Page 61 of The Monster's Daughter

This time’s not like before.

It’s not frantic. Not desperate.

It’s reverent.

We move slow. Learn each other again. Her hands trail down the ridges of my back, not flinching from the scars. My claws trace her spine like a map I used to know by heart and am finally remembering.

She gasps when I sink into her. Not from pain. From relief.

We don’t talk.

Two broken things making something whole.

Later, she sleeps with her head on my chest, fingers tangled in mine.

Her breath ghosts over my skin in soft waves. I stroke her hair, slow and steady, trying not to think too loud. Trying not to wake the ache that’s curled up under my ribs.

Because I’m happy.

And it terrifies me.

I have a daughter.

A mate. A home.

I’m not built for this. I’m built for war. For running. For clawing my way through fire and coming out the other side burned but breathing.

But now… Iwantthis.

And that hope?

That hope is dangerous.

Because nothing this good ever lasts.

CHAPTER 35

BELLA

Iwake up warm.

Kage’s arms are around me, heavy and solid and safe. His chest rises and falls against my back, a rhythm I didn’t know I missed until I felt it again. There’s a hum to his breathing, a deep rumble like a purr trapped too far down to escape. His claws twitch slightly, brushing the curve of my hip like even in sleep he’s trying to anchor me.

The bed shifts.

Then there’s a little thump. A giggle. Small limbs scrambling.

“Mamaaaaa.”

Natalie flops onto the mattress like a starfish caught in a windstorm and wedges herself right between us like she’s been doing it her whole life.

Kage stirs, one eye barely slitting open.

“Dream patrol reporting for duty,” she says proudly, tugging on his ear.

He groans like a dying beast, then cracks a smile. “Tell me everything, soldier.”

And she does.