Chapter 67 ALIVE IN HIS ARMS
Pain shoots through me before anything else does. It starts as a dull ache beneath my ribs. Then it spreads slowly—into my shoulders, my back, my thighs.
I try to breathe deeper
That hurts too.
My eyelids flutter open, but the world is nothing but blurs and light, and for a second, I don’t know where the hell I am.
The last thing I remember is the taste of blood in my mouth, the Lycan’s cruel, merciless voice growling threats in my ear while he dragged me like I was nothing.
I gasp and try to sit up.
Fuck!
The curse leaves my throat as pain shoots through me instantly, white and blinding. My arms tremble beneath my weight, but somehow I manage to push myself up just enough to look around.
What the—
Velvet curtains. The massive bed with silk sheets and dark embroidered pillows.
Varkos’s bedroom.
How…?
How did I get here?
My fingers grip the sheets, grounding myself in their softness. The scent in the room is very familiar, like him.
CREAK!
The door swings open before I can think any further. And he’s there, his tall frame towering as he stands at the doorway. For a heartbeat, we stare at each other.
His hair is messy, his shirt half-buttoned. There’s a bandage wrapped tightly around his side, faintly stained with blood. His eyes are wild—as though he hasn’t slept in days.
“V—“
Before I can finish my words, he crosses the room in seconds. He drops to the bed beside me and pulls me into his arms without hesitation.
“Ginnie.”
My name breaks from him like it’s been locked inside his chest for too long. The sudden movement makes me wince in pain, but I don’t push him away.
His arms wrap around me so tightly I can feel him trembling, his face buries into my hair, his breath uneven against my skin.
“I thought you were dead,” he whispers, voice shaking. “When I couldn’t find you…when I saw the body…I thought—”
The words die on his lips instantly, his grip tightening even more. “I’ve never been that afraid in my life.”
Holy shit!
What the hell is happening right now?
This isn’t the cold and ruthless Varkos that I’ve gotten so used to. He’s….different. He pulls back slightly, just enough to look at me, and his hands cup my face carefully, thumbs brushing over my cheeks like he’s making sure it’s not a dream.
And then his mouth crashes into mine—hard, hungry, like he’s been starving for this exact second. His lips claim me with bruising force, tongue sweeping in without hesitation, tasting me like I’m his last breath.
One hand fists in my hair, tilting my head exactly where he wants it, while the other slides low, gripping my waist, pulling me against the hard line of his body so I can feel every inch of how much he wants me.
“I can’t believe you’re here with me,” he murmurs, almost to himself. “You’re alive.”
I melt into him despite the ache in my body. Because no matter how much I hated to admit it…this is what I held onto.
When the Lycan had struck me, and dragged me beneath the cliff. When he laughed and told me no one was coming, the only thing I could think about… was Varkos.
“I never stopped thinking about you,” I whisper shakily, when he finally pulls away, our foreheads rest together. “Even when I thought I wouldn’t make it… I kept thinking that if I saw you one more time, I’d survive.”
His eyes darken, but not with anger. With something more like emotion. “You survived because you’re stronger than you know,” he says softly.
“Y…you’re hurt?” My fingers trail over the bandage at his side.
“It’s nothing.”
“It doesn’t look like anything,” I snap back, my gaze lingers on him, admiring those deep piercing blue eyes. “You're supposed to be married,” the words taste bitter as it rolls off my tongue.
“I didn’t go through with it.”
My heart stutters.
“You… didn’t?”
“No.”
His voice hardens slightly now—not toward me, but toward something else.
“I’m never getting married to Kenna. Not now. Not ever.”
“But… the pack. Your mother—“
“She already knows about us, Ginnie.” He cuts me off before I can finish those words.
My stomach drops.
“Know what?”
“My mother already knows that we’re in a secret affair,” he says bluntly. “And also Kenna. They’ve seen proof.”
The air leaves my lungs.
Proof?
“That’s dangerous,” I breathe. “Varkos, I’m going to be in danger now that everyone knows—“
“I don’t care,” he cuts in. “I won’t let anyone dare to harm you. I’m done hiding our relationship from everyone.”
He doesn’t care?
But I do care.
Because I know what this means, not just for me. For—
Lily.
The thought hits me like lightning.
“Lily,” I sit up too fast, and pain shoots through me but I ignore it. “Where is she? Is she safe? Did they find out about her? Did anyone—”
“She’s safe,” Varkos says immediately, grabbing my hands gently to ground me. “I made sure no one dared touch her in your absence.”
Tears blur my vision.
“Are you sure?”
“I swear it.”
My breathing slows slightly, but the fear doesn’t fully leave.
“She’s coming to see you,” he adds softly.
Relief floods through me so powerfully that I almost collapse again.
“Thank God.”
Silence fills the whole room for a moment, then the expression on his face changes into something serious.
“When you were taken,” he says carefully, “did you see his face? The bastard that took you?”
The memory claws its way back instantly. Those dark eyes, cruel smile, the weight of his merciless and brutal hands on me.
“Yes,” I reply. “He was a Lycan, but he didn’t seem to be from here. He said… he said someone wanted to make you suffer.”
Varkos’s jaw clenches.
“Did he say who?”
“He didn’t mention any name,” I say slowly. “But he kept saying it was a message, and that I was nothing but just bait.”
Before Varkos can part his lips to respond—
The door bursts open.
Small feet patter across the floor.
“Mummy!”
I turn my head just in time to see Lily, her dark curls bouncing as she runs toward the bed, eyes wide and shining with tears.
Holy fuck!
“D…did she just call me mummy in front of Varkos?”