The bed beneath me was soft. My fingers tangled in the soft fabric, softer than anything I’d felt in weeks.
I turned my head, still struggling to see through the bright light streaming from the two windows to my right. How long had it been since I’d seen true daylight?
I didn’t recognize the room, where was I?
I shifted, moving to sit up, jumping as someone gasped.
“You’re awake.” I turned, my gaze meeting my sister’s as she stood in the doorway to what I assumed was the bathing chamber. Her hair was loose around her shoulders, and heavy bags rested under her eyes, but her green eyes glowed as she looked at me.
“You’re awake,” she repeated as she rushed across the room.
“Kara.” My eyes welled with tears, yet I smiled as my sister attacked me.
She sighed deeply as I wrapped my arms around her. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” I said into her hair.
She let go of me abruptly. “You’re glad I’m okay? You’rethe one who’s been captive for over a month because you gave yourself up for me.”
“We can have this fight later.”
“Oh, and we will have it.” Kara sat back on her knees, her brows furrowing.
“Your memories…”
The breath stalled in my lungs as it all came rushing back. Keziq, her claws tearing into my mind.
But it didn’t work. They were all still there.
“They’re fine.”
Every last memory of me and Luka remained untainted.
The mark on my palm burned. “Kara, where’s Luka?”
“Lennox.”
I turned at the sound of his voice.
I had dreamed of him while I’d been a captive, I’d relived our memories together, fought to remember our story. But my dreams, my memories, didn’t compare to the real. To the sight of him standing in front of me. His hair was disheveled, his slight curls unruly, like Kara, there were dark circles under his eyes. But his eyes—those blue eyes I love so much shone.
His hands flexed at his sides.
Neither of us moved as we continued to stare at one another—like we were afraid if we did, this would all disappear—turn into nothing but a figment of our imaginations.
“I came back to you,” I said, breaking the silence.
In three strides, he was across the room. I tilted my chin to meet his gaze as he took my face in his palm, closing my eyes as his thumb brushed across my cheek, his forehead resting against mine.
“You came back to me.” His breath was warm on my skin.
I let my hands roam up his chest, resting on his shoulders as his free hand found the small of my back, pulling me flush against him.
My entire body trembled as his lips brushed over mine in the lightest of kisses. The mark on my palm burned hotter than it ever had.
“My mate, until the stars turn to dust.”
He closed the remaining gap between us, placing his lips fully on mine.
The pain of the last month slipped away when his lips met mine. All of it, every minute of torture was worth it for this moment. To be back in Luka’s embrace. To have his lips on mine. To have his hands on my body again. To feel him beneath my fingertips. To feel his heart beating in sync with mine.
