Page 124 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha
The bitterness of the Alpha wound tried to invade my mouth, but my will was much stronger. She grunted in pain. I hated that this moment was at all tainted by what Troy had done to her. Soon, the bitterness faded away, and her blood rushed into my mouth, luscious and hot and intoxicating. She cried out again, in pleasure this time.
“Mine,”I roared into her mind, teeth still deep in her flesh.
“Yours,” she gasped.
To complete the claiming, Bryn bit deep into my shoulder, mirroring my bite. Our wolves rushed to meet each other, howling with delight, and as they met, our climaxes rushed over us, sweet and tingling with electricity and fire. I came hard inside her, and I felt her shiver from the force of it.
I felt our connection like a strong cord that wrapped around us, binding us inextricably to each other. When the waves of pleasure finally calmed, we collapsed beside each other, the sheets damp with sweat and blood. I felt deliciously satisfied, full and whole and with a sense of inner peace I’d never known before. Troy’s scent was gone from the bed, just as it was meant to be.
Bryn cuddled closer, and I automatically pulled her against me. Our wounds were gone, even the wheezing rattle in her chest had disappeared. I felt like I could take on the entire Kings pack on my own and still come out on top. But at the same time, a deep, satisfied exhaustion settled over me. I turned my head to nuzzle into her hair.
I must have fallen asleep for a few minutes, because when I opened my eyes again, Bryn was lying on top of me, her breasts flush with my chest. She rested her cheek just below my collarbone and followed the pattern of my tattoo with her fingertips.
“Night,” she whispered, “I wonder if you’re happy.”
I chuckled. “Is that a real question?”
Her head lifted quickly, her cheeks flushing. “I—I thought you were asleep.”
“I think I was.” I turned onto my side and pulled her tight against me so that every inch of me was pressed against every inch of her, just the way I’d wanted to this morning.
“Oh.” There was a cute, shy pause before she said, “Well, yes, it’s a real question. I want to hear the truth from your lips.”
It struck me how similar the two of us were. The odds of either of us finding our mates in a world as hard and as cruel as this one were so slim. It almost felt too good to be true that fate, with the shit hand it had dealt us, would bring the two of us together.
“Night?” she asked again.
“I never thought I would know happiness like this,” I said. When I spoke, my voice was thick with emotion. I tried to swallow it down, but it wouldn’t budge. “You have changed my entire world, Bryn. And I know that I was an asshole to you for a long time, but I hope you can forgive me and let me show you over and over that I can be a wolf who’s worthy of you.”
Tears filled her eyes and slipped out. She was better at this than I was. She could tap into this vulnerable side of herself so quickly without letting it destroy her. And she could smile so easily, even after all that Troy had put her through. She was so incredibly strong, and my love for her swelled.
“You have nothing to prove, Night,” she told me through her tears. “I can feel you in each beat of my heart, in my soul, and I know that I am complete.” She moved my hand to her chest, and I felt her heart beating hard and fast, in sync with mine. “You’ve given me a family and a place where I belong. You are my everything, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Hearing her say these things, I closed my eyes, a tear slipping down my own cheek. I didn’t feel ashamed of it, not when I hadmy soulmate there to comfort me, kiss me, and hold me. Bryn had chosen me, she made me feel special and wanted. I could never want for anything as long as I had her by my side.
And I would be dead in the ground before I let another soul take her away from me.
52
BRYN
Iwoke up the next morning feeling better than I had since, well, ever. Not just since the day that Troy kidnapped me—better than I had felt ever in my entire life. I felt this fullness that I had never known before, a kind of peace that blanketed over me and held me close.
Before, when I closed my eyes, I had no senses beyond what I could immediately see, feel, taste, hear, and smell, but now there was somehow so much more. Every time Night breathed, his arm would brush mine, and even that small touch would send pleasure rippling over me.
Is this what it’s like to have a soulmate?
My wolf answered with a purr. I knew that meant yes.
I sat up in bed, marveling at the ease with which I moved. My wounds were all healed, and it looked like all traces of Night’s wounds had largely disappeared too, aside from a new scar here or there.
Carefully, so as not to wake him, I slipped out of bed and padded over to the mirror. I shifted my hair over my shoulder to cover the Alpha wound, and my hair tingled over the spot where Night bit me. I had to know if it was still there, but I wasn’t ready to look right away.
I closed my eyes, took a few deep breaths, and then opened them, flipping my hair off of my neck. I almost gasped. All I saw on the right side of my neck was the shape of Night’s teeth imprinted there. There was no trace of an Alpha wound or of the beatings Troy had put me through. Only Night’s mark, which made me hot all over, remained.
I glanced at the reflection of the bed in the mirror, and watched the rise and fall of Night’s sleeping form. As lust shot through me, so, too, did my relief. The relief almost overshadowed my desire to wake him with a few bites to the place where I’d left my own mark on him. I couldn’t be happier that the Alpha wound was gone. I had been so afraid that whenever I looked at my shoulder, I would be reminded of the awful things that Tavi and I had gone through. I sent a quick thanks up to the heavens that I wouldn’t wear the reminder forever, that I was free of any mark from Troy.
“Checking yourself out in the mirror?”
