New Beginning

Chapter forty-seven

"There is nothing to fix." His eyes flamed from within as he glared at me before turning and stalking towards the door.

"Don't you dare take another step, Nik." He stopped stone still, shoulders heaving from heavy breaths. "You have been avoiding me for days. The least you can do is give me a reason."

A low and throaty chuckle resounded from the other side of the room."I owe you nothing, love, even now."

My chest began to tighten with emotion, making it hard to swallow. I knew Niklaus could be standoffish, but this was taking it to a whole new level. Tears burned at the edges of my eyes as I drew a deep breath, struggling to contain them. No matter what he was to me, he would never see me weak ever again.

"Run Nik, it's what you always do. The first sign of comfortability and you go off the handle." I threw my hands up in exasperation as I fought to control the quiver in my tone. "When will I ever be enough for you, Niklaus?" Silence. The tears were streaming freely down my cheeks now.

"I don't understand it. I could never turn my back on someone I love." My eyelids fluttered as my vision blurred. "I guess that means you never really loved me after all."

I started to turn away as a sob tore its way out of my throat. I had to leave. The room raised a few degrees around me adding to the flush spreading across my face. As I made for the door, a familiar hand grasped the back of my neck and turned me back around. My lips met his in a bruising kiss, his hand firmly latched onto my neck. I let out a gasp as his teeth grazed my bottom lip, eliciting a growl that rumbled deep in his chest.

Opening my eyes, my breath caught in my throat. His eyes pierced mine with an intensity they write songs about. The clear crystal blue eyes of my Nik were long gone. These eyes were just as familiar to me, however, and my face flamed at his inspection.

They were amber.

"-you never really loved me after all."

Is that what she honestly thought? Had I not shown her the depth of my love, over and over again, to the brink of death and back? The growl in my sternum drowned out my hearing for a moment as my mind fought to catch up.

The air stirred as she turned to leave. Oh no, love. I don't think so. Feeling my eyes change, I flew toward her and wrapped a hand around the back of her neck. She was mine. I turned her around to face me and pressed my lips to hers. If I was a stronger man, I would have let her leave. I would have let her live her life thinking I was unfailingly cruel. Strong, however, I was not. Not when it came to her. My Elandra.

I could feel the rumble in my chest reverberate for her. She was the only one who could make me feel this way. A gasp escaped her lips as she heard what she did to me. The heat was rolling off of me in waves.

"Nik," she uttered breathlessly, "what are you doing?"

Instead of responding, I pressed my lips against hers once more. Grasping her waist, I deftly lifted her into my arms and she immediately wrapped her legs around me. The wolf was devastatingly loud in my mind, pushing me to claim her as my own once and for all. Making my way across the room, El gasped aloud as her back pressed firmly against the wall.

Holding her steady, I nipped and licked my way down to the hollow of her throat, a growl humming low in the back of mine. The wolf chanted, steady as a drum, to bite her. From the moment I had broken my curse, I had given in to the wolf's inclinations at every opportunity. The one time I wanted to comply wholeheartedly, was the one time I now had to refuse.

El let out a breathy moan, arching her hips up to meet mine. A hiss escaped through my teeth. Damn it all. The things this woman could do to me. I pressed back against her core as I licked up the expanse of her throat, eliciting a deeper moan from my mate. I could hear her heart racing for me.