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His voice holds a sharpness it didn’t before. “Do not confuse their acceptance with my innocence, Willa. I’m still a killer. Six of my brothers have died at my hand. I will always be a killer. A murderer. And nothing will take that away.” His gaze goes cold and hard. “Not the reason why. Not their ultimate acceptance. Nothing.”
Drago’s brow furrows as sadness seems to overwhelm him for a split second. It’s gone before I can work out what to say.
“The only solace I have is that I will honor each of their sacrifices when I defeat the scourge that plagues our packs.”
Before I know what I’m doing fully, I’m out of bed and walking to him.
Drago doesn’t move. He doesn’t breathe as I approach, and I can’t tell if it’s because he doesn't trust himself, or he doesn’t trust me.
I stretch to my toes and graze his scarred cheekbone with my fingertips. The skin is smoother than I expected. Drago’s lids lower slowly, almost fluttering closed.
“Magic kinda fucked us both, huh?”
And so what if it did?
So what?
It didn’t make either of us less deserving or worthy of happiness. Magic giving us bad hands didn’t have to affect any other part of our lives. And that’s a conclusion I could only come to because, now that I have all the information, it’s exactly how I feel about Drago’s situation.
And if it’s true for him…
It must be true for me, right?
He leans into the touch. “I do not delight in this, Willa. I’m simply good at it.”
And that makes all the difference, doesn’t it?
“But it took everything in me not to rip those wolves in half last night.” He opens his eyes, pinning me with a heavy stare. “If anyone ever tries to harm you again…”
The time stretches on his last syllable and I think he’s going to leave it unsaid.
“I will always do whatever I have to…” He touches my cheek, the motion carrying through into my hairline and down the back of my skull. “…to keep you safe, Willa.”
I step closer, grabbing him by the back of the neck to pull him to my level.
I stare him straight in the eye, unflinching, telling him with my body, with the unabashed hunger in my gaze that he’d just gone fromamonster, tomymonster. For the first time since that night in my cabin, when the mate bond snapped into place, my body responds to Drago, the way an omega responds to her alpha.
The room fills with the thick scent of caramel, and Drago’s gaze goes black. Not with fear.
Nope.
This time, they’re black with need.
Need for me.
And goddamn if it isn’t the hottest thing in the entire world.
So much for maple syrup slow.
I don’t let myself overthink this, unlike the rest of my life. I can’t afford it. We can’t. I have enough baggage as it is. I won’t let those terrible excuses for betas ruin this for us.
I can’t.
“I want you,” I say, in case I hadn’t already made that crystal-fucking-clear.
Drago’s chest vibrates with approval, and in one smooth motion, he picks me up at the waist and throws me at the bed.
I squeal, bouncing on the dense mattress and lux linens. Before I draw my next breath, Drago’s on me, enormous hands touching everywhere, seemingly all at once.
