Page 93 of Dark Sold Mate

“Silas!” August yelled, panicked. Silas turned

Around and found his friend holding Elle, who was hunched over, barely able to hold on to his shoulder.

And there was blood. So much blood spreading on her shirt from a wound he couldn’t see.

Terror flooded through him.

“Elle!”

“Elle!”

Silas was beside her in a moment, his hands were frantically, but gently touching her body, trying to find the cause of the bleeding.

“I’m all right,” Elle replied weakly, her face pale. “One of the handlers was holding a knife and got me on the side. It’s not that bad.”

“You are bleeding,” Silas raised her shirt up. “You’re fucking bleeding. This isn’t not that bad. You’re bleeding way too much, Elle.”

“I’ll heal,” Elle insisted. “We must see that all the women come out safe. We need to—”

“The women are safe,” Silas interrupted, pressing his hands to her wound to slow the bleeding.

“Rael has them and is coordinating transport with Javi,” August stated. “Everything is handled. Save your strength, Elle.”

“But—”

“No buts. You’re hurt.” Silas could barely see through his now watery eyes. “You are hurt. All because of this operation, and I can’t—I can’t—Fuck!”

His words got stuck in his throat. Elle had gone out there alone, discovered this auction and save those women. But at what cost? She got stabbed in the process, putting the mission above her own health.

Silas had almost lost her. Their bond thrummed faintly with her determination to keep going even when her body was failing.

“I love you,” Silas said, the words inadequate, but they were all he had. “I love you so much. Please be okay. Please.”

Elle raised her hands and caressed his face weakly. “I’m okay. I promise. It looks worse than it is.”

“You’re bleeding all over me.”

“Just a flesh wound,” Elle said, trying to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. “I’ve had worse.”

“Do not make light of this. Don’t fucking joke about this. Not right now, Elle.”

“I’m not dying,” Elle said firmly. “I’m right here. I’m alive. And we did it, Silas. We saved them. We finally saved them.”

Silas pulled her closer, careful not to make contact with her wound. He held her as the chaos continued around them—women being packed into cars. Rael calling for backup. Javi securing the building. August holding Elle’s hand silently.

His entire world had been reduced to the woman in his arms, to the slow pulse of her heart, to the feeling of her body against his.

He’d almost lost her. He nearly lost the best thing that had ever happened to him.

In this moment, with his bleeding mate in his hands, in the almost empty warehouse they just destroyed, Silas promised himself never to take Elle for granted again. He would not let a day pass without reminding her how important she was to him.

He would devote the remaining part of his life to ensuring that she was aware of the extent of his love for her. He would remind her of his love for her every day. He would continue to worship the ground she walked on.

“We are going to get you some help, okay? Your bleeding will slow down in a bit, then I can move you, and then we’re going home.”

“Home,” Elle repeated, her eyes fluttering close. “That sounds perfect.”

Two minutes later, Silas gently carried his mate out of the warehouse and into the night, his pack following him, the women safe, and the trafficking ring destroyed.