I furrowed my brows with childish curiosity,
searching for the source of this treasure, until my gaze rested on a full tray placed carefully on the table.
My smile widened until it almost reached my ears, and I heard the "grumble" of my hungry stomach, which betrayed my neglect of my meals due to being immersed in work.
I sat down and began to eat with overwhelming enjoyment, my facial features expressing happiness with every bite, as if I were discovering the taste of life anew.
As soon as I finished, I grabbed my coffee cup—my constant sanctuary—and headed to the backyard of the palace.
I closed my eyes as I welcomed the fresh air that began to gently caress my face.
I felt my hair strands dancing freely with the breeze, which drew a calm and reassuring smile on my lips.
This air is all I need to clear my mind.
I thought about visiting Zoe, but the maid stopped me politely, informing me of her desire for solitude. I felt a pang of worry and pity for her, but I respected her wish.
"Since today is my day off, I'll make the most of it."
I said to myself with features that began to turn toward seriousness.
I ordered one of the maids to bring the papers and paperwork from the office, and as soon as they arrived, my features changed completely.
The smile vanished and was replaced by sharp focus; I knitted my brows slightly as I examined the lines, and began working with absolute seriousness, the pen moving regularly in my hand, turning the moment of relaxation into an unceasing workshop.
I was so immersed in work that I lost touch with my surroundings; as soon as I raised my head and looked toward the sky, my eyes widened in shock.
"Time has passed so quickly!"
I muttered in astonishment, as the sun began to gather its rays, signaling sunset.
While I was hastily gathering the papers, I asked myself bitterly:
"Where is Nate?"
My questions had barely ended when thick black smoke enveloped the place, and I froze in place.
I looked around with alert features and sharp, hawk-like eyes, preparing for any treacherous movement.
I felt the aura surrounding me; it wasn't Nate's confident aura, but rather Max's aura, full of turbulence.
"You finally came."
I said it to myself as the smoke cleared to reveal his sharp features, as cold as ice.
He stood far from me, we stared at each other with deadly coldness without a single word. I broke the silence with a tone dripping with boredom, and an expression of indifference formed on my face:
"You finally arrived, Mr. Max, you kept me waiting for a long time."
I saw his jaw tighten strongly, and the veins in his neck bulging from intense agitation.
He said with a single decisive word that shook the surroundings:
"Where is she?"
I ignored his question completely, maintaining the calmness of my provocative features:
"I hope you made the right decision."
At that moment, I saw his grip tighten until his knuckles turned white, and he shot deadly sparks from his eyes toward me.
I returned his gaze steadily, and said to myself with bitter mockery:
"What did I do to deserve 'psycho' people like these in my life?"
I called one of the maids and ordered her to bring Zoe, even if it required using force.
When Max tried to follow her with angry steps, I moved at lightning speed and created a barrier of raging fire in front of him, the flames reflecting the glow of anger in my eyes.
I said sharply, with a booming voice that shook his very being:
"Know your limits, Max! You won't enter before knowing your decision."
I saw him close his eyes tightly, throwing his hair back with a hellish anger that made my heart contract for a moment; he resembled Nate in his anger in a terrifying way. I looked at him with suppressed pity and said to myself:
"Poor Zoe... you've fallen into a trap similar to the one I'm suffering from."
My tense wait didn't last long, as the maid broke the silence by rushing toward me, her breathing ragged and her face pale as the dead.
She said with panic invading every cell of her features:
"Luna... we didn't find Miss Zoe in her room, and the window was open!"
"Whaaaat?!"
I screamed in astonishment that shook my being, and I felt a sudden coldness creeping into my limbs.
I turned toward Max, who was petrified in his place, his eyes wide in a desperate attempt to grasp the disaster.
At that moment, I lost control completely; my aura rose madly to the point that the air around me began to churn, and I rushed toward him like a hurricane.
I grabbed his shirt with all my strength, pulling him toward me until our angry breaths met.
