Page 221 of A Soul to Guide

“What was it? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Under her hands, his heart rate spiked, thumping wildly, like it was moments from giving out. Gosh, it was obvious he was deeply distressed.“Your soul.”

“My soul?” she grumbled in confusion before her eyes widened. “You’re a soul eater, just like Weldir. That’s what it means to be your bride.”

“Yes,”he answered quietly.“However, unlike him, Mavka can only consume one soul. We become your anchor, and you become ours. We would be tethered to each other for eternity. In this world, and in the afterworld.”

A flare of anger shot through her. “You tried to bond me to you without my permission! How could you?”

She would have smacked his chest if she wasn’t aware she had a violently quaking beast above her. She also didn’t want to alarm the soldiers, but she did pinch him in the side of the neck.

An acute whimper echoed from him, and he tightened around her to make their shared space smaller. Raewyn had a feeling it had nothing to do with her physical retaliation and everything to do with her outrage.

“I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”His breaths sounded as though he was shaking with agony, so much so that he was wheezing.“I saw them trying to take you, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able get past the soldiers without hurting you or them. If I took your soul, you would have returned to me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you wanted that?” she asked, digging her fingers into his fur. “We could have spoken about it rather than you just... trying to steal it.”

What he did was wrong. He shouldn’t have tried to do that.

“I wanted to, but I was afraid you’d say no.”

Of course, he was.It wasn’t like she’d given him a reason to think she would have a different answer.

Raewyn lowered her head so she could press her forehead against his sternum and wrapped her arms over his sides, careful to avoid his razor-sharp quills.

“You big numbskull,” she murmured, taking in his warmth, his scent, just... all of him. She let out a contented sigh. “I missed you, you know.”

He didn’t answer her, but she noticed that his heart slowed – so big and heavy, so powerful and full of life.

“I was so worried when they pushed me through the portal. I thought I’d lost you,” she said, her voice breaking on a sob. Tears welled in her eyes, making her want to roll them at herself, but she couldn’t help it. Instead, she freely let them flow down her temples. “I thought I’d never see you again or get the chance to tell you I was falling in love with you.”

She hadn’t known that she already was, and being apart from him only made her realise just how much she wanted him in her life.

All noises from Merikh suddenly cut out: his heart, his breaths, his warning growls and whimpers. The next soft gust of wind was unbearably loud, as was the shifting of the soldiers and a random cough.

He’d gone so rigid and still that she’d almost feared he’d turned to stone. She wished his skull wasn’t blocking her sight so she could see if his orbs had changed colour.

“Give me your soul,”he impatiently panted when everything washed out of him.

“Can’t you ask me nicely?” she half-sobbed and half-laughed.

“Please? I want to hold it, guide it, cherish and protect it, just as I want to do for your body.”

Raewyn reached up so she could cup the sides of his bony snout. “There are so many other amazing people here you haven’t met, Merikh. What if you change your mind?”

She had her own fears and reservations. Cykran was right; she may be, in her own opinion, cleverly humorous, but Raewyn had flaws. Not everyone enjoyed her humour, and work had been and would always be her priority.

His head reared back so he could stare down at her, giving her more space and freedom.

“I won’t. I thought I would be content as long as I left Earth, but I realised what I was searching for was something to bring me peace and happiness by brightening my world. I have sat in the pitch black for most of my life, my bright starshine, and you chased it away with your strange playfulness, your laughter, your tears, your kindness towards a creature everyone else had scorned.”

“But someone else can be that for you.”

He cupped the side of her face.“You have scored my heart, Raewyn. I never dreamt of having a bride because I didn’t think it was possible, but in your light, in your unconditional acceptance, you made me believe.”

Raewyn leaned into his big palm as he stroked his clawed thumb over her cheek.“Merikh,” she choked out, gripping the back of his hand.

“I want you to be my beacon on the days the darkness wishes to take hold of me again.”

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