Page 94 of Night's Fall
When he was gone,Iturned to my mate. “Aleksei.”
He didn’t look at me when he stated, “We’renot talking about it now.”
That was fine by me.
“Which one?” he asked the wall beyond us.
“Sorry?”Iasked back.
He turned to me, and it was unfortunateIwas attached to him whenIsaw his amethyst was back.
In full glow.
“Which one of your two fucking parents broke your bones?”
Okay, so we were talking about it now.
“Mom, my wrist.Dad, my ribs,”Iwhispered.
“Right,” he grunted.
“Let me just explain—”Istarted.
“No.Oh, hell no,bissi.Fornow, that’s all we’re going to say.Wenarrowly escaped an epic shitstorm tonight.Wedon’t need to court another one.”
I thought about my mother and father standing as statues made of ash before they filtered to piles of nothing, and mumbled, “Probablywise.”
His head ticked to the side, and he announced, “Allainis here.”
And again, likeIwas an invalid, he took his feet and lifted me out of the bed and put me on mine.
The cashmere throw felt good against my skin, andIhad to admit,Iwas a little bit shivery with all that was going on, soIheld it closed tightly at my front, not realizing at first thatAlekseiwasn’t moving, and further, he was barring my path to the door.
I tipped my head back.
And my heart squeezed with the expression on his face.
He was in agony, andIfelt that for him.Ifelt it for him and for me.
I felt it blaze deep.
It wasn’t as ifIdidn’t know how it felt when people cared about me.
I’d knownCatsinceIwas eight, we’d been bestest gals since practically the minute we set eyes on each other.Weboth metGaylewhen we were nine, and same.Andwith them came theTruelocksandVinestrongs, who, it did not escape me, did everything in their power to be the parents they noticedIdidn’t have.EspeciallytheTruelocks.
Monique came later, butIwas in no doubt how deep a placeIhad in her heart, andIhoped she felt the same.
But this was different.
This was magic.Destiny.History.Future.
Forever.
This was a male who wouldn’t even let me sit up straight without helping me after an ano-scan whenIwas perfectly healthy.
This was somethingIshould have had from birth in the undying depths of parental love.
ButIhad it now, in the undying depths of feeling between fated mates.
