Page 45 of Blood Sacrifice

She shivered when I kissed the sensitive area where her shoulder met her neck. My teeth scraped against her skin, andshe sucked in a breath. Without hesitation, I sank my teeth deep into that delicate strip of flesh, latching on so my venom infused deep. The only scar that should be marring her beautiful body was the mark of my claiming bite.

Luna froze for a moment, her hand squeezing mine in a grip designed to break bones, then she slowly relaxed, her body sinking against mine.

Most wolves claimed their mate during sex since it was supposed to be the most intimate act in the world. The reality was that intimacy was an extension of trust. Luna stood before me baring her soul and the pain that had profoundly changed her.

“I won’t hurt you,” I said, kissing where I had bitten. “I would die before I allowed you to experience any more pain.”

She brought my hand in hers to cover her stomach. “I don’t know if I can have children because of what the witch hunters did to me,” she whispered, and I felt her emotions burning deep in her chest.

“All I ever wanted was you,” I replied, and even as I said the words, I knew they were the truth. It was the reason I had never been overly bothered by other women in my life. Once you found who you belonged with, everything else was inconsequential and sex was nothing more than an itch to scratch.

I spun Luna carefully to face me. Her eyes were huge and round in her face, her cheeks flushed since my venom was currently pumping through her body, healing her as I claimed her. My hands framed her face, and I brought my forehead to hers.

“You are mine, Luna, you always have been. No more misunderstandings, no building barriers to hide behind, and no implying I have women hidden in every town in South America.” Her eyelashes kissed mine as she blinked rapidly.

“I—” Her hands grabbed my waist. “You deserve—”

I cut her off with my lips on hers. I didn’t want to hear Luna try to tell me that I needed to find someone else. My wolf knew she was out there somewhere all these years. It was the only explanation why I had been so disinterested in all the she-wolves who tried to mate with me. He only wanted his one true soulmate.

I would have waited another four hundred years for her. Love wasn’t about passion and desire, it was felt in every fibre of your being, spoken with every beat of your heart, and demonstrated through selfless acts. We had spent enough time trying to save others, it was time we saved ourselves, and Luna was the only person in this entire world and beyond who made me feel the way I felt right now.

The bond between us strengthened as the venom in my bite coursed through her veins, and connected her to me permanently. It was why Balor had forbidden unions between the priestesses and wolves. Once those priestesses were mated, then he couldn’t use them to breed with his priests, and their life was linked to the wolf they had mated.

Luna’s nails trailed down my back in a delicious scratch that made my back arch in pleasured pain. Her lips moulded to mine in a caress that left me breathless, her teeth nipping at my bottom lip.

There were moments when mindless passion took over, and other moments like right now when a deep and powerful healing took place between two injured souls. I should have mated with her that night before I returned to join the war, but I had been terrified that I would be killed, and Luna would die as an extension of our bond.

Fate had given me a second chance, and I had no intention of wasting it this time.

Luna’s fingers scraped the hairs at the back of my neck, her body pressing tighter to mine even as I reluctantly pulled away.She blinked in confusion, her huge brown eyes widening as she stared at me.

“Salvator?” Her voice sounded lost.

My thumb traced over her bottom lip. “We have plenty of time, Luna. My bite will regenerate your skin to remove all traces of those evil men. My mark will be the only scar on your body.”

Her eyes darted to the side. “Is it because I’m damaged? I can repair the spell—”

I shook my head, pressing my forehead to hers. “No. The damage to your body shows the true strength you contain inside. Those scars show what you survived and still had the strength to keep going and try to help others.” My lips hovered over hers in a barely-there kiss that allowed us to exchange breath. “Now, let me take that burden from you.”

“I can suppress the memories and hide the scars,” Luna said, and I felt her warring emotions through our bond.

“Your memories allow you to remember who you were,” I replied. “There is no need for you to hide the scars, my wolf will take them from you.”

I would carry them inside me to lift that burden from her. The great goddess created mates because we were two parts of the one whole, each supporting and guiding the other.

Under my fingers, I felt her skin begin to flatten as her scars were removed and her body returned to its original condition. We couldn’t regenerate limbs, but the transformative abilities of our wolves allowed us to heal back to our original form. It was why tattoos barely lasted on our bodies, and why dire wolves were so coveted by evil magic users like Balor.

Luna’s body collapsed against mine, her pain sinking into me as I physically took it from her to process and transform. I felt every lash on her body, the weight of the collar around her neck, the breaking of her bones, and the cutting of her flesh. It all transferred into me and my wolf healed it. She should neverhave had to suffer this pain in the first place, because I should have abandoned our cause of liberating the dire wolves, and walked away with my mate.

I held her as the mating bond solidified between us, uniting our souls at the highest spiritual level. My wolf paced restlessly inside me until he felt the bond snap into place, meaning Luna was ours for the rest of our immortal lives.

Sensing Luna drained of emotions and exhausted, I lifted her and moved through the property until I found a room to place her on a bed. When I tried to move away, her hand grabbed mine, tugging me toward her.

“Sleep,” I said against the top of her head. Normally, a mating bite occurred during sex and both parties could fall asleep after. Luna had relived all the trauma from her past, the memories affecting her emotionally and physically.

“I didn’t want to survive that place,” Luna whispered. “Many of the witches who were taken there didn’t survive. They told me I was lucky, I don’t feel lucky.”

I tugged her head onto my chest and stared at the ceiling. “We assume evil has glowing red eyes and horns,” I said. “The most evil beings in this world look just like you and me. They walk past us in the street, and you would never know what lurks under their skin.”

---