“I’m sorry. If I could spare you this—”
“I know.” Her fingers trace patterns on my chest. “It’s alright.”
We lie there in silence for a while. Dawn light creeps through the windows, painting the room in shades of gold and amber. I should tell her about Celeste, about the witnesses, about what we might face today. But I can’t bring myself to break this moment of peace.
“Everything will be okay, right, Kieran?” she murmurs, her voice soft and uncertain.
I tighten my arms around her. “Yes. I intend to make it so.” It’s a promise. One I’ll keep no matter what it costs me.
She relaxes against me, her breathing becoming more even. I think she might be falling asleep when she suddenly speaks again.
“What were you working on when I came in?”
“The pendant and blanket you found.” I brush my fingers through her hair. “I asked Artisem to start researching the sigil. It may lead us somewhere.”
“My mother hid those things for a reason.”
“Yes.” I press a kiss to the top of her head. “And we will find out what it is.”
She’s quiet for a moment. “Kieran?”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you. For yesterday. For not…” She trails off, but I know what she means.
For not dying in order to get her revenge. For keeping my promise.
“I told you,” I say. “You won’t lose me. I mean it.”
She turns her head to look up at me, her eyes shining in the early morning light. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” I whisper, kissing her forehead, her cheeks, her lips. “More than you know.”
She smiles, really smiles, and some of the grief lifts from her features. It will come back, I know. Grief doesn’t disappear overnight. But for now, in this moment, she’s here with me, and she’s smiling.
“Sleep,” I tell her. “We have a few hours yet.”
“Stay with me?”
“Always.”
She closes her eyes, her hand resting over my heart. I watch her face soften as sleep claims her, the rhythm of her breathing steady against my side.
The Council meeting looms ahead of us. Celeste and her lies, the witnesses she has gathered, the politics and posturing. I should be worried. Should be planning what to say, how to defend Daciana.
But right now, with my mate in my arms, I can’t bring myself to care about any of it.
Let them come. Let them try to take her from me. They’ll learn quickly that I’m not merely the alpha they think I am.
I’m far more dangerous.
Chapter Seventeen
Daciana
I don’t want to be here.
The thought pulses through my mind as I stand in the throne room, spine rigid, hands clenched. All I want to do is grieve my family in peace, but it seems that’s not going to happen. I have to face the Umbra Council and defend myself against these false charges.
