Chapter 70
The shock of what had happened was becoming imprinted on my skin, my broken foot, my bruising, and the bite scars from the rogues that had not yet healed. I concentrated on him, leaving clear claw marks around his throat as my remaining strength quickly ran out.
"You were trying to help me?"
He scowled, observing how I was averting his eyes.
"Kylie." He complained. "You're hurt; can we at least have this conversation back in your bed?"
As he began to gently take hold of me, my heart began to pound loudly in my chest.
"No." I reached out to him one more time. "I just had to express the truth because it was in my throat, and I needed to tell you something.
"My mother is the reason why the wolf's bane didn't work on me," I said, my words breaking like granite. "She would inject me with it to keep me willing for her experiments, and I gained a tolerance for it." He remained silent for a brief minute while I retreated from him, shaking my hand.
It seemed as though my throat had clamped shut, preventing me from saying what I needed to say and allowing more of the truth to come out of me.
"You're okay; you're safe with me." His comments were supposed to be consoling, but instead I slipped out of his grip.
He felt too hot and too holy against my broken flesh, and I was a death-touched witch who would hurt him more than he could ever know.
I could really feel him sinking his fingers into my exposed skin as he bared his teeth at my movement and pulled my body back to him.
"You are not dressed." I took a deep breath, realizing that, in the heat of the moment, I hadn't accepted that I was nude and pressed up against my partner.
I was open to attack in every manner.
He grabbed me up and carried me back into the room as I nestled closer to his chest and his arms wrapped around me like a shield. I remained silent while he helped me back onto the bed, undoing his shirt and pulling it over my form.
I said, "My foot hurts," and he groaning bent down in front of me and took my foot in his hands, rubbing it against the bandages with a gentler touch than I had anticipated.
"Of course it does, my brave and reckless mate—you managed to fracture it in three different places when you decided to act like the Luna of this pack." He let out a deep sigh. "And yet you still won't take my mark."
I put my hands on his face, and he gazed up at me, looking tired. I wished that nothing could possibly disturb us while we were still lying in his lap beneath that tree.
"You said that I would have until the full moon to decide." Something flashed in his eyes. Hope? Fury? I had my doubts.
"That's what I said, wasn't it? "I want to; I don't want to stay anywhere else." I also requested that you remain with me till then. I spoke with determination, and he grinned so broadly that I was taken aback. I moved my fingers to his lips, learning the reversed lines by heart, till he lifted my hand and kissed the inside of my hand.
I was sitting up on my bed when one of the pack doctors burst through the busted door a moment later, and he couldn't contain his surprise.
"Luna, I am happy to see you awake." He bowed slightly, and I turned to gaze up at my mate, blushing a little, but the tenderness had left his features, and he was forever the stern man in front of his pack.
To my own amazement, the doctor examined all of my wounds again without asking me any questions, and as he was finished, Derrick was putting me back in his arms.
With a silent gait, I followed him past the damaged entrance and back toward the pack house's main area, my heart pounding with curiosity about where he would take me.
I put my cheek on his chest and wrapped my arms around his torso, feeling the hard muscles of his body. I sat down against him, and he staggered. He looked down at me and then began to ascend the steps.
Until we got to the top floor, it felt like my body was pressing against his forever.
Derrick came to a stop in front of two doors.
"This floor is ours; no one is allowed up here except for the two of us." He whispered. Even with our improved hearing, we were unable to hear the pack house's noise up here.
He pushed open the doors, and I looked up as he started to pass by a lengthy hallway with doors leading to an open area before turning to his right.
Derrick didn't allow me time to appreciate the lavishness of this area, which demonstrated his position with its velvet-trimmed upholstery and intricately carved walls hung with expensive-looking paintings. Instead, he moved to a wall at the far end of the room that contained two identical doors.
He approached one of them, his hand encircling the golden doorknob before he pushed it open, and I held my breath. The first thing I saw was the enormous four-poster bed that was positioned in the center of the space and covered in gossamer, silk, and lace. Everything was blue, gold, and cream. Everything about it cried out for extravagance, for majesty. As I took it all in, my fingers tingling to grab hold of the silk sheets, my heart pounded rapidly in my chest.
"This is your room?" I felt his heart skip a beat, so my words were like a breath.
"My room is through those doors," he said, indicating the large, arched entrance across from us on the wall. "I thought you would be more comfortable with a room of your own at first." My heart clenched at the kind notion. How could he have been such a kind, selfless man, and how could it be that he'd been given a mate like me?
"Oh," I said softly.
Not that I was unhappy; I was just getting ready for something different." Erroneously assuming, I could say, "No, this is perfect." I kissed the underside of his jaw without thinking, and he froze as my hand moved up the side of his throat.
Taking a deep breath, he squeezed the areas where he was holding me. When he started moving again and gently placed me on the queen-sized bed, I thought I had broken him. He proceeded to caress my shoulders and arms before placing a passionate kiss on my head.
"I've had the closet filled with a couple of things for you, and there is a bathroom through that door over there." His stare remained fixed on me while he told me where everything was. His voice was calm.
"Those doors lead to my room, and you have the only key; you can use it at your own convenience—at any time you need me." With his hands stroking my face, he nodded.
"You ought to get some rest so that your wounds can heal before morning. We need to talk about a few things tomorrow." I tightly grasped the covers with my hands as he began to walk away from me.
He glanced back at me before he even made it to the door.
"You're safe with me." He said, and for a split second, I thought he was going to say more.
I had hoped he would stay a little longer.
I wanted to spend the night with him.
Rather, I let my back fall against the mattress and watched as he turned to leave the room.
There were only two things I could do to satisfy Derrick's curiosity about what had transpired between me and those rogues. Either I had to make up a decent lie before then, or I had to tell him the truth.