Chapter Fifteen

 

Whisper blinked her eyes open, wincing a bit as the bright morning sunlight hit her eyes. She looked around and recognized the room she was in as Axel’s bedroom, but she couldn’t remember how she’d gotten there. She sat up slowly, then heard the sound of the front door clicking shut. That door creaked horribly. The sound of it opening must have been what woke her up.

“Axel?” she called out. “Is that you?”

It should be him. He was the only one who lived here, after all. But part of her was afraid that it might be someone from Gilt Hollow who was still roaming through the neighborhood. She wasn’t sure whether any fighting was still going on. She wasn’t sure about anything, in fact. The last thing she remembered was pushing dead bodies off of her. She shuddered, thinking how awful the fighting had been. And then she shuddered again, trying to remember if she had ever found Axel in the midst of the battle. She remembered looking for him, but she couldn’t remember whether she’d found him.

To her relief, Axel stuck his head into the room a moment later.

“Hey,” he said softly, his eyes lighting up when he saw her. “How are you feeling?”

“Alright. But confused. How did I get here? And is the battle over?”

He came to sit on the edge of the bed beside her. “The fighting is over for the moment. Gilt Hollow is in quite an uproar, I’m told. The poison worked perfectly, and almost their entire army was wiped out, as were the majority of guards in the city. The Gilt Hollow Emperor is furious, but there’s not much he can do at the moment. He sent over that group to fight us, but they weren’t very skilled at battle.”

“Did we beat them?”

Axel shrugged. “Hard to say. We drove them back to Gilt Hollow, so I guess we did beat them in a sense. But it came at a cost. There were quite a few dead and wounded.”

Whisper’s heart clenched up in fear. “My brother?”

“He and his wife are fine. I don’t think anyone very close to you was killed. But we’re still sorting everything out.”

Whisper nodded. “What’s the next step, then?”

“We have a meeting of the resistance this afternoon. There’s a lot to sort out, but we think we have a few days at least. Gilt Hollow isn’t used to being driven back or to taking such huge losses. They’re not quite sure where to go from here. I’m sure they’ll be retaliating soon, but they’re going to need a little bit of time to figure out how. We have to use that to our advantage.”

“Do you really think this is it? Do you think we’ll be able to finally break free from them?”

“I’m hopeful. Things are looking really good. Better than they ever have before. We have a long road ahead of us, but I think we can do it. Especially with people like you on our side.”

“Me?” Whisper asked, surprised. “I didn’t do anything special. You probably fought off a lot more attackers than me.”

“We all fought hard. But I’m really impressed with how you helped Violet.”

“Oh. You heard about that? She went a little crazy. That’s why I had to leave the bar. Have you seen her? Is she alright now?”

“I’ve seen her, and she’s fine. And I don’t think she’ll be bothering us anymore. She came by to tell you thank you for saving her life, and to apologize for the way she’s been acting.”

“Wow. I never thought I’d see the day that she would admit to doing anything wrong.”

“Well, she did. I think it made a big impression on her when you saved her. It made an impression on me, too. I’ve always known you were amazing, but that was a really selfless thing to do. When we all put aside our differences and work together like that, even when we know the other person is wrong… that’s when we are truly strong. And we were strong yesterday. We suffered losses, yes. But we came out ahead overall. And I truly believe the revolution is underway. We’re going to be successful.”

Whisper closed her eyes and leaned back, allowing herself to fully feel hope for the first time since the attack. “Can you imagine? You and I living together here in this house, happy and with no worries about being harassed by anyone from Gilt Hollow?”

“I can imagine,” Axel said fiercely. “And it’s going to happen. We knew that using the poison would result in this attack, and probably more attacks later. But once we get through this, we’re going to come out victorious. I truly believe that. And I believe that you and I will live together in peace, and the little cubs we eventually have will be able to run and play without worrying about anyone harming them.”

Whisper looked at Axel and smiled. “You want cubs with me?”

He grinned. “Lots and lots of cubs.”

She smiled. “Good. I want a big family. I want a house full of happy laughter.”

“You’ll have it,” Axel said. “I swear to you, we’ll win this revolution, and life will be happiness and laughter after that.”

“Life is already happiness,” Whisper said, reaching over to stroke Axel’s cheek. “It’s not perfect, but it’s full of happiness, because I have you.”

Axel smiled back at her, then bent down to kiss her. Whisper sighed happily and kissed him back, pushing her tongue insistently into his mouth. He chuckled and pulled back.

“Someone’s eager this morning. But how are you feeling?”

Whisper scowled at him. “Don’t worry about me. I’m feeling just fine. And I’m feeling like it’s been too long since I’ve had a chance to make love to you.”

Axel grinned. “We made love yesterday morning before going to the bar to wait for the attacks to start.”

“Yeah, see? It’s been more than twenty-four hours now. Not acceptable.”

Axel laughed and bent to kiss her forehead. “Well, who am I to keep you waiting, then? Gotta keep my woman happy. I just wanted to make sure you’re not too sore after all that fighting.”

“I’m fine. Honestly. And I’m so happy just to be with you. Yesterday I was looking through the crowds for you and you were nowhere to be seen. I was terrified that something awful had happened to you and that I was never going to see you again.”

