He stepped even closer, his shadow swallowing mine. One hand moved from my hair to cup the back of my neck, his thumb grazing the sensitive skin behind my ear.
"The moment you fell, I felt like my own heart was being ripped out," he confessed, his voice a low, jagged vibration. "I didn't care about the protocol, the ceremony, or the hundreds of wolves watching. I just had to get to you. I realized then that the Goddess wasn't punishing me. She was giving me something I didn't deserve."
"We both deserve this," I said, my voice gaining a sudden, fierce strength as I looked up at him. "The Moon Goddess doesn't make mistakes, Demetrius. Not with runts, and not with kings. You didn't just pick me up off the floor that night. You picked up the pieces of my life."
He leaned down, his forehead
