Where Soft Light Shines Darkness Fades From Tired Hearts by Evan Holt Crane 426

Third Person’s POV

His voice dropped to a terrifying, gravelly rasp. “Trista, don’t push me. You’re my mate. Every inch of your skin, every breath you take–it’s all branded with my scent. You could wash a thousand times and you still wouldn’t scrub me out of your soul.”

Trista felt the crushing weight of his Alpha aura, a pressure that would have brought anyone else to their knees, but she didn’t flinch.

She stared him down with a look of pure contempt that hurt him more than any insult ever could.

Cassian leaned over her like an immovable mountain, one hand pinning her to the bed while the other gripped her chin with bone–bruising force.

His eyes were rimmed with a manic, feral red–the sign of an Alpha who had completely lost the war with his own sanity.

A low, gutteral growl ripped from his throat–the sound of a beast driven mad by jealousy. “Trista, from day one, I’ve only ever smelled like you. I haven’t touched another she–wolf. And I’m going to prove to you. right now just how clean I am!”

Before she could even draw breath to argue, his mouth slammed onto hers.

It wasn’t a kiss; it was a claim–a predator marking his territory.

She fought him, her hands flying up to stop him from tearing at her sleepwear, but the second he touched her skin–the only thing that could quiet the storm in his blood–his restraint shattered like glass.

On the tangled sheets, Cassian pinned her down, desperately drinking her in.

His breath was hot, heavy with the scent of a spiraling Alpha, as he pressed his face into the curve of her neck.

He was chasing the high of a bond he’d already broken. “Trista, give it to me! Talk to me!”

He was losing it. During their months apart, the physical craving for her scent had turned his life into a living hell.

Trista screamed, kicking and clawing at him with everything she had. “Cassian! You promised you wouldn’t force this!”

She knew him too well. If he managed to get her pregnant, she was done.

Within a month, she’d be carrying his heir, a permanent prisoner to his bloodline.

But the more she fought, the more his hunting instincts flared.

He kissed her harder, his mouth trailing fire down her jawline as his breathing turned into heavy, animalistic rasps.

0:31 am PDX.

His hands shook as he reached for her clothes, his voice breaking into a desperate roar. “And you said you’d stay! You said you’d never leave me!”

The air in the bedroom felt like lead, thick with his suffocating, violent energy.

Her scent, fresh from the shower, was driving him over the edge. He couldn’t let go. He wouldn’t.

“Trista,” he whispered, his voice suddenly small and fragile. “Let’s have a baby.”

‘I hate you, Cassian!” she screamed.

Ɔnce, she had wanted his children more than anything. Now, the very thought made her skin crawl.

Cassian froze for a heartbeat. He kissed the corner of her mouth, his eyes bloodshot and wet. “I’d rather have you hate me than have you look right through me.”

He kept kissing her, his words soft but his grip like iron.

Trista had no leverage against him.

The mattress dipped under their weight as the room closed in around them.

ust as she was about to give up–to let the beast win and tear her apart–her fingers brushed against something cold and sharp on the nightstand. It was the broken necklace that had belonged to the child hey’d already lost.

Cassian! Look at this! Look at what you did!”

She shoved the jagged metal right in front of his eyes. Cassian stopped dead. The madness in his eyes cleared instantly, replaced by a sudden, hollow shock.

Taking advantage of the opening, Trista shoved him off with a burst of frantic energy.

She didn’t even stop to fix her torn clothes before she caught him across the face with everything she had.

Cassian’s head snapped to the side.

As he looked back and saw the bruises and marks he’d left on her skin, he finally woke up.

He scrambled to grab the quilt, wrapping it around her and pulling her into a tight, shaking embrace.

He kissed her forehead, his voice panicked and small. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry. I’m done. I won’t touch you again. I swear.”

Trista curled into a ball inside the blanket, the tears finally spilling over.

She looked at him with bloodshot eyes, her voice trembling with a lethal warning. “Cassian, I don’t care if you force me. I don’t care if you get me pregnant again. I will get rid of it. Just like the first one!”

Cassian felt his heart shatter.

He grit his teeth, his eyes red and raw, but he didn’t say a word. He just pulled her closer, holding on like she was the only thing keeping him from falling into the abyss.

213

10:31 am PDX

“I am never letting myself be tied to you again,” she whispered into the

Sara Lili

Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.