Page 62 of Betrayed Alpha Mate

Sean lets out a steady breath through his nostrils. “I don’t need you to save me, Emily. I need you to fight beside me.”

Something in me cracks, and my knees weaken as a sob rips from my throat. Sean’s arms are around me in an instant, holding me up, keeping me steady, keeping me grounded as he always does, reminding me of the sheer magnitude of our mate bond. It’s unlike anything we’ve ever heard about, and I hate that it had to be us.

At the same time, I wouldn’t dream of having anything besides this—his arms around me so protectively, allowing me to feel the most powerful as my magic stirs.

“I’m sorry!” I sob into his chest, grabbing fistfuls of his sweatshirt. “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you! I’m sorry that I made you feel like I didn’t want you! It’s not true! I do want you, Sean! I do want you!”

I can feel his relief washing over both of us, hugging us like a bubble only we can feel. Lifting my face to meet his eyes, I notice my magic pulsing around us like a protective shield of gold.

And the moment I meet Sean’s ocean-blue eyes, a realization hits me like an epiphany from the heavens.

“You don’t have to apologize,” he begins softly, his voice as tender as ever. “You did nothing wrong—”

I press a finger to his lips to stop him, my heart pounding against my ribcage. I can feel my magic curling from the pit of my belly and blooming into my heart.

“I’ve been wrong this whole time, Sean. I’ve been pushing you away, when Goddess knows I have wanted you more than anything.”

Sean’s breath catches audibly, and in his eyes, I see my own reflected back to me. It’s like my decision has changed something inside me, and it shows in the luminescent golden glow of my eyes.

“I am ready to fight beside you, to fight with you, Sean,” I declare, the words cementing the magic into every atom in my body. I can feel pulsing, radiating, like a heat wave settling in from my core. “I want us to fight together.”

Sean’s eyes glow with the reflection of my golden eyes bouncing off his orbs, a smirk curling his lips as he cups my face and leans in.

“You have no idea how beautiful, how magnificent you are right now, angel,” he whispers, his breath hot against my lips.

I close a little distance between our faces, batting my eyes seductively at him. “Now that’s a name I could get used to,” I tease, and Sean returns the favor by leaning in further and ghosting his lips across mine.

“There’s something else you’re gonna have to get used to, angel…” he drawls, his hand sliding to the back of my head.

“Hm? What’s that?”

He holds my head firmly, staring deeply into my eyes when he says, “How impossibly ravenous I am for you. It’s a hunger that never dies.”

“Then don’t let it,” I return, and crush my lips to his while the fire that burns between us lights up in ribbons of gold.

Chapter 23 - Sean

The sacred dance of our tongues is magnetic, pulsing with life that spreads around us in ribbons of luminous gold. It’s Emily’s magic, but it’s explosive in a way that we haven’t felt before.

Not even when we’d hastily fallen into each other’s arms in her cottage. This time, without her resistance, and with her declaration that she wants to fight beside me on her tongue like an acquired taste between two lovers, the kiss is explosive in ways that reach every corner of my being.

It’s stronger than her acceptance of the mate bond during the ceremony. It’s more profound than surface-level heat between two wolves. This time, she opened her heart to me, and I can feel it as if I’ve plunged into the core of the source of her magic.

Her heart.

That was the key all along. The strongest muscle to exercise, the strongest energy to tap into. She’d been protecting her heart from me all this time, caged behind past hurts, and now she’s free.

And freedom for Emily as a witch is what makes her most powerful. I’m immersed in it, riding the waves of her liberation as my tongue dances to the rhythm of her stepping into her power. When she allows me to explore the depths of her mouth with my tongue, her body becoming pliant to my capable hands, it’s like basking in her magic, like the brightest sunrise on a peak summer’s morning.

I stop to catch my breath, only because it’s slightly overwhelming to feel so much and experience so many sensations. As I pull back, I catch Emily’s eyes, noticing how her pupils are blown out like she’s been running a marathon. Her chest is heaving, her breath coming in hot pants as she clutches fistfuls of my sweater, and her lips are deliciously moist, swollen buds from which her fragrant breath flows.

“Fuck…” I mutter, biting my bottom lip as I take a moment to rake my eyes over her face. She’s always prettiest when she’s flustered from my kisses, but tonight is different.

Tonight is special. Tonight is the night Emily has fully surrendered to me, and I have every intention of taking the reins and worshipping her the way a Goddess should be worshipped.

“You are a Goddess, Emily…” I praise, sliding my hand to her cheek to caress her warm, ivory flesh. I brush aside a lock of blonde hair clinging to her sweat-bedewed brow.

Her throat works as she gulps, eyes disoriented and pretty as she blinks at me. “We left…we left them outside,” she reminds me of the witches and their mates spread out in our backyard.