Free Web NovelChapter 41: Who’s To Blame
"Hey, don’t tell me that you’re regretting it already," Blaise commented, his fingers gently touching the mark on my left shoulder, causing me to shudder as pleasure coursed through me. My skin felt sensitive, every nerve aflame.
His words sounded cavalier, but I could sense the flicker of worry hidden beneath his tone. More than that, I could feel his unease thrumming through me as if it were my own, thanks to our newly established mate bond.
Was this how being fated mates worked? I wondered if he could feel my emotions too. Perhaps that was why he was worried.
"No, I could never regret mating you," I said, quickly looking up at him.
The tenderness in his eyes took my breath away, and he cradled my face lovingly. I leaned into his hold. For once, since my tumultuous arrival in Fangborne, I felt like I truly belonged. My soul, which I didn’t even realize was incomplete and aching, finally felt whole.
"Good," Blaise beamed, "Because I don’t regret it either. You’ll be my mate now, from now until eternity. And I’ll be yours." He held my hand and planted a soft kiss on my knuckles, sending a colony of butterflies fluttering through my stomach. freewebnovel.cσ๓
It was ridiculous to feel so... smitten after this small display of gentlemanly affection, especially after all the filthy acts we did. But I couldn’t help it― it felt so nice to be treated so kindly, so tenderly, with so much love and affection.
And it wasn’t even sexual. Despite my nakedness, Blaise wasn’t looking anywhere else but at my face, his gaze lingering and longing. My cheeks heated up as I realized he had no intention of stopping.
"Why are you staring so intently?" I asked, feeling strangely shy. I ducked my head, my hair covering the sides of my face.
"Well, maybe it’s because my mate is too beautiful," Blaise said with a mischievous wink. "I need to commit every detail of her face to my memory. For instance, she has a freckle on the left side of her nose and another at the―"
"Oh, shut it, you," I giggled, as I felt restless joy coursing through my veins, like a heady river current that swept away all doubt in its path. I could feel Blaise’s own happiness as strongly as my own, and together we fell back into bed, with twin smiles on our faces.
Blaise was my mate. I had a mate. He cared about me.
A watery smile crossed my face as small tears welled up in my eyes. This was everything I had hoped for as a child.
"Hey, hey," Blaise tucked me into his arms and shushed me, stroking my hair, "If I’m that bad of a kisser to drive you to tears, you can tell me. My ego will survive this crushing blow."
I snorted, wiping my tears with my fingers. "You just want me to stroke your ego."
"Guilty as charged, but that’s not the only thing you can stroke," Blaise said with a salacious wriggle of his eyebrows. True enough, Blaise’s own member was once again taking an active interest in the proceedings, and my heated core could not help but respond.
"You pervert," I scolded, without any heat behind it.
"Your pervert," Blaise corrected hopefully, his eyes twinkling in delight.
Yet. he didn’t make any move to resume our earlier activities, content with simply holding me and breathing in the scent of my hair. I could feel his attraction to me simmering in the background, like a lit fireplace in winter, but his focus was on making sure I felt comfortable.
This was so different from what I felt with Damon. With Damon, things were intense, but he had always been closed off. If he cared about me, he barely showed it. I could only guess what he was thinking or feeling half the time.
But with Blaise and our newly minted mate bond, it felt like I was strolling through his mind, feeling his emotions.
No wonder I’ve heard news of werewolves dying if they lost their mates. After letting someone into your heart and mind so intimately, losing them would be nothing short of catastrophic.
I’ve only had Blaise as a mate for less than a day, and I was already dreading the day when we would have to separate. fгeewebnovёl.com
"Penny for your thoughts?" Blaise asked, prodding at the furrow between my eyebrows. "You look like you’re thinking about something serious."
Speak of the devil. My mind automatically thought about the person residing in House Sirius.
"I’m worried about Damon’s reaction," I said frankly. "Wouldn’t mating me cause him to be mad at you?"
A vast understatement if I ever heard one. Blaise finally marking his fated mate wouldn’t be a problem if I wasn’t also Damon’s fated mate.
"Possibly." Blaise shrugged, sounding remarkably unbothered. "But don’t worry about Damon, I’ll handle him. I have years of experience dealing with his moods."
"If you’re sure," I said reluctantly. "I’m more afraid of what he’s going to do to you than what might happen to me."
After all, I was merely a pack slave, a refugee thanks to Damon’s invasion, who happened to be his fated mate.
Blaise was his own blood brother and the Beta of Fangborne to boot! If there was anyone going to be raked over the coals for betraying his Alpha and his older brother, it would be Blaise.
Blaise sensed my worry and continued to reassure me, "If he dares to try anything, I would remind him that he had plenty of opportunities if he wished for you to mark him as his fated mate. He could have said something or made romantic gestures to make you feel welcome. He had more than enough opportunities, with the mating ceremony and what happened after. Since he didn’t..."
Blaise’s voice trailed off, but I understood his point.
Damon had plenty of chances, and he instead decided to wrap his thick hands around my neck and choke the life out of me when I called him out on his hypocrisy.
If he squandered his chances, he only had himself to blame.
