Blinking, he still couldn’t accept the harsh glare around him. “Shut off the lights.”
“So bossy when he’s sick,” his brother muttered in a surprisingly good-natured tone.
Mason forced a grin. “Hey. If you saw what I’ve just seen in those dark depths, you’d want the dimness, too.”
“No doubt, brother.” Midas’s tone held a touch of reverence Mason had never heard from him.
He wondered if the purity and strength in his bloodline had made the difference between life and death. “Then, you know what had me in its grips?”
“I can guess,” was all his brother said, in a low voice that spoke volumes beyond words. They would need to talk. Soon.
First, he needed time with Steph. “I want everyone to leave.”
He heard shuffling sounds. The door opened.
When the arms around him retreated, he gripped them firmly. “Not you, love.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
When he was convinced they were alone, he slowly creaked his eyes open. There was that beautiful, angelic face, staring down at him. The vision he’d fought for, strove toward, even when the agony was at its most unbearable.
Eyes slitted, his gaze drinking her in, he murmured in a raspy voice, “Hey, beautiful.”
The tears in her eyes, and the worry twisting her features, nearly crippled him as much as the torture he’d endured defeating the poison ravaging his bloodstream. “I was so afraid for you,” she murmured.
“Nah. I had it covered.”
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes, but the best part was that he’d made her smile. “I saved you, as much as you saved me.”
He huffed a quiet laugh. “Yes, love, you did. I saw you…” His voice trailed off. He traced her features with his fingertips. “I saw you. I felt you in my heart. I knew I couldn’t leave you.”
“Damn straight.” She buried her face against his shoulder. Her tears melted into his bandages, soaking into skin.
Holding her as tightly as his ravaged body allowed, he nodded and caressed her hair. “That’s what I’d hoped.”
“Thank you.” Her voice trembled slightly. “Thank you for helping me find myself again. Thank you for saving my life, on so many levels.”
Lifting her face, he cupped her damp cheeks in his hands. “The same way you saved mine. You pulled me through, baby. If not for you, I don’t think—”
“Don’t think,” she said. “Just feel.”
He sighed to the depths of his restored soul. “I feel you. I know you. I know you are mine.”
“I am.”
The pure adoration in her eyes shone like twin North Stars in his own personal blue sky. He was more honored in this moment than any other time in his life. “You mean the world to me, Steph.”
“Now, you are my world,” she replied, her smile reflecting so much light and happiness it almost hurt to look at her. “I’m staying, right here, with you.”
His spirit soared. “You chose to be with me, here?”
She nodded. “I decided to take a job offer I couldn’t refuse, thanks to Dr. Tyce.”
Over her shoulder, through the gap in the doorway, he noticed Tyce standing on the other side, watching them. He gave Mason a smile and thumbs-up signal, before closing the door to offer them complete privacy.
He didn’t know what Tyce had said to clinch the deal for her, but his mate would now be with him. His completely. No long distance. No sacrifice—other than his life’s devotion to her and anything she needed.
Talk about waking up to heaven.
Mason smiled at the ceiling, and at the Ancestors beyond. He had his mate. Nothing else mattered.
He tucked a lock of sexy red hair behind her ear. “Thanks for sticking it out with me. I mean, the bear thing had to be problematic, at first.”
“At first?” Smiling, she nudged him playfully. “It’s strange, and different, and too much to grasp all at once. But you’re mine.” She kissed his forehead, his cheeks, his lips. “And I accept you exactly as you are. The way you accepted me. You set me free.”
He urged her mouth to his for a long, lingering kiss. “I love you, Steph. I’ve loved you, and I knew you belonged to me, the minute I met you.”
She sniffed back emotion and nodded. “Thanks for letting me come to my own understanding.” She caressed his jaw. “While I may never understand completely, I love you. That’s all that matters to me.”
“That’s all that matters,” he echoed, hugging her tight. “You’re my soul mate. My life. Soon, you’ll be my wife.”
As he held his one true mate in his arms, he swore he heard the delicate rap of wings against his window pane. He glanced up.
Somehow, I should’ve known.
With a private smile, he watched the silhouette of an owl fly away into the light of the full moon.
The End
Thank you for reading Stephanie and Mason’s love story, in Dare to Bear. Look for Ashley and Midas’s love story in the next installment of the Trail Guardians Series, Hard to Bear, coming soon! If you’d like to receive email notifications of new releases, please email me at [email protected].
Other books by Christine Julian include:
Dark Vow (paranormal romance - werewolf)
The Atlantis Series: Atlantis Unchained - Part I, Atlantis Unbound - Part II, Atlantis Unbroken - Part III (erotic romance fantasy)
Dare to Bear (Book 1 Trail Guardians Series) Page 16
