جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 110

"You truly expect me to rest when your heart whispers to me, my love? She stammers, saying all the things your lips refuse to give me," Killian mutters, his arms squeezing tighter around me. Tilting his head, he stares up into my face, a devious smile curving his lips as he presses them against the curve of my breast through my shirt. "I suddenly find myself incapable of rest. And it's all your fault. How will you make it up to me, hm?"The onslaught of kisses continues, tracing the valley between my breasts and up my collarbone, until he has settled his weight between my legs and over my body, a heavy, warm blanket of muscle and thinly veiled desire. My heart does stutter at his hungry gaze, and that damned smirk grows wider."It's so loud, my love. Racing, pounding... anticipating? Are you scared I'll leave you again to resume my hunt? Or..." Killian presses his face into the crook of my neck, nipping at the skin, his breath warm against me. "Are you scared I'll stay? Worried my comp

"You're not supposed to be here," Leon groans, his face flushed. I can't tell if it's from pain or embarrassment at the state of himself. Either way, it doesn't matter. I'm furious.Not at him, never at him. At the ones responsible for putting him in this condition. At myself for being so torn between two worlds."I'm right where I belong. And so are you," I grunt, slapping the cloth over his mouth before he can mutter another protest. "Don't speak. Don't move. Just breathe and rest.""Good luck with gettin' him to listen." Gabe drags himself to the opposite side of Leon's bed, scowling and grumpy as ever. This is his default bedside manner. I'm starting to understand it. "Gettin' this one to follow orders is like tryin' to declaw a feral cat.""You're not much better in that department," I snort--a sad attempt at levity in the moment. I'm grateful for the smirk Gobe offers, but we both know there's nothing to laugh about right now."I'll be better in a few days." The cloth muffles Leo

Wet moss, flora, cold stone. The forest scent is suddenly overwritten by the smell of iron, sweat, and wolf. Killian grabs me up, his arms banded around my waist, and takes off in the opposite direction of the approaching invaders. My feet dangle over the ground, toes barely scraping against stones and leaves as he charges through the trees."The fire was risky. Too bright, too high. Damn it all!" Killian grumbles, weaving through the trees effortlessly. "Rookie mistake.""Let me down; I can run. If need be, we'll split up and double back," I grunt, trying to writhe free from his grasp, only for his grip to tighten even more."No. Never. We are not separating," Killian snarls. His frame trembles against mine, only for a second. But clear enough for me to understand. "We'll get out of range and then set up camp somewhere more secluded."A flash of light to our left catches my eye, and I turn in just enough time to see an arrow whiz by our faces. "Killian!""Goddamn it!" he shouts, chan

I am shadows and smoke. Moving in complete silence, I shift around the base of Hilltop's namesake, approaching the territory from the rear. Reconnaissance is 70% of a successful mission. Leon and Marcel taught me that much. I can't go running into Hilltop's defenses, teeth bared and claws out. Whatever weapon they used to disarm Killian and Leon would put a quick end to the rescue mission.No.I need to be quiet. And smart.Good thing I'm both. I stay low, using the cover of darkness and the thick shrubbery surrounding Hilltop's perimeter to conceal my presence. I move with the wind, my movements further concealed by the rustle of the trees in the breeze. Calm. Focused. But make no mistake. I've got murder on my mind.These animals hurt Leon. They hurt Killian. Arya growls, fuming beneath the surface of my skin, ready to strike when I give her the signal.Countless others, too. There's no telling how many people they've killed in the name of their leader's paranoid delusions. It ends

Killian fades in and out for hours. Every second his eyes are closed is agony. But when he's awake, he's barely lucid, which is somehow worse. I hate seeing him like this. Weak, dependent, teetering between consciousness and oblivion. Wavering, shuddering breaths ease from his dry, cracked lips and I want to burn the world to ash.Arya is unusually silent. I admit: her silence is more frightening than her rage.I don't know what she's thinking right now. Or what she's planning. But I know Hilltop will likely never see another full moon rise over its territory if she has anything to say about it. I'm inclined to agree.Knowing what they did to Leon was already enough to make me hate them and want them destroyed. Against my better judgment, I tried to temper my rage, spare the innocent, give their fear the benefit of the doubt. But this? This is my mate lying before me, bleeding and injured. Peace is no longer an option.My mind flips through the mental catalog I made when running throug