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I definitely needed to discuss that with Ayla because I'd a feeling that she knew about this, too, but going over it rightafter taking her virginity didn’t really seem like the best way to go. It wasn’t like I didn’t have secrets of my own, and though I definitely wanted to tell her them eventually, I hoped that she understood I had my own reasons for keeping them.
Ayla shook and moaned behind me after falling almost instantly into sleep, and I felt so besotted, sitting there with my beautiful, sleeping mate. It all still felt so surreal. I wished there were people to share it with. Hell, I wished I could shout it from the top of the closest mountain. But considering that peak was in enemy territory, that was an instinct I probably shouldn’t follow.
I did wish Oren was around, though. If he was, I was sure my best friend would tell me I was smiling like an idiot, but I didn’t even care.
I’d finally found my mate.
I wanted to claim her officially. I wanted to sink my teeth into her mating gland and mark her for all to see. I understood, though, that she likely needed time before she was ready for that, and also we weren’t in the right situation to trip balls on bonding hormones and recover from the endless fucking our wolves would want to do.
Oh, but wasn’t it a lovely idea?
Eating Ayla out had been pure rapture, and I'd be happy to repeat it anytime she wanted me to. In fact, my mind quickly launched into a fantasy about spreading her out on my desk and doing it right on top of the paperwork I hated so much, but I reined that in before I could get too excited. Although Ayla was a shifter, she still needed more recovery time before we went at it again.
Instead, I thought about how awesome it was to have a pretty little healer for a mate. My wolf liked that she was powerful and kept reminding me of how we'd have incredibly mighty pups. It wasn’t something I needed notes on, but I did like how selflessand compassionate she was. It was the exact opposite of so much of my family.
Ever since I was a kid, I’d seen far too many loveless marriages or couplings that were made for either looks or social and monetary advantage. But Ayla was truly genuine, righteous, and brave.
It didn’t hurt that I also found her incredibly adorable, especially whenever she was flushed from embarrassment or arousal.
Did I also mention that she smelled incredible? Because she did. Incredible didn’t even do her justice. I’d never been the most gifted when it came to the written word, but suddenly I found myself wishing I was so I could come up with a better description.
I figured I could give Ayla at least a half hour more to rest, so I decided to briefly scout the immediate area. I wouldn’t go that far, no more than a few wolf bounds, but I just wanted to do one last double check for any signs of the others. I was ashamed of how easily I was able to forget about them, but it wasn’t every day that one met their fated mate.
Shifting, I kept my ears homed in on Ayla’s steady breathing and began my circuit. I moved at an easy jog, or at least an easy jog for a wolf, and went about my search.
I didn’t really expect to find anything, and my mood began to sink as it became harder to hope the rest of our team was still safe. Between that and distraction from monitoring Ayla’s breathing, I wasn’t really paying attention.
That was probably how I didn’t see the small set of shining teeth sticking out of the ground.
It all happened so fast. One moment I was running, the next burning fire was exploding in my thigh, and I was slammed into the ground. My mind went white for a moment, a broken snarl punching its way out of my throat.
I looked at my injured limb and saw what looked like a bear trap around me, blood oozing from its shining teeth. Except it wasn’t just a bear trap, as it was connected to a shiny, transparent lizard that was looking at me with keen interest.
I tried to spin and bite at it, but it just whipped its tail forward and knocked my attack to the side. I could feel myself weakening by the second, whatever magic the thing was made of draining me.
I was internally furious with myself. How could I have been so stupid? I was supposed to be not just an experienced captain, but also Ayla’s alpha, and yet I’d left her in danger.
Snarling, I knew I needed to get away from the creature attached to the iron trap. I didn’t know how it was draining me, but I knew it most certainly wasn’t good.
So, I did the only thing I could.
I ripped my own leg off.
It wasn’t easy, but I gripped the limb just above its place in the creature’s mouth and bit as hard as I could while yanking. I howled bloody murder as I did it, though the awful sound was muffled by my own limb.
I’d done a lot of painful things in my life, but removing a limb definitely took the cake. Still, I could hear enemies rapidly approaching through the trees, and I couldn’t just lie there and let them have me.
I toppled over to the side, breathing hard, but I knew I couldn’t waste any time just bleeding out. I needed to heal as quickly as possible.
So, I shifted back into a human.
It was a funny thing, changing rapidly between forms. It usually didn’t hurt, but it did during certain circumstances, and this was one of those times. I also knew that this was likely the quickest way to get my limb back, as my human form was a lot smaller than my wolf one.
Sure enough, when I was out of my shift, my leg was half put-back together, muscles appearing and stretching down my limb like red and pink colored ropes. I was actually surprised at how fast the whole thing was going, as if my natural healing gift had gotten a boost.
Actually, what if it had?
Right then, however, four enemy soldiers finally stepped into the area I was trapped in: one wolf shifter, one ogre, and two others that were humanoid.
