Page 34 of Knot Their Soldier: Part Three

Viper catches me before I can fall, holding me tighter as he rocks into me with slower, deeper grinds of his hips, each one pulling another helpless sound from my throat as I continue to ride my peak.

"Oh, please. Oh, please," I hear myself chanting. Begging, but for what, I don't know.

His whole body locks.

A guttural growl tears from him as his head lifts, and abruptly, he pulls me upright against his chest, his arms tightening until I feel consumed by him in every possible way.

Then he's coming.

Viper's cock pulses, and his tendons strain.

Heat spills inside me, and I shudder at the feeling of my Alpha pumping me full of come.

My pussy keeps fluttering, stretched wide around the base of his cock with his knot buried deep inside, and Viper grunts with each rope he shoots into me, his breathing heavy.

Finally, Viper stills.

His breath comes heavy against my neck.

"Halley?" he breathes.

My name sounds broken in his mouth. Lost and small in a way Viper never is.

I shift enough to see him, and Viper adjusts with me, keeping me braced against his chest. My legs tremble, but his arms stay steady. Through the bond, his presence flickers brighter, no longer buried beneath all that rot and darkness.

Viper bends over me and presses his nose to the side of my throat, right over the place where the wound used to be. His whole body shudders.

"You smell right," he whispers.

My throat tightens because I know what he means. I don’t smell dead anymore.

I squeeze his hand. "So do you."

A rough sound breaks out of him, and he folds closer around me. I reach through the bond, finding the damaged thread between us and holding on until it warms.

"Have you come back to me, Alpha?" I whisper.

His answer is a sob against my skin.

I stroke his hair, tears slipping free. "That’s it, big guy. I’m here."

He pulls back enough to see my face. His eyes are almost green again. The red veins have faded to faint lines at his temples, and the terrifying wrongness around him has drained away, leaving my Alpha looking shattered and afraid to believe what’s right in front of him.

He touches my cheek with one careful finger.

"You’re alive," he says.

I press my hand over his heart.

"So are you."

Chapter Nine

Halley

The medic’s hands are cold against my skin. He runs his fingers over my ribs to my lower back, searching for a wound that isn’t there. Not even a scar.

As he checks my blood pressure once again, I can feel the medic shaking under the heavy scrutiny of my Pack. The strap expands and squeezes my bicep, the machine whirring before deflating with a hiss.