12
Megan
“Never.”
I quickly glanced up and saw the dark penetrating stare that matched the sharp tone of that one word. My heart skipped a beat. He would never take them off? “Never?”
He stepped to me then, gently cupped my face in his massive palm. “Why would I want to remove them, Megan? They are a sign of your claim on me, the only thing that shows the others that I belong to you. They calm and reassure the beast that my mate is real, and near, and mine. Without them, I am naked and alone. Nothing. Another numb soldier just waiting for death to find me on the battlefield. Without them, my beast will fall into despair and go feral, wild with emptiness. The isolation will grow inside me like a disease until the fire of that pain is all I see and all I know, until I no longer recognize
