**SORRY BUT ANOTHER SUPER IMPORTANT A/N AT THE END!!
Chapter 23
Walking through the doorway of the house, I was spun and crashed against Hayden's muscular chest. His chin rested on my head and he moved so that his lips were pressed against my hair, "Thank you so much."
"For what?" I question.
He took a step back, shaking his head, "You could've left, could have been free of me and all my baggage, but you chose to stay with me. Why?"
I smiled wide, with my eyes crinkling for the first time in a while, "I said I'd choose you, didn't I?"
"So you'll give me a second chance?" He questioned, his eyes vulnerable.
He looked so young and innocent. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul and I swear to you it's true because as I stared into his ocean blue eyes. He seemed as though he'd never done a bad thing in his life and nothing bad had ever happened to him. He was like a newborn baby, unfamiliar with the cruelty of the world.
How could I not give him a second chance?
I nodded, "Of course."
He lifted me up in his arms and I swear to you I've never felt this loved in a single moment ever in my life until now.
Giggling, I looked back up at him, my face flushed when he set me down.
"I need to tell you something," he said so suddenly with such seriousness that it honestly kind of scared me. "Come on."
He took my hand and I followed him up the stairs and back into his--our-- bedroom. He grabbed a wooden box that was about six inches wide and seven inches long with a small little golden latch holding it together. He lifted the latch, revealing a stack of pictures. The one on top was of two people, a man and a woman, staring lovingly into each other's eyes. A little boy, with brown hair and blue eyes stood beside them and a pink bundle of blankets was held by the woman.
I gasped softly, "Is this--?"
"My parents, Olivia and I? Yeah," He nodded, smiling sadly at the image.
My heart broke in two as I stared at him and all of his brokenness.
Hayden spoke, "This picture was taken when Olivia was one month old, they were about to make the announcement of having a beautiful baby girl to the rest of the pack and the werewolf community that day. Instead, we were attacked by a group of rogues. It was a small group, but that didn't matter. They were strong and adroit and they went after the power first. They went after my parents."
His voice cracked and I sat closer to him, on my knees, placing a hand on his shoulder. He lifted up his hand to cover mine.
"When the rogues came, my mom handed me, a nine and a half year old boy, Olivia and told me to run and hide and never look back. I listened to her, except for the looking back part. I was standing in the doorway of the house when I did it and what I saw-- it's never left my mind.
I watched as a rogue, in human form, slit my mother's throat and four men held my father back. The second her knees hit the ground, my dad went into a frenzy, he killed all four of the rogues that held him back and I screamed.
He turned to me and shouted that I had to hide, protect Olivia. I swore that I would always keep her safe. And then a wolf tackled him out of nowhere. I panicked and I hid in the house, in the exact room where you hid when there was a rogue scare the first day you got here."
I sniffled a little and rested my head on his shoulder, "I'm so sorry."
Hayden wrapped his arm around me tightly, "Don't be, it's not your fault."
"I know, " I told him, "I just wish you didn't have to go through all that."
"You know I've never told anyone that story until now," he admits, looking down.
I raised his chin up with my fingers and held his gaze, "They say you're a bad person, that you're dark and cruel and evil. At first I believed them, but you've proved me wrong in every way possible."
He looked back down.
"You're not as bad as I made you out to be," I told him.
Suddenly I was lifted up and my legs wrapped around his waist. He slammed my back into the wall and pinned my hands up against my head, "Are you sure about that darling?"
His voice was deep and throaty and I felt a wave of lust wash over me.
Somehow, I managed to nod and whisper, "I'm positive."
His lips captured mind the second the words escaped my mouth, in a hungry and needy fashion. But then it slowed down into a smooth, passionate, tender kiss that stole my breath away-- literally and figuratively.
He pulled away from a minute and we were both panting, shocks flying around everywhere he touched me.
Our lips connected again and I couldn't help the soft moan that escaped mine. He growled and bit my lip, tugging on it before releasing it and pressing his lips on my jaw, leaving tickling flames on my skin as he worked his way down to the base of me neck.
His canines were out and he looked up to me, as if to ask permission. I nodded, and tilted me neck as a feeling of joy drowned me as his teeth pierced the skin of my neck, marking me as his.
~
a/n: SUPER IMPORTANT RIGHT HERE! Okay, so in news of the sequel, the name has been picked... "Hold Me Close" is the chosen title by all of you! Thanks so much for helping me choose! Now, you all get to choose another thing... THE COVER!
Please take a look at the included picture and vote for your favorite cover, 1, 2 or 3! I will also include my vote, but I won't announce it until everyone votes so I don't persuade anyone from their favorite. Thank you and please...
REMEMBER TO VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE COVER!
also, there is only one more chapter and the epilogue left... AH!!!
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Behind Enemy Lines
Lupi mannari"I don't trust you," I told him, refusing to go. He smirked, "You shouldn't." Arleigh Blackburn has always dreamed of the day she would meet her mate. She imagined he would be her knight in shining armor, smiling down at her with love in his ey...
