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Probably would be a lot more convincing if I wasn’t still shaking like a leaf.
I lie and tell him it’s because I’m cold. He doesn’t call me out on it. He just reaches for my duffel, pulls out the first dress he finds, and pulls it on over my head like I’m a child who needs to be taken care of.
That has me snapping out of it. I’m a shifter. A she-wolf. To protect my mate, I just chewed up a Beta and spat him back out again. I can dress myself.
That doesn’t mean I’m not appreciative of his care. I am. At that moment, I don’t regret jumping in front of Aleks like that. It doesn’t matter that Christian could’ve shot me like he did only a few months ago. I love Aleks. I’d gladly die for him if I had to.
But I didn’t. I’m still alive. So is he. Behind his careful facade, I see a male that’s barely holding it together. I know what he went through when Christian’s silver bullet nearly killed me the first time. I can only imagine what he’s going through now that he almost lost me again…
He took care of me. It’s my turn now.
Once I’m dressed, I turn to him. I wash my vampire up at the sink, getting rid of the blood, the gore, and the dirt that stained his hands. Once that’s done, I make him take his clothes off so that I can do my best to get the bloodstains out with what I have. Unlike me, Aleks didn’t stop to pack before he came after me, and he didn’t think to remove his shirt and pants before he carried Christian’s remains out back with his bare hands.
He lets me wash the sweater, but folds up his pants and puts them out of my reach when I ask for them. I don’t question it. They’re black so they hide any stains that might be on them; it’s the cream-colored sweater that looks like it’s been through hell.
With as much devotion and care as he showed me, I take care of him. Then, once the rush and the fear and the adrenaline of the fight wear off, replaced by love and the realization that either one of us could’ve justdied, I take one look at Aleks’s nearly naked body and decide that I need to prove to myself that we’re both alive.
He’s more than willing to let me. Against the wall of a rundown shack in the middle of an abandoned forest, I fuck Aleksander Filan until I no longer feel the urgency that comes with remembering once again that neither of us is truly immortal.
As soon as we’re done, we both wordlessly curl up on the nest on the floor. I doubt there’s a single soul in the world that would’ve ever guessed that a vampire like Aleks would willingly lay in a feral’s nest, but he does. For me—with me—he does.
I don’t know how long we lay there together. One thing for sure, it isn’t long enough before Aleks is easing me gently to the side.
My eyes were closed, halfway dozing in the safety of Aleks’s embrace. I quirk one open. “Mm. Where are you going?”
“I promised myself that, if I found you, I would be honest and tell you about the blood-bond. But that’s not all. I need you to make you understand just how serious I am about you.”
“Aleks? What are you—”
“Shh,” he says softly, hushing me. “Let me show you and, hopefully, you’ll understand.”
Thanks to the solar panels, there’s still a little light from the single bulb hanging over our head. My shifter’s sight is going enough that I could see what he’s doing regardless, but with the light, there’s no denying it when he pulls a small black box out of his pants pocket.
Coming back to me, he flips the top of the lid open, plucking out a simple golden band.
“Is that a…” I can’t even say it.
So he does. “A ring? Yes. Gold, because I know shifters prefer it, but also because it’s tradition. I’m an old man. For two hundred years I waited for the one woman who could make me whole, and supe or not, I’m a product of my times. I believe in tradition, and it’s traditional to give your bride a golden wedding band.”
Now I don’t knowwhatto say to that.
Shifters don’t have weddings, not like humans do. We have a Luna Ceremony, which is kind of like the vow, and some couples throw a party when they’re done. Alphas usually do, to give the pack a chance to welcome the new mate into the community, but most deltas just keep it to themselves. There’s definitely no ring involved.
Vampires have their blood-bondings. That’s what they do as a supernatural race, but not all vamps are born. Some, like Morgan and Aleks, are turned into what they are. Two hundred and twenty-four years ago, Aleksander Filan was born in a small Polish village. And now, all these years later, he’s holding out a golden ring for me.
“You, Elizabeth Howell, are my beloved. You’re my mate. And, if you’ll accept me, you’ll be my bride.”
Because old habits die hard, when I finally find my voice, I can’t keep myself from asking, “Have you had one of those before?”
Aleks’s doesn’t even hesitate. “A bride?” At my reluctant nod, he says, “No. No mate, either. But, ksiezyca, Ihavehad a beloved. I can’t change that, just like I can’t change what my life was like before you came into it.”
“I don’t expect you to.” To my surprise, I actually mean that. “You lived for more than two hundred years without me. There’s still so much about you I don’t know.” The Luna proved that when, even after two months of living with Aleks, she revealed how much about Julia he kept concealed. “I want to know everything. That’s why I asked.”
And, okay, because I’m a jealous she-wolf. But I’m working on it.
Honest.
Aleks’s lips quirk. “Then say ‘yes’. When you become the vampire’s bride, forever takes on a different meaning. We have forever to learn everything about each other. If only you’ll say ‘yes’.”
