Chapter 16 #3
My heart hammered against my ribs like a caged animal trying to escape as I spun around, searching frantically through the chaos, through the smoke and the bodies and the flashing lights. Ellie. Where was Ellie? Panic clawed at my chest, threatening to overwhelm me.
Then I spotted her, crouched behind a stack of wooden crates, pressed low against the floor.
Relief flooded through me so powerfully my knees nearly buckled, my vision blurring for a moment.
She'd gotten to cover the moment the shooting started, with Adtovar standing nearby for both defense and protection, a fact for which I was immensely grateful.
I moved toward her, keeping low, my body bent almost double, my speed worthless as I fought my way through a sea of Trogvyk to reach her. I was still several feet away when movement in my peripheral vision made me freeze.
Declan.
He'd abandoned the pretense, and seeing the six-foot male dressed in female attire, the President's tailored blouse and pencil skirt, would have been amusing under any other circumstances.
The bastard had somehow circled around during the firefight, using the chaos as cover, and now he crept along the shadows behind Adtovar's position.
Behind Ellie. My blood turned to ice in my veins, my heart stuttering to almost stopping as I watched him lunge forward, his hands reaching for her throat, fingers curved like claws.
"NO!" The roar that tore from my chest was primal, raw, and animalistic, something that came from the deepest part of me.
I launched myself forward, shoving bodies aside, but there were too many between us, too much distance, and I knew with sickening certainty that I wouldn't reach her in time.
I screamed for Adtovar, but his clash with three Trogvyk kept him from responding.
Declan's fingers closed around Ellie's throat, and for one terrible, heart-stopping moment—a moment that stretched into eternity, a moment where the world stopped spinning—I thought I would be forced to watch her die, to see the light fade from her eyes.
But my mate wasn't some helpless female. And I found myself gifted with the moment of watching her turn from a simple leader into a warrior queen, fierce and magnificent.
She twisted in Declan's grip like a snake, her body moving with a vicious grace I didn't know she possessed.
Her leg shot up, her knee driving straight into Declan's groin with enough force that I swear I heard the impact even over the weapons fire.
A meaty thud that made me wince in sympathetic pain.
Declan's face went from triumphant to agonized in an instant, the color draining from his cheeks, his mouth opening in a silent scream as his hands fell away from her throat.
Ellie didn't stop there.
As he doubled over, gasping like a fish out of water, clutching at himself, Ellie's fist came up in a perfect uppercut that connected with his nose with a satisfying crunch.
Blood exploded across his face like a crimson flower blooming, and he went down like a sack of bricks, hitting the floor hard, his head bouncing once against the concrete.
By the time I reached her, she was standing over Declan's groaning form, her chest heaving with exertion, her hair wild around her face, and her eyes blazing with fury and adrenaline, bright and fierce.
She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
"Ellie!" I grabbed her shoulders, pulling her against me with perhaps more force than necessary, my hands running over her frantically, checking for injuries, feeling for broken bones, or bleeding wounds. "Are you hurt? Did he..."
"I'm fine," she said breathlessly, but her hands were clutching at my jacket just as desperately as mine were holding her, her fingers digging into the fabric. "I'm okay."
"Glad to see you remember those self-defense moves I taught you," Cullen chuckled as he strolled over, his weapon still drawn, hauling Declan to his feet by the back of his collar like a misbehaving youngling.
"You made me practice enough," Ellie quipped. Though she was grinning, I felt the faint tremors running through her, the adrenaline crash beginning, her body shaking against mine.
Cullen jerked his chin over his shoulders toward the entrance. "All Declan's men are either dead or in custody."
"Our people?" Ellie asked, worry flooding her gaze as her eyes searched his face for bad news.
"It seems Abernathy and his men were as clueless as the rest of the world.
" He gave Declan a rough, unsympathetic shake.
The male was still moaning pitifully, blood streaming from his broken nose.
I hoped Ellie crushed his balls. "I'm going to give this sack of shit to Adtovar, then I'll start arranging to get you two back to Washington. "
"Thank you, Cullen," I extended my hand in the human gesture of greeting and gratitude, gripping his hand firmly.
He gave Declan another shake, smirking with dark satisfaction. "My pleasure."
Cullen walked off, dragging a stumbling Declan behind him. I watched for a moment, savoring the sight of his defeat, then turned to pull Ellie into my arms with a grateful groan. She slipped her arms around my waist, holding tightly, her face pressed against my chest.
I pulled back just enough to look at her face, really look at her, and something in my chest cracked wide open, like ice breaking under heat. "Goddess, you're amazing. You're so fucking amazing, Ellie. My mate..." The word came out reverent, awed, like a prayer. "My fierce, brilliant mate."
Her eyes widened, her lips parting in surprise, her breath catching. "What did you just say?"
For a second, I wasn't sure which part she meant, which word had caught her attention. Then I saw the way she gazed at me, the way her expression softened despite the residual chaos still raging around us, despite the smoke and bodies and the smell of death, and I knew.
"My mate," I said again, more firmly this time, my hands cupping her face, feeling the warmth of her skin against my palms. "You're my mate, Ellie."
"What does that mean?" she whispered, her voice trembling slightly, her eyes searching mine with an intensity that made my heart stutter. "Being your mate, what does that mean, Rickon?"
I swallowed hard, trying to find the right words, the ones that would make her understand the magnitude of what I was saying, what I was offering her.
"It means everything," I said roughly, my thumbs stroking her cheekbones.
"It means you're mine and I'm yours, in every way that matters.
It means I would burn the universe to ash to keep you safe.
That I would die for you without hesitation, that every breath I take is better because you exist."
Her breath hitched, tears gathering in her eyes, making them shine like stars.
"It means," I continued, my voice dropping lower, more intimate, "that when I look at you, I see my future.
My home. The other half of my soul that I didn't even realize was missing until I found you.
" I pressed my forehead against hers, closing my eyes, breathing her in.
"Among my people, a mate bond is sacred.
It's permanent. It's choosing someone above all others, for all time.
It's a connection that goes deeper than blood, deeper than anything else in this world or any other. "
"Rickon," she breathed, and I heard the emotion thick in her voice, felt it in the way she trembled against me.
"You don't have to say anything right now," I told her quickly, opening my eyes to meet hers again. I needed her to understand that I wasn't demanding anything, wasn't pressuring her despite the urgency thrumming through my veins.
She surged up on her toes and kissed me.
"My mate," she whispered against my lips, the words barely audible but hitting me with the force of a supernova. "You're my mate too, Rickon."
Everything inside me went still, then ignited. My soul howled in triumph, in recognition, in absolute certainty.
"Say it again," I growled, my hands tightening on her waist, pulling her flush against me.
"My mate," she repeated, stronger this time, her eyes blazing with the same fierce certainty I felt burning through my veins. "Mine."
I crushed my mouth to hers, pouring everything I felt into that kiss.
All the fear I'd carried watching her walk into danger, all the pride at seeing her stand her ground, all the overwhelming love that had been building in my chest since the moment I'd met her.
Her lips were soft and warm beneath mine, yielding and demanding all at once, and she tasted like hope and home and forever.
She made a soft sound against my mouth, her fingers tangling in my hair, pulling me closer even though there was no space left between us.
The kiss deepened, became something more primal, more claiming.
This wasn't the tentative exploration of new lovers, this was recognition, soul-deep and absolute.
This was two halves finally becoming whole.
Around us, the hangar settled into controlled chaos. Warriors securing prisoners, Cullen barking orders, but none of it mattered. Not in this moment. In this moment, there was only her, only us.
My mate.
Mine.
Forever.