The Sun's Shadow

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Roman!" A stern voice bellowed as they swung open the door to the greenhouse. Another distressed voice followed, each calling out his name and demanding that he let her go.

One even dared attempt to unhinge his jaw.

He snarled at the hands and voices that interrupted them, stormy eyes surging with a new purpose.

Sandros snapped his hand away, afraid he'd lose it to this depraved version of Roman he'd never seen. While he kept his eyes on the stupid male who provoked him, Leon snuck around to attack from behind. He landed a kick on Roman's ribcage and the momentary stun was enough to pull Ele out from under him by her leg.

Leon cradled the girl; assessing the damage done and realizing he had to work fast. He bit into his own wrist and rubbed it against her cut, hoping it'd heal before she bled out. The wound was deep and gushing blood unlike any bite he'd seen before. Even worse... It had the smell of a claiming bite.

Those took longer to heal so that it scarred the flesh, allowing all to know that female has been claimed. Roman had to intentionally inject her with trace amounts of his lethal venom, just enough to scar her.

"Good gods," Sandros looked at it now, nose turning away in disgust. "That can't be what I think it is."

Sandros remained between Roman and Ele to give her time to heal while the monster's frenzy subsided. Leon just continued to hush her every whimper and rubbed his blood further into the wound. He could tell it hurt whenever he touched it, and he kept apologizing to offset his worry.

"If we bring her to the castle, Kaanan will smell her. I'm surprised he hasn't yet... We smelled you two from pretty far away and he has his nose trained on her scent by now. It's just a matter of time."

Roman came to gradually and had to suppress the need to rip her from another male's arms.

It dawned on him what would have happened if they hadn't interfered. Despite the fact that a male in such a state would kill even his closest friends and family if they dared come between a claiming... They came to her rescue.

"Thank you. You're stupid for doing it, but thank you." He ran a shaky hand down his face and covered his gaping mouth. "I would have killed her."

"Just focus on the fact that she's alive, because you won't be for longer once Kaanan finds out."

Roman shrugged, "He knows. Sort of. In his own way, I got his blessing since he just wants her to be happy... And safe." Now he paled. "Yeah, maybe it's best if he doesn't know all the details of what happened here."

Leon offered a way to buy time, "Then let's get away for a while until she's healed up nicely. Should only take a few hours. Let's take her to see something pretty when she awakes."

"Fine. But you have to get your hands off her before I tear them off you." Roman stated without a hint of humor and it made Leon rush to his feet, hands up in surrender. When Roman leaned to pick her up, he noticed the blood that wasn't her own that coated his mark. Leon. He had to keep his eyes shut tight just to bottle the rage. "Go. Now. Walk in front of us and don't look back."

A male's instincts changed drastically once having marked a female. Roman could only imagine how he'd be once they sealed the bond by mating... He shivered in anticipation.

The entire walk to the gorge, he constantly snuck expectant glances down at the woman in his arms, wishing for her eyes to open so he could apologize and explain things before she jumped to her own conclusions. The bond would surely confuse her.

"Stop looking at her sleeping like some creep and let her rest, here's a clear spot." Leon huffed, feeling as though the day was now ruined. He just wanted to have fun like they would in the past. When things were far simpler and girls weren't involved.