Chapter Fifty Seven

My eyes welled up with tears. “But we finally just met,” I said holding back the tears. 

“This saddens me as well, dear girl. I wish things had been different and I was able to stay with you. But I cannot. The gift I give you will be a physical one and it will help you to be strong by your mate’s side. But please never lose sight of your first gift. It is the one you should cherish most. Always.”

The soft light around me began to dim. The wolf in front of me began to dissipate. “Wait, Clemencia, what is happening.”

“Goodbye dear Azalea, It has been a pleasure,” her voice faded away and darkness overtook me once more. 

Liam

I paced back and forth across my bedroom floor as my uncle examined Azalea. As soon as my teeth pierced her skin, she screamed. The sound was absolutely heart wrenching and far worse than I had expected it to be. Before I could even lick the wounds to seal them, her head fell back, and she was gone. Her entire body was limp underneath me and I could not wake her. I tried for at least 5 minutes before calling my uncle. He had come immediately.

“Well?” I asked impatiently.

He looked at me sideways. “I cannot explain why she fainted once you marked her. Her pulse is normal, her breathing is normal, there are no signs of significant danger that I can find,” he said.

“So how long is she going to be out? How do we wake her up?” I almost yelled.

“Calm down. I think this is something unexplained by medicine, nephew. I do not know when she will wake up. I think we must let her wake up on her own.”

“No, I just got her back!” I was breathing heavy now. Every part of me was anxious that I hurt her by marking her.

My uncle stood and came close to me. I could feel Gavin slipping closer to the surface. He placed his hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes. “You did not do this to her. This is not your fault,” he said calmly. “From where I stand, you are saving this girl piece by piece. Just be here for her, love her how she needs. One day, she will be whole, and I think you are the only one that can help her get there.”

I stared at him blankly. He gave me a tight smile before dropping his arm and leaving the room.

“Gavin, what do I do?”

No answer came. What was going on? I felt him but he was not responding to me. I sighed. It was hard to accept my uncle’s words after all that has happened between us. It feels like every ounce of Azalea’s pain has been caused by me. How can I piece her back together if I keep tearing her apart?

-

It has been 2 agonizing days since I marked her. She has not moved an inch. And I have not moved from her side. Gavin still is not speaking to me, leaving me to wallow in my own thoughts. I’ve dozed off a couple times, never sleeping for more than an hour. I would always wake up with this strange feeling and frantically realize what happened.

Damien has come in a few times, trying to lull me away from her. I just cannot do it. I cannot leave her side. Alpha Isaac has continually requested an audience with me, and Damien has thankfully pushed him off.

My chest hurts; I haven’t been able to breathe properly for two days now. I got her back, she accepted me, and just like that I lost her again. I rubbed my hands over my face trying to scrub away anxiety, fear, and exhaustion. I just needed her to open her eyes. I needed to know she was okay.

“Liam,” a soft angelic voice floated into my ears. My head snapped up; my eyes locked onto hers. A smile played across her lips.

“Baby, you’re awake,” I said in disbelief. I reached forward, brushing her hair out of her face. She closed her eyes and leaned into my touch. I could not stop the panic. “No!” I said quickly. Her eyes shot back open. Her face now read confusion. “You can’t close your eyes again. You can’t leave me,” I said weakly.

“Liam, what’s wrong?” she asked quietly.

I took a deep breath. Every word out of her mouth was a breath of fresh air. “Azalea you have been out for two days…” I told her.

“No, what?” She asked. She sat up slowly trying to make sense of everything.

“I marked you and… and…” I was having trouble forming the words.

She reached out and placed her hand on my arm. “I’m okay Liam. I promise,” she said trying to soothe me. It was working. I could not take it any longer. I moved forward and pulled her into my arms, pulling her body close to mine. I sat on the bed bringing her into my lap. I buried my nose into her neck and just inhaled. “I’m okay,” she whispered over and over to me.

After a few minutes, I loosened my grip on her. She pulled away slightly and looked into my eyes. I grabbed her small face in my hands and kissed her soft lips. She kissed me back tenderly. I savored the feel of her mouth on mine, not wanting to ever let her go.

When we finally pulled apart, her gorgeous green orbs looked at me with concern. “Are you okay?” she asked quietly.

“I am now that you’re back,” I told her honestly. I needed to know so I asked her. “What happened? Where did you go?”

“I am not sure. But I met someone,” she said slowly.

“Met someone?”

“Yea. I met my wolf.”

“Azalea, what do you mean?”

She took a deep breath. “She’s gone now but we spoke. She explained some things and there are things that I need to tell both you and Gavin.”

“Baby, you’ve lost me here. What are you talking about?” I asked desperately, searching her eyes.

“Do you remember how Alpha Isaac said that my bloodline carries certain gifts?” I nodded at her. “My wolf came to me. She told me of the first gift she gave me and the second she was giving me before she left.”

“She left?”

A sad look came over her eyes. She looked down for a second, a tear escaping her eye. I wiped it away with my thumb, waiting for her to continue. She took a deep breath. “My wolf’s first gift to me was forgiveness and mercy. She said it would help me in my fate to be Luna. Somehow, she knew I would need it to help me forgive you. She gave me that gift when she first came to me. But because I was not physically strong enough, she could not stay with me forever. She held on long enough in there to give me a second gift. But she needed me to be marked to be strong enough to receive it.”

