by Cara Wylde
“That’s why he was so hard to take down,” she concluded. “You should thank me, mister. I saved your ass!”
He caressed her cheek. “You saved more than just my ass. You saved me, my heart and my soul. You saved my sanity.”
She bit her lower lip, then turned her head to kiss his palm. It would take her some time to get used to this new Caleb, to the Caleb who was honest and open with his feelings.
“Do you think this is wrong?” he asked.
“What? What could be wrong?”
“This. Us. What we’re doing. Do you think… I’m betraying Val?”
Rosanna thought for a moment, then shook her head.
“I think Val would want us to be happy. You’re not betraying her. We’re not betraying her. We both loved her with all our heart, and wherever she is now, she knows it.”
He nodded slowly. The guilt wasn’t there anymore. As he looked at Rosanna’s gorgeous naked body, he didn’t feel guilty for wanting her. He had almost lost her that night, and the terror of going through that kind of loss for the second time in his life had snapped him out of his depression. He was back. The calculated, level-headed Caleb who knew exactly what was right and what was wrong was back. It felt good to be himself again.
“I don’t know what was wrong with me,” he continued. “I think I avoided you for so long because I knew how I felt about you, I knew there could be something between us, and if I allowed it to grow, it would catch fire and consume both of us. Her memory is so dear to me… I didn’t think it would be fair to Val to start a relationship with her very best friend.”
Rosanna placed her head back on his chest. Her fingers drew small circles on his shoulder as she listened to his even heartbeat.
“I know how you feel, trust me. I felt the same way after she passed away. I thought it was horrible of me to have feelings for you, but then the time passed, and I understood there was no point in living in the past. Val wouldn’t want us to act as if our lives ended when she died, you know that.” She made a short pause, wondering if she should tell him the rest. Well, why not? It was time for the both of them to be completely honest with each other. “Did you know I liked you even before that?”
Caleb threw her a curious glance.
“I had no idea.”
Rosanna smiled. “Of course, you only had eyes for her. It’s true, I liked you before the Battle at Alma Venus. I don’t know who was the one to fall for you first, Val or I, but when I found out you were together, when I heard you had chosen her, it broke my heart for a while. But… you shouldn’t think I was happy when she died and you were single again. It was nothing like that.”
“I would never thing that about you!” He hugged her closer to him and kissed the top of her head.
“Well, it doesn’t matter now. We’re here and we’re together,” she said. “This is the happiest day… err… night of my life.”
Caleb laughed. “I’m glad you’re happy, but if we don’t move now, Daniel is going to figure out we’re both missing, and he’s going to send an army after us.”
“You’re right, it’s time to go.”
They stood up slowly. They were both tired and sore, but their strong bodies could resist another shift and a brisk run to the castle.
“Do you think you’ll catch the rogue wolf?” Rosanna asked.
“If I don’t go after him alone, like an idiot, then yes. He’s probably healed completely by now, and we’ll have to start this all over again.”
“With a better strategy, hopefully.”
“Yeah. This time, he’ll be waiting for us.”
Without another word, they shifted, took a moment to get used to their wolf forms, howled to the sky, then launched themselves in an enthusiastic race up the mountain.
THE END
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MORE VALENTINE’S DAY NOVELLAS
Are you looking forward to more Valentine’s Day shifter goodness? Then make sure you Subscribe to my Newsletter to be the first to find out about my next releases! They will all be live on Amazon and free in Kindle Unlimited before February 14, 2017.
Released on January 19, 2017:
Amazon US | Amazon UK
Jocelyn Blackmane is one of the few female Alphas in the world. Even though she is tough and independent, her status doesn’t make her life easy. As all female shifters, she is unable to bear children, so it’s difficult for her to find a mate. When her Beta, Ryan, shows he is interested in her, Jocelyn doesn’t know what to do. A relationship between an Alpha and a Beta would only complicate things.
Released on January 25, 2017:
Amazon US | Amazon UK
Kevin is the Beta of the Crescents pack. He never considered taking a mate, until he met Ashley Woods, a sassy, curvaceous beauty who stole his heart. But Ashley is not particularly interested in wolf-shifters. Her life is perfect, and she doesn’t need the complications that come with becoming a shifter bride.
Coming February 3, 2017:
Matt is the Beta of the Dark Wolves pack. When Valentine’s Day catches him without a girlfriend, he does something reckless: he gets a mail-order bride. Shy, curvy Tessa Forbes is everything he ever wanted in a mate, but is he ready to commit to a long-term relationship?
Coming February 10, 2017:
Sexy dragon-shifter Astrid has never thought she would find a mate in her business partner, James Harington. She belongs to the most ancient and noble shifter species on the planet, and he’s only a human. To say they are an unlikely match would be an understatement.
THE ALMA VENUS UNIVERSE
Lovely reader,
The characters you’ve just met in this book, A Mate’s Healing Touch, are part of a wider series. The characters you’ll meet in my next Valentine’s Day novellas belong to the same wider universe. If you want to know them better, learn about their background, and meet the other characters mentioned in their stories, then please check out my Alma Venus Shifter-Brides series:
Amazon US | Amazon UK
Free in Kindle Unlimited
Dive into the world of the Alma Venus Shifter-Brides! Get four standalone novels at an incredible price, and enjoy the stories of four beautiful, amazing women who are trying to make their own destiny in a world where humans are an inferior race!
The peace treaty between humans and shape-shifters was signed over a century ago. One of the clauses says that humans must provide shifters with young brides to give them heirs and ensure the perpetuation of their species. Today, all over the world, special boarding schools take girls from orphanages and give them the most exquisite education, preparing them to become brides for the enemy. If a bride reaches the age of 25 and no shifter wants to buy her, then she is given two options: serve in a shifter brothel, or starve on the streets. Society would never accept a bride who failed to accomplish her duties.
Sold to the Alpha – Avelyn is determined to regain her freedom and never marry a shape-shifter. When Alpha wolf Max Blackmane buys her, she uses all the tricks she can come up with to escape. Before she knows it, she falls in love with him. But Max has dark things in his past, dark things he keeps hidden in the dungeons under his castle.
The Hidden Alpha – Amelia has always wanted to marry a wealthy shifter and live a simple, normal life. She is bought by Seth, the Beta of Clan Sylfur, for his fox-shifter Alpha, Blake Sylfur. But her husband ignores her, and Amelia falls in love with Seth. Her betrayal might ruin her forever.
Claimed by the Dragons – Delyse has waited for three years for her Alpha, ancient dragon Eric Drekinn to wake up from his hibernation and claim her. When she finally meets her husband, she’s already in love with his Beta, Viggo. What she doesn’t expect is for the two dragons to agree to share.
Taming the A
lpha – Claudia is worried that no shifter will ever want to buy her, and when Karl Blackmane shows up, she wonders if he bought her just because her friend, Avelyn, insisted. All she wants is to make Karl happy, but his dark, twisted past threatens to ruin their marriage.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cara Wylde loves to write about strong, feisty women and their hot Alphas who will do anything to make them happy. Her books are filled with romance and just a dash of mystery, suspense, and that eerie atmosphere she fell in love with reading too many gothic novels. With a master's degree in Comparative Literature, she can't help but play with tropes and themes from various genres, trying to come up with fresh perspectives on the paranormal characters her readers love so much. Vampires, shape-shifters, demons, witches... Cara will always make sure they get their own twists.
When she's not writing, Cara is reading, planning her next story, or daydreaming. Her idea of pure heaven is a day filled with nothing but her laptop, a huge coffee pot, relaxing music, and a new, exciting project.
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