Meadow

name feeling new on my ow

sound. His voice was a low, possess

laiming passion was gone, replaced by a deep, soul-soothing ten

ling the soft duvet over us both. He held me, his large, warm bod

t, my head tucked under his chin, listening to the steady, reassuring beat of his heart.

I found the courage to ask. "W

t," he murmured. "It is a long, complicated story. For tonight, all you

quieted the fearful, insecure voices that had scre

I asked, realizing

" he said finally. Just a first name

oment of peace was more than I had dared to ho

ely childhood, the whispers, the pitying looks. He listened without interruption, his body

rumble in his chest, and I could feel the coiled tension in his muscles. "Th

ce, protective power radiating fr

in his arms, feeling his steady breath against my hair, I drifted off. It w

my face, his own expression twisting with an agony I couldn't se

her!* his wolf roared in his m

am of his own. *Not yet. My enemies will use her to de

ened with a terrible, heartbreaking resolve. He knew what he had to do to kee

I saw was Alaric's face, inches from my own. He was watching me, his eyes filled with a

," he said, his lips cu

d with a sweet, unfamiliar joy. This was

ld go," I said, the words tasting like ash. I still

, his grip gentle

ked at him, my eyes wide with

ea that seemed to tear at him. "Just one more

of our cold, clinical bargain. This wasn

eyes. The Moon Goddess hadn't just given m

e lump in my throat, and threw my

y it almost hurt, burying his face in my hair. And in that hidden space, wh

words a silent, desperate prayer. "Th