My features were terrifying, my eyes glowing with a fiery red flame as I gritted my teeth with a threat dripping with poison:
"This is all because of you! I swear... I swear if any harm comes to her, I will pluck off this head of yours, and I won't care whether you are my mate's brother or not!"
Max's features instantly changed from astonishment to attack; he no longer saw anything before him except the threat surrounding his mate.
He gripped my hands tightly, which hurt me, and pushed me away from him violently, while his eyes turned a deep crimson—his wolf had completely taken over his senses.
He didn't utter a word, but darted off at a crazy speed, breaking the sound barrier toward the forest, driven by the instinct of search and rescue.
I didn't hesitate for a second, and launched behind him at a speed no less than his.
My features reflected deadly anxiety, and my heart beat violently in my chest.
"Please be well, Zoe."
I repeated it to myself in secret with desperate prayers, while fear gnawed at me from the thought that she might cross the kingdom's borders and become an easy prey for strangers or worse.
We met again at the edge of the deep forest, and as soon as my gaze fell upon his empty hands, terror invaded my features and my eyes widened with panic that paralyzed my limbs.
"She has crossed the kingdom's borders!"
I screamed it, and I saw terror paint itself on Max's face like a pale mask; he realized completely that what lies beyond the borders are not just stray wolves, but ruthless savage beasts.
We set off at lightning speed, and I felt the air lash my face harshly as if warning us.
I asked him in a voice trembling from intense anxiety:
"Can you sense the bond between you?"
His voice came to me as cold as ice, but the tone of suppressed fear betrayed his breakdown:
"I tried... but I got nothing but emptiness."
Damn it! "This is not good at all," I muttered bitterly as I felt my heart contract, for emptiness is the worst thing a mate can face.
We kept hovering in the place desperately, tearing apart every beast that crossed our path with wild fury, until my nose suddenly caught a familiar metallic scent... the scent of blood.
I froze in place as if a thunderbolt had struck me, and the breath trapped in my chest.
Max stared at me in surprise that didn't last long, for his facial features quickly changed and his strength collapsed when he smelled the scent too.
My hands were trembling with a violence I couldn't suppress; I know this blood very well, it is Zoe's blood.
My tears fell in a burning, silent stream down my cheeks as I stared at him with eyes filled with grief.
I saw him shake his head madly, his pupils wide with astonishment, denying the horrifying truth that crossed his mind, as if begging the earth to split open and swallow him before he saw what we feared.
We tracked the source of the scent madly, our hearts outpacing our feet, until we froze in our places as if we had become pieces of ice.
I saw her... she was lying weakly, a deep wound in her abdomen shedding her blood which wouldn't stop bleeding to stain the earth beneath her.
I rushed toward her, threw myself beside her, and called her in a broken voice, trembling from intense crying:
"Please Zoe... don't leave me!"
As for Max, he stepped forward with dead steps, knelt on the ground in a collapse, and began to cup her pale face which had abandoned the color of life.
He was panting heavily like a drowning man, and screaming madly that tore the silence of the forest:
"No... no, it won't happen again! I won't allow you to leave me... I won't allow it!"
He hugged her to his chest tightly as if trying to pump life from his body into hers.
I looked at the wound; it was frighteningly deep, and I knew for certain she wouldn't reach the palace alive.
I called "Minerva" with a burning heart, but she ignored me with a coldness that killed me.
Suddenly, Cira's voice cut through the silence of my mind:
"You can heal her, Cira."
My eyes widened in astonishment, and surprise formed on my face:
"How? I don't possess this ability!"
She told me she had been hiding it from me to protect me, and that the price would be high because my injured shoulder hasn't healed, and the poison still resides in my veins.
I didn't give her a chance to finish; I knitted my brows sternly and my features spoke before my tongue:
"My friend's life is at stake... I won't care about my life, I will sacrifice everything for her!"
