Page 68 of The Alpha's Bullied Rejected Mate

But his mind worked in confusion. That light—it was familiar.

And then he saw her.

Athena.

She stepped into the clearing like a storm cloaked in grace.

Her hair blew wild around her face, her hands pulsing with celestial energy. Her eyes—those fierce green eyes—were glowing bright, wild, and divine. Light shimmered off her skin as she raised her palm out, muttering spells under her breath.

The dark forces shrieked as her magic surged, white-hot and clean, cutting through their dark cores until nothing remained but ash and smoke.

Then the wind fell silent.

Marcus’s legs buckled as he tried to stand, and then he hit the ground, groaning. He could feel his body weakening as his eyes struggled to stay open.

Athena was rushing to his side in an instant. But it was too late, the darkness had already engulfed him.

***

Consciousness came to Marcus in fractured glimpses, each one more disorienting than the last. But one scent was consistent around his nostrils, aside from the metallic whiff of blood-soaked bandages and healing herbs.

Athena’s.

He could feel her touch against his skin as she mumbled spells he couldn’t comprehend, but felt. The only way to heal injuries inflicted by a dark force was through magic, and if he was getting better, then she was doing a very good job.

Marcus tried to speak. His tongue felt swollen, and a weak groan was all he could manage.

“Don’t.” Athena’s command cut through the fog in his mind.

Her fingers dug into his collarbone, pinning him to the bed as his body instinctively tried to move due to the pain.

Her magic poured into the gash across his abdomen. Marcus arched off the bed with a strangled gasp as white fire raced through his veins.

“Almost... there...” Athena’s voice strained with effort as her light magic crackled around her fingertips, where they pressed against him, battling the dark energy that still festered in his wounds.

Time lost meaning as Marcus drifted in and out of awareness, each waking moment marked by Athena’s relentless presence.

Marcus forced his eyes open. The sight that greeted him stole what little breath he had left.

But the nights were worse.

The dark energy had settled deep in his bones, leaving him shivering despite the mountain of blankets Athena had piled atop him.

Suddenly, he felt heat radiate from beside him in tender warmth.

Soft curves molded against his sides as delicate fingers splayed across his ice-cold chest.

He didn’t need to be fully awake to know who it was.

Athena.

“You’re freezing,” Athena murmured, her thighs bracketing his hips.

He could feel the sigh of her breath against his nape as she tucked herself around him.

Marcus couldn’t form words, but his body reacted instinctively—curling into her heat like a dying man to a flame. Her arm tightened around him all the same.

When Marcus finally regained full consciousness, he cracked his eyes open. The sight that greeted him stole what little breath he had just started to regain.