Chapter 142 - You’re going to ride on Nero

HADRIAN

Her hands are warm and filled with life. I’ve never experienced anything like this. Never have I been paralyzed to the point where the only thing that could revive me is the soft sweet hands of my mate. The life emanating from her hands seeps deep into my skin.

The nectar of her healing is sweet and spicy at the same time. It melts through all the layers of tissue and revitalizes my blood. Her touch is cleansing, not just soothing. She renews the poisoned cells and energizes my paralyzed limbs.

Emma has healed my injuries before even when we weren’t aware that she could, but never have I experienced it like this. The strain is slow to disappear and every movement is hard and depletes the energy she dispenses.

The smell of him of her skin is what pulled Nero out of our subconscious. The rage would be enough to pull us away from the brink of death and take Dex with us. Nero used a quick and dirty way to remove any of his lingering DNA. The taste of hard liquor still lingers in my mouth. It holds notes of oak and honey. Emma still smells like it and it’s soaked in her clothes. *Whiskey.*

I take her in and notice the bandage on her shoulder. Fright grabs around my heart. “What happened?” I run my hand along the edge of the white bandage.

“When you shifted, Dex restrained you in silver,” Emma says with a trembling bottom lip.

I tug on the waistband of her jeans to make her straddle me. I need her close and my reasoning is all selfish. The pain and grief I see on her is hard to watch.

I grimace when I think back to the last things I know. “I remember that. He kissed you.” The last words come out in a growl.

The image that is branded in my mind is aggregating. The pain I feel with it has my wolf howling and the rage is thirsting for blood. “Did you—”

“No.” Emma immediately says without waiting for the rest of my sentence. Emma presses her soft, plushy lips against mine for a brief second. As if dispelling the event from existence. The short, sweet touch of her lips is electrifying and like the addict I am, I want more.

I exhale in relief and wind my arms around her back. “Good.”

“He found out that you marked me when I tried to protect you.” Her body is cold and covered in goose flesh. “Dex has this belief that your mark invected me with poison.”

I run my hand up and down her back. “That’s ridiculous,” I say and heat builds beneath my palms.

“He thinks that by removing the mark, our connection would be broken.”

I bring my hands under the wet fabric of her shirt and the skin-on-skin heat ensures me that nothing has changed. I can feel the exchange of warmth and energy between us, it pushes and pulls like the ocean in her eyes. They beckon me to let myself be taken and consumed by the vast sea. A true mate bond cannot be broken that easily. “That’s not how it works.”

Emma shifts on my lap and I groan when my body catches up with unnecessary bodily functions. *At least unnecessary for now.* My revitalized blood flows from my chest to my cock. The strain in my voice is noticeable when my dick starts swelling and hardening inches below her hand. She tries to pull her hand away, but I keep it locked on my chest.

“He sedated you with wolfsbane.” She whispers and swallows. Her throat moves with the strain. “He must have Graciella locked up too somewhere.”

I move away from obscuring her face and guide it over her shoulder to her back. “Have you talked to Lucas?”

She shakes her head against my chest. Her tears are thick and stick to my skin. “I haven’t seen him since yesterday.”

I lean forward and kiss away her tears. “I know where they might be.”

Emma nags on her bottom lip. “There’s something else.”

My mate is shaking in my arms. She’s visibly undone and I already know that she is fighting to hold herself up. “You can tell me.”

“Dex is planning to blow up the tunnels.” Her voice is small and guilt is ridden on her features.

Her words paint a picture of Sanguinem up in flames. Buildings are collapsed and debris are scattered on the remaining streets. Blood and dead bodies between the piles of ash and rumble.

She leans down hopelessly on my chest. “I feel so stupid. I trusted him and I gave him the map.”

I hold her closer to me and her soft body crushes against mine. “You did nothing wrong. We always knew Dex was dangerous.”

Staying here was always a risk. Dex is diligent and thorough. I’m not surprised that he created traps for intruders. In his eyes, I’m on the wrong side of the war. And everything he has ever seen has only proven his point. Werewolves killed his family. I’m the son of the Alpha King. My blood is directly responsible for their death.

“We need to stop him,” Emma says.

“I agree.”

We let ourselves believe that this was the way to defeat my father and end this war. I don’t believe that Dex is all evil, but that his past and experiences have made him believe that his way is the only one. But if we want to end this war then violence is not going to win it and we cannot rely on others to help us.

I recognize the point when my body becomes strong enough to heal itself and doesn’t need to feed off Emma anymore. The revitalized blood flows through my muscles and they swell with the agitation I feel.

I lift us up from the ground and keep Emma perched against my chest as I walk the short stairs to the door. The lock is relatively easily broken with a hard twist of my wrist. The inner workings of the door handle fall to the ground with a thud.

I set Emma on the ground and I wipe the perspiration from my brow. That little action took more energy from me than it should. “Have you gained weight?”

Emma pushes against my chest. Her eyes are laced with more shock than when I first showed her Nero. “You can’t say things like that.”

“Why?”

Emma blushes, but not in a flustered kind of way. More like she’s hurt. I frown and run my finger over her flushed cheek.

“That’s very inappropriate to ask a girl.” Emma wiggles out of my arms and I grimace at the cold distance. “It could make me insecure.”

“Insecure?” I ask and I feel unworthiness and shame wash over me. In other words, I feel like a dick. There is a little voice inside my head called Nero, who scolds me for hurting our mate to soothe my own ego.

I tower over her and her head only reaches my chest. I’m positive that I’m at least twice her size. “Sweetheart, I love your body. More just means more for me.” I palm her backside and squeeze her ass to prove my point. If only she would look down between us, then she would know.

“But I haven’t, does it look like I have?” Her insecurity is really showing now. She nags at her bottom lip.

Now I feel bad for even mentioning something so mundane. “No, it must be the poison then.”

Emma startles and her insecurities turn into fury. “Seriously?” The fire in her eyes is hot and gets me a little too worked up.

“Asshole.” She mutters.

I raise an eyebrow at her. “What did you just call me?” I ask slowly and fill my voice with low threat.

Emma steps back as her eyes widen. “Uhm…”

Her back hits the wall and I place one hand beside her head. My cock stands tall and hardens to its full potential. “If this was any other situation, I would fuck that word out of your vocabulary.”

I bite on the delicate skin along the column of her neck before I pull away. I focus back on the task at hand instead of being guided by the demands of my dick. I tell Emma about my last conversation with Lucas and change into a simple set of clothes that I can easily take off in the forest. We have to be careful that nobody in the town spots us or they might warn Dex.

“How are we going to get to the factory? We don’t have a car.” Emma asks.

Normally we would take one of the cars to the factory since it’s a twenty-minute ride. Running would take too long and we don’t have much time.

“We don’t need a car,” I grumble when I pull a black t-shirt over my bare torso. I take a deep breath and it comes easier now. The poison is quickly wearing off as my body continues to heal.

She narrows her eyes at me and I think suspicion already dawns on her. “What do you mean?”

“You’re going to ride on Nero.”