Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 137871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 689(@200wpm)___ 551(@250wpm)___ 460(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 689(@200wpm)___ 551(@250wpm)___ 460(@300wpm)
She reveled in his possessive hold, comforted by his unbending claim. Her mate had finally come for her. She was his and he was hers. Together, they were all either of them would ever need. She eagerly looked forward to becoming his everything.
Body relaxed, she welcomed the sense of completeness and sighed.
My Dane…
Her eyes snapped open, and she stiffened. Darius. Her mate was Darius.
He slowly pulled his mouth away and looked down at her with dark, lustful eyes. “You’re beyond my expectations, min pärla.”
Her heart thumped hard, and her mouth formed a hollow hole around empty words. She failed to think of anything to say back to him, fearful the wrong words might come out.
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “How do you feel?”
Deceitful… Disloyal… Confused…
Any one of those answers would have been true, but instead of giving her mate the truth, she forced an artificial smile on her numb face and said, “I feel like I’m finally where I was always meant to be.”
“Me too.” He kissed her again, briefly, and smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. His gaze skated away as though he had more to tell her, but he said nothing.
She had the strangest suspicion that he hid something, something he didn’t want her to know. As someone who had always been able to overhear others' darkest thoughts, it seemed odd to have a mate who was a closed book to her. But secrets were slippery little things, and the truth always slid out eventually.
Curiosity sparred with exhaustion as Grace debated how much she wanted to know what he was hiding. Their mutual withholdings formed and invisible wall between them. Or was that hers? Her mind once again returned to Dane and guilt soured her stomach. She should not be thinking of him now, especially here, in this intimate moment with her mate.
The weight of her deceit curled around her divided heart like barbed wire, tightening with every silent breath. Guilt seeded the secrets, growing into a terrible pressure that internally pushed and pulled her heart in opposing directions. The ache of division became so all-consuming, she found it hard to swallow or breathe.
“Grace?” Noticing something was wrong, Darius framed her face and studied her, concern tightening his brow.
It was then that the finality of this moment settled in, and she knew it would always be him and never Dane. She’d said it all along but never truly felt it until right now.
Those barbed roots tightened another degree, forming a shell around her heart. She wasn’t simply keeping a secret—she was withholding her heart from the one person meant to have it.
She knew, with bone-deep certainty, there could be no going back. She could never see Dane, out of respect to her mate. It was her duty to banish him from her mind and force him out of her heart.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, faking composure she did not feel. “I was just overwhelmed by the moment.”
“That’s understandable.”
She forced a smile, but her jaw trembled. “Did you have something you wanted to tell me?”
His gaze skittered away, looking anywhere but in her eyes. She thought he would lie and say nothing. She thought this wall of secrets between them would remain two-sided. But, instead, his brow hardened, and he looked at her with hard determination.
“Actually, I do have something I need to tell you. It’s probably best I prepare you now, regarding my expectations and the pack’s.”
The End
For now…