Chapter 279


    AARON


    All of my senses are on high alert as we leave the house and


    hurry down the block to where James parked the SUV.


    It’s like I can feel the threat of Vampires dragging over my


    skin.


    I can’t believe Leah and James riskeding here to rescue


    me.


    Actually, I can’t believe Karolina was foolish or desperate enough not to be discovered by her fellow


    Councilmembers stealing all of my Alpha power for herself, that she would risk.


    This isn’t like some bit of Twilight, with some peaceful co-existence  the Cullens. We’re sworn


    enemies, and our species staunchly avoid each other.


    We jump into the SUV and Leah insists on driving since she’s in


    the best condition out of us all.


    James gets into the backseat and immediately shifts to finish healing his head trauma that’d looked


    really nasty. Probably


    Neither me nor Leah say anything as she starts driving, navigating out of the suburban streets to leave


    the run-down neighborhood and Vampire territory behind us, both of us tool


    on edge until we know we’re in safernds.


    A whileter, Leah suddenly pulls off the highway into one of those pic rest stops. There aren’t any


    other vehicles parked there right now, so the ce is empty.


    Leah pulls the car into a parking space and cuts the engine.


    “Leah, is everything okay?” I ask, wondering why she’s stopped so suddenly.


    She doesn’t answer me, but wordlessly climbs out of the SUV


    and walks around to the back.


    Confused, I climb out and go to join her.


    I find her standing there, her head bowed into her hands, and


    her shoulders shaking as she cries.


    “Leah!” I say in rm, quickly stepping in to pull her tightly into my arms. “What’s happening? What’s


    N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights.


    wrong?”


    She buries her face into my neck, and my skin is instantly wet


    and scalded by the heat of her tears.


    “They told me you were dead, Aaron. I thought you were gone. I thought Ethan and I were somehow


    going to have to live our lives without you. Do you have any idea-”


    She breaks off then, crying too hard to say anything else.


    “Yeah, actually, I do,” I tell her. “They told me the same thing, that you didn’t survive breaking the


    mating bond. I thought you were dead as well.”


    This seems to quiet some of her tears, and she looks up at me,shes damp and sparkling with tears,


    her hair tousled


    and my entire body aches as I wonder if she’s ever looked as


    beautiful as she does in this moment.


    “They did?” she whispers in confusion. “Why would they do


    that?”


    “I don’t know,” I tell her, running my hand over her soft, silky curls. “Maybe they knew we wouldn’t stop


    other, that we wouldn’t let anything or anyone stand in the way of us being together.”


    “It’s true,” she replies, smiling through her tears. “I would never


    stoping for you. Nothing in this life or the next can keep


    us apart.”


    G d, I love this woman.


    But I don’t have the words to tell her that, instead I drag


    her into a kiss, putting every ounce of longing and love into iming her mouth beneath mine.


    Leah immediately goes pliant against me, and it sends both me and my wolf crazy.


    Next thing I know, I’ve got her pinned up against the back of the SUV with her legs wrapped around my


    waist as I kiss her deeper and more desperately.


    This isn’t the time or ce, but f ck, I want her so badly right


    now.


    I let us indulge for a few more long minutes.


    All I want to do it take her home, throw her into my bed and then keep her naked and begging for the


    next week straight.


    But we can’t pretend like the rest of the world doesn’t exist.


    Countless lives could depend on me and Leah finding the Al


    tech and stopping the Council from misusing it.


    Eventually I reluctantly break the kiss but rest my forehead


    against Leah’s as we both catch our breath and try toe down from the high.


    “I love you,” I murmur to her, even though love is too simple words to describe the things I feel for her.


    “I love you too,” she whispers in return with a smile. “I can’t wait to go home to Ethan so we can finally


    start our lives.


    together.”


    I step back and let her slip down to stand on her own feet. “Me too. But first, let’s go get this da ned


    software back once and


    for all.”


    1


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