by Kayla Wolf
”Yeah.” She looked at him like he was slow. She looked at him like that a lot, actually. He was beginning to suspect he was less clever than he’d thought … that, or she was just that quick. It would explain why Stephen thought so highly of her. Owen knew for a fact that Angela was the only reason the old dragon would spare the time of day for him—they were on reasonably good terms these days, even if there had been a significant quantity of frost in the air when he’d returned the little statue to the library. “There’s not… ever going to be anyone else for me, Owen. You know that, right?”
He blinked. He hadn’t, in fact, known that. She was starting to laugh at him. He’d been a proud man, in his time, but somehow her laughter never made him feel affronted or attacked. There was just so much love in it, so much trust, so much genuine affection.
”That’s the whole point of soulmates, Owen. You only get one. You only need one. You’re stuck with me. Forever.” Her eyes flickered, just a fragment of hesitation—you’d have to be looking very closely to pick it up. But Owen was usually looking pretty closely at her. How could he not, with a face like that, with eyes like that? “That is what you want, isn’t it?”
He took a deep breath. Took her by the shoulders to emphasize his point. “That’s all I want. That’s … more than I’ve ever dreamed of wanting, Angela.” So many instincts still wired into him—to look away from her eyes, to dissemble, to put walls up. But he was getting better and better at being honest with her. He fully intended to spend the rest of his very long life working on that.
”Well, good. It’s what I want, too.”
”Are you sure?” He smiled, a little helplessly. “Because… I’m kind of a hard sell.”
”Why’s that? The enormous, evil military organization that may or may not believe you to be dead and that may or may not send a million evil black-eyed assassins after you to kill us all?”
”Yeah, something like that.”
She grinned at him, sudden, surprising. “Oh, is that all? Whatever. We’ve had worse.”
Owen laughed and leaned in to kiss her. She responded with enthusiasm, throwing her arms around his neck—he gently lifted her, moving them both back away from the steep edge of the little platform they were resting on. When they broke the kiss, she was looking intently into his eyes.
”What? What’s wrong?”
”Your eyes,” she said, wondering. “There’s…” She leaned in closer. It felt strange, being under such close scrutiny. He did his best not to blink.
”Angela—“
”Look!” She dove into her bag, scrabbling through it until she found a flat disc, which she pried open. A pocket-sized mirror. “Look. Really closely. At your right eye.”
Owen cleared his throat. He wasn’t really in the habit of looking himself in the eye much these days. It reminded him too much of the College—of what he’d left behind, of the damage that still travelled with him. But Angela had asked him to look, so he looked.
He couldn’t tell what she was talking about, at first—but then he blinked, and realized with a frown that there was something different about his right eye. He leaned in closer, trying to make out what was going on. There—at the very edge of his eye, the iris black as night, he saw what she’d noticed. The tiniest fragment of color, as though there had been a crack in the surface of his eye and another color was shining through. Blue-green—small, but unmistakable. The color of the ocean. A color that sent a shock of recognition blasting through the center of his being.
“That’s...” he started, wonder in his voice. “My family’s…”
“Green,” she said softly. “Sea green.”
”The color of the ocean,” he said dully. Did he dare to let those memories in—those distant, caged memories? “We lived…”
”You weren’t lying.” She was staring up at him. “That story you made up when you first came here. That story about sea dragons.”
”Some of it was true,” he said softly. “Lies are easier if you put a bit of truth in them. Though I’m not sure, that’s what I was doing, consciously…”
And suddenly his hands were shaking too hard to hold the mirror. Angela took it from him hastily, put it away in her bag, put her arms around his neck and held him close. He hugged her back, hardly believing what he’d just seen. If his eyes were changing back… that meant there was still hope. Still hope, to be who he was. To recover the man he could have turned into if the College hadn’t taken what they’d taken from him. He’d always thought they’d taken everything… that they’d shattered who he was and beaten him into a new shape. But that wasn’t true. All along, he’d been himself, somewhere deep down beneath the trauma and the training. And now—with this breath of fresh air, this breathing room—he could mend. He could heal. With Angela at his side—as his mate, he thought with a burst of warmth in the center of his heart—he could be made whole again. And he would. He was determined to be everything he could be—to be the soulmate she deserved.
”I love you so much,” she told him when they broke apart, her eyes full of pride. “C’mon. Let’s finish this climb.”
It was going to be a long climb, he thought, watching as she took hold of the rock and started climbing.
But he was ready. With Angela at his side, he was ready for anything.
*****
THE END
About the Author
Kayla Wolf is a mom of two, an obsessive reader and a total sucker for paranormal romance. Sexy shifters, sassy women, steamy encounters, and dangerous enemies are the things that make her lay awake at night. Whenever she thinks about these things, she just has to get up and write about them immediately... Come on in, and spoil the beast in you.
Check out her author page on Amazon and be sure to click “Follow” to get new release updates.
Books by The Wolf Sisters
(All books are FREE with Kindle Unlimited)
Books by Kayla Wolf:
“Dragon Valley” Series
Dragon Valley keeps a secret that no one knows about: Dangerously sexy and muscled dragons have made the valley their home. But their existence is at risk. They need to find a mate or else their time might be up. Will the dragons find their mates?
Dragon Valley is a paranormal romance series that consists of standalone stories that each have a satisfying HEA. The books are connected through the dragons that live in the valley.
Mated to the Dragon
Protected by the Dragon
Auctioned to the Dragon
Kidnapped by the Dragon
* * *
Books by Mia Wolf:
Bear Caves Series
Come visit the Bear Caves, a mysterious village where bear shifters live far removed from humans. This village, with its caves and its festivals houses not just any bears. No, it houses Very Sexy bears, who are not easy to please, but who will protect their mates with their lives without question.
The Bear Caves series consists of stand-alone stories that are connected through the bears who live in the village. Each story has a guaranteed satisfying HEA.
Mated to the Bear
Craved by the Bear
* * *
Wolf Mountain Series
Come with me to Wolf Mountain, a village with hot, single wolves who are strong, muscled, and … single. They don’t need a mate. They don’t want a mate. Until they meet the one they will die to protect…
Wolf Mountain is a paranormal romance series consisting of stand-alone stories, each with a HEA, that are connected through the wolves who live in the village.
Werewolf’s Surrogate
Werewolf’s Second Chance
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