Page 43 of Awakened
Her gaze sweeps to the side, casually scanning her surroundings. It’s only because I’m watching her so closely that I notice the exact moment she registers something that has her freezing mid-motion.
Her eyes snap back, landing on whatever she saw that made her stop in her tracks. Her lips part, mouth falling open and eyes widening in shock. The color actually drains from her face, and I swear she stops breathing.
She gasps, like she’s coming up for air after nearly drowning, and her hands fly to her throat like she can’t breathe. Like she’s choking.
What the—?
“Oh...” The word is half whisper, half moan. There’s a single beat where the whole world stills, before Idril explodes into motion.
She lunges forward, launching into a sprint and running across the hall...
Straight into an open hospital room.
Dax must realize what happened right as I do, based on the groans we release simultaneously.
“Fuccckkk!” Dax shouts as he springs after her. I follow, mentally berating myself for forgetting to close Caelan’s door. I didn’t think about it. She doesn’t come down here. She doesn’t even know where he’s been.
Well. She does now.
Fuck, fuck, fuck! This is all my fault!
I burst into the room. Daxen’s shouting at Idril, demanding she step back, away from Caelan.
But she’s not listening to him.
I don’t think she can even hear him.
Fuck… I don’t even know what I expected to find when I walked in here.
Idril holding a pillow over Caelan’s face, trying to kill him before he wakes up and exposes her?
I mean... maybe? No? I don’t know!
What I do know is that whatever I thought I’d find... it’s not this.
It’s not Idril standing next to Caelan, hands fluttering over his chest like two frantic birds with nowhere to land. I never imagined the expression of horror on her face, or how every time she gets too close to touching him, she yanks her hands away like she’s afraid.
Like she’s desperate to touch him, but terrified of hurting him. Of making things worse.
But... that... that can’t be right.
“Oh gods,” she whispers over and over as tears stream down her face. “Oh gods, oh Fates.”
I stand there like an idiot, dumbfounded, as she whispers his name, shaking so hard I worry she’ll break apart.
Does she even know she’s crying? She doesn’t even seem to feel the tears. Doesn’t even bother wiping them away. They spill from her lashes faster and faster, falling in heavy droplets that land on Caelan’s chest.
When she whimpers, the sound is so full of distress it sends my Alpha into a rage. I have to fight him back, so I barely process what's happening when she reaches out and places her hand flat against his chest.
“Idril, NO!” I lunge for her, but only make it a single step before I slam into a wall.
Groaning, I shake my head and push up from the floor where I landed on my ass. My blurred vision clears, and as it does I realize—
That wasn’t a wall.
As the fucking Alpha Heir scowls down at me like I’m the one at fault here, I realize he must’ve jumped in front of me, creating a solid barrier to protect his Mate.
What’s this guy made of anyway? Rocks?
