So I did, and I was waiting on the strange bed for him in a white robe like a virginal offering.
“This is so fucking awkward and they’re all close in case I go feral, so that’s awesome,” he acknowledged with an odd chuckle. But then he was blinking back tears and faced away from me. “I’m sorry I can’t give you the perfect mating you deserve, Aurora. I’m sorry you’re having another…”
I flinched at him mentioning that at a time he shouldn’t. I swallowed a sigh and remembered how young and alone in the world he’d been. “Creed, the two aren’t remotely in the same universe. I was sold and treated like property. I would have fled if I could and not watched like the prisoner I was.”
“Right, sorry,” he mumbled.
I was a bit too relaxed and my brain sluggish, but then I remembered the advice the witch and one of the female shifter guards had given me. “Make me yours, my darling. Forget everything else and let’s start our new life healed.”
Wow, some women really understood men because almost instantly I was looking at a very different Creed, and even if I clearly had all of his focus in that moment, I wasn’t his prey. I felt safe.
Oddly enough, and I didn’t think it was the potion.
No, it was him. I knew in my soul he would back out if I’d needed him to. Even if it meant his death, my Creed would have backed out so I wasn’t hurt.
And that was how I was able to find the strength to give him my body and soul that night. It was better than the last time and there were moments I enjoyed, so I believed Alexis and Marie that it could get better. That maybe one day I would truly enjoy being intimate with a man.
If that man was Creed. Only him.
The bite hurt. It was ghastly even, but each lick after helped, and he was crushed when I was shaking from the pain. He swore he hadn’t known and he didn’t think that was normal.
Just in case, I was extra gentle when we did our blood exchange and he thanked me for wanting to make him my mate. My whole body flushed, but I also felt guilty because I couldn’t say the same things. He kept telling me he loved me and we would be happy and I simply agreed or nodded.
I really needed more therapy and to heal faster.
Was that even possible?
I didn’t think so.
But what happened next probably would take a lot of therapy to recover from… And for both of us.
20
Aurora
Creed groaned after we finished intercourse, and at first I thought it was… Male things.
Horror filled me when I realized it was more than that. He fell to the bed and it wasn’t a noise men should ever make as he held his shoulder.
I gasped as it broke in a weird way, hanging limply but then moving behind him in a grotesque way that had me reaching for him.
“No, Aurora,” he groaned and tried to push me away with his other arm that wasn’t moving as it should either. “Don’t watch. Don’t—” He yelled in pain as his ribs all seemed to break and he came off the bed.
And I wished that was the end of it.
No, it was just the beginning.
I scrambled off the bed and threw on a robe before bellowing for help. Monroe reached the room first and I swallowed a scream when I saw Creed’s legs were broken and bent in ways—horrid ways.
“Don’t watch this,” one of the witches muttered, trying to turn me away.
I pushed her from me and let my fangs out. “That is my mate. I appreciate your help, but I suffer not. Focus on him.” Ibrushed past her and went to Monroe. “Help him. What can I do?”
“Nothing,” he said sadly, sighing when that clearly wasn’t going to be enough for me. “There is nothing to do. I’m sorry, but this is Creed’s fight.” The look of pity he gave me cut through me. “We’ve done all we can. I promise you we did. The rest is up to him and the gods.”
No, I would not accept that.
No, I cannot have fought this much in my life to lose my chance to live now.
