Page 40 of The Alpha's Bullied Rejected Mate

“And I can’t deliver a corpse to the Council.”

“I’m fine,” Athena insisted, even as another violent shiver wracked her frame.

Marcus made a sound that might have been a laugh if it hadn’t been so devoid of humor.

“Your lips are getting blue, and you haven’t stopped shaking for the past two hours.”

“You know,” she murmured, “for someone so obsessed with your mission, you spend a lot of time watching me.”

“I watch my targets, especially those who have attempted to escape once,” he spoke in a low tone.

“I don’t need your help,” she said, but the words lacked conviction. Her traitorous body was already melting into his warmth, soaking up the comfort he offered like a sponge.

“Sure you don’t,” Marcus murmured against her hair. “You freeze to death, I have to explain it. That’s more paperwork than I want.”

Before she could protest again, his arms wrapped tighter around her from behind, pulling her back closer against the solid warmth of his chest. The heat was so immediate, sooverwhelming after hours of bone-deep cold, that she couldn’t suppress the small sound of relief that escaped her lips.

Athena wanted to pull away, to maintain the hostile distance that had defined their interactions since the failed seduction attempt.

But the cold had sapped her strength along with her magic, and Marcus felt like a furnace against her back. For the first time in hours, the violent shivering began to subside.

She told herself she would move away soon. As soon as she stopped shaking.

Just a little longer.

Then she exhaled. Her muscles eased, and she leaned into him ever so slightly.

Minutes passed.

And she was asleep before she realized it.

* *

The golden haze of morning sunlight crept through the frosted window panes.

It took Athena a second between sleep and waking to remember where she was. The cold air still lingered, brushing her cheeks like a whisper, but it was countered by the firm heat that wrapped around her through the low, heated fireplace.

She made it through the night.

She turned to stretch her body from sleep when she felt a restriction to her movement.

She was tied with…Muscle?

She looked up, and her breath hitched.

Marcus.

His arm lay draped across her waist in a protective manner, and her arms were wrapped around. Their legs were tangled under the blanket they must have pulled over themselves sometime in the night. They were so close she could feel his steady, sleeping breath near her nape.

Her first instinct was to pull away, but she already found herself staring at his face.

It was too late.

His features were relaxed in sleep, younger somehow, without the harsh lines that duty and anger had carved into his expression. This was the Marcus she remembered—the one who had held her through countless nights, the man who once held her heart.

As if sensing her scrutiny, his eyes snapped opened, immediately alert despite having been asleep moments before. For a heartbeat, they simply stared at each other, the familiar amber of his gaze searching her face with an intensity that made her breath catch.

She could see the flecks of gold in his amber eyes. His wolf was at the surface.