He’s still for a moment before he groans. His hands go to my ass and drag me closer until no room exists between us, his hard body pressing to my soft one as he covers my lips, kissing me hard. Relief, guilt, and happiness are all rolled into the passionate touch.
When we break apart to breathe, he holds me as if he will never let me go again.
“Would you have really let me walk away?” I murmur.
“I would have tried. What I didn’t mention was that I would have stalked you for the rest of your life.” He laughs, which makes me laugh. I rest my head on his chest, just letting him hold me, the sound of his rapidly beating heart soothing me like nothing else. Now that I have decided, I’m calm, and when a soft, floral-scented breeze wraps around us, I know I have made the right decision.
Some things are bigger than the individual. The universe has a plan, the goddess has a plan, and it involves me being with Slate. I will not reject the happiness sent my way—a true, potential love when so many others never find that. I will rejoice in it every day as we find our path and destiny together.
We eat a small meal before cuddling into the furs later that evening. Tonight is different though. It is the start of our future. This is never where I thought I would be, I couldn’t have even imagined such a life, but now that I’m here with him, it feels right, as if I’ve been waiting for this all along. I know he feels the same. After all, what are the chances of me finding a wolf in the forest at the exact right moment? So much could have gone wrong, but the stars aligned to make us meet.
His arms are wrapped around me, and his lips are pressed to my temple as I bask in his warmth.
“I just can’t believe we are mates, that I could bring you back.” I sigh, snuggling into his embrace.
“Magic is unpredictable, darling. It brought us together, it can do anything,” he says casually, but it resonates within me, leaving a mark because it’s true. Who knows what magic is capable of?
And for the first time in a long time, I dream… No, not dream, I remember. I remember all the nightmares over the years, and I realise for once they might not just be fictitious, they might be real. I dream of bloodshed, death…so much death, and the world…
The world is burning and bathed in darkness.
Slate
I am a lucky wolf. My mate is not only beautiful, but thoughtful. I awake to her already making us food, and after we eat, we take a leisurely swim in the river where I convince her to go nude, which of course leads to us fucking on the shore, since we are unable to stay away from each other.
After, we lie in the afternoon light, and I realise I have never been so happy, so content. There is still pain in my heart, an ache for my family and my past, but each passing day with my beautiful fae is making that fade. She is healing me.
“Tell me about your life,” she requests softly, tracing her fingers across my stomach with a softness that I crave.
“Darling,” I start, and she lifts her head with a determined expression. “It’s not pretty. I have lived a long life filled with death and pain. I have done things, my hands will never be clean.”
“These hands?” she asks, and lifts them. Those shining eyes stay on me as she kisses them. “Either way, tell me, let me in, let me know you. If we are to be mates, we should know more about each other than anyone, correct?”
“Tricky little fae with your word games,” I tease, even as I lock my legs around her and lean back with a sigh. “But true, I guess I should start at the beginning. I told you of my brothers, but not the full story. It’s probably easiest to begin there.” I suck in a breath and dive into my story. I tell her about my brothers and of Lilith, stumbling over her name after having not spoken it in such a long time.
“You loved her, I can feel it,” she observes, no jealousy in her tone.
“I did, she was like my sister, you would have liked her. She was so kind, always the brightest of us all, even as a human. When my parents killed her, they killed a part of us as well. It fractured us, we couldn’t bear to be together, we were all in too much pain. So we left. For so long, I wandered across the world, drawn into wars and battles, drawn by the promise of bloodshed and the oblivion it brought. That was before…”
“Before what?” she prompts curiously, and I stiffen. She moves closer, offering me comfort with her body, my sweet little shining one.
“Before I was taken,” I admit. It’s something I’ve never told anyone, not that I had anybody to admit it to after it happened, since I was a wolf and went into hiding. “Taken by a mad angel who was trying to breed super soldiers. He had been experimenting on angels and humans and decided to try with other species. I was one of the first. It was a total mistake he found me.” I can’t stop once I start, and she listens carefully. “I was in a bar, drinking away all the loneliness, watching the world when he walked in. I was going to the toilet later on when I stumbled into the alley, drunk. He had a young human man pinned to the wall, and there was a witch extracting his soul and mixing it with dark magic in a glowing amulet.”
“What?” she exclaims, and I nod, stroking her to comfort both her and me.
“I saw them… He ordered the human and witch to capture me. I was drunk and weak, cocky, I thought I could win. I didn’t even see those sneaking up on me. I was a fool. When I woke up, I was in a cell. They tried to get me to mate with humans and other supernaturals to make strong babies, but when I refused, they got more creative. They took my blood, they injected me with substances that made me almost feral. I couldn’t control my wolf, and they thought it would make him mate, instead, it made him kill the women. I guess he always knew he was waiting for you.” She kisses my chest, and I kiss her head.
“When they realised that wouldn’t work, they just started experimenting on me until they locked me in my wolf and couldn’t reverse it. I escaped a few years later and came here to hide and die, knowing I couldn’t go back into the world like I was.”
“Oh, Slate,” she whispers. “I’m sorry, that’s horrible. What happened to the man?”
“I don’t know. For years, I thought about revenge, dreamed it, lived it, fuelled my anger, but then I started to let it go. Revenge gets you nowhere. I just hate that I couldn’t stop what he was doing. If it happened to me, there must have been others.” I sigh, pulling her closer. “You can ask whatever you want, my mate, whenever you want. We have years to learn everything about each other.”
“That’s true, and you’ve shared a lot, thank you for that. I’m sorry if that was painful,” she murmurs.
“What about you, darling? It’s time you finally told me what you are running from, the full story,” I tell her softly, and she stiffens before melting.
“I guess you’re right. Like your story, it’s not pretty, though nowhere near as bad as yours.” I tilt her head up.
“You cannot measure trauma, mate. Pain is pain, and each is different. There is neither small trauma nor big trauma, okay? It’s just trauma, and I see it in your eyes. Whatever happened to you, I am sorry, so fucking sorry that I wasn’t there, but I’m here now, to listen, and to help if I can.” She closes her eyes, a tear escaping, and I brush it away with my thumb.