Chapter 284
Chapter 284:
Dallas was still watching me, his obsidian eyes searching my face for any cracks in my resolve. The heat of his hand on mine was the only anchor keeping me from drifting back into the memories Braydon had stirred up.
“Dallas,” I said, my voice barely a whisper in the quiet room. I squeezed his hand, needing him to focus entirely on me. “I need to tell you. About him p>
A muscle feathered in his jaw. A low rumble started in his chest — Ragnar, his Lycan beast, reacting to the mere thought of another male claiming space in my history.
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Adella,” Dallas said, though his grip on my fingers tightened possessively. “The past is dead p>
“No,” I corrected him gently, shifting so I could look directly into those stormy eyes. “It needs to be buried properly. Or Ragnar will never truly settle p>
At the mention of his beast, Dallas’s pupils dilated, the blackness swallowing the irises. He didn’t pull away. He waited.
“Braydon was a raft,” I confessed, choosing my words with painful honesty. “When I was drowning in the Hyde Pack, when everyone looked at me like I was a curse because I was wolfless, he was the only one who offered me a hand. I grabbed it because I didn’t want to die. I convinced myself it was love because the alternative was admitting I was completely alone p>
𝗪𝗁𝗮𝘁 𝘦𝘃𝖾r𝘺𝗈𝘯𝗲 𝗂𝗌 𝘳e𝘢d𝗂𝘯𝗀 𝗼𝘯 ѕ.cоm
I reached up, my trembling fingers tracing the sharp line of Dallas’s jaw. The sparks from our skin contact sizzled, sending jolts of warmth straight through me.
“But it was just survival,” I whispered, tears pricking my eyes — not from sadness, but from the sheer relief of the truth. “The moment I met you, Dallas, my soul knew. Everything before that was just holding my breath. You are the air p>
Dallas closed his eyes. A shudder ran through his massive frame, and when he opened them again, the feral edge was gone, replaced by a raw, burning intensity that stole the breath from my lungs.
“Say it,” he rasped, leaning in until his lips hovered inches from mine.
“I love you,” I breathed. “Not because you saved me. Not because you bought my debt. But because you are my Mate p>
He didn’t give me a chance to say more. His mouth crashed onto mine, hungry and claiming. It wasn’t a gentle kiss — it was a branding. He tasted of dark chocolate and the wild, ozone scent of a storm. His hand tangled in my hair, tilting my head back as he devoured me, erasing every memory of Braydon’s hesitation and replacing it with his absolute certainty.
Mine, his soul seemed to roar against mine.
When we finally broke apart, breathless and flushed, the hospital room felt different. The shadows had retreated. The wall between us had crumbled into dust.
Dallas rested his forehead against mine, his breathing ragged. “I will build you a world where you never have to merely survive again,” he vowed, his voice a low rumble. “Only live. Only rule p>
“I don’t need a world,” I whispered, my hand resting over his heart. “I just need you p>