“I know what you mean. I was freaked out, too, because I couldn’t find you. But now here we are, together and safe. You’re right. We should take advantage.”

Axel bent to kiss her again, this time immediately letting his tongue slide past her lips. Whisper moaned happily and wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling an instant rush of happiness and peace as he slid down from a sitting position so that he was lying next to her. She didn’t even want to think about what it would have been like to lose Axel. Being with him made her feel alive in a way that nothing else ever had, and after the terrors of the last day, she needed to feel alive. She needed to feel hope. With him, she felt that.

He needed it too, it seemed. After a minute of kissing her, he must have finally been convinced that she really was okay despite her wounds, because he pulled back and started to tug at the oversized shirt of his that she was wearing.

“Come on. Let’s get this off of you. You’re wearing far too much clothing.”

She happily let him pull the shirt off, along with the oversized pants of his she was wearing. He alternated between tugging off fabric and kissing her naked skin, and she returned the favor. She pulled at his shirt, then his pants, then his underwear. She kissed hungrily at his skin, being especially tender around the spots where he was bruised and cut. He hadn’t escaped completely unscathed from the fight, but she found the battle wounds on his body to be quite a turn on. They showed where had fought for the shifters, and for their future. And what a future it was going to be.

When there were no more clothes left to remove, the two of them became a naked tangle of arms and legs between the covers. Whisper closed her eyes and moaned slightly as he dipped his face to her breasts, nibbling at her nipples and sending little shock waves of pleasure through her. Her body grew hot under his touch, and she could feel a familiar, tingling pressure building within her. She shuddered with delight as the stubble on his cheek brushed against her breasts, but it was nothing compared to the shudder of delight she experienced when he slid his hands down between her legs and pushed two of his fingers into her.

She was already dripping wet with desire for him, and his touch made her grow even wetter. She closed her eyes and gave in to the burning passion that filled her, letting the pressure grow deep within her as his fingers brushed against her sensitive inner skin, teasing the spots he knew were her favorite. She could not hold back for long. The sheer joy of having him so close overcame her, and she gave in to his touch. She threw back her head and moaned as her inner muscles clenched around his fingers. Wave after wave of tingling, electric heat passed through her body, and Axel gave her no relief. He continued to press his fingers deep into her, drawing out her release as long as he could.

When finally the waves subsided and he pulled away his hand, she snuggled against his chest, enjoying the feeling of being close to him for a few moments. He wrapped his arms around her and held her, skin to skin, and the world felt perfect.

But they weren’t done yet. They were only getting started. Axel maneuvered himself so that his stiff, rock hard erection was positioned right in front of the slick entrance between Whisper’s legs, and then, he thrust into her. The movement was so swift that it took Whisper by surprise, and she cried out in shock. It was a happy shock, though. His fingers had felt wonderful, but his manhood inside her felt otherworldly. Whisper still had trouble believing that any man could be this large, or feel this good. But Axel was really here, and really that big. And damn, did he feel good. He pressed into her, going deeper and deeper with each thrust, and Whisper found herself reaching the brink of release again. His heat filled every fiber of her body, radiating out to her extremities and everywhere in between. She felt a familiar heat deep in her core that she knew was the lifemate bond, and her lips turned up in a grateful smile. How had she gotten so lucky, to have Axel as a lifemate? The man was perfect. He was brave, handsome, and kind.

And so damn sexy.

He bent his head so that his lips could meet hers, and he kissed her as he continued pressing into her. Whisper trembled with anticipation as the heat and tingling reached its breaking point and spilled over into another fresh release. Her body shuddered and clenched around Axel, drinking in all of the pleasure that he had to give her.

He took his own pleasure right after her, stiffening and then letting out a roar as he came into her just moments later. The two of them clung to each other as tremors of passion passed over both of their bodies. Whisper hadn’t realized how badly she’d needed this. The last few days and weeks had been so stressful, but here and now, none of that mattered. She squeezed her eyes closed even tighter and enjoyed the tremors until they subsided and her breathing returned to normal. With a happy sigh, Axel planted a kiss on her forehead and then pulled out of her, but he didn’t pull away completely. He kept his arms around her, and they snuggled together under the blankets. The rest of the world felt so far away, and Whisper wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

After a long time, Axel finally spoke. “It’s crazy that we knew each other all these years and never realized we were lifemates, don’t you think?”

Whisper laughed. “Yeah. I guess fear of the unknown can really hold you back. And sometimes it can be hard to see what’s right in front of you.”

“Well, I’m seeing it now,” Axel said, planting another kiss firmly on her forehead. “And the future has never looked so bright. Not just because of the revolution, but because of you. Everything has changed, and it’s all for the better.”

Whisper grinned. “It’s only going to get better from here. We have each other, and we have the first taste of victory over Gilt Hollow. Destiny has been good to us.”

Axel pulled her closer. “As long as my destiny is you, it will always be good. Now come on, let’s go get some breakfast. We have a revolution to fight together, so we have to stay fueled up.”

Whisper laughed. “Okay. But only after one more kiss.”

Now that she knew that her lifemate had been right in front of her all these years, she was making up for lost time. She put her lips on Axel’s and kissed him long and deep, just because she could.