287- Our Forever, No Matter How Long
POV Elowen Grimwald:
It was incredible that the realization now made me feel as if there truly was something inside me.
“Very important…”
I smiled at him expectantly, making him tense.
“My love, say it. You know patience isn’t one of my qualities.”
“But with me you’ve been very patient,” I teased.
“Speak quietly. I don’t want anyone discovering this other side of me.” He winked, giving me a mischievous smile.
Before declaring that we were going to have a pup, I longed to declare all my love. I still hadn’t said the words that I loved him, but I had no doubt.
None at all.
I was only waiting for him to say it first.
“My mate.”
“My destined one.”
“My alpha.”
“My little witch.”
I held back a laugh.
“Mad dog.”
“Naughty bitch.”
“Sexy scientist.”
He paused before continuing our chain of adjectives.
“Love of my life,” he said suddenly, finishing me.
“Father…”
Beneath the palms of my hands, I felt his muscles stiffen.
“Did you say ‘father’?” he asked, wanting confirmation.
The deep green of his eyes speckled with gold. His beast vibrated in his chest, and my wolf purred in response.
“Yes,” I confessed, my voice thick with emotion. “We’re going to have a pup. I’m pregnant.”
My confession seemed to make our world stop.
I watched a cascade of emotions pass across his face in the blink of an eye.
First surprise.
Then a joy so intense it sent a sharp wave of emotion through my stomach.
His eyes shone with a fervor I had never seen before. A slow yet emotional smile spread across his lips.
Aldren pulled me into an embrace, lifting me off the ground. He held me as if he wanted to protect me from the entire world.
His breathing was heavy against my hair, and I could feel his racing heart against my chest.
“A pup. Our pup.”
His voice was thick with emotion, carrying a tone of almost sacred reverence.
I laughed while crying, my emotions tangled together.
Aldren pulled back just enough to look at me. His hands held my face with such care it almost hurt.
“I can’t believe it… I thought it would never happen!”
For the first time, I saw a tear roll down my mate’s face. The fortress that, in the eyes of others, seemed unshakable trembled before me. Before us.
“I love you, Elowen Grimwald, with all my life,” he declared, leaning down to kiss me with a devotion that left me dizzy.
“I love you too—”
Before I could finish the sentence, his lips crashed into mine, one of his hands sliding to the back of my neck to dictate the rhythm. I gasped, tasting the minty flavor of his mouth the moment his tongue circled mine.
I grabbed his shoulders and kissed him back, losing control of my breathing.
After lip bites and tongues sucking, my male was hard and I was ready to receive him. Right there, by that lake. In broad daylight and for anyone who might see.
“Please, let’s go home and celebrate properly,” he said, pulling our mouths apart, proving he had more control than I did.
If he kept going, I certainly wouldn’t be the one to stop us.
“I want you, here and now.”
“And I’ll have to rip out the eyes of any fool who shows up.”
I quickly composed myself.
“Yeah. Maybe not.”
He laughed, happiness radiating from every pore.
“Ask me for anything. Anything, and I’ll give it to you.” As he spoke, his hand slid down to my belly, the back of his fingers brushing softly against it.
“I ask that you love us forever.”
He sighed, staring at me intently.
“I blame myself night and day for us mating and it costing you hundreds of years less on this Earth. But I would never forgive myself either if I lost you because we hadn’t created our bond. I’d drive a silver dagger into my own chest.”
His words touched me in a way nothing ever had, but I shook my head because he shouldn’t feel that way.
“If I live another hundred and fifty years, I’ll live the best life possible, because I’ll be by your side.”
“Fuck, I love you.” After saying it the first time, he clearly wasn’t going to stop.
“I love you too,” I finally managed to say.
Something inside him seemed to change—but inside me as well. It was as if the certainty that we were eternal struck us like a sudden bolt of lightning.
“And I can go even further. If mating meant I had only one month left to live, I would still choose our bond. Every miserable minute would be worth it.”
In that moment, I understood that our love transcended even eternity.
It wasn’t the length of time that mattered, but the intensity of every second we would live together. If living less time at his side meant living fully, then that was the truest choice we could make.
Even on the day when the flame that illuminated our existence faded, the glow of the memories and the legacy of our love… would remain.