Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
“What time is it?” I asked.
“I was just about to wake you for dinner.”
“Shit,” I grumbled, reaching up to rub my eyes.
“Have you slept in the past few days?”
“Yes.”
“I’m guessing not enough,” she said wryly. She’d tucked her hands under her cheek, and her hair was fanned out over her bare shoulder. “From now on, I hope you’ll come to me when things are too much.”
“I can do that.”
“I’ve been thinking—”
“Were you watching me sleep this whole time?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes and leaned up on her elbow. “You’ll always come for me, and I’ll always be your soft place to land, okay? That’s what I wanted to say. I realize now that it sounds kind of stupid out loud.”
“It doesn’t sound stupid,” I argued, pushing her onto her back so I could lean over her. “It sounds perfect.”
“You just…you carry all of this weight, you know?” Her hands glided over my chest and around my back. “I can see it even when you try to hide it. But I’m here now. I’ll help you carry it if you let me.”
“My mate,” I whispered, running my lips along the tendon in her neck.
“We’re in this together now,” she whispered back.
“No matter what happens,” I promised. “No one will ever keep me from you.”
“I’m counting on it.”
Leaning back so I could look into her eyes, it felt like everything settled into place inside me. All the good and bad that I’d done, every decision I’d made, every order I’d followed, every lesson I’d learned and relearned. All of it had led me to her. If I hadn’t been a soldier, I would’ve never known to go back to search the facility where Zeke had been held in case we’d missed something, and I would’ve never found that photo. If my parents hadn’t instilled the importance of family loyalty into us from the cradle, I may never have searched for Zeke’s mate. Every piece of my life had been preparing me to find her.
Lucille Franklin was every dream realized.
“You’re my reward,” I said, cupping her cheek. “The best gift I’ve ever been given.”
“You’re welcome?” she said hesitantly, a little smile playing on her lips.
“I’ll love you long after I’m gone,” I said.
When her eyes began to glisten, I knew she remembered where she’d heard the phrase before.
“I love you too,” she said. “You’re worth every sacrifice.”
Chapter 17
Lucy
The sense of relief we’d felt when we’d found Zeke’s memory card and realized that he’d done so much research dwindled as it took longer and longer for the Boucher brothers to make any sense of the information. It had been two weeks of studying the files and passing them around in the hopes that new eyes would see something the previous ones had missed, but it was no use. Without the information available in Vampire Command’s computers, the Boucher brothers were stuck.
Rejoining their units was out of the question.
From what I’d gathered, it was pretty much unheard of for Vampires to separate from Vampire Command before they’d found their mates. It was a bit of a scandal. Vampires wanted to know why Ambrose, Chance, and Daniel had quit. They called Matilda and Erik throughout the day, both asking for answers and offering tentative congratulations in the hopes that either one of the parents would confirm that their sons had mated. Since they hadn’t reported me or Daniel’s mate to their government, Erik and Matilda had decided to just tell everyone that they’d made the decision to leave Vampire Command because of Zeke’s death.
It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t exactly the truth, either.
All of us were becoming stir crazy. We were cooped up in the house with little to do and no idea when all of it would end. When you added in the stress the males were under, the house was pretty much a powder keg.
On the fourth day, Reese had walked outside and screamed at the top of her lungs in frustration. I didn’t blame her, considering that she’d been there almost twice as long as I had. I would’ve applauded, but within less than a minute, a Vampire I didn’t recognize had come running from the woods, his gun drawn. Reese started screaming for real, Beau had lost his ever-loving mind, and the Vampire had gone back to the perimeter with his tail tucked between his legs. He’d thought that something had happened and left his post, which was both admirable and stupid.
No one had let out their frustration that way again. Instead, we’d started jogging. I fell back into the swing of it pretty easily. I’d always enjoyed being in shape, but Reese and Matilda moaned and groaned like they were being tortured. They still came with us, though. Sometimes Beau ran with us, sometimes Erik. Occasionally, Ambrose came. I liked those days best.