Page 136 of Soul of the Chaos

I could hear the pain in her voice, feel it in our bond, as she imagined it all and made yet another hurt her own.

“Yeah, kitten. Pretty much like Winter, except no one was coming to rescue her. It was just the way back then. Somehow, she managed to hold on. She was the light in Grimm’s dark childhood. She loved that boy with her whole heart while she hated that violent bastard—her Goddess-cursed mate—with equal passion. Went to her grave cursing him, too. Do you see now, love? Why he wouldn’t—couldn’t—trust the pull of the Chaos?”

“No, actually. It doesn’t,” Sasha growled. “Grimm sounds nothing like his piece of shit father.”

My wolf pranced and whined inside my skin. Loving that our fierce little alpha was at the surface, ready to protect her mate. Even from his own dark judgement.

“Doesn’t excuse pushing me away, either,” she huffed. “I mean, I get it. His mom didn’t want to be mated. His dad had no right to force that shit on her. But I asked Grimm to claim me. Grimm isn’t his dad and he isn’t Chains. And, excuse me for being perfectly frank, but I’m not his mom either.”

Sasha was getting a little red in the face as she railed. It was hot. My grin grew. I had to scoot my cock a little further from her body so as not to disrupt this pretty head of steam from its intended direction.

“I was offering myself freely to that sexy bastard with my eyes wide open. I already had two beautiful mates. I knew which part was the magic and which was me. It’s my body and my choice. And that asshole still pushed me away.”

“Look at it from his side,” I rubbed my hand up and down her arm, grounding myself with the feel of my kitten alive and feisty as ever. “He’s terrified of becoming like his dad. Grimm never wanted to find his mate. To put her or them in that position. He didn’t want the Goddess to dictate their lives.”

She opened her mouth to lay it on me but I held my finger up to her lips. Her eyes blazed with fire and I laughed, swooping in for a quick kiss.

“Hear me out, okay? He didn’t want a mate ‘cause he refused to trap someone to him and into this world of violence. I mean, you just lived through a biker war, baby. This ain’t uncommon. We ruffle a lot of feathers when we stick our snouts where they ain’t wanted. MC life is rough. His mom wasn’t cut out for it. And Grimm never wanted anyone to suffer like she did.”

“But that right there says he could never be like his dad. He’s got too much good in him.”

“Yup.” My eyes drifted from hers and slowly landed on the man standing in the doorway like he could barely hold himself up. “He’s the best damn alpha I’ve ever met.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Until you, anyway.”

“You want to stay here, don’t you?” Sasha whispered.

Silver smiled gently back. “So do you.”

“I’m—I’m not sure he wants me, Silver. Not really. His wolf accepted me ‘cause he had to. To save my life. But,” Sasha curled back in on herself. “Grimm the man feels different.”

“False,” Grimm growled. “Grimm the man wants you more than the fool can say. And he already told you that, woman. Or were you too damn gone with the blood loss—after nearly killing yourself to save your idiotic mates—to hear me right?”

The Prez cleared his throat and looked to me as if asking permission to come in. I blinked. Seemed to me the asshole was asking the wrong person. He sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets, head bowed. “I’ve come to apologize, mate. And to beg you to give me the chance to make this right.”

I nodded. That was better. I rolled off the bed and made my way to the door but Grimm pulled me in for a manly hug.

“I saw what you did back there, omega,” he growled into my ear. “You would’ve laid down your life for her.”

I shrugged. “So would any of us. She’s our mate, Grimm. She’s worth it. All of it.” I punched him hard on the arm and smirked when he winced but took it like a man. Dickhead deserved a little hurt for making our mate think she was unwanted. “Grovel good, alpha.”

Grimm rumbled and shoved me out the door. I turned at the threshold and winked back at Sasha. “Give him hell, little alpha. He’s earned it.”

53

GROVEL HARD, ALPHA

Sasha

I turned to find Grimm, leaning in the doorway and looking like a cool drink on a blistering hot day. The heat of his eyes burned like a brand, hunting down any little hurt still marring my skin. Either he didn’t know—or didn’t trust—that the beautiful wolf he’d given me had licked all those stings away.

His gaze roved over the t-shirt Mongrel had slipped me into as I’d been transferred to the bed. Being wrapped in my omega’s arms while my beta’s scent enclosed my body had soothed my animal while I rested, encircling her in their love and protection.

She was still antsy. The strain of the Chaos was thumping ever harder in her veins, telling my animal we were running out of time to secure her Goddess-given mate. My wolf pranced and itched under my skin as Grimm’s unfathomable gaze remained locked on mine.

Surely he wasn’t having second thoughts? Goddess, I didn’t think I could take more bad news.

“Thought I was gonna lose you, Sash.” He rolled his shoulder over the door jam and stepped into the infirmary. Silver’s scent was already being replaced by the ashy musk of my alpha mate as his presence billowed out to take up the whole room. “Thought the Goddess was taking you back.”

Cheekily, Silver poked his head back into the infirmary as he grabbed hold of the door knob. “Don’t fuck it up this time, alpha. There’s only so much an omega can do.”

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