Page 56 of Owned By Four Alphas

Selena couldn’t help the blush that rose on her cheeks. “Nobody’s been here in a while, that’s why it’s so… so…” She gestured to the muddy floor, the sinking bed, the broken table.

No. She wouldn’t be ashamed. Her mother had given her this, and she had made it her own. It was a gift. She jutted her chin out. “This was my home.”

Malek nodded, lowering himself to sit on the bed, his long legs nearly touching the small cast-iron stove on the other side of the room. Still, he didn’t say anything.

Selena sat on the lone rickety chair, her shoulders squared, assessing her mate with critical eyes.

“I’m going looking for my father,” she said, “I think I’ve found him. And I’m doing it alone. I can’t sit by and watch you all kill each other. I won’t. So, I left. And I’m not coming back.”

Malek nodded again, his expression turning wistful as he absent-mindedly played with the edge of the blanket.

Selena waited a moment, annoyance growing, “So, you can just go back and tell the others that I’m not going to go with you. That I’m fine.”

Malek tilted his head, “You think the others sent me?”

“Well…yes. Didn’t they?”

Malek’s lips tilted up, “No, they did not. They have no idea where either of us are, as far as I’m aware.”

“Oh,” Selena’s brows creased together, and she looked down at her hands. “So…how did you find me?”

“I never left your side,” he said, as if it were the simplest thing on earth.

She ground her teeth together. She had known to be suspicious of the bloody shadows.

“And now you’re going to try and take me back, right?” It came out as a snarl, a warning. She knew it was faintly ridiculous that she could ever hope to warn him not to do anything, being as he was two heads taller than her, armed with claws and fangs, not to mention layer upon layer of hard muscle.

But she didn’t care. She would warn him regardless.

“Do you remember what I said to you after the mating ceremony, when the priestesses held that ball to celebrate the occasion?” he said suddenly, looking down at his clawed hands.

Her brows shot up, “Um…no, I don’t think I do. A lot happened that night.”

“It did,” his black eyes flickered up to hers. “It was after we had first entered the hall. There was so much…noise. So many people. You tried to hide in my chest. You were afraid.”

Her cheeks heated. She vaguely remembered it, the music, the dancing, and her. Freshly mated and terrified of the whole affair. But she didn’t remember Malek saying anything in particular to her.

“I said I wouldn’t leave you. At the time, I assume you thought I meant in that moment. But I meant it always.”

She sucked in a breath, a fresh round of tears welling as he leant forward, crouching to his knees on the dingy floor of her tiny cottage, taking her hands in his.

“Wherever you are, wherever you wish to go, I will stay by your side. I am sworn toyou, Selena. Nobody else. And unless you order me to leave, I will follow you to the ends of the Earthand beyond. You are my reason for living, Selena. You brought me from the darkness and despair of my existence, and you showed me nothing but love and acceptance. I am yours, now and forever.”

He didn’t finish speaking before she launched herself into his arms, fresh waves of tears pouring down her face, grasping his neck.

“Malek,” she sobbed into his robe, “Malek, I…I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

He cradled the back of her head, his other hand fixed securely around her waist. She pulled back, her lips finding his, kissing him with all the desperate love and adoration she felt. He returned her affection with similar zeal, choking in a gasped breath.

“I…I love you,” she said, holding his face in her hands, pressing her forehead against his, “I love you, Malek. And I want you by my side.”

A strangled sob escaped him, and he once more captured her lips in a searing kiss.

It was an effort to wrestle him out of his black robes in the confines of the small cottage, but she managed it, letting him also strip her of her clothes until they were naked and warm in each other’s embrace.

Carefully Malek lay down on her bed, the wooden frame creaking under his weight. She climbed on top of him, reaching down to press more fervent kisses to the pale skin of his muscled chest. His hands settled around her hips, careful to keep his claws from her skin.

As she sat back, brushing her long hair over her shoulder, she smiled down at him, her vision still blurred with tears.

---