Chapter 21

Elena’s POV

I kiss him back as strong as I can, hoping to distract him from the scar on my leg. King Harvey enjoys the kiss, pressing into my body fully, desperately, and possessively. My knees almost buckle at his magnetism and strength. He pulls away and drops kisses down my neck, leaving me to cling to him.

“Who did this?” King Harvey’s voice is suddenly deeper, and his eyes have lost all light. “Elena,” he demands lowly. “Tell me.”

“...m-m-my father…”

“Your father?” King Harvey now is tilting his head to the side and almost panting. His chest rises and falls so rapidly that a human would pass out from exertion.

The muscle of his chest almost looks like it will break open at any second.

“Yes. Tell me about yours!” Rushing to place my hands on the side of his face, I press my forehead to his despite my fears.

He could chew my head off with one of his fangs.

The skin-to-skin contact seems to calm him slightly. King Harvey takes careful measures to slow his breathing, but his eyes keep shining from brown to silver.

King Harvey presses his head harder into mine and runs his hands through my hair. I feel his claws, stone and sharper than any knife. He is so gentle I almost feel safe. I know he would never hurt me, but he is not human.

How will we mate? How can I learn to calm him?

“My…” King Harvey pauses to breathe deeply, shakingly. “My father was raised to be a war general. He taught me all I knew, through chess as a child.”

“He sounds very intelligent, King Harvey. I see where you get it from.” Soothingly, I run my hand through his hair as my nerves overtake me. When I shake too hard, he hugs me fiercely on his chest.

The warmth of his body is stronger than the water around us and overwhelms me. I breathe through my mouth to stabilize myself and keep my feet planted on the smooth rock underneath. King Harvey breathes my scent deeply, as if these are his first breaths of life.

“Your father did this?” King Harvey asks with a final deep drawn breath. He sounds more stable, but his eyes say otherwise. They remain that melting silver.

“Yes, King Harvey.” I speak.

At his pressing gaze, I know I must continue to explain what happened.

“A few years ago, after my mother passed. He got drunk and very mad at me for not cleaning up after him fast enough…he… used a beer bottle.” For now, I leave out that I took the attack protecting my sister.

King Harvey attempts to control himself, I see his eyes darting back and forth madly in deep thought as his fangs expand.

A deep, booming snarl fills the hot spring area and I know it comes from him.

Pressing my hands to his chest, I blush at how his heart flutters under my touch. The werewolf in him takes over as he leans into me and moves closer. I press my lips softly to his, chastely.

King Harvey kisses me back just as gently, but when he pulls away to my shock, he rears his head back and howls.

His howl is not like any I have heard before. His howl is long, strong, and almost endless. It takes a moment for me to understand, he is mourning. He is in pain.

For me.

“It is okay!! It is okay!! You have scars too!” I yell over his howling as I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him as tight as I can.

My muscles shake at my grasp on him, and I stay there.

King Harvey’s howl cuts short at the contact of my hug. He buries his head into my neck then rests it on my shoulder, hugging me with one arm.

The latent strength he holds in his chest is more obvious to me now.

“My scars are from war, Elena.” King Harvey says sternly. “Werewolves, we fight with claws, teeth, spears, guns, and swords. Anything that can kill.”

“You are very brave, King Harvey.” I run my hand down his muscled back and feel his power. The blood rushes through his body at such a rapid speed that I feel it with the palm of my hand. He is trying to calm down, but I know he needs more help. “Tell me about your mother.”

“M-My mother…” King Harvey starts as his voice pitches deeper again.

The rage is taking over him, and I can feel it, the blood in his body stops all at once suddenly. His body becomes a stone pillar as he huffs and begins to pant.

“Your mother is as good as you are, King Harvey.” I speak with love and hope he feels it to calm him down quickly.

Suddenly, King Harvey stares at me as his eyes return to brown. In one blink, his fangs are gone, and his claws are lessened by more than half.

King Harvey clears his throat. “Thank you, Elena.” He nods and moves away from me and splashes his face with the hot water we are standing in.

“Are you okay?”

“My mother… was saved by my father, they were robbers that wanted her emerald necklace. My father fashioned it for her, with his bare hands. It was scratched…”

“His bare hands?”

King Harvey nods again. “Claws.”

“What was their marriage like?” I will keep talking until he is normal.

“Loyal, and kind. They talk a lot, communicate often…very…passionate.” King Harvey returns to me and presses a kiss to my forehead of thanks. I relax now, moving to hug him.

I love how he automatically holds me to his chest.

“Is that what you want our marriage to be?” The question brings me an odd mix of fear and peace.

“Yes.”

“That sounds lovely, King Harvey.”

My heart settles on our future wedding but I still worry if I can mate with him properly and keep him satisfied.

We get along well, and he makes me feel safe and loved. That is an excellent beginning but then what? We need to be intimate. I am the first human in history to be with a werewolf.

Can I really withstand werewolf mating on the day of the mark ceremony?