Lero
Heartville
My heart thumped against my ribs as I stood outside of Vallis’s hospital room. The whole hospital smelled like a forsaken fruit salad but inside the room he and Dad laughed. I stood there listening, not wanting to end their happy moment. Dad took a while to warm up to most new people. I couldn’t stop smiling that he’d taken to Vallis so quickly. Maybe it helped that he’d gone through something horrible and wasn’t able to hurt a fly. Sometimes hurt people were easier for him to trust.
“Your sire went to grab lunch with a bunch of other people,” my carrier said.
Grandpa was eavesdropping on his mate and Mori already.
“Want to come in and meet Vallis?” I asked, offering him my arm. He might’ve had a few weeks before the baby was born but looking at him standing there with both hands under his belly made my back ache. As if the thought summoned Dad, there he was. He kissed my carrier on the cheek and stepped behind him. He slid his hands under my carrier’s pregnant belly and took on some of the weight. The relief was instant and written all over his face.
“We’ll join you two in a few,” Dad said. “You two should have a moment to yourselves anyway.”
“Is he okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. He’ll be alright. This evening we’ll get him up and walking. Dara wants to wait a few days but I think we can let him try at least. He’s as snacky as you.”
“I know,” I grinned. “You got him?”
“I’ve had him for a while,” Dad chuckled and my carrier grinned, leaning back against him.
I pushed open the heavy hospital door and let out a cry of relief to see Vallis sitting up in bed, snacking on a bag of jerky. He set it aside and tried to get out of bed. I was quicker and joined him in the hospital bed before he got up. He pulled me into him and held me tight. For a second, neither of us said anything. He cupped my chin and stared into my eyes as if he hadn’t seen me before. It had been the longest week of my life. Everyone kept telling me that Vallis would wake up but no one would tell me when.
“I need you to bite me,” Vallis whispered.
“Okay but why are you whispering?” I laughed.
“Because the draconic healer wants me to do nothing,” he whispered.
“I don’t know if you’re up for that,” I said and stole a kiss.
“Maybe not yet but soon. Though, I am up for biting. I keep picking up your stray thoughts, but I can’t answer them.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “I heard what happened. I’m sorry about Pami and that all that happened and… I’m just sorry that I couldn’t help and…”
Vallis kissed me and tried hard to blink back tears.
“I love you,” he said. “Being there… That’s the one time I didn’t want you by my side. It was—It was crazy, Lero. She’d dug me up already, but the other women were fierce and… Mori was brave. I was in and out of it but came in every time he threw himself over me like a bomb was about to go off. He made me cough up water and… He was great. I know they think he’s the annoying one but he… Lero, I’m pretty sure he saved my life by showing up when he did. Him and Finn.”
“Mori is great,” I nodded. “He’s a lot to handle but he means well.”
“Well, this time he was just the right amount,” Vallis laughed. “Now are you going to claim me or not?”
I nodded and sat up. I ran my hand up and down his neck while he smiled at me like someone slipped him a happy pill. The gland on his shoulder was hidden under taut skin and the clear magical fluid inside of it sloshed even under the most gentle touch.
“Claim me, mate,” he whispered and I leaned in and placed a soft kiss on the gland. A second later, I borrowed my bear’s canine tooth and punctured the skin as gently as possible while still breaking through the skin that covered it. He tasted like honeybuns and something extra sweet. I expected the scene from the lake to burst into my head but it was his younger years. He was practically brothers with Broug and he liked Pamiwell enough even if he didn’t always. The world was beautiful and filled with books and artisans. He was happy. I saw myself through his eyes and snatches of his life inside the coffin. The lake came into view but it alternated between blackout moments of Mori flopped over him and bloody moments where Sharon Claudis did what she did best: fuck up plans. This time it just so happened that it was Pami’s plans that she fucked up. I lapped at the clear magical fluid until it ran dry. He was mine and now our mating link was finally wide open.
I cried into Vallis’s chest. Somehow against the odds we won. It took a lot of people and three ghosts to make it happen but we’d done it and now we had the rest of our lives to spend together. I kissed my mate all over his face and he laughed.
“You need to shave,” I teased him. “You’re as furry as a bear.”
“I usually do,” he nodded and captured my lips in a slow kiss.
He needed more rest before all that could happen in the flesh but just on time, my carrier knocked on the door, ready to finally meet my true-mate.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Vallis
