Page 28 of Bound to Enemy (Wolf Billionaire #3)

CHAPTER 28

DAXTON

I carried her in my arms all the way from the hospital to the caves. This was a sacred area for our people. This was where our high priests and priestesses would come and make their prayers to the moon.

Jason, Alex, and some of the high healers followed behind me. None of us had spoken a word since leaving the hospital. We were all tense and quiet because we knew what the gravity of this moment could yield for us.

There was no failure tonight; we couldn't afford it. This had to be it.

We walked deeper and deeper into the caves until finally, we came to the opening where the pool of water was. Directly above, the moonlight streamed down from the opening, casting a gentle blue hue across the area.

"This is it," I heard Jason say behind me. "You just need to walk into the water with her and make sure that she floats. Then you submerge the stone into the pool and say the words."

I nodded, my eyes only focused on the black water. I had no idea how deep or shallow it was, but since I had to hold her up like she was floating, I guessed that I could at least stand.

We both were wearing white ceremonial garments; it was needed for the ritual to take place. Ale had also been given a small cut on the side of her palm so that the water could seep through and into her body.

My small entourage stood to the side and watched while I drew closer to the pool.

I was like a fish out of water and had no idea how all of this was supposed to work. I was moving on faith and that alone.

I walked to the water and before I took my first step into the water, I pressed my lips against her forehead. I drew my mouth right by her ear and whispered the words.

"I love you, Alessandra."

I stepped into the water and surprisingly it was much warmer than I had been expecting. I looked down at my wife and her eyes were still closed just like they had been for almost two weeks.

I walked into the pool of water with her in my arms. Her chest rose and fell gently like she was sleeping. The bruises on her porcelain skin had healed nicely, but you could still see the slight yellowish color. She was healing at the rate of a human, which meant that time was not on our side.

I got in just above my hips and sprawled her body out so that it could float. To my shock, her body was quite buoyant without my help, but I just kept my hand under her back.

I turned my head to Jason, who looked at us anxiously. He moved his gaze to the roof of the cave and watched the moon.

"It's at its peak."

It was time.

Jason stepped forward and dropped the moonstone into the water. Within a few seconds, the water illuminated a bright blue-white.

I heaved a heavy sigh and closed my eyes to focus the energy of my wolf on this moment.

"From the ashes of the moon to our soil in our ancestral land. We pray to you, goddess, to heal with your righteous hand. Alfagio bsyos balvu."

After I was done, I opened my eyes and looked down at her floating body. Her chest rose and fell gently on its own as it had been doing for the past week.

The rays of moonlight streamed in on us in every direction, kissing her skin and casting a gentle glow on her.

I looked over my shoulder where Jason and Alex stood. Their eyes were trained on their alpha, waiting anxiously for any sort of reaction. Elliot stood with the group of healers looking just as anxious as her friends.

I turned my head back down to my mate.

Come on, Ale. Wake up for me.

The seconds ticked by, feeling more like hours. My heart was in my stomach, and all the hope I had for this little plan of ours working went down the drain. I feared that she wasn't going to wake up.

"Baby, please." My voice cracked at the end. "I... I can't do life without you in it. If you die, then I die too."

Overcome with emotion, I leaned down and connected my lips to hers. They were cold to the touch.

I had cried more in these past two weeks than I had cried in my entire life. I was always a man who had an answer to everything. I had prided myself in being able to handle whatever storm life decided to throw my way.

But this one... it was just far too strong for me. I could not get through this without her at the end. She was my lifeline, my safety net. There was no me without her.

I didn't get a reaction as I had expected, but then all of a sudden, I felt her lips mold against mine and she kissed me back.

I didn't dare move away; I simply coaxed her lips to move against mine and they did.

Oh my goddess. She was kissing me back.

She was alive.

I pulled away, removing my lips from hers so I could look at her.

Her eyes fluttered open and my heart all but stopped in the middle of my chest.

There she was.

My Alessandra.

Her deep waters raged in her irises. For the first time in weeks, I felt like I could finally breathe. I could see the life in her again. I didn't need to guess if she was there or if she was gone.

"Ale?"

The water lapped around her body. I pulled her into my arms so she wasn't floating anymore. I held her tightly toward me, making sure that this was truly happening.

The last time I had held her, she was on the brink of death. And now she was alive with eyes full of light.

I tugged on our pull and I felt her wolf. I could feel every single part of her.

"Hey." She looked up at me and cupped the side of my face in her hand. "What did I miss?"

I let out a low chuckle that was mixed in with all the emotions I harbored for days. I nuzzled my nose into the crook of her neck and breathed in her tantalizing scent.

I had missed this.

I had missed her.

'I missed you too.' Her voice rang loudly in my head.

I pulled away with a shit-eating grin on my face. "You don't know how happy I am to have you in my head."

Her lips split into a similar smile to mine. "You can't get rid of me that easily. You're with me for life."

I pressed my lips down to hers again. Our lips moved together in perfect sync. The gentle push and pull of our movements had my heart roaring in glee.

"Okay, okay, we get it, let her see her other people. Need I remind you I came first!" Jason, the little shit, burst out a moment later with a loud laugh.

Ale pulled away from me laughing. She then looked over my shoulder. "Love you too, Jase." She threw her long-time friend a mock scowl and then turned her attention back to me. "I'm sorry I scared you."

My eyes softened. "Don't ever do that to me again, Alessandra. I can't afford to lose you. You're my soul."

Her eyes shone up at me with a light I had never seen in them before. "And you are mine. I love you, Daxton Vale, from now until the end of time."

"You and me?"

"You and me."

And that was our promise to each other.