Profound Devotion

Chapter 31

August 1st
Monaia

  It had taken ages to return my heartrate to its normal rhythm, my cheek now resting against Cassius's bare chest that rose and fell with his every breath. His arm was curled protectively around my shoulders, hugging me securely into his side as his own strong heartbeat pounded beneath my ear.

  I was finally content for the first time in months, and nothing could ruin this moment for me.

Cassius released a soft hum and hugged me tighter into his body, his face burying into my unruly hair. Tingles of electricity pulsed through my stomach as a comfortable smile rested onto my face. As I brushed the tips of my fingers along his bare chest, they grazed a deep, prominent scar that gashed over his heart and still stained his skin pink as it continued to heal.

Was this new? I never noticed it before. Whoever harmed him in such a way was aiming to brutally take his life.

I found myself focusing solely on the mark, smoothing over the faint bump of the gash.

A warm hand enveloped mine, stopping the trailing of my touch. "What's wrong?" His deep, sleep-ridden voice filled the once silent bedroom.

I lifted my head to get a better view of his past injuries, debating whether or not to voice my concerns, but the longer I stared at it, the more it piqued my interest.

Would it be wrong to ask him? Maybe so, but my curiosity was eating away at my insides, and I was desperate to know why it still hasn't healed completely.

"What are your scars from?" My eyes trailed down to the few others that littered his tanned skin, stopping just above his abdomen.

His body shifted onto its side, and I was carefully lowered onto the mattress and out of his reach. Cass rested his hand on the dip of my waist and used his other to hold his head up off the pillow.

  "Most of them came simply from training back at home. I would slip up once in a while and leave with scrapes from someone's claws or teeth, but it was nothing too serious."

  I swallowed and brushed my finger over the most prominent gash. "And this one?"

  His hand raised up to the large marking I had been focusing my touch on. "Raian and I were fighting to escape the attack on our territory, and a large group of wolves had us surrounded with titanium weapons."

  I could tell by the haunted look across his face that this was difficult for him to relive. Nevertheless, he continued on and cupped my hand in his, pressing it against his scar. "Titanium is to Lycans what Silver is to you wolves. It weakens us, and it is almost impossible to heal from." He let out a heavy breath and furrowed his full brows. "I was able to take out most of them, but one male struck me with his dagger as he went down, slicing open my chest and nearly killing me instantly."

  My stomach dropped the further into the story he got. His scar was large and appeared fresh, and I was grateful he was somehow able to survive such an attack. It's almost unheard of to recover from an injury with silver for us, the material seeping into our bloodstream and eventually stopping our heart.

  "Luckily, we were nearly out of the mountains and to a place we could lay low. I was able to carry myself to one of the caverns at the base of the eastern mountain before I collapsed, only to reawaken days later with Raian managing to keep us alive for the time being." His fingers tightened ever-so-slightly around mine, only to relax once he was able to get past the awful memory and return back to the present moment.

  I swallowed hard and darted my tongue out across my dry lips. "Is—Is that what he meant when he said saving you two came at a cost?" He nodded his head, letting his eyes fall to the empty space of the bed between us.