Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Taking off as fast as she could, she rushed toward him, closing the distance, and as he went to take a step toward the lake, she shoved him hard, making him land on the ground.
Her strength was no match for his, as he spun them around, and this time, she was on the ground.
“You need to leave,” he said.
“No!” she growled out the word. “I know what you’re thinking and you’re wrong. So damn wrong. You’re not a monster.”
“I bit you, Layla. I had no intention of biting you, and I did that. I now have your blood.”
She frowned. “I know.”
“You know what that means.”
“I know what it means, but I don’t care, because what we just shared was beautiful.” She felt tears in her eyes. “Did you not want me? Are there limits to how you want me?”
“What?”
“Is my blood not good enough for you? Am I not good enough?”
The tightened grip loosened, until he let her go, cupping her face. “Shut up.”
“You ran, Alexander. After what we shared, I have never given myself to anyone before, but you ran.” She let the tears fall. “Do you hate me?”
“I could never hate you.” He took possession of her lips, and she wrapped her arms around him. She had already dropped his clothing onto the ground as she went to stop him from going in the lake. “I love you, Layla, more than you could know.”
She had an idea, she only hoped he realized that she loved him so damn much. The thought of him now being a target because he had tasted her blood, scared her. This was the last thing she wanted.
Chapter Ten
“You took her blood,” Brandon said.
Alexander didn’t need a lecture from the Alpha wolf. He turned toward him and shook his head. “Not now.”
Once again, they were back in an excluded part of the forest with Layla in a protective circle while Crazy Lizzie tried to call forth her gift.
“I know there’s never a good time to tell someone how stupid they’ve been, but I can certainly tell you how stupid you’ve been. You’ve been very stupid.”
“I’ve not done anything stupid.” Alexander knew he hadn’t. The last time he lost control like that, he’d been a new vampire. He promised himself he would never do anything to hurt anyone, and yet he’d gone on a killing spree. After denying himself blood for so long, the lust had been too strong for him. It had resulted in a lot of death. He’d not killed Layla, but the desperation had been close to the same. Only, it had been strange, because even as he was close to losing control, at the same time, he’d not been anywhere near close to either.
He sensed Layla, even before he heard and saw her. By taking her blood, he’d developed that edge of closeness, and he wouldn’t be angry at himself for that. Yes, it meant he had now put himself and Layla at more risk, but he didn’t see that as a problem.
“You’d have done the same thing for Elle if she needed it.”
Elle was near Layla. Close to the circle, but not quite within it. The gargoyles were also present. Some of the inner circle of the pack were not. Just Brandon and Lewis. They were attempting to keep Layla’s true identity a secret.
So far, Layla was struggling to open the part of her that was magical. It was always a risk. He’d heard of families attempting to keep their magic secret for fear of being persecuted. Trying to live with the humans as if they didn’t carry this secret. The children that were magical, without being exposed to it, took a lot longer to learn to control their gifts.
Layla’s parents had acted out of love. He got that, but they had now put her life at risk. At any moment they could be attacked by the Disaster of the Otherworld, and just the thought of her getting in harm’s way was difficult for him to function. Nothing could happen to his mate. She was everything to him—the woman he didn’t even realize he’d been searching for. He wanted to go to her, but he didn’t.
Crazy Lizzie had told him they needed Layla to use her magic, and if he kept coming to the rescue, it would stop her from delving into her magic.
He didn’t like it. Really didn’t fucking like it. All he wanted to do was go to her, promise her he’d protect her, but the truth was, he couldn’t do anything unless she was able to access her gift. Brandon didn’t argue with him.
“You do know Elle’s plan could work,” Alexander said. He didn’t like the idea of sharing his woman’s blood with anyone, but he couldn’t help seeing the validity in what Elle suggested.
“I know.”
“The more people who have Layla’s blood, the harder it will be for the Disaster of the Otherworld to get to her. It could buy us some time.” The time they needed to wipe out the fucking cult, and never have to worry about them again.