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Once she had finished and her body was replete she slumped
over him. Clay caught and held her weight his mouth meeting hers in a slow sweet kiss as tears slid down her cheeks.
“You have the softest lips.” He whispered before kissing her again while he brushed away her tears only to have more take their place.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“I don’t care! She’s not doing it. Find another way.” Clay fought to keep his voice down so that it didn’t carry beyond the closed door of the study where he and Ryan, Jace, and Caleb were arguing. It had taken everything in him to leave Jade sleeping in their room when she’d clung to him whimpering in her sleep.
Her demeanor the entire day had set him on edge but when she’d cried herself to sleep after they made love he could feel her desperation and despair. At that point, why the lycans couldn’t have children no longer mattered to him. It wasn’t her job to fix it. Jade wasn’t a shifter and it wasn’t fair that they put so much responsibility on her. Especially so soon after meeting her. She didn’t own them anything, no matter what debt she believed was hers to pay
“I know a goodbye when I feel one Ryan. That’s what today was and I don’t fucking care she’s not doing it. She’s not putting herself in danger or walking away from me or whatever other crazy notions she has in her head. Notions that I can’t even feel or sense because she severed our goddamn mate bond to protect us from a bunch of her crazy family.” Clay paused his chest heaving from his tirade. He could feel his wolf coming forward just as anxious to protect their mate as he was. Even if it meant going up against the alphas.
When Ryan tried to speak Clay interjected again. “Unless the next words to come out of your mouth are an agreement. I don’t want to hear it. None of you would make your mate do something so dangerous that it had her smelling of sorrow and fear, making sure they had one final goodbye. You wouldn’t. So don’t try to bullshit me into believing you would. You would all forbid it.”
“Clay you need to calm down. You’re going to wake Jade. Come on let's talk about this.”
Ryan gestured to the sofa but Clay stayed pacing. His wolf was agitated and becoming more so with his rising emotion and the tension in the room. He pushed against Clay’s flesh wanting out. It was only by force of will that he remained in his human form.
“No. I don’t care I’ll take her away from here. We’ll run. I don’t need a pack I don’t care that you’re both Alphas I won’t just sit by and watch my life be torn away from me before I’ve even had a chance to live it. You might have been ok without your mate Ryan but I’m not.”It was a low blow. He knew how much Ryan loved Kelly and regretted the time they were apart. It didn’t keep him from lashing out as his anger boiled over.
“Clay stop,” Jade spoke from the doorway. He wasn’t sure when she’d arrived or how much she’d heard but judging from her facial expression it was enough.
“This isn’t Ryan’s fault it isn’t anyone’s fault and no one is forcing me to do this.”
“Is he right was today your way of saying goodbye?” Caleb spoke up. Clay watched Jade taking in every nuance of her face, trying to determine if she would lie.
Her chin went up defiantly before she responded. “Yes.”
The one word shattered his world and strengthened his resolve to keep her from going through with her crazy plan.
“No. I forbid it.” Clay could tell she wanted to laugh but was holding it in.
“I’m a grown woman Clay you can’t forbid me to do anything.” She walked to him and took his hand giving him a gentle tug. “come back to bed it’s lonely without you.”
Clay didn’t care that they weren’t alone. It didn’t matter that there were three other powerful wolves in the room he dropped to his knees in front of her bowing his head. He’d come to her earlier in the day on his knees begging for understanding. Now he would do it to beg for their life together. To make her understand that she meant more to him than his family or pack.
“Please don’t do this. Please. The fertility issues don’t matter as much as your life. You don’t have tosinglehandedly fix this it doesn’t matter.”
“Clay what are you doing please get up.” She pulled on his arm but he didn’t budge instead he bared his throat to her.
“Please,” he begged again not bothering to hide the vulnerability in his voice. If she was going to sacrifice herself for them his cousins could see what the consequences of that sacrifice were.
“Come on we talked about this we have to do it now before my coven catches up to us, and the fertility issue does matter. It won’t be long before the female lycans stop having babies altogether and if that happens I don’t know if we’ll be able to reverse it. We should try now before it reaches that tipping point. Come on let’s go to bed it’s late and I need to rest.”
“You can’t do this Jade you can’t decide it’s ok to risk yourself. I won’t survive if you die and leave me alone.”
“I’m the only one here who can do it and we all know it.” Her voice was still soft but there was a hardened edge that wasn’t there before. “We’re out of time and options.”
Clay watched her turn towards Jace and Caleb and he knew he’d lost the battle it didn’t matter what he said she was going to try to save them all.
“You need to prepare Sara for the possibility that once we do this whether she can shift or if it’s just an illusion that she can, if we are successful that may be gone after the spell and I don’t want her to be shocked.”
She turned back to Clay and tugged on his arm again and this time he rose to follow her.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
She was out on the deck again. This time it was Jace and Ryan who joined her. Their expressions were somber but they brought breakfast with them which she supposed if they were going to be downers for her mood was the least that they could do.
