Page 343 of Warlords, Witches & Wolves

Chapter 16

Mia

At some point, I passed out. Or drifted off to some faraway land, I couldn’t be sure. Too many weird sensations flowed through my veins that I had trouble distinguishing between them. Someone carried me inside and upstairs to my room. Most likely Noah. On and off, I woke and found him curled in an armchair in the corner of the room. Blood still smattered his face, a blanket covered his legs.

This time when I woke, my vision was clearer, brighter, more focused. Strength like I’d never felt before flowed through my limbs. Man, I could run a marathon right now.

Hesitantly, I rolled onto my side facing the window. The same window where I’d first seen Noah’s wolf. Funny how things happened in a full circle.

Movement in the corner of the room caught my attention. Noah straightened in the chair. His gaze locked with mine and all those strange sensations once again rushed through my blood. As though someone had injected a magnet into my veins, and it snapped me toward Noah. My heart beat, yet, it felt like another beat alongside it.

But amongst all the confusion, one blissful sensation bloomed between my legs, aching with more intensity than ever before.

Clearly, I was on some awesome pain meds.

Noah peeled himself off the chair and approached the bed, sitting down beside me. His tender touch stroked up and down my cheek, flaming the tingles through my middle.

“How do you feel?”

Hmm. I wasn’t sure how to answer that. I felt alive. Freaking turned on. Yet, something had changed, something I couldn’t explain.

I pushed myself into a sitting position, scooting back to lean against the headboard. I still wore the same clothes I had on when the hunter attacked. The memories flashed in my mind so fast it caused a dull ache in my temples. I squeezed them, closing my eyes for a second until it passed.

I peered at the slice in my shirt just under my ribs where a knife had lodged in my stomach. I lifted the fabric, expecting to see a scar or stitches. Nothing. All that remained was a faint, jagged line.

I lowered my shirt and glanced at Noah. “I feel okay, I guess. How did I…survive that?” Blood still lingered on my tongue and down my throat. I exhaled a ragged breath. “I thought I was going to die.”

He took my hand in his and stared at it for a long moment. When he lifted his gaze to mine, his eyes were darker, bordering on…sad.

“You were…” Muscles popped along his jaw. “I saved you.”

A knot tightened in my gut making me almost afraid to ask. “How?”

“I gave you my blood.”

I jerked my hand from his. “What the hell? You told me that triggered the hunter curse.” I gasped. “I’m a…”

“I did what I had to. I won’t let you die, Mia.”

My stomach churned. Was that what all those sensations were? The curse?

Sure, it saved my life, but I didn’t consent to any of this. He knew how much I didn’t want this. I’d told him. Hadn’t I?

Pressure squeezed my lungs. I couldn’t breathe. “I’m going to turn into a blood-thirsty psycho.”

“No, baby.”

He reached for my hand, but I recoiled. Those muscles popped again in his jaw.

“You’re not the same as them. Joan refused to kill, you can also. You’ll still live for as long as me because we’re mated. You don’t need the blood and if you crave it, I’ll give it to you.”

His eyes widened for a split second as though he realized what he’d just said.

“What do you mean we’re mated?”

The hunter said the same thing.

His chest rose in fell in a deep inhale. “Remember when I told you that you’re my mate?”

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