's here and she's mine and there's nowhere else in the world I'd rather be. I press a kiss to her forehead. Run my hands through her hair. Relish in the warmth of her body. She's here. She's real. She's alive.

My heart's still hammering a mile a minute, my brain still trapped in the horrible panic of potentially losing her. Flashbacks of Zannah's last moments flicker into reality, and the fact that I came so close to losing yet another woman takes my breath away.

But I didn't. She's safe. And I vow, right there and then, that I'll never let anything happen to her again.

"Shhh," I soothe, brushing the tears away from her face. She buries her head in my chest, fingers clutching desperately at anything they can reach. "I'm here now. I'm here."

"You..." She sniffles loudly before looking up at me with wide, reddened eyes. "You came back. I thought..."

"I was a fool. I was too scared to see what was in front of me."

"But..."

"No buts." I shush her with a kiss. "Not anymore." I let out a breath. "What I'm saying is...will you still give me a chance? Can we start over?"

She chokes out a half-sob, half-laugh, and even in her terrified state a small smile begins to creep up her face.

Another rush of energy surges through me, not just through my heart but down my spine and to the tips of my fingers and toes. At last I understand.

"You're my heart-mate, Isabella. And I never want you to feel alone or unsafe again." I nuzzle into her hair and draw in the scent. It's soft and perfect and beautiful, just like her. "Will you have me?"

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