I asked her eagerly:
"How? Tell me quickly!"
I felt her resigned sigh in the depths of me as she said:
"Put your hand over the wound and release your power."
I didn't wait a single second; I cut my connection with her, and looked at the collapsed Max whose face was covered in tears and dirt, and told him in a firm voice despite its tremor:
"Put her here... I can help her reach safely, and there they will take care of the rest."
Max stared at me with lethal hesitation, his features a canvas of terror; I saw in his eyes a primitive fear that leaving her means losing her forever.
"Fool!"
I screamed it inside me, for this paralysis of his will surely kill her. And after a bitter struggle with his shock, he finally yielded to my request and placed her on the ground between my trembling hands.
I placed my palm directly over her deep wound, and felt the warmth of her blood staining my hand crimson.
I took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly as I closed my eyes, throwing every drop of focus into my depths.
Suddenly, a sparkling golden ray burst from between my fingers, beginning to permeate Zoe's body like threads of light.
I saw her veins glowing with a dazzling golden color as they absorbed my energy, and the torn flesh began to heal before my eyes bit by bit.
But the price was exorbitant; at that moment, my face contracted in a grimace of hellish pain. I felt the poison in my shoulder boiling like volcanic lava, as if my limbs were being torn away from their place slowly.
I gritted my teeth hard until I almost shattered them, and cold sweat poured profusely from my forehead, but I didn't budge an inch, determined to grant her my heartbeats if necessary.
As for Max, he was watching the scene with astonishment that paralyzed his senses. I saw him kneeling beside us, his eyes wide open, reflecting the gleam of the golden ray emanating from my hand.
His features oscillated between absolute shock at seeing my power and the desperate hope that began to shine in his reddened eyes.He watched his mate's wound heal with a strange sacredness, then shifted his gaze to me, seeing the marks of suffering and tearing on my face.
I noticed his lips trembling, as if he wanted to say something or thank me, but his tongue was frozen from the magnitude of what he saw.
He looked at me as if I were the last lifeline in an ocean of darkness, and at the same time, guilt washed over him as he saw my body collapsing in exchange for saving his mate, whose injury he had caused.
The golden ray finally extinguished as the wound healed, and darkness blanketed the place once again, save for our ragged breaths.
Despite the successful healing, Zoe was still in critical condition, pale from losing a staggering amount of blood.
At that moment, the bonds of my strength snapped and I collapsed onto the hard earth, panting wildly, trying to catch the oxygen particles that seemed to be escaping from my lungs, while my limbs shook with an uncontrollable violence.
I placed my trembling hand over my heart, which felt as though it was being ripped apart by sharp, poisoned knives; it wasn't just pain, it was the uprooting of my soul from its roots.
I couldn't bear it any longer, and a painful scream escaped me, tearing the cold silence of the forest.
Max stepped toward me with unsteady steps after being reassured that his mate's condition had stabilized.
To my utter surprise, which was etched on my withered face, his tone carried shadows of genuine concern:
"Cira... are you alright?"
I tried to nod my head to reassure him, but my body utterly betrayed me; a violent fit of coughing interrupted me, ending in a bout of dark blood that stained the earth before me.
Max's eyes widened in panic, and he brought his face close to mine, saying quickly:
"No... you are definitely not alright!"
I ignored his warning words and tightly closed my eyes, trying to suppress the screams of pain that were about to burst forth anew.
At that critical moment, I felt a sudden, cool surge of Minerva's power; she had begun supporting me with her strength temporarily to grant my exhausted body the ability to stand once more.
Her intervention was a lifeline for both me and Zoe, ensuring our safe return to the kingdom and preventing the sacrifice and life I gave to save my friend from going to waste.
Firm features formed on my face despite the paleness, drawing determination from Minerva's power to rise one last time.
I gathered the scattered pieces of my being with extreme difficulty, leaning with all my weight against a rough tree trunk nearby; without it, I would have fallen right back to the ground.
