Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 93727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 469(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 469(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
“You didn’t think I should know?” she asked, reaching out to wrap her hand around mine.
“I would’ve told you eventually.”
“When?” she asked. “After one of our sons showed signs?”
“Before that,” I argued halfheartedly. “But there was a lot happening and—”
“You were a coward,” she cut in.
“It wasn’t that,” I lied through my teeth.
“At what point do you think you’ll realize that I can handle a lot more than you give me credit for?” she asked flatly.
“Of course you can.”
“Did you think I’d run screaming?”
“I figured it would give you pause,” I replied.
“Give me pause?” She snorted.
“I’ve worked really fucking hard to keep that part of me on a leash,” I snapped, irritated that she was acting like this little piece of my DNA was no big deal. “So…yeah. I figured if I told you, it might scare you.”
“Wrong.”
“You saw me last night. You saw what I turn into.”
“You turn into?” she whispered in disbelief. She shoved herself to her feet.
“Sit back down,” I ordered, reaching for her. “You shouldn’t be up—”
“I’m fine.” She slapped my hand away. She took one step away and then glared down at me. “Do you want to know what I saw last night? My mate. My angry, terrifying mate. I was so fucking relieved you were there. You could’ve been half-man and half-wolf, and I still would’ve been ecstatic when you showed up. You know what I thought when I saw you? Oh, thank God, Daniel is here. Everything is going to be okay now.”
“I wouldn’t even let anyone touch you,” I barked, rising to my feet. “I was so out of it that I would’ve fought them if they’d tried. You were bleeding so much, and I was so fucked up that I wouldn’t even let them help!”
Rosemary smiled, and I felt like I’d gotten the wind knocked out of me.
“Do you think I would’ve done anything differently?” she whispered. “If you were hurt, do you think I would’ve been thinking any more logically?”
“You don’t understand.”
“No, you don’t,” she countered. “There’s nothing you could tell me that would make me afraid of you. Not a single thing. I don’t care what kind of monster you are. Vampire, berserker, werewolf—you would never hurt me.”
“No, I wouldn’t,” I promised. “Not on purpose.”
“How fast did you get to me last night?” she asked, stepping forward to run her thumb over my cheek.
“I don’t know.”
“How many men did you go through to get to me?”
“Too many to count.”
“Exactly.” Her lips pulled up at the corners. “That trance, or hyperfocus, or whatever you want to call it? It got you to me when I needed you. Baby, why in the world would you think that was a bad thing?”
I tried to maintain my composure. I stared at the wall. Curled my hands into fists. Clenched my abdominal muscles as hard as I could.
None of it worked.
My breath shuddered out of me in a nearly silent sob.
I’d spent my life hiding that part of me, knowing that humans and Vampires alike would stare at me like I was some wild animal, just waiting for me to lose control. My father had been so adamant that I learn how to lock it down, to never let myself lean into the gift I’d been born with. I understood why. He’d seen friends and fellow warriors lose themselves to the red haze, the feeling of absolute purpose.
But what he hadn’t realized, and I hadn’t either, was that when you already had absolute purpose, there was no reason to look for it in the haze.
I’d felt powerful when it happened. Invincible.
But I felt more powerful when Rosemary smiled at me. When she called my name. When her body clenched around mine, and her teeth sank into my skin.
“I love you,” Rosemary said, leaning in to brush her lips over mine. “Even when I want to rip your head off and use it like a soccer ball.”
I let out a watery laugh and kissed her back.
“It doesn’t scare you?” I asked, pulling away the few hairs that had stuck to the bandage on her face. “When I’m like that, I’m not rational.”
“Will you use it to protect our family?”
“I think last night proved that I won’t have a choice.”
“Would you ever hurt me?”
“Never. I’d die first.”
“Exactly,” she said calmly, her eyes steady on mine.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been more scared in my life,” I breathed, looking over her battered features.
“Me neither,” she replied softly. “But we made it.”
“Yeah.”
“A berserker,” she mumbled, giving her head a little shake. “Fuck me. I can still be surprised.”
“I didn’t even try to stop it last night,” I replied, swallowing hard. “I didn’t remember that it would feel like that.”
“What did it feel like?” she asked curiously.
I chuckled in embarrassment.
“What?” she asked, a smile pulling at her lips. “Tell me.”