Chapter 89

Sophia had no memory of what had happened after that, but she had regained consciousness on her bed at the base. Neil sat on the edge of it, right next to her and holding her hand. His face creased with worry, and a little bit of fear. Scott and Leo lounged in chairs they had drug into the room. She searched her memory and the only thing she could come up with was a vague recall of Neil yelling for help, and the scrambling of feet. He had been panicked, near to hysterical, like she had never heard before. Leo and Scott had panicked as well, but nowhere near hysteria, and that’s all she remembered. She moved her hand in his.

Neil jumped up.

“Guys,” he said loudly.

She heard them move but her eyes never left Neil. He knelt next to her bed, holding his hand in both of his and tears welled in his beautiful eyes. He let go with one hand and scrubbed it down his face. He looked awful, yet beautiful at the same time.

“Hey,” Leo said. “You’re all right.”

He leaned over the bed and kissed her quickly like he was embarrassed to show his big sister any affection.

“I’m glad,” he said awkwardly.

Sophia smiled. Her little brother was becoming a little man before her very eyes and trying to traverse the windy path of how a man acts versus how a boy acts. Scott moved into her line of vision.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Scott leaned his knuckles on the bed and leaned over her. His brows were wrinkled in confusion.

“For what?”

“Pressure points.”

A huge smile crossed his face. “That’s my girl. They came in handy, huh?”

“And SING.”

Scott chuckled. “I always knew you could be a great student if you only applied yourself.”

Sophia rolled her eyes.

“Come on, Leo, we have a video game waiting.”

“Sis,” Leo said.

Sophia shifted her eyes to his.

“Love you.” Leo hightailed it after the room before she could even respond. Scott quietly laughed and followed him out.

Sophia watched Neil. His head was bent over their joined hands.

“Neil,” she said softly.

He didn’t answer but she could have sworn she felt a tiny pebble of water drop onto her hand. “Neil,” she said again.

Neil lifted his head and stared at her. Silent tears slowly rolled down his cheeks.

“I’m okay.”

“I thought I lost you. I didn’t think you were going to make it.” He choked out the words.

Sophia tried to sit up but winced when she felt a stabbing pain.

“But I’m okay now.”

Neil got up and let go of her hand. He grabbed a pillow and piled it behind her head so that she was more comfortable.

“I can’t...I can’t forget.” He closed his eyes. “I will never forget seeing the life seep out of you and being helpless to stop it. I prayed. I prayed to the goddess; I begged your mother to help. I made promises.”

“Come here,” she said as she patted the space next to her one the bed.

He paled and shook his head. “You shouldn’t be jostled.”

“I’m okay, now come here. I want you here, with me.”

Neil moved to the other side of the bed and very carefully, moving so slowly he barely moved and eventually completed the slide into the bed next to her. She forced herself to bite back the pain while she shifted so her head rested on his chest. She could feel his heart thump against her cheek and the rise and fall as he breathed. He lowered his arm, so he was holding her.

“You saved my life.”

“I didn’t get there soon enough.”

“You did.”

“No, I didn’t. If I had, you wouldn’t be here like this now.”

“Neil, it’s unlike you to be overdramatic.”

“You can say that because you didn’t see. You didn’t see all the color drain from your face, and your throat gurgled as you struggled to breathe, blood seeping out of you. You didn’t see.”

“No, I didn’t see, and I could probably have gone without that play by play.”

Realizing that he described her descent into what he had thought would be her death to her, he locked his jaw. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, but someday I’ll tell you second by second the day you feel through the door at the apartment, bloody, beaten and I thought for sure dying.”

After a beat of silence, she continued. “I thought I was losing you too.”

“Soph, I can’t lose you. I can’t ever lose you.”

“You won’t.”

She felt his breath hitch and his chest shudder. She knew he was holding back tears again.

They lay like that in silence, him holding her while his chest heaved with unshed tears, though some escaped his tight rein on his emotions and rolled down his face.

He leaned his head forward and kissed the top of her head.

“If I’d have lost you, I wouldn’t have been able to stand it. You’re the other half of me.”

