I pause, letting his admission sink in, my heart shattering. “That's not my fault…” I whisper.
“It is your fault!” He takes a step forward, grabbing my shoulders with strong hands. “You're everything I could have ever wanted, and now you want me to accept your sacrifice. I can't!”
“Thane, I—”
“No, dammit!” Thane roars, tugging me forward. “I can't live my life without you!”
Thane crushes his lips to mine, and it's nothing like any kiss we've shared before. This one is hotter, more desperate, begging to be heard, and aching with a plea.
A plea for me not to go ahead with what I saw clearly in my vision.
That plea is written in Thane's eyes as he pulls back, tears glossing over the warm green shades, and the gold specks in them glitter.
“Don't do it, Willow. Don't leave me. Please.”
His soft tone, aching with yearning, is my undoing. I grab the back of his head and pull him in for another kiss, this one a promise that I would never leave him.
Thane's right, and I feel it in every layer of clothing that falls to the floor until we're pressed skin to skin, him lifting me and carrying me toward the bed. His lips don't leave mine, not even for a breath, as he sinks between my thighs and enters me with a firm, possessive thrust.
“Thane!” I cry out in ecstasy, his rough hands all over me, his body consuming me as he thrusts like he's claiming my life.
Claiming it for himself, his eyes full of possession as he breathes, hot and heavy, against my lips.
“Don't do it…” he rasps, his voice vibrating on my lips. “I can't lose you…”
“You won't,” I reassure him, grabbing his face with both hands. “I promise.”
Our lips meet again, our tongues dancing to the rhythm of our bodies as we both reach climax. He shudders into me, filling me with hot ropes of cum as my walls tighten and milk him for every last drop.
Thane collapses, his body weight grounding me onto the bed, where it's impossible to accept that life could ever be void of this feeling.
How can I possibly take this from him when I know that he feels the pull of our mate bond just like I do?
“You're not taking the potion,” Thane sighs, on the verge of falling asleep on my chest.
I run my fingers through his hair, pressing a light kiss to the top of his head. “I'm not.”
“Good,” Thane breathes, his arm tightening over my waist as he pulls me closer. “We'll speak to the others in the morning and figure out something else. I'm not losing you.”
“You won't,” I whisper and smile gently as Thane sighs again and falls asleep on my chest.
My body still tingles from our session, and I ride those waves as I stare at the ceiling, mulling over everything that's happened these past few weeks.
Not long ago, I was just a wolfless omega about to become a Blood Claw wolf's breeding slave, and now I'm a powerful witch on the brink of altering Snehvolk's future and preserving the pack.
Closing my eyes, I try to find sleep, but it doesn't come. Behind my eyelids, I'm haunted by flashing images of the vision, and I snap my eyelids open again with a frustrated sigh.
I can't change what I saw. Not when I know that the alphas and witches have been working tirelessly to save the pack from the demons.
I'm still not sure how Elias's and Aurora's son is involved, since Aurora's first psychic prophecy claimed that Emile wouldbe the key to locking out the demons, but I know what I have to do.
Carefully pulling myself out from underneath Thane's arm, I check that he's sound asleep before tiptoeing away to his bathroom. Once there, I stare at my reflection, noticing the way my scar has been healing, and meet my own eyes in the mirror.
That's when I decide to follow my gut, follow my intuition, and let it guide me no matter what. While I stare at myself, I'm mentally preparing for what comes, holding my heart together so it doesn't break for the man lying in bed, sleeping peacefully, and believing that I'm safe.
What about the pack? Emile and Gio and all the other kids?
We can't keep them safe with those traps forever.
