Page 31 of Bullied Pretend Mate (Silverville Firefighter Wolves #3)

Maybe it’s stupid, but the moment I thought Felix was going to die, I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.

Even if that meant staying in Silverville.

Now, I sit next to his bed, like I have for the past two weeks, eyes darting over to him every time I think I imagine movement. Valerie, Phina, and I did our best with healing magic, working through the night to the point of exhaustion.

While in Los Angeles, I’d only used enough of my magic to keep it from itching my skin. I was never as strong as Phina or Aurela, and a little flick of the wrist here or there kept me sane.

But that meant when it came time to try to save Felix, and I was pushing everything I had into him, there just wasn’t much there.

I pushed every ounce of healing magic I had into his body. Then, when that was gone, I reached for more, scraping at the bottom of the barrel, drawing up something from nothing until it felt like I was pulling from my own soul.

And I would. I’d give it to him.

But Phina wrapped her arms around me, pulling me back, trying to be soothing until I fought against her a little too hard, and she used her magic to push me back into a chair, forcing me to be still.

Breathing hard, pushing her hair out of her face, she said, “You think Felix did all that just so you could kill yourself to try and save him?”

After that, I was more careful, focusing on one burn at a time, trying to heal each as deeply as I could. Even after everything looked fine again on the outside, Felix was still unconscious, lying still in his bed, like he was only sleeping.

Phina and Valerie have alternated coming over, taking turns pushing more healing into him. One day, while Valerie is over, she tells me about the time Lachlan was burned by the daemon fire.

“I’d just learned how to heal,” she says, her voice soft. “I was terrified I was going to hurt him. But Phina told me the daemon energy would just dig deeper and deeper. That it wouldn’t stop eating at him until we got it out.”

I stare at Felix, swallowing, setting a hand on him to see if I can feel any of the daemon energy still inside him.

“It smelled horrible,” Valerie says, working steadily, her hands glowing a soft pink as she runs them over Felix’s chest. “When Lachlan was burning. Sometimes, I still wake up, smelling it. Felix actually threw up that day when he saw how bad Lach was.”

We laugh together, but it dies quickly when Felix isn’t able to laugh along with us.

“He’s going to be fine,” Valerie says, laying a hand on mine before she turns and grabs her bag. “I have to get back to the baby, but I’ll be back on Wednesday, okay?”

I nod, sitting back down, forcing myself to stay busy.

Since that night with Tara, I’ve been meeting with my therapist again, and she helped me realize I need to stay focused on something other than Felix. It’s not like staring at him all day is going to help him heal faster.

As she’s a human therapist, it’s not like I could tell her that I am actually capable of healing him with my magic, but we did get close enough with a conversation about taking from yourself and giving to others.

I pick up the piece I was working on when Valerie got here, some hand-stitching I need to do around some of the pieces, just to make sure they’re as high-quality as possible. It’s been soothing, methodical, reminding me of what I like about creating pieces by hand.

Some of my friends in Los Angeles got my fabric and machines, forwarding them to Silverville for me. I’m set to finish the pieces next week and send them over the week after that.

And when—

“Hey.”

At first, I think I’ve imagined it, like all the times I imagined his voice before, but when I look up at the end of my row of stitches, Felix is looking over at me, his head lolled to the side, and an easy, slow smile on his face.

“Felix,” I breathe, setting down the sewing a little too hard, rising to my feet, moving closer to him even though I’m already at his bedside. “Oh, gods, Felix, I—”

“No,” he says, holding up his hand. “Me first.”

Except he’s rasping, so I turn and fetch him a glass of water, watching as he chugs it down quickly, then holds out the glass to me, smiling as I get him more.

Everything he’s doing feels miraculous. It feels miraculous that he’s still here. That he’s okay.

That he’s alive.

“Maeve,” he says when he can finally speak again.

“I meant what I said at the wedding. I love you. You’re my mate.

I think, deep down, I’d always suspected we were fated, but this just confirms it for me.

We’re meant to be together, and I’ll do anything to make that happen.

” He swallows, raising his eyes to me and taking my hand in his.

“Even if that means leaving Silverville.”

My body is so full of joy, I can barely stand it.

“Felix, I—”

He laughs. “Sorry, I’m not done.”

I’m laughing, too, and crying, and he reaches up, wincing a bit as he tucks an errant piece of hair behind my ear.

I probably look like a mess—I haven’t thought about doing my hair or makeup, haven’t cared about what I’m wearing since the day I got Felix back here and made it clear to everyone that I would be taking care of him until he got better.

“I need to apologize for everything that happened,” Felix says, his voice getting smaller.

“All this time, I didn’t realize how badly I was hurting you.

At the time, it was almost like, since I knew the things I said weren’t true and that’s not how I really felt, it was okay.

Back then, my parents made me feel like standing was everything.

But that doesn’t matter, and it doesn’t excuse it.

I’m sorry, Maeve. And I’ll spend every single day being there for you, waiting on you hand and foot, if that will come close to fixing the problems I created. ”

Leave it to Felix, the most unserious man I’ve ever met, to apologize in the sweetest and most genuine way I’ve ever heard.

He opens his mouth to keep going, but I don’t need to hear it.

I forgave him a long time ago. The moment he showed up for me on the mountain.

The moment he launched himself at Tara and held on to her even as the two of them blazed, rolling, the blue flames growing higher into the air as Felix refused to let go.

It was just like that night on the ridge, when Tara herself erupted into flames.

As though he can read my mind, Felix forces himself up to sitting, wincing only a little bit, and asks, “What happened to her?”

“To Tara?”

“Yes,” he says, raising an eyebrow. “What happened to the psychotic bitch trying to kill everyone and burn the entire town down?”

I roll my eyes at him, then lean down, kissing him again, like it might soften the bad news I have to give him. “She…got away.”

“Got away?” Felix croaks, pulling back. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, we were hoping she died,” I say, swallowing down the pain of admitting this. “But when we couldn’t find her, we realized we didn’t know for sure. And Soren insisted we consider her missing rather than dead.”

“Sounds like Soren,” Felix groans, and I reach out, touching the tips of my fingers to his cheek.

“Does the kiss mean you forgive me?” he whispers, tipping his chin up to look at me.

“Yes.” It’s easy to say it, because it’s true. “And this kiss means I love you.”

When I lean down to kiss him again, his hands slide up my arms, pulling me into the bed with him. My first instinct is to straddle him, but then I remember the wincing.

“Are you okay?” I ask, glancing down at him. “It seemed like you were in pain.”

He tips his head up, knocking his chin against me and drawing me in for another kiss. “Yeah, and this is the best treatment I can think of.”

I sink into the kiss, settling into his lap until I feel him starting to grow against me, getting harder as I roll my hips against him.

Since that first time we were together, this is the longest we’ve gone without touching each other. The break between the wedding and now has felt like a year, rather than just a few weeks.

Felix and I melt into each other, and he starts to undress me, lifting my shirt up over my head. Everything feels like it’s moving slowly, sweetly, like syrup around us. Like the universe knows that after being apart for so long, this needs to last as long as possible.

He unclasps my bra, a groan ripping from the back of his throat when he sees my bare chest. Felix lowers his mouth to my nipples, his other hand gripping tightly to my hip, and I throw my head back with pleasure.

“Maeve,” he murmurs, his mouth hot on my skin as he bites and sucks and nips at me. “I would really like to be inside you right now.”

I smile through my laugh, pushing back the teary happiness that he’s alive and here with me. “I thought you would never ask.”