Chapter 189 AURORA

“I think it’s time we decide on her,” one pack member murmured.

I slid away from the pack’s gathered crowd, their murmurs of discontent still echoing in my ears. The ache in my head kept increasing; each doubt and whisper cut deeper than I wanted to admit. The air was heavy, and my chest was swollen, like it might burst from the weight of their mistrust. Above them, moonlight spilled through the treetops, casting irregular circles of pale silver upon the forest floor.

I walked to the edge of the woods – to a place where I knew Dane would probably be waiting.

He was leaning against a tree, the pale moonlight shining on the planes of his face. The chains were gone, but the tiredness that seemed etched into his features remained. His gaze rose at the sound of my footsteps, softening when his eyes met mine.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone,” he said, the words low.

I moved toward him, my hands sliding under his shirt to lift it over his head. The muscles of his chest and arms were defined, his body showing the battles he had survived.

Our lips met again in a more urgent manner. His hands found my waist, and he lifted me in one swift motion as I wrapped my legs around him. He carried me to a soft patch of grass and gently set me down.

There he and I were, and nothing else existed anymore. And in the next moment, the weight of it all, all we’d carried together and apart, was gone. Every press of his body to mine was a scream of desperation, of love, of battles he had fought for, and perhaps a hope that could be something more.

His hands wandered over my skin, grabbing my breasts, setting fire to each nerve as I moved further into him, still craving. I gasped, his lips trailing lower as his hands caressed every inch of me with care. Slow at first, our movements started out searching, desiring. Soon enough, it changed; the touch of both our skins was electric. I turned to him but did not open my legs.