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We make it to the tree; her legs still wrapped around my waist, and I don’t want to put her down. I reach back, grabbing herwaist and dragging her around my torso so she now hangs on my chest. I didn’t think that would go so smoothly, but Serena looks up at me with her brows raised, and I know I’m not the only one impressed.

I drop down on the floor, my back pressed to the tree as she settles on my lap.

Her eyes are glued to mine as we sit in silence. I wait, knowing she will tell me what’s bugging her, eventually.

“Ugh,” she groans, falling forward so that her head is buried in my chest, her words slightly muffled as she rambles.

“Why is everything so hard? I’m working my butt off, but these shadows aren’t getting any easier. Ryker still whoops my ass, and I don’t understand my beast anymore. Not to mention, if Pike found us, it’s only a matter of time before Garrett does, and he won’t be as easy to convince about Ryker, but I can’t give up on Lyle, Blair. He needs us, needs me, and he’s never let me down before. I can’t let him down. I won’t,” she groans against my chest, and I can’t help but chuckle, unsure how she managed so many words without taking a breath.

Serena pulls back, glaring at me. I know she means to be intimidating, but she’s not even close.

“It’s not funny, B. This is serious, and I’m freaking out.” She throws her hands in the air before face-planting into my chest again.

“Oh, I don’t need you to tell me that, Little Rabbit. I have eyes.” Running my hands up her back, I rub at her neck and shoulders to try to help her relax. It works in seconds as she melts under my touch, sinful noises falling from her mouth as she goes boneless.

“I don’t understand how you’re so calm about all of this. Have you ever freaked out about anything in your life?” Serena asks, and while I can hear the sarcasm, I know it’s more than that. I’mcalm and collected. It’s who I’ve always been, who she needs me to be even now, but that doesn’t mean I’m without emotions.

“Yes,” I answer simply, and she whips her head back to once again meet my eyes. Her own wide with shock before they narrow, as if trying to decide if I’m telling the truth or not. “The night we found you, I was worried you would never be the same again. That the girl we knew was gone, and for a while you were, but we found you. It didn’t matter much because I was already in love with you, but I was sad, upset that you had to face such a hateful world simply because you were born prey.”

Her eyes go wide, brows damn near disappearing up into her hair, and I get the feeling she doesn’t believe me.

She’s quiet, breathing steadily as she continues to look at me, and this is the calmest I’ve seen her while awake in a while.

Might as well keep going.

“The night you disappeared. Garrett came to the house spewing all kinds of shit that we thought was crazy about other realms and magic. Things I couldn’t have possibly understood before we came through the portal. Waking up here, seeing this vast world I knew nothing about…” Reaching out, I tuck a finger under her chin, forcing her head back further before I lean in and press my nose to hers. “I was afraid I’d lost you then. Little did I know that finding you would be even harder. Alone on the forest floor, you looked so small and defenseless. Just like you had that night, Harlow attacked you. Waiting for you to wake up was torture, but you did.” I move to press my lips to her cheek, gently, just a feather-light brush of my skin on hers.

Her reaction is everything. She sucks in a breath; her back straightening as the soft smell of her arousal becomes even more potent.

Serena is every weakness I’ve ever had rolled up into one little bunny that could be my undoing in a moment, and she doesn’t even know it.

If someone were to ask me my favorite color, I’d say blue, but not just any blue. It’s a very specific blue, the same shade as Serena’s hair. My favorite scent used to be the cherry blossom scent of her shampoo. Now I have no idea what the scent actually is, but I know she smells like it. Favorite animal, bunny, even before my own beast, and the worst part is… he agrees.

There isn’t a damn thing about Serena that I don’t love, no matter how broken, dark, or terrible it is.

If she woke up tomorrow and decided to burn the kingdom to the ground, I would help her, if only she asked.

But that’s another reason I love Serena; she would never do that.

I look into her eyes, her pupils blown wide with lust and love and other emotions I can’t quite get an accurate reading on, and tell her the one thing I know to be true above all else.

“I know everything will work out because I have you. You are the secret to all of this, the piece that will ensure we stop Draven and save Lyle.”

She purses her lips, slumping, and the look she gives me… I don’t even need her to open her mouth to know she thinks I’m crazy.

“I’m serious, Serena. You might not see it, but you amaze me. Have from the moment I met you. You make the impossible, possible.”

“That sounds like a cheesy pickup line,” she says with a dry chuckle, rolling her eyes.

“Well, first, I don’t need to pick you up. You're my mate. Secondly, I happen to know you enjoy cheese, unhealthily so…” I raise a brow at her in challenge, daring her to deny it. She doesn’t, and I take her silence as acceptance. “We’ll figure this out together, one thing at a time, starting with your powers and ending with you being queen.”

Once again her eyes go wide, but this time they're full of panic.

“Don’t worry about it right now, Little Rabbit. For now, I think you just need to relax,” I tell her, kneading her shoulders harder and pulling a moan from her lips that goes straight to my already rock-hard cock as her eyes roll back in her head.

“This is cheating. You have magic hands,” she whines, but it’s half-assed.

“I could stop if you want,” I offer, leaving my hands on her shoulders but pausing their movement.