I closed my eyes tightly, trying to fight off the damned dizziness and get used to the sudden standing that made the earth spin beneath me.
Suddenly, a strange shiver swept through my body, a warm and powerful energy beginning to flow through my veins like calm lava.
It wasn't Minerva's consumed energy, but rather a very familiar energy... resembling Nate's in its power and density.
I opened my eyes with clear shock, and saw Max extending his hand toward me in silence, granting me a portion of his vital energy to restore my collapsed body.
He furrowed his brows with feigned coldness when he saw the looks of astonishment wrapping around my features, and said in a dry tone while tightening his grip on Zoe, whom he carried in his arms:
"This is to thank you for saving my mate... nothing more."
"Good grief, this man is truly eccentric!"
I muttered to myself.
But my astonishment quickly vanished, replaced by a dormant, warm smile; I had touched a rare sincerity behind those icy walls he builds around himself.
I looked at him with eyes filled with exhaustion and wisdom, and said to him calmly:
"I know there is a good person inside you... and a good man too. We all make mistakes, and what matters is that we learn from our mistakes... isn't that right, Max?"
The moment those words left my lips, I saw his features instantly sharpen in displeasure; his jaw tightened and he turned his face away from my gaze, trying to escape that truth I had uncovered.
"Have it your way."
He said it with desperate coldness as he stepped forward briskly, as if my words had struck him fatally, attempting to hide his confusion behind a mask of strength and indifference once more.
"Wait a moment."
I said it in a husky voice while trying to steady my trembling feet.
Max stopped and turned toward me, his gaze a sharp mixture of wonder and astonishment; he seemed to wonder why we were stopping at this critical time.
I began scouring the place with my exhausted eyes in search of a suitable energetic anchor point, until I said with broken confidence:
"Here."
I raised my hands, stained with Zoe's blood, and began concentrating what remained of the breath of my life. At that moment, Max's features shifted from astonishment to absolute shock and wonder that paralyzed his senses.
Before his very eyes, the portal began to form in a magical way unlike anything he had ever seen; it was like a cut-out hole from the depths of space, glowing with two enchanting colors: emerald green and light blue, blending stunningly with glittering points resembling distant stars.
What made the scene even more sacred was that it was surrounded by crystal tree branches that sprouted from nowhere to fence the passage.
The sight was beyond description, and its glow reflected upon my pale face and his wide eyes.
"Let's cross quickly... I don't have the energy to keep it open."
I said it with obvious panting, cold sweat covering my forehead. Max finally snapped out of his deep trance, and cast a look of appreciation mixed with fear for my condition.
He stepped forward cautiously while carrying Zoe, while I followed him, swaying like a drunkard; the earth was spinning beneath me, and with every step, I felt as though I were stepping on embers.
As soon as we crossed to the other side, the familiar breeze of the palace garden welcomed us.
At that moment, the portal suddenly vanished behind us, leaving behind glittering magical dust that blew in the air like diamond particles, signaling the end of that journey.
I collapsed onto my knees as soon as the portal closed, my features suggesting lethal exhaustion.
I thought of my hands, whose glow was beginning to fade, and felt a strange relief despite the pain; the mission was accomplished, and Zoe was now within the walls of safety.
Upon our sudden appearance, the guards rushed toward us like madmen, their long claws bared with deadly threat and their eyes blazing with ferocity.
I caught sight of Arien stepping forward cautiously and tensely, analyzing the situation with falcon-like eyes.
I said to him in a faint voice, barely escaping my dry throat like the rustle of autumn leaves:
"Not an enemy, Arien... Zoe is injured, you must take her for examination immediately... trust me."
I paused to catch ragged breaths, feeling my lungs burn.
I pointed toward Max while staring into Arien's eyes with desperate sincerity:
"He has raised the white flag... he is on our side now."
I saw Max's features contract with obvious annoyance; it wounded his pride for me to speak on his behalf and declare his surrender, but he remained silent for Zoe's sake.
