Chapter 139

AURORA

Dane’s golden eyes searched my face. He stroked my cheek. Then, quietly, he said the words I had been aching to hear for eight long years.

“I love you, Aurora.”

I grasped his hand, unable to speak. My whole body shook. His fingers traced my face, and he said, “I should have seen who you were so long ago. I should have appreciated what I had when I had it.”

I closed my eyes, letting his words wash over me. They were everything I had waited so long to hear, but they also hurt so badly. The world was cruel to give this to us now, only after a promise that it was about to yank it all away.

“I—”

“What’s going on, pet? I can feel all sorts of emotions surging through our bond. You seem very unhappy. Is the ritual not going well?”

Holden! I wanted to kill him for disrupting this. I tried to push his voice from my mind.

“Dane, I—”

“Answer,” Holden demanded, using his power on me through the bond. “And tell me the truth.”

Against my will, words were pulled from my mind. I thought them robotically: The Reeds are here. They did have our children. It was a trap for Dane, like we thought it would be. They were going to kill our kids. Now they’re going to kill him instead. I think when he’s dead they’re going to attack Blue Ridge. But Waylon has sworn the children and I will be safe from Broken Forest for as long as he’s Alpha.

“Aurora?” Dane’s brows drew together. He looked hurt and unhappy. “Is it that hard to say?”

“No! I—”

Interesting, Holden interrupted again. “Well, I can’t let the Reeds have Blue Ridge. Not when I want it for myself. But it will be good to have Dane out of the way. Since Waylon is killing him for this ritual and not officially challenging him, Dane’s Alpha powers won’t automatically pass to Waylon when he dies.”

His mental voice turned wicked. “That means Blue Ridge will be up for grabs.”

Panic tightened the muscles of my stomach. No, it doesn’t! Piper is alive. She’ll become Luna. Blue Ridge has a leader.

If Piper died, I didn’t know what would happen. Both Seraphina and Tristan had Holden’s blood, but they were so young, I didn’t think the Alpha powers would pass to them. In fact, I feared what would happen if they did.

“Pathetic,” Holden replied. “She doesn’t have a clue how to lead. She’ll be easy to challenge and kill.”

“No!” I startled when Dane released me and stepped back. “You were right. I shouldn’t have said anything to you.”

His voice was rough and low, and he looked angry.

“Shit!”

“Dane, no. Please, I’m sorry. Everything is just so much—”

“It’s always so much,” he snapped back. “We’re leaders, Aurora. We deal with it. This is all the time we have. You asked me to say the words. I said them. Now you’re just glassy-eyed?”

I wanted to tell him about Holden more desperately than I’d wanted anything in my life except the return of my children. But I didn’t want to spend my last moments with him choking. Besides, what good would it do Dane to know that he was leaving me behind in a world where I was enslaved to Holden?

None. It would only hurt him.

I didn’t want him to die. My brain was darting around, seeking any way I could think of to keep him alive. But if I didn’t succeed and the unthinkable happened, I couldn’t let him leave this world with Holden on his consciousness.

If he had to leave me…

I couldn’t let myself think about it. I stepped close to him and took his hands in mine. “I’m sorry. You have to know I feel the same way you do. You know I’ve been desperate to hear those words from you for so long.”

I went on my toes and wrapped my arms around his neck. Our bodies pressed together. His hands went to my hips. I could feel his hard muscles against me, and my heart lurched.

This was all I wanted. He was all I wanted.

I kissed him.

At first he was stiff, but as soon as our lips touched, he turned molten. He jerked me against his body with a guttural groan and claimed my mouth. His hands were on my hips, then on my back. Then his fingers tangled in my hair, tilting my head back so he could claim me with his tongue and teeth.

“Say it,” he growled. “You got to hear it. I want to hear it, too. Tell me you love me, Aurora.”

Silent tears escaped the corners of my eyes as his lips moved from my lips to my jaw, my neck.

“Dane, I—”

Someone ripped aside the sheltering draped branches of the willow tree. Waylon Reed glared down at us.

“Time’s up,” he growled.