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Slade pulled me closer, and as if he’d somehow used magic too, his touch had my hysteria dying down into choked sobs. “Calm,” he murmured, in his low, slightly accented rumble. “Calm yourself, Emmeline. You are not alone. I will not let them harm you.”
I had very little experience with hugs, but I was starting to learn that when they came from my alphas, they were one of the nicest moments of my life. Surrounded by warmth and energy, comforted and content. Especially with Slade, who was coldly aloof most of the time.
We must plan and heal, Emmeline. I will hold you until you can hold yourself.”
“Your wolf’s fur is the whitest I’ve ever seen,” he explained, as he finally glanced my way, his expression neutral. His eyes burned though. “It reminds me of the purity of snow, and your arctic blue eyes only add to the vibe.”
“Every alpha in your pack has their way of keeping track of you, Emmeline,” he said nonchalantly. “Mine is just more thorough.”
“General magic doesn’t work on me the same as it does other shifters,” Slade murmured. “But if they have strong enough spells at their disposal, they will be able to hold me until they get to you. It won’t hold me forever though, so don’t give up. No matter what happens, I will come for you.”
Don’t push me on this, dragon. Eat the fucking food.” A flicker of a smile ghosted over his lips, so fast that I probably imagined it, but he did reach out and grasp the bowl. There was the briefest graze of our fingers, which set off an entire kaleidoscope of butterflies in my gut. “Whatever you need, Snow.”
For fuck’s sake. Gnats were annoying until you swatted them dead.
“What if I die first?” “Not a chance. Absolutely unacceptable. We will die together, and I’ll accept nothing less.”
What in the weapon of mass destruction was happening here?
“I’ve waited a lifetime for you, Emmeline,” he whispered close to my ear. “And if I’ve learned anything since you came into my life, it’s that if you’re not alive then I’m not alive. I refuse to do this shit without you. I can’t do this without you. That’s just how it is now and forever.”
“No!” I finally managed to get a word out. “I refuse to let you stand between me and danger. I refuse to let you die first. That doesn’t fucking work for me.”
And secondly, I’m not slobbering on her. I’m adoring her. I’m fucking obsessed with her, and I’ll never stop showing her. She’d have to kill me first, and if that’s her choice, I still stand by my obsession.”
“I’ve got you, baby girl,” he whispered. “Fall apart. Fall all the fucking way apart and trust me to hold the pieces. Until I put you back together.”
“You have a keeper, Babygirl. You are kept. Owned. Claimed. Mine.” His voice lowered even more, and as I melted into my chair, he released me just as suddenly, retrieving his drink once more. “And don’t you ever forget it.”
I stared hard as he wrapped his lips around the spoon. Oh, damn. In my next life, I wanted to come back as that fucking spoon.
“Scratch all you want,” Slade said, lifting one eyebrow. “Just don’t pee on it.”
“We’re part of your soul. We’re matched in a way that not even the gods can destroy. To hurt you would be akin to hurting ourselves… actually more than hurting ourselves, because I would sacrifice myself for you. I would sacrifice the entire fucking world, including everyone else in our pack for you. Understand?”
“When I see you cry, I want to destroy the fabric of our existence.”
Humans always said “till death do us part,” but in the shifter world we meant it.
“Yours, baby girl. And you’d better get used to it, because we’re about to buy you the damned world.”
“At first you were a duty to our pack, before I truly knew you, but now… now you are as essential to me as the fucking air that I breathe. Now… I can’t imagine my life without you specifically in it. You burst into my life like a fucking solar flare, and everything that was dull before turned brighter. There’s not another
shifter in the world, including Sissily, who I’d want or prefer over you. In truth, they don’t even exist to me. You are all I see.”
But I need you to understand, Emme, that I would choose you in every situation. In every life. The goddess knew exactly what she was
doing bringing you into my life. You’re my perfect match and the other half to my soul.”
“If I’d ever had the freedom to wish for a pack, I would have chosen this one in every lifetime.”
“Even a king should kneel before his queen. You will never accept anything less, from anyone, including those in our pack. Promise me.”
