by Tamar Sloan
Josh had nodded. “You’d know if he was dead or not, and there was blood there too. But definitely no body.”
She’d looked back at me, and we’d stared at each other for long seconds. Was there someone else there? How did they know? But most importantly, who took the body and why?
Riley had frowned. “With no body, we don’t have anything to bring to the authorities.”
Sakari takes a few steps forward, and I crouch down, wondering if she’s going to come any closer. I’ve killed her mate. I couldn’t save her pups. Her species is threatened by a virus we can’t control, alongside humans who want their deaths and their skins.
I could understand why she’d choose to hold her distance.
But I think Sakari was born from the same deep well of compassion and caring as Ava, because she lopes over to me. I stretch my fingers through the wire, brushing the velvet fur of her muzzle. Sakari’s eyes close for a moment, enjoying the touch.
“We’ll turn this around somehow, Sakari. I won’t let you disappear.”
I marvel that hope is still alive within me, despite the odds that seem insurmountable, and I know it’s due to one thing. One person, to be exact.
I feel her before I see her. Ava’s told me about the threads she sees, which explained Josh’s comment that Ava would’ve known the poacher was dead. It also explains why she’s always seemed to be able to trace me. We’ve spent three days talking and touching and kissing and then talking some more. With no barriers, with the knowledge that we spent two years together whenever we could, we’ve shared so much.
I glance at Sakari, her pregnancy is still in its early stages, and tension knots at the base of my spine.
How do I tell Ava this? How do I tell her what I’ve done?
KJ had been adamant that we need to keep this a secret, that there’s no point even raising it until the pups are born. There’s always the possibility the pregnancy won’t take. And according to him, if it all goes according to plan we may not need to tell anyone ever. The prospect sits uneasily, jagged and uncomfortable, within my chest.
Ava has accepted me despite everything I’ve done, and that’s a miracle I’ll never take for granted. But genetic manipulation of wolf and Were? We’ve either saved these animals or committed the most immoral crime against everything Were and Fae hold sacred.
If we’re wrong…the second option is unforgivable.
Sakari leaps up when she sees Ava, her paws landing high on the wire. Ava laughs with delight, and the sound lightens my soul. There’s no way I’m risking my salvation. Not yet…
Ava reaches through, her fingers tickling Sakari’s jaw. Sakari laps lovingly at the hand caressing her, her face alight with a wolfish grin.
Ava’s other hand creeps out to the side and wraps around my waist. She doesn’t have to pull though, I slide over like a magnet drawn in purely because it’s Ava. Is this what I’ve been missing out on since she arrived?
There’s an innocent confidence about Ava’s touch, an assumption that it’s true and right. It’s so natural and sincere that I wonder if she’s even aware of it. It’s so amazing that it has me wondering how I managed to be a part of all this.
As our sides meld together, she rests her head on my shoulder. We watch as Sakari looks at us both. She seems neither surprised nor concerned. Actually, I think her grin widens. She lets out a bark and drops to all fours. Three more barks are thrown our way as Sakari’s tail wags in a way I’ve only seen when she greets her pack.
Ava sighs. “We just got her blessing.”
I blink, not able to process so much emotion at once. How can I ever show this girl what she means to me? Seeing as my capacity for language seems to have left me for the moment, I lean down and press a kiss into her gossamer blonde hair.
Ava looks up, wintergreen eyes shining. “Today?”
My smile is reflexive, a mirror of what’s happening in my chest. “Can’t wait.”
Happiness blazes across her face as she twists in my arms. Face to face, I breathe in her scent. She pushes up on tip toes. “Are you sure you’re well enough?”
Her hand flutters over my chest, tracing the place where the bullet punctured my body. I grasp her fingers, squeezing them. My pulse is jackknifing and it has nothing to do with my recent brush with death. “I was ready two days ago.”
Her smile amps up and I realize I’m not telling the truth. My heart wanted this two years ago.
Guilt tugs at my conscience again, adding to the mass already there, and I realize this is one thing I can be honest about. “Ava. I tried so hard not to feel anything for you. I pushed you away every time you got too close.” Ava opens her mouth to speak, but my finger on her lips stop her. I need to say this. “I’m sorry. I could have saved us a lot of heartache. I could have saved you a whole lot of hurt.”