She looked up into my eyes like she was waiting for me to understand. I blinked a few times trying to grasp what she was telling me. “I don’t understand…”

“Gavin didn’t know it, but she was pushing you to mate and mark me. She said that she was responsible for what happened…” She paused for a minute. More tears fell from her eyes. “It wasn’t his fault Liam. It wasn’t your fault either. He was being pushed to insanity to mate and mark me. My wolf needed it to happen, so she didn’t have to hold on any longer.”

“So, you’re saying…”

“Yes,” she said softly. “It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t his fault.”

Azalea

“It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t his fault,” I told him. I looked into his eyes. There were so many emotions going across his face, I could not even begin to know what he was thinking. “Liam, say something…”

He nodded his head. “I… I don’t… It wasn’t…”

I gave him a small smile. “Liam, I forgive you. I forgive you both.” Almost the moment I finished that sentence he smashed his lips to mine, kissing me as if his life depended on it. His arms snaked around me tighter, holding me closer to him as if I was going to disappear. One hand moved up my back and weaved its way into my hair, cradling the back of my head. The other one was wrapped around my waist, keeping me tight to him. I held his face in my hands. He kissed like he needed me to live and I kissed him back just as hard.

He finally relinquished my lips. We were both breathing hard. “It’s okay,” I told him breathlessly. There were warm tears pouring from his eyes. “I love you, Liam.”

“I love you so much, Azalea,” he said. After a few more minutes, our breathing calmed. He repositioned us so that he was sitting against the headboard. I laid my head against his chest and listened to the rhythmic beat of his heart. He buried his nose in my hair. We sat there for a while; I thought he might have fallen asleep. I knew he just needed me near him for a while. By the looks of him, he had not even slept since he marked me. There was one more thing I needed him to know before I talked to Gavin.

“Liam?” I said softly, not wanting to wake him if he had fallen asleep.

“Mmmm,” he hummed. I knew he was fighting it. He did not want to sleep now that I was awake.

“There is one more thing,” I said hesitantly.

“What is it, baby?”

“I still need time. I forgive you but I still need time…” I said hoping he understood.

“You can have all our life if it means you’ll stay with me forever,” he said softly. I could hear the raw emotion in his voice. I smiled and snuggled into him closer and closed my eyes. After a few minutes I could hear his breath even out in his chest. He was finally falling asleep. I let myself fall asleep right there in his arms.

-

I could feel hands stroking my hair when I woke. Liam’s nose was buried in the top of my hair once again as his other hand mindlessly drew circles on my back. I lifted my head to look at Liam.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he said with a smile. He looked so much better.

“Morning,” I said, smiling back at him.

“Did you sleep okay?” he asked.

“Yea. Did you?” He had some color back in his face and his dark circles were almost gone.

He nodded. “Much better with you in my arms,” he said with a handsome smile. I laid my head back against his chest and listened to the sound of his breathing. We sat like that in comfortable silence for a few minutes. “As much as I want to just sit here with you forever, there are things we need to do,” he said, a little disappointed. I nodded my head. “First, shower,” he said. I giggled.

“Yes, you very much need a shower. It smells like you haven’t showered since you rescued me,” I said jokingly to him.

“Well…” he said guiltily.

“Liam!” I exclaimed sitting up and smacking him in the chest.

“I couldn’t leave your side! What if you woke up and I wasn’t there?” he said. His eyes were wide. He was so serious. It was so sweet it melted my heart a bit.

“Okay, but next time just leave me with Lily and take a shower!” I said.

“No next time,” he said, and he buried his face in my neck. I could feel his worry. He never wanted me to be hurt or away from him again.

“You’re right, no next time,” I said softly.

-

We took turns showering in his bathroom. I went first. When I exited the shower, Liam had clothes in a basket on his bed for me. They weren’t my own things, but they were all clothes that fit my style and they were all my size. I wondered if this was Lily’s doing or his own.

I dressed in a black blouse with gold and white flowers all over it and a pair of black jeans. When the bathroom opened again, Liam stood in the doorway with a towel hung dangerously low on his hips. I involuntarily licked my lips and felt warmth pooling low in my stomach. He chuckled at me.

“Like what you see, kitten?” he said in a seductive tone. I swallowed. He continued to giggle. “It’s the mate bond, baby. Now that you are marked, you will feel a stronger attraction to me.” I nodded my head. He was clearly amused as he went to his closet. I went to the bathroom to fix my hair. Walking into the bathroom, I realized I did not have a brush or anything, only the hair tie that had managed to survive everything with me over the past couple weeks.

I was trying to finger comb through my red curls when Liam came in dressed this time. I looked at him in the mirror, my mouth watering. He wore a grey polo and dark jeans. His arms bulged from the sleeves slightly straining the material and you could see his muscular chest under the shirt.

“We can get your things soon, I promise. I should have thought about that sooner, I am sorry baby,” he said coming behind me and placing his hands on my waist. I shook my head.

“It's okay. I have clothes at least. Thank you,” I told him with a smile. He leaned forward, brushing my hair away from my neck and kissed his mark. Tingles ran through my neck as his lips made contact with my skin. I could feel his smirk as his face hovered over my skin.

“Beautiful,” he whispered into my neck. I blushed. He finally stood up again moving next to me to get himself ready as well. I began pulling the top half of my hair into a twisted bun.

“So, uh, what do we need to do?” I asked.

“Well, unfortunately we need to speak with your uncle,” he said.