Chapter 241: Chapter 0241

•AMELIA•

"Are you sure you won't drop me on the floor?" I giggled as Mason carried me upstairs to the main bedroom.

I hadn't even had the time to look around the pack house before he decided to sweep me off my feet shortly after he had proposed.

"I wouldn't let the floor touch you, my love," he murmured, smiling. "You are safe in my arms."

I giggled and thought of how things had played out. I had never thought in a million years that I would be with Mason. I imagined my life with Dante for a long time and never thought that I would have anything with another man.

Besides Damon, I had only been with one man whom I met in college. He was a human, and the love of my life at the time. But when he found out what I truly was, everything changed.

He didn't want to carry on with our engagement anymore and called the whole thing off. So, instead of letting him tell people what I was, I gave him a potion so he would forget everything about me.

When I watched him forget everything about me and what I once meant to him, I struggled to trust another man. That was until I met Dante. I loved him and thought that I would make it work even though he was a human.

But I guess that wasn't how things were supposed to work out for me. Somehow, the very same woman I hated the most brought me the man of my dreams.

Mason opened the door and pushed it with his leg before he headed to the bed and placed me down gently. He then leaned down and planted a soft kiss on my lips.

I pushed him gently as he leaned too close, taking off his shirt. "Baby, wasn't Rowan following behind us? We can't leave him out there."

"My son is eleven, Amelia," he replied as he kissed my neck. "He knows his room, so he's probably there right now. And what I need is my future wife."

"Come here before I change my mind." I cupped his face and kissed him, pulling his body over mine.

He chuckled between kisses as he took off his shirt and positioned himself between my thighs. I moaned softly as he kissed me down to my neck.

He took off my shirt and revealed my breasts with hard nipples. He grabbed one breast and sucked on it, causing me to arch my head back as he aroused me.

He trailed his mouth lower, taking his time with each kiss until I was breathless beneath him. My fingers dug into his shoulders as he pulled off the rest of my clothes, his eyes never leaving mine.

"You're beautiful," he answered, his voice rough.

"Stop talking and touch me," I replied, pulling him down by the back of his neck.

He laughed against my skin before he settled between my thighs and pushed inside me slowly. I gasped and arched into him, my nails scraping down his back as he set a steady rhythm.

"Mason," I moaned, wrapping my legs around him.

"Right here," he answered, burying his face in my neck as he moved faster.

The bed creaked beneath us, and I lost track of everything except the way he felt against me, inside me, the way he said my name like it meant something to him. My whole body tightened around him, and when I finally broke apart beneath him, he followed right after, groaning my name against my skin.

We lay there afterward, tangled together, both of us breathing hard. He brushed my hair away from my face and kissed my forehead.

"I could stay right here forever," he murmured.

"Same," I replied, resting my hand against his chest.

His phone rang from the nightstand before either of us could settle further into the moment. He reached over and glanced at the screen.

"It's Nathan," he answered, sitting up. He put it on loudspeaker. "Talk to me."

"Alpha, we've made it to Blackwood," Nathan replied. "The Beta has accepted the role of interim Alpha. The pack is stable for now."

"Good," Mason answered. "And Damon?"

"We caught him trying to leave through the eastern border," Nathan replied. "He must have heard we were coming. He didn't get far."

I sat up straighter, my heart pounding.

"Bring him to Silvercrest," Mason answered. "I want him in our custody, not Blackwood's. He'll answer me directly."

"Understood, Alpha. We'll have him there by morning."

Mason ended the call and set the phone back on the nightstand. I stayed quiet for a moment, my chest tightening.

"You okay?" he asked, turning to look at me.

"I should've stopped him before it got this far," I answered. "Blackwood was my people, and I let him take control right in front of me. I was so focused on protecting myself that I didn't think about what it would cost everyone else."

"You're not the one who hurt them, Amelia," he replied. "Damon is."

I rested my head against his shoulder and let out a deep breath. "Thank you for going after him. For not letting him keep hurting people."

"I would do it again," he answered, wrapping his arm around me. He was quiet for a moment before he shifted to face me fully. "I need something from you."

"What is it?" I asked.

"The truth," he replied. "About you and Damon. What really happened between you two. And why Cassandra and you can't stand to be in the same room together."

I froze against him.

"I'm not asking to punish you for it," he continued, his voice steady. "I'm asking because I don't want to find out from someone else later. I want to hear it from you."

I looked up at him, my throat tight. "It's not a short story."

"I have time," he answered.

I took a deep breath and pulled the blanket higher around us, trying to figure out where to even begin.