As for Arien, his features were like stone; my tone did not soften his heart, but rather the sharpness of his gaze increased as if he were expecting betrayal at any moment.
At that moment, I saw Nate and Klaus advancing with frantic haste. Their eyes were like raging volcanoes about to erupt, and fury radiated from them to the point that the air around them became heavy and suffocating.
The anger was clearly directed at Max, as if they were about to tear him apart before he could utter a word. Here, I made my decision.
I pressed on my internal wound with all my might, and straightened up slowly and with artificial calm.
I braced my back and hid the tremor in my limbs, trying to paint cold and steady features on my pale face.
I was fighting the collapse gnawing at me, for the last thing I wanted was for Nate to see my fatigue and tie it to Max's presence, making him think Max hurt him and killing him in a fit of rage.
I stood there like a marble statue, my eyes fixed on Nate with a silent warning gaze, even though every cell in my body was screaming for rest and to fall to the ground.
Nate stood like a statue of glowing embers, aiming his gaze—which resembled poisoned arrows—toward Max, to the point that he didn't initially notice the collapse consuming me.
I felt a bitter relief for seconds, but my heart began to pound in my chest with hellish pain due to my exaggerated pressure on myself. I tasted blood in my throat and felt an urge to vomit, so I told myself desperately:
"Not now, Cira... damn it, pull yourself together!"
When Max stared at me with a lingering, pitying gaze, Nate's eyes shifted toward me like a thunderbolt.
The moment his sight fell upon me, I saw his features harden in a terrifying way; he noticed everything: the paleness of my dead face, and the tremor of my limbs that I had desperately tried to hide behind my back.
His features suddenly constricted with violent anxiety, and he approached me with shaky steps, saying in a muffled voice:
"Why is your face so pale?"
Then he turned toward Max like a savage beast, gritting his teeth hard until the veins in his neck bulged, and asked in a voice emerging from the depths of hell:
"Did he do something to you? Did he hurt you?"
I shook my head while fighting off unconsciousness, and recounted the truth to him in broken words as if they were emerging from a wound:
"Zoe escaped... we searched beyond the borders... she was injured... I gave her all my energy... I am exhausted."
I couldn't finish my sentence; a violent coughing fit seized my weak body, and then the valve I had been suppressing burst.
I vomited dark blood that stained his clothes, and at that moment I felt my heart contract with a thousand knives.
I let out a muffled, agonizing scream as my strength completely collapsed and the earth spun beneath me.
I felt his strong arms wrap around me like a lifeline, preventing me from crashing to the ground.
His features at that moment were the embodiment of sheer terror; I saw his eyes widen with a shock I had never witnessed before, and his jaw tremble from the horror of seeing my blood on his clothes.
His voice erupted in a scream that shook the surroundings, a scream mixed with panic and desperate fury, as he called my name in a tone dripping with pain and fear of losing me.
His agitation was so violent that I felt his aura churn and rise around me, trying to pump life into me through his tight grip on my collapsed body.
His heart was beating with insane violence beneath my palm, as if his soul was withdrawing along with mine in that dark moment.
I was fighting a fierce battle with my eyelids, which had become like leaden doors, struggling hard to keep my eyes open even for a tiny slit; I didn't want to pass out and leave Nate in that state of panic.
I painted a faint, tender smile on my pale lips, and tried to whisper his name in a broken voice:
"I... a..."
He interrupted me sharply, tinged with fear, placing his finger on my lips with a trembling movement:
"Shh... don't speak."
He lifted my numb body lightly as if I were a feather, and dashed off with me toward the royal laboratory.
I leaned against his broad chest, feeling his violent vibration; those vibrations were merely a reflection of his heart beating like drums from the intensity of disturbance and anxiety over me.
He kept whispering in my ear constantly, continuous words urging me to stay awake, his tone carrying a hidden plea I wasn't used to.
