“You might be willing to risk your life for this obsession between us, but I’m not! Leave me alone. Go, goddamn it!” She pushed him again, angry at the underworld, angry that he wasn’t a shifter, that she wasn’t a vampire, and that their love would never know others’ approval. “Typical vampire. Romanticizing a relationship that would bring us nothing but pain and stress and inevitable death. What kind of love is that? Everyone in the underworld has it right, it’s the wrong kind. Please, just walk away and forget about any future for you and me.” Shaking so violently, she turned away from him, holding a hand to her mouth to keep in the sob. “Please.”
If he walked away at that moment—did as she begged him to—would she let him go? Would she really not run after him? She closed her eyes, tears making rivers down her cheeks.
“It burns, you know,” he said tenderly. “The mark you made on my back.”
Hand trembling, mind numb, she asked, “What are you talking about? It healed immediately.”
“If you look, there’s nothing there. But it burns like hell, like it just happened. You marked me as your mate.”
“I didn’t even know what I was doing—”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Why didn’t you? In any case, you’re wrong. You’re not my mate,” she said without passion.
“Turn around and say it. Look into my eyes, speak those same words, mean them, make me believe them, and I’ll leave.”
She had to at least attempt it, so she turned around, meeting his gaze in degrees. Forget it. She couldn’t lie to him. “You…”
He grasped her upper arms. “Please. Don’t ask me to live without you, now that I’ve finally found you. Finally found my heart. My soul. My soul’s mate. You can’t deny it anymore and neither can I.” He swallowed, hope burning fiercely in his eyes. “There will never be another for you or for me. Why would we forsake this love we’ve found? Why would we waste whatever measure of time we have being apart, aching for each other? Spend the rest of our lives mourning what we never gave a chance? Why, Kimber?”
Why? So they could live…so they could live in complete misery. That wasn’t really living, was it? It was just existing. Existing so no one would ever know what was possible, existing to abide by the rule that vampires and shifters could never be united in love because of a war.
She’d never heard of love bringing as much as devastation as war ever did.
“Shain, I…” She looked down, rallying her nerves, before meeting his stricken gaze. “I’ve been trying all my life to be normal, and you’re asking me to walk away from that?”
“My love, I’m begging you to.”
She sucked in a shaky breath. Point of no return, she thought to her wolf.
Nya gave a yelp, as if to say, Return to what?
She brought both hands to her mouth with a nod, almost too overwhelmed to voice her response. “Oh, Shain,” she whispered. “You’re right. It’s you. You’re my true mate. Because of what we are, we can’t be together in the light, but I’ll stay in the dark as long as I can, with you.” Happy tears fell, still coming to terms with how her life was going to change forever.
Shain exhaled as if he’d been holding his breath. “I will protect you and love you with everything inside me. You and your wolf. I belong to you both from this moment forward.”
She pressed a trembling kiss to his lips, allowing her wolf to push in, so Shain would know she was present, and that she accepted him, too. Feeling her eyes glow yellow, she breathed, “Nya.”
Brows furrowing a little, he searched her gaze. “What?”
“Her name…is Nya.”
Shain’s mouth dropped, remembering what Kimber told him, about no one knowing her wolf’s name except for her true mate. He traced his fingertips down her face, as if he couldn’t fathom she’d told him. “Kimber…and Nya.”
Her wolf howled. She wished he could hear it. Kimber gave a watery laugh. “She’s elated to hear you say her name.”
“It feels amazing to have said it. Like my world is complete. And our lives are as one.”
Kimber threw her arms around him, desperately scared, desperately in love. How long would they get? A century? A year? A month? A day? She hugged him tighter, trying not to imagine what it would be like to be torn from him again. Because it could simply be a matter of time.
“I love you,” she whispered.
Kimber pulled back and gazed into his eyes, the love between them so strong, rare and real, there was no other choice than to accept it. Fight for it.
Possibly die for it.
“Shain, what if—?”
His fingers went to her lips. “No. Why contemplate the end, when we’re only just beginning?”
True. The what-ifs were vast, but immaterial.
A smile moved her mouth before Shain claimed it with a kiss, sealing their forbidden commitment to each other, while the world waited outside.
A world that would inevitably try to tear them apart and destroy their love before it’d ever see the light of day. Nevertheless, they were meant to be together, and Kimber was ready to defend it until her dying breath.
Because, wherever their story was going, she would have a home, love, and protection.
In his dark embrace.
TO BE CONTINUED…
A Fate-Crossed Lovers Novel
HER WICKED CHOICE
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VOLUME TWO
Coming Soon
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Other Titles by Verika
Immortal Forsaken Series
Acknowledgments
I simply must thank my editor Caity for her expertise, and lashing my story with a whip that both pained and tickled. May we laugh and cry together for years to come.
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Thank you to my friends & family, for supporting and delighting me with your encouragement to keep putting my head movies into words.
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A squeal and a thank you to my cover designer Aaron for making a cover I can’t stop petting while I whisper, “My precious…”
About the Author
Ms. Sloane is the author of indulgent paranormal romance for those of us who yearn for the escape to the dark side. She adores a hero with a fierce sense of honor, who will break all the rules for his woman. Her favorite kind of heroine can do bad all by herself, and will do even more for true love. That is the kind of romance she loves to read and lives to write.
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In addition to writing, Verika volunteers for the ballet company, seeks out decadent, haunted hotels, has a shameless collection of big hats, watches period piece movies, and savors martinis that taste like dessert. She happily resides in the entertainment capital of the world and loves sharing her local adventures on social media.
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