In a flash of movement I don’t see coming, she gently nips at the finger trying to quiet her. My eyes flash open in surprise, and she smiles.
“Hunter, I would never have discovered what I have about myself. I think we both needed to learn some things first.”
Why does it not surprise me that she thinks like that?
“Besides.” She brushes my lips with her fingers, in the way she’s done enough times that it’s starting to become familiar. I glory in the sensations it evokes every freaking time. “I fell in love with you in a dream. We never spoke. We never touched.” Her smile softens as she studies me. “This way I got to fall in love with you in reality.”
My breath goddamned vaporizes. This girl has robbed me of that essential function again. “Ava…”
This kiss is sweet and tender, so full of emotion that I don’t care if my lungs never function again. Ava has just become my oxygen. Her arms climb up, brushing my biceps and curling around my shoulders. I pour all the love that was born so long ago and now has life into the place where we connect. The most incredible blessing is that she meets me there.
I pull back. “You’ve been my light and my hope. Now I give you my heart and my soul.” There, our faces barely apart, I revel as the truth finally sets free. “I love you, Ava.”
The next kiss starts with the best of intentions. It’s soft and full of love. But in a flash, it deepens…becomes something more. Heat builds at an exponential rate, engulfing us both. We pull in tighter, passion and desire exploding. My hands clamp around her back, a restless energy wanting them to move—
We both startle when my sister’s cat whistle blares through the loudspeakers. “I’m putting this up on the big screen, peoples!”
We glance over our shoulder then look back at each other. I raise my brow, knowing what I want to say to my sister, and having an inkling that my playful, cheeky golden wolf may be thinking the same thing. Ava’s lips twitch in a mischievous smile.
We reunite, lips and hearts finding each other, giving the passion free reign. Neither of us cares who’s watching nor what they’re thinking. These feelings have waited too long, they’re too big to be contained.
I’m going to grab them and hold them for as long as I can.
“Ew!”
We pull apart, laughing.
Ava’s hand slides down my arm to grasp my hand. “Now?”
I hold it tight as I nod, “Now.”
Turning, I don’t bother to look back. We’re going where there’s no cameras and no responsibilities and no life or death questions that have no answers.
We’re going for a run as a white wolf and a golden wolf—like we have so many times before…knowing we’re about to experience it for the first time.
It’ll just be two souls who fell in love never knowing whether it was real.
It’ll be two hearts knowing reality is so much harsher and harder, but so much better.
The Epic Love Story Continues
A love bonded by fate.
A world divided by hate.
Hunter and Ava have everything they want in a mate. Their connection, born in dreams but now so real, is pure passion and po
wer.
Except, their love is blossoming in a world of shifting alliances and increasing tensions. As a deadly virus gains momentum, poachers now have a reason to kill wolves indiscriminately—and it seems they have a leader. Weres and Fae are the last fort of protection, but there’s disagreement about how wolves should be protected…and how far their protectors should go to save them.
But it’s the greatest secret of all that will threaten the love that seems so right. Because a lone wolf now carries something that’s impossible—something that will either unite Hunter and Ava and their ability to lead them all…or tear them apart.
Don’t miss the second instalment of the breathtaking Prime Legacy series.
Discover a love destined to leave a legacy.
LEGACY ACCEPTED
Continue the Prime Legacy Series HERE
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Tamar
About the Author
A school psychologist by day, Tamar Sloan channels her passion for books into creating young adult stories about discovering love beyond our comfort zones. She is the best-selling and award-winning author of the Prime Prophecy Series and the Touched by Love Series.
When not reading, writing, or woking with teens, Tamar can be found with her ever-patient husband and two beautiful sons enjoying country life on her small acreage in the Australian bush.
Tamar finds it deeply rewarding to share her stories and she loves to hear from readers and fellow lovers of all things book related. Make sure you head over to her website so you don’t miss out on the freebies she loves to give away www.tamarsloan.com.
Also by Tamar Sloan
Make it Count (Book 1 Touched by Love Series)
For All to See (Contemporary Young Adult Romance)
The Moment (Prequel to the Prime Prophecy Series)
Prophecy Awakened (Book 1 of the Prime Prophecy Series)
Prophecy Accepted (Book 2 of the Prime Prophecy Series)
Prophecy Fulfilled (Book 3 of the Prime Prophecy Series)
Legacy Awakened (Book 1 of the Prime Legacy Series)
