Page 19 of Bitten By Bloodmoon
“But I should have. I should have protected her. I should have known that he would have pulled something like this and not let him at the ceremony.”
Tears run down my cheeks in quiet surrender as my grief etches itself deep into my soul.
“You’re really okay? Nyx didn’t hurt you?” Ambrose’s voice trembles a little as he speaks.
“Nyx didn’t touch me,” I say firmly through the tears before I wipe them away, needing Ambrose to know that he didn’t fail to protect me. None of this was his fault.
His eyes trace over me in a frantic search, cataloging every detail of my body as if he’s going to find some sign of an injury on me that he missed when suddenly his ears perk up.
“We need to go. It’s not safe here,”he says, slipping back into my head like it’s his home.
My ears perk up as I try to catch whatever sound caused Ambrose to change the subject so abruptly. But my hearing and senses are nothing compared to his, so I hear nothing out of the ordinary. But I trust Ambrose’s hearing.“Let’s go.”
“Head east, follow my scent. Even if you aren’t in your wolf state, you’ll be able to smell the path I’ve created for you. Emeric is waiting a couple of miles from here. He’ll help you get back to the pack.”
I narrow my eyes, trying to make sense of the words flowing in my head.“What are you talking about? We are going back together.”
He shakes his head.“No, we’re not. I have to face Nyx. I have to kill him. He took what was mine. He threatened you. He could have hurt you. He could have…”His teeth sink down intohis bottom lip until blood spills out, running down his jawline. I see the shift even though no physical traits have changed. Heat rolls off his body and warms me without even touching him. Muscles have gone rigid, and his eyes have glazed over with his thoughts of vengeance.
He’s going to kill Nyx.
Yes.
No.
Iwant to kill Nyx.
We could kill Nyx together.
But I can’t shift.
And Nyx is a vampire. Possibly his entire pack is, even though he claims they aren’t. He can’t be trusted.
I’m useless to Ambrose. It would be nothing more than a distraction if I went with him. But I can’t bear to leave him. I know their history. I know how badly Ambrose wants to kill Nyx. But Nyx is a vampire—a fucking vampire.
And Ambrose is a witch.
I don’t know who wins in a fight. But Nyx will have backup. Ambrose won’t.
I can’t lose him.
There’s also a weird flick of intuition growing in my chest, warning me that we can’t kill Nyx. We may really need him to end the curse.
My mind is swirling, but all I see is the blood and his pain. I have to stop it. I have to stop him from hurting. I can’t stop the anger. I can’t stop the pain of losing Rowena. I can’t stop anything else, but I can stop him from feeling this pain.
I cup his face with my hands, wiping the blood from his chin with my thumb. He freezes at my touch, barely breathing anymore as the heat of his body almost burns through me. Our eyes lock, but we don’t speak as his teeth somehow sink deeper into his lip.
I move my thumb up, brushing gently over the lip he’s biting.
He shivers under my touch, but doesn’t stop looking at me like he’s waiting for something.
A lump forms in my throat because I know what he’s waiting for—a sign that I forgive him. That I still want him. Still choose him as my mate.
I shake my head ever so gently in disbelief that he would ever think that anything could tear me away from him.
He lied, but then again, so did I. I’m still lying about what pack I belonged to before I met him. We’re still hiding so many truths from each other. That doesn’t change my heart; maybe it should. Maybe I’m a fool for still loving him, but I’m a fool in love.
I raise myself on the tiptoes of my bare feet and tenderly kiss that lip that he’s so brutally biting. The metallic taste of his blood floods my mouth, but I don’t stop. I sweep my tongue across the broken seam until he finally releases his grip on his lip and surrenders it to me.
