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“You don’t quite smell like a princess yourself,” I tease, and my heart feels so damn full.
We’re here. With our mate. Teasing and joking. Together at last.
Her nose wrinkles like I’ve insulted her greatly. “I was kidnapped. What’s your excuse? There’s no fae power that simulates a shower?”
I laugh and pull her back into a tight hug. To my delight, she returns it.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Zane asks her, his expression serious, but his eyes filled with concern.
She pulls out of my hug. “I’ve got some bumps and bruises here and there, but things could’ve been a lot worse.” She nibbles her lip, gives a strange look, and steps to the side to hug him.
Did she really think he wouldn’t want her to hug him?He wraps his arms around her, and I can see the relief wash over his face. I know the feeling.
When she draws back, Sulien takes her face in his hands. “Who did that to you?”
She casts her eyes to the guy on the ground. “Him. But I got him.”
“We saw that,” I tease.
Her cheeks turn red. “What? Hereallydeserved it.”
We all laugh.
Sulien looks like he wants to say something, but he lets her go.
Now, it’s Forrest’s turn. “I killed a lot of men for you.”
She grins. “There! You finally learned the way to a woman’s heart!”
“So I have your heart?” he asks.
She looks flustered. “How about a hug for now?”
He doesn’t hesitate. He scoops her up like she weighs nothing at all, which she does, and squeezes her so tightly I have to tell him to put her down. Forrest does, reluctantly, but he seems pleased that she isn’t bolting from him already.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see the woman I cut slipping into the woods. I nudge Sulien.
“Should we stop her?” I ask, pointing in her direction. She’s moving slowly with that injury. She probably won’t make it far on her own.
Cassia turns to see who we’re talking about. Her eyes soften as she watches the woman limp away. The woman is practically dragging herself to the trees lining the back of the house. Cassia stares until the woman disappears into the forest. With a sigh, Cassia turns back to us.
“Let her go. She’s been punished enough.”
And we do. Not because we think that’s true, but because all we care about is Cassia, and she’s finally here with us now.
Without hesitation, I reach for the iron cuffs at her wrists and bite down on a hiss of pain as I rip them from her wrists. The iron falls away onto the ground, and I feel anger rise inside of me at the burn marks left behind. These bastards. If they could give more than their lives for what they did, I would make them.
But now isn’t the time for anger. It’s time to focus on our sweet mate. “You’re free now, Cassia, and no one is ever going to hurt you again.”
She doesn’t look afraid, just locks eyes with me. “Is my family okay?”
Of course she’s worried about her family.“They’re safely at the palace.”
There’s one second where she looks relieved and happy beyond belief, and then her knees crumple, and I’m there, catching her in my arms. My mate. My bride. My everything. Safe in my arms again.
SEVENTEEN
Cassia
