Page 66 of The Healer and the Wolf: Part Two

I’d expected Ven to understand or at least accept what I meant, but the storm clouds in her eyes grew that much darker.

“What do you mean you’re at peace? Because to me it seems like you’ve completely given up.”

I reached for her, my heart aching. If I were in her position, I would be just as vehement, but I was sure this was the right decision. And I would make it again, and again, and again, as long as she was safe.

“Baby,baby,I haven’t given up, but I know what I have to do.”

I wasn’t prepared for her to shove me away. My beloved Ven so rarely rejected my affection that it seemed entirely wrong.

“You’re going to give yourself over to that witch?”

I wanted to embrace her again, to cover myself in the comfort of her, but it wasn’t the right time. She was righteously upset, and I supposed she had every right to be even if I hated seeing her that way. “If that is what needs to be done.”

“Bullshit! It’s all bullshit! We didn’t literally scratch and claw our way to freedom just to have you give up at the end. We are all more powerful than she could ever imagine. Hell, I’m one of the last dryads on this entire continent. That has to count for something.”

Suddenly, she was in my arms again, looking up at me with beseeching eyes.

“Please, Leo. We’ve finally gotten time together. You can’t throw that away to go off and... and—” She cut herself off, and guilt settled in my gut at the tears she was barely holding back. I didn’t want her to be in pain, but I also didn’t want her to go up against a behemoth of a magic user and end up dead. Surely she could understand that? “You can’t! What about everyone in your pack who are only beginning to heal? Don’t they deserve to have their alpha around before losing everything again?”

Ven’s tone became higher pitched with every passing second, and her scent became more and more bitter with panic. I hated the idea that I was torturing her, and I knew a week of dreading my inevitable demise would tear her heart in two.

“Leo, I don’t think I can live without you. I thought I could get by in life on my own, that I was destined to always be alone. But now that you have shown me what true love is like, I can’t go back. Iwon’t! Do you hear me? I won’t!

“Call your wolf to the front and tell it to summon as much bloodlust as it wants, because I won’t hold him back. We’re going to fight, and we’re going to win. Our family will stick together.”

Such a beautiful, impassioned plea. It was hard to believe it was for me, and yet I knew it was. I would never understand what twist of fate had put me into Ven’s path, but I would always be grateful for the moments we shared.

I didn’t want our last moments to be full of pain and tears.

So, I lied.

“Okay,” I said, gently stroking her hair.

“Okay? Do you mean it? You’ll stay? You’ll fight?”

“Yes,” I said, so incredibly grateful she couldn’t smell the shame inside me. I hated lying to her. “I’ll stay.”

I didn’t want to keep uttering vile and untrue words, so I kissed her. I kissed her with everything I had, because when she thought about me in the future, I wanted her head to be full of happy memories and sensations.

When we parted, she wept openly into my chest, repeating “thank you” over and over again. While I knew I was doing the wrong thing, I was relieved that the last days we had together would be full of joy and not tears.

“Come on,” I said, wiping her tears. “Let’s head back and see if there’s anything we can add to the plan.”

Five days.

In the end, I spent five days with my love and the rest of my pack. It was difficult walking the line between appearing to be invested in the fight and not wasting so much of the precious little time I had left. Every moment I stored in my chest and treasured it, trying to make sure everyone in my pack had the groundwork to flourish when I was gone.

Once Katarina got her revenge, there was no one else who could remotely hold a candle to our network of allies, and even the most brazen usurper wasn’t likely to roll around any time within a couple generations.

I watched Ven’s chest rise and fall steadily in her sleep. Each inhale was a gift, another moment in her presence, and each exhale was a whispered promise of more as it flitted past her plush lips. I wanted to trace that gorgeous face of hers, to gently trail my finger along her lashes, the bridge of her nose, to that perfect mouth. But I couldn’t risk waking her, not even for a lingering goodbye kiss.

It was time for me to go. I was tempted to wait yet another day, to squeeze in another twenty-four hours of happiness with my mate. But if I waited too long to leave, I ran the risk of being caught by multiple people in my family, and I really didn’t want them to raise a ruckus. I did not want my last action with my pack to be a fight to get away from them. Hopefully, they would all understand why I did what I did.

Although it went against every instinct in my body, I slowly slid out of bed. I knew I should leave immediately, but I couldn’t help myself. I leaned across the bed and brushed my lips over Ven’s forehead.

“I love you,” I murmured, my voice hitching. “And I will always love you. Even death cannot take that away from us. Be safe, my darling. Live the life you truly deserve.”

Fuck. I wanted to hold her. I wanted to gather her to my chest and feel her heartbeat against mine. But I couldn’t.

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