“Everything hurts,” he says.
“Me too,” I grin.
Hurting is good. It means you are alive. Means your body can heal the damage. We are going to be okay. We have survived. The danger has passed.
“I love you,” Fitz declares desperately, as if he thinks it is his last chance to say it.
I can relate to that. When I thought I had lost him forever, I was devastated that I hadn’t said it to him. It was the one thing I needed him to know.
“I love you too,” I say but it comes out as a croak.
Fitz’s eyes light up. His whole battered face is beaming with joy. He is practically sparkling with it. My brain catches up with his words. He loves me. Fitz loves me. I’m grinning so hard it is hurting my face. My heart is thumping so loudly, he has to be feeling it.
“Let me claim you!” I blurt. “Be my mate!”
His green eyes glow. He has never looked more beautiful. Then inexplicably, he is grabbing an edge of my shirt. I watch in bewilderment as he vigorously wipes his mouth with it. Oh, he is cleaning off all the hunter blood.
Before I can wonder why, his lips attack my own and I guess this is my answer. To both my questions, why he cleaned his mouth, and will he be my mate. This deep, hungry, passionate kiss. It’s the best answer I’ve ever had. It lights up my soul, fills my heart and sets fireworks off in my mind.
Any minute now the Grand Master is going to make a disparaging comment, but I don’t care. I’m battered, exhausted and lying in a filthy alley, but Fitz is alive and he is lying on top of me, kissing me and it’s the best moment of my life.
“Give them a moment,” says the Grand Master.
He is shooing enforcers away from the alley. Who knew that the terrifying necromancer was a romantic at heart?
My hands drift over Fitz’s back. I want to feel all of him. Oh shit, he is naked. He hates being naked. I move my hands down to cover his ass. It’s fine to give it a squeeze while I’m here. I’ve never claimed to be a saint. And that’s just fine because Fitz loves me anyway.
Chapter thirty-seven
Fitz
I’mnotpayingattentionat all to the formal words Callum is speaking. The only thing I’m aware of is Jake and the heat of his gaze upon me. I’m standing naked in a moonlit clearing in front of the entire pack and Jake still has my full attention. He is naked too, everyone is, but his body is the only one I want to look at. I swear I’ll never be able to stop drooling over it. It’s sheer manly perfection. Muscles to die for. The sight of it always empties my mind and fills it with dirty thoughts instead. Maybe it’s the years of repression, but boy, oh boy, am I capable of conjuring some truly filthy images. It’s a little mortifying.
Like right now. We are getting married, well the shifter equivalent, and I’m busy picturing those divine muscles flexing because Jake is railing me. I should be contemplating true love or something. Probably something deep and meaningful. Perhaps even spiritual. But, nope, all my mind is giving me is depravity.
Callum has stopped talking, and everyone is staring at me. Oops, what have I missed? Oh yeah. I’m supposed to shift and run. Everyone is going to chase me, but it’s only ceremonial. Only Jake is going to catch me.
A shiver of excitement dances up my spine. I’m kind of tempted to throw myself to the ground and just present to him right here and now. Why delay the good times? But I suppose I should respect tradition.
Time to close my eyes and let my wolf out. It’s a little scary how easy it is now. I really am a monster. And I don’t even give a shit. I don’t need to hate myself. Jake showed me that. There is nothing wrong with me. I can be proud of who I am.
The woods brighten, and explode with scents. I can see, hear and smell everything now. As a wolf, all my senses are so much more acute. And now I want to run. Running is fun. I want to show Jake how swift and clever I am. I want him to be proud of me. I need to be worthy of him.
With that thought in mind, I turn and tear off into the night. A head start of sixty heartbeats sounded like an age before. Now it seems entirely too meager. Not that getting caught immediately would be the end of the world or anything.
But actually, running feels great. It’s satisfying to stretch my legs, and rushing through the forest is exhilarating. I’ve never felt more alive. My body has fully healed from all the damage the hunters inflicted on it. All that is left are a handful of new scars, including a slash across my eyebrow. Jake says it looks badass, so I like it.
I really like that he has fully recovered too. His magic and his strength only took a week to replenish. Yay for alpha shifter resilience. Not that I want to ever test it again. I want a long and utterly boring life with Jake. With the most exciting thing to happen, is that slugs get into the vegetable patch. It sounds like bliss and I can’t wait.
If I do ever get bored, I can take Silas up on his suggestion of hunting more hunters or his offer of becoming an enforcer. I’m beyond flattered that he thinks I’m good enough. But right now, I can’t imagine anything less appealing.
Anyway, I don’t want to think about that right now. I want to be in the moment, where nothing else exists apart from this chase and Jake catching me.
I’ve reached the stream, so I stretch out my body and leap over it. I’m here, I’ve made it. The clearing looks great in the moonlight. As do the blankets and pillows I laid out earlier. The picnic basket hasn’t been scavenged by animals and the champagne and two glasses are probably warm by now, but they are still here. I guess shifter scent keeps most true animals at bay.
My heart does a little skip of delight at my success. It was a complete pain in the ass sneaking everything out here, especially knowing that during the ceremony, Jake might catch me before I reached it and it would all be for nothing.
Speaking of which, where is Jake? I can’t hear him. Was I too good at evading capture? Do I need to retrace my steps and lead him back here?
