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bewarethesirenscallā
As quickly as heād been on top of her, undulating against her apex with a need that matched her own⦠he was gone. She had dangled so far out on a limb, it snapped from the weight of the words sheād just spoken, from the moment that had just been shared between them. His eyes searched her own for any kind of lie, falter or hesitation and found none.
Arielle sat up for a moment, scanning his hunched back as tattooed fingers ran through drying locks of hair. Her heart ached at the pain he was going through, the whirlwind of emotions he was feeling. She understood his withdrawal, understood why heād taken so long to show how deeply under his skin the Veela had managed to get in the first place.
Crawling over the sheets, she moved behind him, small hands gripping his shoulders and smoothing the wide expanse of his back. It wasnāt enough, to be pressed up behind him like that. She needed to see his face, like a horse spooked on the field- she needed to whisper quietly into the void between them, to ease his mind- and his heart.
Sliding off the bed entirely, the small witch found herself nestled into the space between his enormous thighs, perched on her knees, gazing up at him. Delicate fingers lifted his chin, forcing the great wolf to look at her. āI almost died, Fenrir.ā She was stating the obvious, he already knew that- but she wasnāt saying the words to rub it in. No, she was reminding him, for emphasis. āI almost died and you had no idea how I felt. Not really.ā She kept her tone soft, low, almost cautious- but if he listened, if he reached out and focused⦠heād hear the steady rhythm of her heart, the even hitch of her breath. Heād sense the truth in her scent. āIām not asking you to love me back.ā
Her free hand rested atop a thick thigh as she balanced herself against him. āBut I couldnāt live another second without you knowing, without you hearing those words- just once.ā Emotion scared him, more than anything on this planet. The great beast who moved fearlessly through life, instilling terror on innocents and victims alike- had one Achilles heel. His heart. āYou didnāt just save me from the Scavengers⦠you save me every single day.ā
But sheād been given a second chance, and she wasnāt going to waste it hiding behind a facade any longer. If he chose to push her away, to get up and leave- to never turn back again. It would break her, but at least sheād spoken her truth. She wasnāt going to take it back, not now- not ever. She loved him with every fibre in her being, so fiercely that she couldnāt ever imagine loving anyone else. Even if he chose to end it now, he was her past, present and future.
āI owe my life to you for more reasons than you could ever imagine, Fenrir Greyback.ā
Love. He didnāt understand love. His life didnāt have room for that kind of weakness. Any memories he had of it, of love, belonged to a different person, another life. This person, this life, destroyed things like love. Often, mercilessly, laughing every step of the way.Ā
Love was a weapon he used, a torture implement better than any bone saw or plier. Fenrir preferred it when his victims had loved ones because of it. Because it was so much easier to break them if he broke the ones they loved first.Ā
To be the focus of love, the source of it? He felt like a rung bell, hollow and shaking as the words reverberated through him. Fenrir couldnāt think. His mind was empty. There was nothing in his head but a rush of dread. It was a riptide that cinched him by the waist and yanked him down so hard it filled his lungs. He didnāt know how to love, how to be loved.Ā
Over the years heād been a lot of things to a lot of people. Brother, pack mate, ally, Alpha, but never loved one. He didnāt know what to do with it, didn'tā understand how it was even possible. If he allowed himself this weakness, it was only a matter of time before someone exploited it. With the company he kept, the life he lived, it wasnāt a question of if someone would use her against him, but when.
He barely noticed the bed shift, barely felt how slender arms wrapped around him from behind, a small body pressing into his back. In another beat the warmth of that body was gone from his back, the bed shifting again as the barely registered weight eased off of the mattress. The space between his feet was suddenly occupied by the veelaās tiny form, her round eyes staring up at him, peering into him as she touched his face and held his gaze.Ā
Clenching his teeth, he breathed in deeply at her words. She had almost died. Love hadnāt stopped that. Love had done fuck all to protect her from those Scavengers. āIām not asking you to love me back.ā Fenrirās exhale was slow and heavy as he stared into those open, unguarded green eyes. Truth stared back at him, understanding. There wasnāt pressure to feel something he didnāt, or be something he wasnāt.Ā
Teeth gritted, brow furrowed, lips thinned into a scowl, Fenrir considered the tiny veela kneeling in front of him, one hand on his thigh to keep her balanced, the other still on his cheek as she held his gaze prisoner. Moments passed in silence. Ten seconds, thirty, a minute, an eternity passed with them sitting just like that, not breaking the otherās gaze for a second of it.Ā
The tension broke when Fenrir reached between them. He took her cheek in his calloused palm, thumbed over her soft skin as his hand moved from her face, fingers carding through her hair until he had her by the nap. Fenrir captured her gaze, didnāt let her look away for a second as he grumbled a low, āYou are my mate, Arielle.ā His grip on the back of her neck, her hair still caught between his fingers, pulled her up from her knees so she could stand between his legs, so he could pull her onto his lap, and she was straddling him. He still had her eyes locked with his as he promised, āI wonāt be without you.ā
He pulled her mouth back down to his, and rumbled hungrily into the kiss he stole from her.

















