Asher
We got to the council and I waited for my warriors to ambush the guards at the gate. The longer we took, the more difficult it became for me to control my rage. I was growing impatient and I felt like I couldn’t make it to Kayla on time.
“Go, brother,” Robin shouted at me. “We will take care of everything here.”
I nodded and rushed into the council. I didn’t stop running until I reached the palace. The two guards at the entrance looked at me but they didn’t try to stop me. I guessed they thought I had just come to attend the wedding.
How very wrong of them.
I moved with a frantic urgency, my unsteady legs barely supporting me as I hurried through the palace corridor. My entire focus was on finding Kayla, on seeing her eyes and hearing her voice.
I followed the sounds, as I approached the partially open door, I feared what I might find, my heart almost jumping in my throat as I shoved the door open to the hall. The same place they’d gotten us married. All eyes turned to me at the intrusion and a collective gasp resounded through the surroundings. But I wasn’t paying attention to any of that. My focus was solely on Kayla and the man who was holding her hands. My rage began to stir, like a lone ember in the darkness. It tore through my body as I growled, and my senses struggled to make sense of the disorienting world around me. A throbbing ache resonated throughout my entire being, it felt as if I had been torn apart over and over again and reassembled, just to start again from scratch.
And then something exploded inside of me. It was like a deep caress on my mind, my body, and my soul. My heart was thudding frantically and I could hear the constant singing in my head.
Mate! Mate! Mate!
Had I heard right? My gaze flitted to the direction where the pull was coming from to confirm what I heard and make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.
Oh fuck!
It was her. It was Kayla. She was the reason why I no longer felt anything for Emily. Kayla was my mate. Not Emily.. At least not anymore. The day couldn’t get any better.
A loud possessive growl tore from inside me and shook the entire room. People cowered in fear and some looked like they were ready to pass out. It didn’t take me long to reach Kayla and as soon as I did, I ripped Alpha Logan away from her and he went flying into the crowd. There were many gasps and screams around us but I was only focused on my woman. My mate.
She was looking at me in shock like she couldn’t believe that I had actually done that. I dropped to my knees before her, not caring that I was in front of a crowd, not caring that my actions could possibly start a war between the council and Logan’s pack.
Kayla’s angelic face was framed by her dark long flowing hair that shimmered with the radiance of a thousand stars and her eyes a luminous oceanic blue, held the mysteries of the cosmos. The emotions that surged within me at her sight were impossible to describe. It was a blend of relief, a fragile flower in bloom, and a torrent of raw desire. Kayla was my world, my anchor to reality, my love, and my life.
“You asked me something and I have the answer for you. I should have told you this a long time ago and for that, I’m sorry.” I whispered.
I held her hips gently in my hands and stared into her beautiful eyes.”It’s you. You’re the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with. I love you, Kayla. I love you and will never stop loving you. I’ve wronged you but please give me a chance to prove myself worthy of your love again. Please, I need you more than life itself.”
I clutched her soft hand, my grip gentle yet trembling with the intensity of my emotions. My fingers brushed lightly over her skin, tracing the lines of her face, and I felt the softness of her lips under my trembling touch.
Tears streamed down her face, and with a voice like a gentle whisper of the wind, she said “I love you right back, Asher. You’re my knight in shining armor.”
The room seemed to brighten, and all the pain and anguish that had weighed me down lifted in an instant. It was as if the very air around me had become charged with an electric energy.
My heart fluttered wildly like a butterfly trapped in a glass jar as I lifted myself from the ground. My fingers tightened over Kayla’s soft hand and I pulled her closer in my arms.
I couldn’t contain the overwhelming surge of emotions that washed over me. My lips trembled as I kissed her cheek, tasting the salt of her tears. I held her hand to my chest, feeling the warmth of her touch, the reassurance of her presence. Words fell short of describing how euphoric I felt at the moment.
Pushing a few stray locks of hair aside, I placed a kiss on Kayla’s forehead and gently bent down to slowly kiss her lips. Suddenly I was overcome with a strong desire to claim her as my own. I needed everyone here to know that this woman was mine.
Kayla gasped as my teeth elongated and pierced the side of her neck, I licked up the blood that was dripping out from the effect of the marking. I felt myself grow hard, and all I wanted at the moment was to crush her lips with my kiss, tear out her clothes, and passionately devour her but I had to fight my wolf to remember that we were in front of a large crowd.
Finally, this was it. I had laid claim to her. I had marked her and forever bid her to me. My sweet Kayla Pendragon was now officially and forever mine.