“What the—”
She blinked, looking at the now-wet bandages clinging to her side, her forehead scrunching in confusion. Then she looked around at the hovering crowd, now all staring at her. Her eyes widened, her memory seeming to flood back to her as she recalled precisely what had happened. Her mouth parted in surprise as she glanced around.
“Um, did what I think happen actually happen?”
Relief flooded over me. The cavern seemed a thousand times brighter now that she was awake again, as if the spring and its mysterious home were celebrating that she was okay. Or maybe it was just me. I didn’t care. I pushed past Rachel and Emma to come next to her, my feet stepping into the spring up to my ankles.
Liv stared up at me and smiled. Bags hung under her eyes, and she looked like she had just gotten over a month-long illness.
“Hey, you,” she said.
“Hello, yourself,” I said, crouching to her level. “Do you always like to give men heart attacks?”
An exhausted smile spread across her face. “Only the really grumpy ones.”
I snorted, reaching out and cupping her cheek, still stained with dirt and grime. “I’m so glad you’re all right,” I muttered.
She tilted her head, her cheek pressing into my hand even as she stared into my eyes, looking almost surprised. “You’re smiling. You almost never smile.”
“Well, considering I’ve been agonizing over you for the last century—”
“I haven’t been in here for a century,” she argued, then blinked. “Have I? Because if so, you look great for a nearly hundred-and-twenty-seven-year-old.”
“It sure as hell felt like a century,” I said, still stroking her hair. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I just got attacked by a demon, then thrown into a magical spring,” she replied.
“Probably a reason for that,” I said. “But considering I don’t have the context, how are you? Are you able to move? Do you need to sit, or do we need to call Lucas back? If we need to carry you somewhere—”
“Drake, I’m fine,” she interrupted. Her own hand reached out and squeezed my arm as she smiled up at me. “But it’s nice of you to worry.”
I cupped her cheek, loving the warmth in my palm that told me she was alive. “I’m always going to worry about you,” I said. “I’m sorry that I haven’t made that clearer over the years. I should have made sure you knew that years ago. I’m so sorry I didn’t.”
Surprise flickered across her eyes at the words, as if she had never expected something like that from me. She glanced around at the massive crowd. “Are you sure you want to do this here?”
She wasn’t asking because she cared about privacy. She was asking because she thought I might want it, like I always had.
“I don’t care if anyone knows,” I snarled. “I made that mistake once before, and it’s one of the biggest regrets of my entire life.”
Her breath caught. A bit of water clung to her eyelashes as she looked up at me, her eyes wide.
“The other mistake is turning you away when we were kids,” I said. “I was trying to listen to someone I should have ignored. I should have told my father to fuck off, because I should have known he was full of shit, even then.”
My words bounced and echoed around the cavern. I knew that the others still lingering in the cavern were able to hear every word. But I had waited long enough to tell her any of this that I wasn’t going to wait any longer. I had waited this long and almost missed my opportunity entirely. I wasn’t going to let her slip through my fingers again.
“I love you,” I said. “I should have told you years ago, when you first told me you thought we were mates instead of pushing you away. I’m sorry it took me this long to admit it. I’m sorry for all the ways I hurt you, and for not saying any of this sooner. And I’m so sorry that I missed out on years of getting to be with you because I was an absolute idiot.”
Her breath hitched. For a moment, I thought that she was in pain. It wasn’t until I looked closer that I saw the depth ofemotion on her face, as if she had been wanting to hear those words for years now.
“You really mean it?” Liv murmured.
“Of course I do,” I said. “I love you, Liv. I love your optimism, I love your wit, and the fact that you aren’t afraid to call me out on my bullshit. You’ve made me a better person, and you were right all along. I just wish I had figured that out sooner.”
The smile spreading across her face grew wider with each word. “I mean, you really should have,” she teased.
Before I could utter another apology or any sort of retort, she pulled me toward her and pressed her lips to mine.
My wolf roared in triumph. My hand went to the back of her neck and pulled her closer, cradling her head as I held her. I could have stayed there for a lifetime. A savage need for her began to wash through me despite the injuries, despite the place, despite everything else, as if I needed to make up for lost time. I held her tighter, not wanting to let her go. I never wanted to let her go again.
