Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75388 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75388 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
“Eh, I do not know.” I study our surroundings. I have never considered that. All I know is that here the cliffs almost close overhead like teeth. In some areas, the walls of the valley close in tight and it almost feels as if you are walking in a cave tunnel. “Stay close.”
“I’m close. Any closer and I’d be grabbing on to your tail and rubbing against your ass,” she grumbles behind me. “Though you’d probably like that.”
“Save it for later, when we are by the fire.”
“Flirt.”
I grin with amusement at her words. Perhaps I am flirting. I like to tease Mah-dee. She teases back, unlike her sister, who cried and wept if I so much as looked at her. Not for the first time, I curse the day I grabbed the dark-maned sister instead of the yellow-maned one.
It is quiet as we walk. Our footsteps crunch on the snow, but Mah-dee quickens, moving to my side and slipping her fingers around my belt. “There really isn’t as much snow down here,” she says. “You’d think it’d all fall in and pile up, except it’s not. Maybe this canyon is protected from the weather. Look up.” She gestures, and I obediently glance upward. “One side of the canyon looks higher than the other. I bet it protects the bottom from a lot of the weather.”
“Perhaps.” I pull her closer against me. “It will be all right, I promise.”
“I know. I’m with you.” She looks up at me, and there’s a small smile on her face. “Everything’s okay when we’re together. You realize that, right?”
I feel a surge of affection for her, along with intense possessiveness. Mah-dee is mine. No female has ever been as strong, as smart, as clever, as sweet, or as giving. No female is as perfect for me as her. I think of Li-lah and her weeping, and curl my lip with disgust. I was a fool. “I will keep you safe,” I vow to her.
She smiles up at me. “I know.”
“No, you do not understand.” I stop and put my hands on her shoulders, turning her toward me. This feels…important. It feels big. That she must listen to me. That I must spill to her how I feel. “You are my heart, Mah-dee. Without you, I am nothing. You saw me as an exile and still took me to your furs. You are kind and giving.”
Her cheeks flush with color. “Hassen, you make it sound like charity—”
“Was it not giving?”
“I wasn’t thinking about giving! I was thinking about how I wanted to sleep with you!” Embarrassment shows on her face.
“You chose me out of all of the males in the cave. You could have had any of the unmated hunters. Instead, you pick the one that you should hate the most.” I cup her face in my hands. “What did you see in me?”
“You just…looked like you needed a friend. And I did, too.” She puts her hands over mine. “No, it’s more than that. I needed to connect to someone. I felt alone, and lonely, and I felt like…well, that you would understand. That you would know how it felt to be surrounded by people and still feel adrift.” Her fingers brush over my skin. “No one else could relate. And it didn’t matter to me that you were the guy that stole my sister. Well, okay, it did matter a little, but I needed to know how you felt. If you were in love with Lila, I wouldn’t have approached you.”
My lip curls at the thought. “In love with Li-lah? Never.”
“Which is why I wanted you. You made a mistake, but that doesn’t mean you should be punished forever. And maybe I’m looking at it with rose-colored glasses or something, but I know what it’s like to lose your shit during a bad moment and then have people keep throwing it in your face over and over again.” She smiles wryly.
“I…have no idea what you just said.”
She chuckles. “I figured as much. Just know that I see beyond your actions to the person underneath, okay?” She pats my hand. “You’re good people. Don’t ever forget that.”
I feel a warmth in my breast, and smile down at her. Mah-dee sees the true me. It makes me so…happy. For the first time in a long time, I feel content with my place. If I am exiled, so be it. If I have lost the trust of those I care for with my actions, as long as I have Mah-dee, I can live with it. Perhaps I will never get over the shame of disappointment, but it will not destroy me. My mate will not let it. I feel a rumble of pleasure in my chest that I have such a female at my side. “My mate,” I tell her softly. “What would I do without you?”