Page 23 of Eternally Bound

“She’s imprinted on you.” Woo.

“I bed your pardon.” He finally looks at me and then frowns.

“She didn’t mark you.” What the bloody hell is he on about?

“Are you mental?” He sighs and puts the turkey on the counter, rips a leg off, and takes a bite, chewing before answering me.

“If I had met her in a past life, I would have scented her. You never said she was a werewolf in any of your stories.” My jaw drops as my mind tries to catch up.

“No,” Were’s are allergic to our venom.

It’s a death sentence.

“How? Why?” Fate would nerve be so cruel as to gift me with an eternally bond that couldn’t possibly be fulfilled.

“Erik, she needs to claim you before the full moon. She’ll die if she doesn’t.” I shake my head.

“That’s in two days.” He huffs.

“Don’t I fucking know it.” He sounds preoccupied with his own problems, so I quickly make a platter and blur back to our room.

She’s sound asleep, but she’s hot.

“Fuck,” I rip the blankets off her and touch her forehead.

“The fever has started. GAIUS!” I scream out.

“Not again, please. I just found you.” I shake her lightly, but she doesn’t wake.

I feel his presence behind me, so I cover Madeline back up.

“Did you know?” His hand grips my shoulder and squeezes.

He doesn’t need to answer. I can feel his guilt in the air.

“You tried to warn me in your own way, didn’t you? The night you meet her in the inn.” I look over my shoulder at him, but he’s in a trance.

“I could never have predicted this. She was always so much younger. Never so close to her first change. There is still hope.” His white eyes focus on nothing as he talks.

“She should have changed years ago.” My understanding was werewolves experienced their first change by the age of twenty-one.

It was rare for it to happen after the genes in those that didn’t laying dormant in their blood to transfer to their children.

“She’s different.” I look back at her fevered face.

“I need to break the fever.” I stand to go turn on the shower, and then I return to fetch Madeline I watch in shock as wings sprout out of Gaius’s back.

Pure white feathers occupy most of the room now as he lays his hands on Madeline’s head. Sparks shoot into the air, and the room turns bright white. I wince and cover my eyes.

When I reopen my eyes, he’s across the room, opening the door.

“I fucking knew it.” I smile at him.

“Not a word. I could heal her, but I was able to break the fever and slow down the venom. I hope it’s enough. You deserve to be happy, Erik. You’ve both endured enough. Fates be damned.” He closes the door, and I’m about to go after him to explain that last part, but a whispered name stops me.

“Erik?”

Eleven

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