Page 80 of Awakened Light

“Thorne!” she begged, but it was too late.

I flashed across the beach, colliding with his giant, muscular body and sending him rolling across the sand. He leapt back on his feet with a snarl, tearing back toward me with white fangs glinting in the moonlight.

The loud snap of his jaws echoed in my ears after he launched at my head but missed with my well-timed spin. I connected a well-placed kick to his stomach that sent him sailing across the beach, skidding to a stop before he hit the water’s edge.

Uradech rose, and his roar vibrated through my chest.

“Stop! Both of you! Stop!” Catrain shouted.

“Kill him!” her mother screamed over her.

The hatred burning in Uradech’s eyes told me he didn’t need any other encouragement from his leader. He charged at me again, and I lowered my head while I waited to meet him. As he leaped into the air again, I swung my fist intending to lay him out with the power of my blow. But his quick dodge missed my strike, and instead of sending him flying, he tackled me to the ground. As his huge body pummeled me into the sand, I remembered why we’d had to create an army to defeat them.

They were as strong as us.

And under this moon... stronger.

His powerful jaws snapped next to my head as we rolled across the beach. Even my strongest blows didn’t dislodge him as he tumbled to a stop on top of me. For a moment, I wondered if I’d made a mistake in challenging him. Maybe I’d just condemned Catrain to a life without me... a life married to the hairy beast whose weight drove me deeper into the sand.

I saw the back of his throat as his open mouth closed toward my head... and one snap of those jaws would remove it. I caught his neck with my hand and held the weight of him as he snapped and snarled at me, his hot breath scorching my nostrils. As I held him off, I glanced over and saw Catrain standing on the beach. Her hands moved to her mouth as tears filled her blue eyes.

“Thorne,” she whispered.

Uradech dug his feet into the sand, trying to get the leverage to break my grip on him–the one thing stopping him from ending my immortal life. But as I looked to Catrain one last time, I felt the strength I needed to defeat him moving through my body. He may be stronger than me in this moonlight, but he wasn’t fueled by the power of love that coursed through my veins.

I wouldn’t fail.

I couldn’t.

Failure meant Catrain would spend her life at his side, instead of a life at mine.

Never.

With a powerful thrust, I pushed his heavy body off me, sending him flying into the wedding arch. It crumbled from the blow, sending pieces of wood and flowers collapsing on top of him.

When he emerged from the pile, he shook the rubble from his body, then lifted his lips in a snarl as he locked back onto me. As Uradech tore toward me, I braced for impact. But before he reached me, Catrain’s sister jumped in front of me. Uradech threw himself to the side to avoid colliding with her, landing in the sand with a thud.

“Stop, Uradech! Please!” she begged.

The giant wolf lifted his dark body from the ground, and his glowing green eyes searched hers as he heaved heavy pants.

“You need to listen to me,” Alpia begged, stepping toward him with open hands. “Please don’t hurt him. Please. I’m begging you, Uradech. End this now. He doesn’t deserve to die. Stop this fight. For me.”

Uradech’s penetrating eyes moved to me before drifting back to hers. After a long pause, he lowered his head and stepped in front of her. I watched in awe as his body morphed again, and soon the man stood in front of her.

“Thank you,” she said as she tossed her arms around his neck. “Thank you.”

Catrain raced to my side and launched into my arms. I caught her around the waist and pulled her against me.

“Catrain. I’m so sorry I came back, but I couldn’t let you do it. I couldn’t give you up.”

“I couldn’t do it either,” she whispered into my ear as she held me tighter. “I love you, Thorne. I choose you. I’ll always choose you.”

The power of those words seeped into the deepest part of my soul and flooded it with love and light like I’d never known.

I grabbed ahold of her face and consumed her with my kiss. Just like when I’d drank her blood, I felt our bodies connecting... our souls merging. I could have stood there on that beach kissing her for the rest of eternity, but Liùsaidh slammed her staff into the ground, and we all spun to look at her.

“I said kill him!” she snapped at Uradech, who glanced at Alpia, then lowered his eyes to the ground.