"Serenity Keller."
I called her full name softly. My voice was weak from blood loss, but it carried everything I felt.
"I know I have no right to say this anymore. I promised to let you go. But I've changed my mind. I'm a despicable coward. A selfish bastard. I can't bear to run away like a coward after failing you so badly. And I can't accept a future without you in it."
My hand trembled in hers. This hand had once held mine. It had always belonged to me. But I'd let it slip away.
Now, to win her back, I would do anything.
"So I want to ask you one last time. Will you give me another chance?"
"What are you doing?" she demanded in shock.
I raised my voice. "I know! So I'm doing this! This time, I won't let anyone hurt you. This time, I'll stand by your side, protect you, cherish you, hold you in my hand. This time, I'll spend the rest of my life making up for everything I owe you!"
"So, Serenity?—"
I looked up into her eyes, moonlight shimmering within them like starlight.
"Will you marry me again?"
CHAPTER 24
SERENITY KELLER
Marry him?
Those three words dropped into my heart like stones into still water, sending ripples spreading outward. My head spun. For a moment, I thought the one who had lost too much blood was me, not the man kneeling before me with a proposal.
I looked down and studied him closely. His gaze was focused and reverent. He wasn't joking. His hand holding mine was trembling. I couldn't tell if it was from his injuries or from nerves…
But nerves?
Could Elias Vernal actually be nervous?
I didn't know. I didn't know anything.
All I knew was that Novella was leaping for joy inside me, and no amount of scolding could quiet her. All I knew was that my heart was racing so fast I could hear the blood rushing through my veins.
The word yes rose to the tip of my tongue, ready to spill out. But then my mind flashed to all those days and nights I'd been imprisoned in the Vernal mansion. The dark, terrifying operating table in that birthing room. The leap off that cliff?—
"Elias, you've been shot three times." In the end, my voice came out calm, without emotion. "You're not thinking clearly. You might be hallucinating."
I tried to pull my hand free, but he refused to let go.
"Once you recover and your head clears, you'll regret saying all this to me."
"No, I won't!" He answered firmly, fear and urgency threading through his voice. "Believe me, Serenity. I've never been more clear-headed than I am right now!"
He looked up at me. The posture made the proud heir of Lycan blood look like nothing more than a devoted believer. "I've regretted too many things already. This is the one thing I will never regret!"
I fell silent.
Wind gusted outside the cave, sweeping through the forest and carrying the damp scent of night—along with the scent of Elias's pheromones. That familiar, nostalgic smell made Novella restless inside me. She clamored to get closer to him, to lick his wounds, to curl up in his arms…
Shut up.I silently scolded Novella.
She whimpered in protest but obediently went quiet.
