Chapter Twenty-Two Dylan #2
"I wanted to hate you so damn bad, Silas.
It drove me insane how the bond still wanted to be completed after you showed up.
I kept thinking it couldn't be that easy, but it was.
It was always that simple. We could have accepted this bond and worked through our issues before completing it.
I see that now. I wanted to hurt you as much as you hurt me, and that was the dumbest mistake I have made since coming here.
" Even though I was reaching him, I still wouldn't drop my astral form.
I still brushed against his fur. He whimpered at me, but I had to break through to him. "We can get through this. Together."
Through the bond, I pushed everything I felt.
The anger from the rejected bond, the feeling that this couldn't work at first when he came back, the battle I went through when we were trying to sort out this bond over the last few weeks, and even the struggle of having to fight him like this.
Throughout the bond, I could feel Silas trying to come back to me.
My heart skipped a beat, feeling him inside my soul, accepting what I felt and then trying to sort through it. He was coming back to me. I felt it.
This was going to be over.
I went corporal at the same time. I pushed my power into him, using a command that would only work if he accepted the bond between us.
Shift, I said through the bond and out loud at the same time.
The magic rippled and Silas was in his human form, stomach down on the mats.
He scurried to his feet and looked at me.
I couldn't decipher what he was feeling in his face, and through the bond, it was even more of a mess.
So I smiled at him. "You with me?"
He growled, and a wall slammed into place before he lunged at me.
It caught me off guard, and my back hit the mat before I knew it.
I felt his weight on me and then his fist against my face.
The scream that ripped out of me made some birds fly out of the nearest tree.
My jaw cracked, and I bucked at the right time to make him lose his balance, and I rolled off him.
It didn't work. Silas wasn't back to me yet.
There was something to what I had done. I needed Silas to choose this bond to break through everything Lupe was doing.
It was difficult trying to figure out exactly how I could get him to do that, though.
That speech didn't work, and pouring into the bond didn't work either.
What else could I do to make him break through this and accept us?
When I got to my feet and tried to prepare myself, Silas swept his leg into mine, and I went back down on the mat. I used a lot of energy and power to pull him back into human form. I wasn't sure if I could use my astral form anymore, and I could feel my muscles getting heavy.
I was tired.
If this continued for much longer, Silas may get what he wanted and kill me.
He got back on top of me, and I could see a moment of hesitation as he held up his fist. Silas looked at me, and I could feel the warmth of my blood coating my face from the multiple wounds his fists left. I whimpered at him, showing my vulnerability in the worst way.
"Stop... Silas... please..." The words were difficult to get out, but I had to hope some part of my Silas was in there. "I choose you."
He got off me and roared. "You didn't choose me! You rejected me!"
I struggled to get to my feet, but I knew this fight wasn't over yet. If he needed to get this out of his system, like he knew I had to during our first sparring match, then I would let him. His reactions weren’t him, but the emotions he felt were.
My wolf had enough energy to heal the wounds as I struggled to stand. Silas and I stared at each other, and I could see the wheels in his mind turning.
"I choose you." I repeated.
He shook his head. "No, you didn't. You rejected me."
"Then I realized my mistake, Silas. I chose you. I choose this bond, and I choose to love you."
"How can you love me?"
I smiled, and it hurt to do so. My wolf healed the wounds on the outside to stop the bleeding, but she didn't have enough energy to sink into me to heal it all. It may have hurt like a bitch, but it was worth it to show Silas how I felt.
Even though the wall was still there, I still pushed how I felt through the bond so he could feel it, too, if he would drop it. He had to know how I felt if I wanted this to work.
"You're everything I needed. Someone to challenge me yet also let me win sometimes.
You are protective of me but still give me the room to let me make my own dumbass decisions.
You take care of me but also let me take care of myself.
Throughout this semester, you were the perfect mate for me.
" I wanted to get closer to him, but I didn't trust he wouldn’t wolf out on me again.
"I'm sorry it took too long for me to realize it. "
He shook his head and began to pace. The flicker of the chance I needed was coming through, and I needed to know if my plan worked. If Silas was working his way out of Lupe's influence, then I could act out the past part of my plan.
"No. She said you wouldn't choose me."
"I don't give a fuck what she told you. I'm here, right now, telling you I have."
He looked at me and narrowed his eyes. The way our eyes connected, my heart skipped a beat, but my wolf rose to the surface again. He didn't break my stare, and I realized he was challenging me. It was stupid of him to do this. We were mates. We were on equal playing grounds here.
But I wouldn't back down.
Silas needed to see that I would not give up on him or back down from him.
I felt his power swell and hit me, but I didn't waver.
My heart was ramming into my chest as I waited for him to make his next move.
If this would turn into another fight, I don't think I could win.
It didn't look like he was as tired as I was, which meant he would have me on the ground and begging for my life before I could blink.
"You're lying."
"Never."
The bond. I needed him to feel everything in the bond. So I shifted my attention to the wall between us and pushed on it with all the energy I could muster. I felt the wall budge, giving me some hope. He growled at me, breaking my attention.
"Stop that!"
"NO!" I screamed back. "I will NEVER stop fighting for you, Silas. Fight this bitch's power and fight for me like you did when you first got here!"
The wall broke as I shoved it with another small amount of energy I had left. Silas sucked in a breath as I replayed the moment he dropped to his feet and told me he accepted the bond between us. Then reminded him of how I said I accepted the bond between us tonight.
Silas clutched his chest and sucked in a breath again. He looked up at me, his green eyes giving me a look that I have been dying to see again.
Recognition.
He remembered who I was to him!
Mark him NOW!