26. CORA

I blinked up at Keiran as he hovered over me.

I had been woken by him numerous times during the night as he came to check up on me. It was sweet of him to check up on me, but I was starting to get annoyed.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered as he fixed the collar of my shirt. “I just want to make sure that you’re okay.”

“I am okay and I was okay the other hundred times you checked on me,” I told him.

Keiran cleared his throat and moved to stand, but I reached out and grabbed hold of his wrist.

“Why?” I questioned.

He swallowed loudly as he turned to face me. “I told you about Laura,” he said softly. “I didn’t tell you that I had marked her because I thought it was what she wanted.”

“And she rejected your mark?”

“Yes,” he muttered. “Within seconds after I marked her.”

I sat up, and reached out to grip his hand. “If I wanted to reject your mark, I’m sure it would have already happened.”

“I didn’t want to do it until I was sure that it was what you wanted,” Keiran said. “I wanted things