Chapter 211

Chapter 211: Chapter 211

Lysander’s pov

Warmth was the first thing that returned to me.

The usual synthetic heat of a fever and the dark sting of the witch’s curse that usually filled me was gone. It was replaced by the golden tide that wrapped around my shoulders, seeped through my skin, and washed away the lingering, icy numbness in my limbs.

I opened my eyes slowly.

The harsh, damp shadows of the cellar were gone. Above me hung the tall, vaulted wooden beams of the private master suite, bathed in the soft, amber glow of the morning sun filtering through the lancet windows. The sheets were tucked snugly around my chest, smelling faintly of cedar, crisp linen, and pureblood rain.

I took a sharp, gasping breath, my hand flying instantly beneath the blanket to press against my lower middle.

"Shh, my love. It’s alright. You’re safe."

A large, warm hand immediately covered mine, pressing flat against my skin.

I turned my head quickly. Sitting on the edge of the mattress beside me was Drake.

He didn’t have his formal coat on. His dark hair was slightly unkempt, his linen shirt open at the collar, his eyes bloodshot and heavy with exhaustion. But as he looked down into my face, the absolute, fierce devotion burning in his gaze made my throat lock up with a sudden, overwhelming surge of emotion.

Deep beneath his palm, within my core, our child gave a clear, steady pulse—strong, unharmed, and anchored firmly in my hybrid heat.

Tears welled up in my eyes, blurring his face into soft shades of amber and red.

"Drake..." I rasped out, my voice broken and hoarse. I scrambled to sit up, ignoring the dull ache in my bruised shoulders, my fingers desperately clutching at the sleeve of his shirt. "Drake, I didn’t leave! I swear to you, I didn’t want to leave!"

"I know," he murmured softly, reaching out to wrap his broad arms around my back, pulling me gently against his chest before I could strain myself. "I know, Lysander. I know everything."

"Julian lied to you!" I sobbed into his neck, my face burying into the warm crook of his shoulder as fresh tears spilled hot and fast down my cheeks. "He came to my room... he told me you agreed to let me go. He offered me freedom, but I told him no! I told him I belonged here with you! I told him I would never abandon my home or my mate!"

Drake’s grip on me tightened, his broad frame shuddering slightly as my words washed over him. He pressed his cheek against my hair, his chest rising and falling in deep, heavy breaths.

"Then Gideon came in..." I choked out, my fingers curling tightly into the fabric of his shirt as the terror of that night flooded back into my mind. "He used a dark spell... an iron mind-compulsion. He spiked my brain, Drake. I couldn’t move my fingers. I couldn’t speak. He forced my legs to walk out into the storm. I was screaming inside my head... I was begging my body to fall down, but I couldn’t stop walking..."

"Lysander, hush," Drake whispered, his voice cracking with a raw, uncharacteristic pain as his hands cupped the back of my head, holding me flush against his heart. "You don’t need to explain. I saw the truth. I felt you fighting across the bond."

"When you called my name on the ridge..." I wept, my chest heaving against his, "I tried so hard to turn around. I wanted to run back to you, but the spell held my neck straight. I was so terrified you would think I chose to leave... I was so scared you would think I didn’t love you..."

"I was a fool," Drake growled low in his throat, a sound filled not with anger at me, but with bitter, crushing self-reproach. He pulled back slightly, his large hands framing my face, his thumbs gently wiping the warm tears from my cheekbones. His crimson eyes searched mine with an agonizing, naked vulnerability I had never seen in him before.

"I let my pride blind me for a few terrible hours," Drake confessed, his voice dropping into a rough, sorrowful whisper. "When I saw you walking down that slope, my foolish heart wanted to retreat behind stone walls to protect itself from being broken. But your love was stronger than my pride, Lysander. Even through their dark spell, I felt your bond pulse. I saw your stiff posture, your unblinking eyes... and when I reached that cellar, I heard you."

He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against mine, his hot breath fanning across my lips.

"I heard you begging them to spare our baby," Drake whispered, his fingers trembling slightly against my jaw. "I heard you offer your own life to save our child... and I heard you declare your love for me while hanging from their chains."

"I do love you," I whispered back, my hands sliding up his broad chest to wrap tightly around his neck. "I love you so much, Drake."

Drake didn’t wait for another word. He closed the tiny distance between us, his mouth capturing mine in a deep, desperate kiss that instantly swept away every lingering ghost of the cellar.

It was a kiss filled with months of unspoken hunger, fierce protective devotion, and a raw, breathless relief that made my heart soar. His lips were warm and firm, moving against mine with a sweet, possessive intensity that demanded everything I had to give.

I let out a soft, shuddering gasp against his mouth, clinging to him with every ounce of strength left in my body. My fingers knotted tightly into his dark hair, pulling him closer, anchoring myself to his solid, unyielding chest as if I would drown if I ever let him go.

I buried my face deeper against him, wrapping my legs around his waist as he shifted onto the mattress, pulling me fully into his lap. My hands held tight to his broad shoulders, my forehead pressed firmly into the warm hollow of his throat, refusing to leave even an inch of space between us.

"Don’t let go," I whimpered softly, my chest rising and falling against his heavy heartbeat. "Please... just hold me."

"Never," Drake rasped, his arms locking securely around my waist, his broad palm cupping the back of my head while his other hand pressed flat over my lower middle, holding both me and our child against his beating heart. "I am never letting you go again, Lysander. You are mine, and you are home."

I closed my eyes, breathing in his deep, comforting scent of pine and rain, clinging to him in the quiet, warm morning light as the final shadows of the nightmare melted away.