Chapter 61

Theodore

My heart felt light enough to fly when she leaned into the kiss, melting against me the way she had that first night we met, yet now it felt like so much more.

Her fingers curled into the fabric over my chest as she leaned closer, tugging just enough to let me know that I could give her more. The barriers between us dissolved, and for the first time, there was no distance, no hesitation. Just us.

I deepened the kiss and wrapped my arms around her, drawing her close. She gasped. I went still thinking it was pain, but then I felt a fluttering, nervous, happy feeling at the back of my mind.

It was Violet. I shuddered and groaned, pushing back against her mind, loving the bright, beautifully complex feeling of her mind. It felt like coming home and finding the other half of something I had never known was missing.

The anger I'd felt earlier disappeared, and I couldn't have been happier. Her lips were soft and pliant against mine. I held her closer to me as gently as possible. She clung to me not so gently. Slowly, the kiss grew more urgent. I wanted more. She tugged harder, deepening the kiss. My hands trailed down her back, pulling her ever closer. I shifted, leaning over her.

It was more, but it wasn’t enough.

I needed more. She arched underneath me, pressing her breasts against my chest. I groaned, pressing her down. Just as I was going to crawl on top of her, she let out a sharp pained gasp. It was odder still that I felt her pain at the back of my mind before she had even made a sound.

I went still and pulled back to meet her gaze. There was this vulnerable look and power glowing in her eyes.

"I'm fine," she said stiffly, pulling at me and lifting up. Her arms trembled with fading strength as she did so.

I shook my head.

"Theo--"

"So eager." She flushed.

"Don't tease me."

I smiled and kissed her forehead. "There is plenty of time for us to have more…The rest of our lives, you know?"

"Theo', I know what I--"

"Theo'?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow at her. "I get a nickname now?"

She narrowed her eyes at me, looking at me suspiciously. Then, she smiled up at me.

"You like it."

I grinned and bumped noses with her. "I love it… and you're going to have to wait for clearance for more. I'm not that much of an asshole." Her eyes drooped. "And you're barely conscious. I would never let you live it down if you fell asleep in the middle."

She scoffed and fell back on the bed. I chuckled and kissed her forehead again.

“When you’re out of this hospital and healed, I promise we’ll pick this up. But not tonight.”

Before she could protest, I kissed her again, soft and sweet. She relaxed with a contented little sound in her chest.

A knock at the door broke the moment, and I sighed, glancing toward it.

“That’ll be the doctors, probably. Better look like a good patient."

She laughed. I stood and dispelled the privacy barrier before unlocking the door.

The doctor smiled up at me. "I can only guess that the relief on your face means she's awake."

I nodded and stepped aside. The medical team filed in, all business as they began checking her vitals and assessing her injuries again. I stayed by her side the entire time, my hand resting on hers.

“You’re not cleared to leave tonight,” the doctor said. “We need to monitor you for at least another day to ensure there are no complications from the drug.”

She groaned. "Is that really necessary?"

"Given your lineage and current state, yes."

She huffed. "Fine."

“Look at you, giving in so easily, Alpha Donovan."

She cocked an eyebrow at me. "Well, Alpha Nightshade, it tends to pay off to listen to professionals in their field…"

I smiled. "I've never listened to a single doctor."

"Something I'm not surprised about."

I laughed. When the doctors finally left, I took a seat on the edge of her bed, nudging her over a bit so we could share the cot.

“Theo', you don’t have to stay,” she murmured, her eyelids closing as if she was barely holding them open.

I brushed a strand of hair from her face and tucked her up against me a little tighter.

“I’m not going anywhere, little flower.”

She let out a soft, sleepy chuckle. "My mom used to call me that…"

I wrinkled my nose. "I'll have to think of something else then."

She chuckled again and started to relax. She closed her eyes and rumbled with contentment as she fell asleep.

A warmth spread through me, listening to her easy breathing. The sound of it and the warmth of her in my arms started to lull me to sleep, and for the first time in a long time, I slept peacefully.

Owen

I got into the car and slammed my fist against the door, snarling. That son of a bitch had made a fool of me again.

"Hurry up," I snapped at the driver. "Or you're going to be in the cell meant for him tonight."

The car’s engine growled as he turned over the engine and pulled away from the hospital. The police escort followed as we sped down the winding roads back toward the palace, the headlights carving through the night like twin blades.

I leaned forward, gripping the edge of the leather seat, trying to get a handle on the anger that was bubbling through me before I had the urge to rip the seats apart. My heart was still pounding. Fear pumping through my veins and I could see Theodore's face flashing through my mind.

I could barely breathe. The tension had felt like a vice squeezing me, the shadows over the face that we had both been rid of for years. The way Theodore had loomed over me, exuding a dangerous energy that left no doubt of his intent— shook me the same way it always had when our father had taken the same stance, looming over me at the height of his madness.

But it wasn’t just Theodore’s rage that haunted me. It was the impossible speed, the way he’d seemed to materialize across the room without warning. It meant that Theodore, despite all these years of being without his mate, all the trauma, the darkness and my every attempt to break him down had maintained the strength that my mother had always warned me about.

No…

I narrowed my eyes, thinking back.

It wasn't speed. The lights had flickered off and he had simply appeared in front of me.

The scent of ozone and something like a flint just struck had been in the air.

Magic.

The realization sent a thrill through me, one that was equal parts fear and exhilaration. I had to confirm it, had to know for certain. If Theodore had magic, then everything—the family dynamic, the power struggle, the entire narrative going forward—shifted.

“Faster,” I snapped.

The car lurched forward. The night blurred past in a streaks of light and color. Theodore had always had his mother's eyes, it was the one thing that set him apart from our father in his looks, but that was when he was completely calm.

Theodore had our father's wolf's eyes… and magic.

It had to have come from that foreign wench he called a mother. A slow, cold smile spread across my face. If I could confirm that Theodore had magic, then there were rules—laws—that governed what he could and couldn't do.

He'd be stripped of his position as alpha of Midnight if I wanted and tossed into the temple. I could even have him expatriated across the border. There were laws in place to keep out country free of magical influence, but more than that… I could use him.

There had been something in our father's journals, his plans for the country and so on, that was pressing at the back of my mind. By the time the car screeched to a halt in front of the palace gates, I was already forming a plan.

I leaped out and rushed up the stone steps. The palace was quiet at this hour, the corridors dimly lit. Most of the staff had retired for the night, leaving the halls eerily silent. I headed straight for the office of the alpha king.

The journals were exactly where I remembered them being, tucked away in a locked cabinet in the private section of the office. I opened the hidden bookshelf with the key I always kept round my neck, knowing that what I would find there would spell the end for Theodore and that wench who thought she could defy me and get away with it.

"Let's see you rise above this, Theodore."