AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You were holding your hand over the bandage when I woke up.” He winced, “Is it still the massive bloody wound I think it is?”
Maya grimaced, “I don’t know. I’ve been too afraid to look. Zander that bear cut you so deep I could, we could…”
“You saw my insides didn’t you?” He felt a little nauseated just thinking about it and when she nodded he shook his head. “I’m so sorry you had to see that.”
“Don’t apologize to me. Not for that. It wasn’t your fault.”
“It wasn’t your fault either.” He reminded her.
Maya started to reach her hand out, to put it back over the bandage but she hesitated, “It was so deep and you lost so much blood. I didn’t know if I could heal you but I had to try.”
“Well clearly it worked because I’m here. I’m alive and I’m breathing and my arm feels good as new.” He assured her. “I’m sore but it’s hard to tell if that’s from laying in this bed for almost two days or from the fight or something worse. Why don’t we peel the bandage off and take a look together?”
“Are you sure?” Maya’s eyes were wide. “What if it needs more time? We can stay like this. Lay back down and I’ll keep sending my power to you through the bond.”
“Maya, sweetheart, you look absolutely exhausted. Whatever energy you’ve been funneling to me, you need to keep some for yourself before you pass out.” Zander took her hand and kissed it softly, “When was the last time you slept?”
She bit her lip and he knew the answer without her having to say a word.
She hadn’t gone to sleep since he’d been injured. She hadn’t left his side. She had spent the last 36 hours draining herself with just the tiniest shred of hope that her power might save him. She had dark circles under her eyes and her lips were chapped and dry. She had literally given him everything she had and still she wanted to give more.
“I don’t know how to funnel energy or power or whatever you call it back to you but if I could, I would. You know that right?”
“I know.” She smiled softly.
“Let’s see how it looks before you go doing more magic on me, okay?”
She nodded though she was chewing her ravaged lips. He wanted to kiss her so badly but he didn’t dare, not right now. She looked like she might fall over if he so much as breathed on her too harshly.
He focused on the bandage across his stomach and leaned back against the pillows again so he could pull at the sticky edge. Slowly, he peeled the wrap back. He was almost scared to look but when Maya made a small noise of surprise he opened his eyes.
There were long, angry red scars across his stomach but otherwise, he was completely healed. He gasped. His brain was having a hard time comprehending that he’d been flayed open like a deer and then magically put back together simply because Maya had poured her energy into him. Of all the crazy things he had seen and heard since walking into their world, this was by far the weirdest.
“Oh God.” Maya touched the raised skin and he winced a little. “Sorry.”
“It’s still a little tender but…” He shook his head, “Maya. You saved me. You healed me.”
“You’re going to have these scars forever though.”
“Hey.” He took her hand and waited until she looked him in the eye, “We’ve talked about scars before and you know I don’t care about them. They’re just proof that we’re survivors. Right?”
She nodded, still biting at her bottom lip.
“You saved me. You healed me. You put me back together and Maya…” He cleared his throat as emotion threatened to thicken his tongue. “I’m not just talking about this wound. I mean all of it. You saved me from a life where I was wandering aimlessly with nothing and nobody that cared for me. You gave me a place to call home and a family. You’re magic, sweetheart, pure magic, and I am so lucky to have found you.”
Maya’s eyes glistened with tears again and she wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her close, kissing her hair, her temple, her cheek. He could feel her tears dripping onto his shoulder and he wished he could wipe them away for her. He hated seeing her cry because he knew that Maya, his Maya, was usually so solid and stoic.
This had broken some part of her and he only prayed he could help put it back together.
She pulled back with another sniffle, “I have to tell you something.”
“Okay.” He studied her face as she wiped tears away.
“When I thought you were d-dying I realized something.” her voice hitched on the word dying but she kept going. “I was so scared that I was going to lose you. I thought it was just because of everything I went through, that I couldn’t stand the thought of losing anyone close to me again. But it’s more than that. It’s you, Zander. Because I love you.”
His heart stuttered and she must have seen his jaw slacken in surprise because she rushed forward.
“You don’t have to say it back and I don’t expect you to feel the same way. I’m a born shifter. Everything happens faster for us. I just… I needed you to know. I love you and I’m not too scared to admit it, not anymore. When I thought I was losing you all I could see was the future we were supposed to have together slipping away and it wrecked me. I thought I was putting off the bite, putting you off, because I wanted time to make the choice for myself instead of letting fate do it for me but the truth is, I’ve known that if fate did give me a choice I’d choose you for myself every single time and I want to spend the rest of my life choosing you. If you’ll let me.”