Upon our arrival, Zoe and I were placed on medical beds, and medical teams swooped down on us in a frantic movement.
Nate paced the room back and forth with heavy steps, his features grim and his eyes blazing with raging fires; he was like a caged tiger, distributing his gaze between the medical equipment and the door, and his high blood pressure began to affect the air in the room to the point of suffocation.
As for Max, he stood in the corner of the room, arms crossed over his chest with stiffness suggesting arrogance despite the difficult situation.
His features exuded annoyance and repulsion; the guards surrounded him from every side, their claws bared and pointed toward him as if he were a beast about to tear everyone apart.
His eyes shifted sharply between the resting Zoe and the guards, his jaw clenched tightly in expression of his wounded pride that refused to show weakness or worry, even though the slight tremor of his chin betrayed his hidden fear for his mate.
I shifted my gaze with extreme difficulty toward Zoe; I saw blood bags and IV drips flowing into her pale veins, and a faint expression of relief formed on my withered face.
"She survived..."
I muttered it inside my heart, feeling a heaviness pull my eyelids downward, so I surrendered to the blackness and closed my eyes, searching for nothingness.
Suddenly, I felt a light slap on my cheek and a ringing in my ear; the royal physician was staring at me with a face full of confusion and panic.
I heard him say in a firm tone:
"Don't close your eyes before we finish, Luna! Listen to me, stay with me!"
I opened my eyes with extreme difficulty, as if lifting heavy weights over my eyelids, and nodded to him very slowly.
I saw a new medical team wearing imposing black clothes surrounding me like mysterious shadows.
They raised their hands over my body and began murmuring incomprehensible words in a low and steady voice.
Suddenly, an overwhelming energy emanated from their palms, permeating my pores, and I felt a refreshing coolness running through my battered veins, as if they were repairing my shattered soul piece by piece.
Despite the power of the energy washing over me, I fiercely resisted closing my eyelids; my resistance wasn't due to the doctor's orders, but rather my desire to cling to Nate's face close to me.
I saw Nate as I had never seen him before; his face was a canvas of disturbance and turmoil.
His eyes, which were always a source of power and dominance, shone with a broken gleam, tracking my facial movements with terrifying precision.
I saw him clenching his jaw so hard the veins in his neck bulged, as if trying to suppress a scream or a desperate growl of anger.
His features contracted with every moan escaping me, and his hand holding mine trembled unusually, pressing gently as if trying to pump his life into my body.
He stared at me with a pleading gaze, a gaze telling me that his throne and kingdom were worth nothing if I left now.
This weakness in the "King's" eyes was more painful than the poison coursing through my body, which was what drove me to continue staring at him, drawing strength from his panic and anxiety to stay awake.
The doctors finally finished after what felt like an eternity. I felt a cool wave of relief invade my being, and the hellish pain gradually withdrew from my heart and body, leaving behind a delicious lethargy.
As soon as they moved away from me, Nate was the first to reach me; he didn't hesitate to cup my face in his warm palms, and pressed a long, deep kiss upon my forehead, with which I felt my soul return to its place.
I smiled faintly and sincerely at his gesture overflowing with love, but I gathered my strength and looked deep into his eyes, whispering:
"Forgive him, Nate... he is your brother."
The moment the words left my lips, I saw his features instantly transform; his face contracted with clear annoyance, and his eyes narrowed sharply, as if mentioning Max at that moment was the last thing he wanted to hear.
To prevent his anger from exploding and change the charged atmosphere, I said to him in a soft tone:
"Take me to our room, Nate... I don't want to stay here."
I saw objection forming in his eyes, and he opened his mouth to express his worry about leaving the lab, but I cast a pleading gaze at him, a gaze overflowing with weakness and the desire for safety in his arms, which stopped all his words.
He sighed in surrender, and bent down to lift me in his arms as if I were his most precious treasure. Before he crossed the threshold of the door, he issued a firm royal command to the guards to release Max and back away from him.