Sophia forced herself off his chest and turned so she could look at him. It hurt like hell, but she didn’t feel it for long, because the look in his eyes made her heart stutter and the room spin for a minute. She’s never seen his eyes like that before. That deep, that intense. He took her face into his hands like he always did. She never felt so cherished as she did when his gentle fingers grazed her cheeks. His breath hitched again, and he bent his head to lay a gentle kiss on her lips. His lips a hair’s breadth away from hers, he exhaled slowly.

“I love you,” he said so tenderly, so quietly that the full flurry of butterflies let loose in her stomach.

She pulled her head back and looked him in the eyes.

“Say it again,” she said softly.

His eyes locked on hers, his every emotion pouring out of them into her soul.

“Sophia, I love you. I love you with everything I have to give. I love you...I’m in love with you.”

Tears sprang to her eyes, and she bit her bottom lip for a fraction of a second, but it was long enough to see a moment of fear cross his eyes.

“I love you too...I’m in love with you. I have been since the first time I saw you in my dreams, and the man that you are, all that you are, only made me fall deeper in love with you.”

He let out a breath neither of them had realized he’d been holding. He pressed his forehead against hers and she could feel him smile.

“You love me.”

“I do, and you love me.” She said, with a smile of her own.

“Forever, baby.”

She didn’t respond because his lips descended on hers with so much love her heart was bursting.

They fell asleep, him holding her cradled in his arms with her head on his chest. Their hearts beat in a matching cadence that only those whose hearts are entwined, and souls intrinsically connected could ever reach.

The next few days, Neil coddled her, but she accepted it because she knew he needed it, and because she relished every time he whispered to her that he loved her. She held onto every caress, every time he called her baby, or his and just when she didn’t think she could love him more than she already did, he told her that on the anniversary of when they met, he wanted to have a mating ceremony. They weren’t necessary. Mates were mates, blessed by the powers above them, and she knew how much they loved each other, but him wanting to have the ceremony, to let everyone know that they were more than just mates, that she was the other half of his heart, that let everyone know that their love was true and unbreakable.

They ventured out and rejoined civilization and she nurtured her and Leo’s closeness as if it was as delicate as a newborn baby bunny. Scott seemed to have taken to her little brother and he let him follow him around all day long, patiently explaining things to him and lecturing him about getting an education. Sophia couldn’t help but laugh, and Neil joined her at Scott’s expense.

On the night of the crescent moon, with the tiny beam of light shining down into the yard of the headquarters, they were all summoned. Sophia didn’t worry, but she was curious as to what the old council wanted. She bit down on her feelings of resentment for how they had treated her in the past. Most of them had expressed their sincerest apologies and have treated her with nothing but respect and kindness. When the four of them arrived they were greeted heartily, as if they were all the closest of friends. Neil raised an eyebrow at her in question and she shrugged her shoulders.

One of the males cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Yes, yes,” he twittered. “We asked you here today to make an announcement. One we hope you won’t have an issue with.”

Neil noticed everyone looking at Sophia and he pulled her back against his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

“And that is?” Scott asked, not one to dance around the point.

“We...,” he swiped the back of his hand across his brow before continuing. “Well, given Leo’s young age, we, the council, that is, decided that we will elect a new Alpha during the next full moon.”

Sophia searched Leo’s eyes to see how he felt about this. If he wanted to fight for his position to be held, she would fight for him. He didn’t seem to care at all, so she said nothing.

“We don’t want to offend anyone,” the male said.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Sophia said, speaking for her and Neil. A collective exhale of relief could be heard from the other councilmen.

Sophia turned everyone out, not really caring about the finer details of how the election went when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head to the left, the back of it still resting against Neil’s chest. In the corner by the hedges, squatting low to the ground was Benson. She looked sinister, evil. And sneaky. Sophia didn’t like it, but she let her eyes follow Benson’s line of vision. She was zeroed on Scott. Sophia watched her watching Scott. Sophia jumped when her eyes shifted faster than a firefly’s blinking light so that she stared at Sophia. She grinned wickedly and her mouth opened like she was cackling like a witch. She winked at Sophia then disappeared into the night.