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“You’ll have no choice but to stay off your feet now. There will be no walking for at least a moon.”
“But—”
De’drik’s eyes flashed as he lifted his head to glare at me, making my words catch in my throat.
“I don’t believe this was an accident, and I won’t have you hurting yourself more. I want you, Ivy, and I won’t see you in pain. You’re mine, and I’m going to take care of you.”
His voice broke at the end, and he ducked his head, but I was too stunned to respond anyway. My own family didn’t want me, but somehow this monster, this alpha, did.
The air was suddenly almost too thick to breath, my lungs unable to pull in enough for me to speak. I didn’t even feel the needle piercing my skin as he stitched my foot, his large hands somehow managing to hold the tiny sliver of bone.
Did he really mean it? Had fate meant for me to meet him, because he was my alpha?
Sucking in a deep breath so I could tell him how I felt, how I regretted leaving him and wanted him to take me away, I jumped when the kitchen door flew open and slammed against the wall. My aunt stood framed in the doorway, Margaret and William peeking over her shoulder, but whatever she’d meant to say after bursting into the room was frozen in her throat as she stared at De’drik.
“What?”
Aunt Mary’s eyes rounded, the stench of fear reaching me from where she stood. Chest heaving, she opened her mouth to try to find words but snapped it shut as De’drik straightened and placed himself between us. He loomed over my aunt, forcing her to look up as her brows rose almost to her hairline.
De’drik took a step toward her, and I watched Aunt Mary stumble back into a shockingly silent Margaret.
“I’m taking Ivy. I assume you’re the poor excuse for family?”
The look of shock that crossed my aunt’s face was unforgettable, the squeak of protest as De’drik spoke to her making me grin despite everything else.
“Find yourself another slave. My omega is not beholden to you any longer.”
With that, De’drik slammed the door in her face, turning back to where he’d left me on the counter. Kneeling to wrap a fresh bandage around my foot, he avoided looking at me as I struggled to find something to say. I could hear my aunt yelling from the other room, but she hadn’t tried to open the door and come back in.
“You need to go, before she gets more people. It’s too dangerous for you to be here.”
As much as it broke my heart to tell him to leave me, I knew it was what was best, but he didn’t look up at me until he’d tied off the bandage.
“I will fight however many come to try to take my omega from me. I tried doing things the human way, but I can’t let you go. I’m taking you back to my clan, and I’ll keep you locked away until your heat if I need to, so I can claim you and make you mine.”
The smile on his face was at odds with his words, though the sharp points of his teeth might make some think the expression was vicious. The thought of those teeth sinking into my neck and tying me to him should have terrified me, but it was relief that swept through my body.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
I wasn’t sure if I was thanking him for taking care of my foot again, or for coming for me even after I’d run away.
His expression smoothed as he took my hands in his, the warmth of them sending goosebumps up my arms. Through the pain and tangled emotions, I still felt a pulse of desire for him.
“Ivy, I can’t leave you to face this world alone. Especially not with her,” he said, tilting his head toward the door where we could still hear yelling from the other rooms. “If you don’t want to be my mate, at least—"
He paused to suck in a breath to say more, but I raised my hand and pressed it to his lips to stop him.
“Yes.”
I smiled, sliding my hand over to stroke his cheek. De’drik’s brows drew together, his eyes wary as he stared down at me.
“Yes?”
Grin spreading, I reached farther and gripped his horn, pulling him until his nose was in the crook of my neck, right where he’d mark me.
Whether it was fate or pure chance that had brought us together, then given me a second chance after I made the mistake of leaving, I wasn’t going to turn my alpha away again. I was going to embrace my chance at a happily ever after, even if it was with a monster.
Epilogue