As soon as the claws and swords retreated, I saw Max dash with rapid and unsteady steps toward Zoe's bed.
Marks of worry were gnawing at his face, and his eyes saw no one else; the mask of coldness had vanished, replaced by the panic of a true mate.
I smiled lightly despite the lethargy of my body as I watched his sight; my sacrifice was worth this change in his harsh features, and I realized that the seeds of goodness I had planted in his heart were finally beginning to grow.
♧♧♧♧♧♧♧♧
Nate placed me on the bed with excessive gentleness, as if I were a piece of porcelain he feared would shatter.
I watched him with hazy eyes as he headed with quick steps toward the closet, where he replaced his blood-stained clothes with clean ones, then returned carrying a long cotton nightshirt reaching my knees.
He said in a calm and decisive tone:
"I will help you change your clothes."
As soon as I heard his words, sudden heat invaded my cheeks despite my paleness, and I grumbled inwardly with extreme embarrassment.
I tried to raise my hand in objection, but my body was completely numb, possessing nothing to do but obey.
My heartbeats accelerated with innate feminine shyness, and I cast my gaze away, biting my lower lip as I felt his warm fingers begin to undo the buttons of my soiled clothes very slowly.
Nate began changing my clothes, and here what made my heart beat in a different way happened.
He avoided looking at my body entirely in a noble manner that reflected the extent of his respect for me; his eyes were fixed solely on my eyes, drowning me in intense gazes demanding my calm.
And with every piece he removed or dressed me in, his features were serious and focused, his brows knitted gently as if he were accomplishing the most sacred mission of his life.
His hands touched my skin with extreme caution, and as soon as he felt my body tremble from cold or shyness, he whispered reassuring words in a rich, velvety voice:
"Stay with me, Cira... look at me only, it's alright."
He surrounded me with an aura of safety that made the shyness retreat slightly before the sincerity of his feelings and their purity.
Before his insistence on looking only into my eyes, I completely surrendered. I began staring into his gray irises reflecting the dim light of the room, and felt that my soul was more naked before him than my body.
The sharpness of confusion faded, replaced by a deep sense of gratitude; his appearance as he tried with all his might to curb his instinct and avoid embarrassing me only elevated his standing in my heart.
When he finished and buttoned the long shirt around my neck, I sighed with deep relief, and a shy yet grateful smile formed on my face.
I looked at him with sleep-filled eyes, realizing that I was in the hands of a man who knows how to protect my dignity as much as he protects my life.
Nate lay down beside me quietly, making the bed tremble gently, then pulled my exhausted body to enclose me against his broad chest.
At that moment, I felt as though I had returned home; his familiar and distinct scent overwhelmed me, piercing my senses and numbing whatever pain remained.
His chest beat with a regular rhythm that inspired serenity, as if his heart were singing to mine the melody of survival.
In the darkness of the room, and with the slight light trickling in to draw quiet shadows on our features, I felt him approach my ear.
His hot breath touched my skin, sending a delicious chill running through my entire body, alerting my tired nerves with a touch of excitement and safety all at once.
He whispered in his velvety voice carrying a tone of tenderness:
"And now... you can sleep, my dear."
His words served as the official permission for my soul to surrender, and my body yielded to him immediately as I began to sink into the depths of sleep.
However, before I detached from reality completely, a sudden childish fear possessed me that I might wake up and not find him, or that the nightmare might return.
I exerted the last drop of consciousness I had, and said in a whisper barely audible, my voice trembling from the intensity of sleepiness and fatigue:
"Don't leave me, Nate..."
My facial features at that moment reflected extreme weakness and a desperate need to stay in his embrace.
I felt his arms tighten around me more, as if he were answering my request with a silent vow he would never break.
A faint, reassuring smile formed on my lips, and I closed my eyes completely, absent from existence in the embrace of the man who represents the entire world to me.