Chapter 23 ~ After the storm

Blue versus green.

A dark sky against a misty forest.

Then, he slowly leaned in and finally pressed his lips against hers….

Elena POV

Fireworks erupted in my whole body when our lips touched.

His tongue plunged right in, tangling with mine, and I couldn't help the soft moans escaping my lips.

'I'm really doing this! I'm kissing Black Alpha…my mate!'

Tilting my head for me to deepen the kiss, he couldn't help pressing me closer to him, in an iron grip.

I slightly sucked on his lower lip, savouring his groans of approval that excited me too much. Probably I died and gone to heaven.

A few minutes later, he tore his delicious lips from mine as we needed fresh air.

In the heat of the moment, I hadn't even realized that one of my hands was tugging his hair and the other was gripping his t-shirt. But I didn't care, and he didn't seem to mind either, too busy staring at me.

I couldn't avoid the intense redness that had spread on my cheeks, under his passionate gaze. It was as if he could see through my clothes and freely 'explore' all my secrets...

My heart was pounding so hard I felt it would pop out of my chest at any moment.

No words were uttered, we just kept staring at each other.

The first kiss with your other half was not something trivial, something that happened every day.

No. Because here you were dealing with your soul mate. The missing piece, the person created especially for you.

I gasped when his lips moved along my jaw and down towards my neck.

"Mirko…" My sentence trailed off as I saw him come up and capture my eyes with his. There was a hunger and possessiveness in his gaze. The intensity of his stare made my stomach flutter and my breath hitch.

When his lips landed on mine, I found myself lost again in another incredible kiss.

.....

....

.

"Never do that again, my love." He murmured, after a while. Our foreheads were pressed against each other as we were trying to recover from our second kiss.

"What?" My eyes slid to meet his dark blue eyes, blazing like flames in the darkest of the nights.

"Jumping there in the middle… to save me." Stroking my cheek, he looked at me so sweetly that I had to refrain from kissing him again.

"For the first time, in all my life, I was truly scared." He paused for a moment as he swallowed hard.

"Seeing you there, so close to danger… and right in front of me… ME! Your mate." He sounded desperate and I couldn't stand that, so I cupped his face in my hands.

"You didn't have to." I whispered with a weak smile. He let out a shaky breath, shutting his eyes.

"Hey…I'm perfectly ok." His arms tightened around my waist as he buried his face in my hair. Caressing his hair and pressing my cheek on his head, I was lulled by his masculine scent. I had never felt so safe and complete.

We stayed like that for a while, almost forgetting the rest of the world.

Almost.

"I will kill him!" He snarled out suddenly, catching me by surprise.

"Please don't. You can't be too harsh on him either." I said gently, spreading the frown on his forehead with one finger. "I can't be a cause of bloodshed. Plus, there must be a reason beyond his behaviour, and I intend to find out."

"He almost attacked you, Elena!" He gritted out, covering his face with his hand. "YOU. My mate."

His chest was heaving up and down and his elongated claws were piercing his clenched fists. I couldn't bear to see him like that…

He looked ferocious, with a dangerous glint that had appeared in his scary eyes.

I needed to distract him from doing something he would most likely regret, so I did the only thing that came to mind….

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"I should kill him. Yes, I will go and-" He continued with his threats, starting to shake with fury.

But he was interrupted halfway by the sweet lips of Elena on his. Stunned at first, it didn't take him long to return the kiss. The hypothetical murder of Crucifero momentarily forgotten.

When he ripped his lips from her, he traced his fingers on her heated cheeks.

"Are you trying to distract me, you magic creature?" He inquired with that husky voice that was always melting Elena's heart. "Because if you were trying it, you did it great." He told her before placing a few more kisses on her lips.

"Maybe." She replied cheekily, playing with the hem of his t-shirt. A small smile pulled at his plump lips.

"Ok, I won't kill him for today." He grumbled, looking slightly disappointed at the idea of not murdering his best friend.

"But, Moon Goddess, make sure that there's a damned good reason to explain his psychopathic behaviour. It's my bloody Beta after all, not a newly transformed pup."

Elena shrugged, contemplating the possibilities for one second only, too busy enjoying his proximity.

When he 'finally' broke their hug to accompany her to the Medical Facility, her knees trembled alarmingly, but she refused to look like a silly girl in front of her magnificent mate. Forcing her body to behave normally, she took a deep breath and welcomed the coolness against her heated skin.

A sense of lightness and peace was floating inside her, while they were walking side by side, without holding hands, but brushing their fingers every now and then, on purpose, and taking a timid peek of each other from time to time. Sometimes she looked at him sideways and he, feeling her gaze on himself, just turned to give her one of those Mirko's grins, which accentuated in front of her automatic redness.

Sometimes the roles were reversed: it was she who, feeling observed, caught him to peek at her and watched him blush. He seemed as affected as herself at their closeness.

When they arrived in front of the hospital, they both seemed reluctant to separate from each other.

"See you later, mate." He whispered, tracing her swollen lips with his thick thumb.

When she turned and left, Elena could still feel the intensity of his gaze on her and almost tripped over her own feet.

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When she reached the top of the stairs leading to Marco's floor, she suddenly stopped. Marco's voice was echoing from his room!

His friend was scolding Rex.

Both excitement and nervousness invaded Elena at the same time, the emotion she felt when she heard his voice was indescribable. Tears had threatened to flood as her breath caught in her throat.

When she finally reached the door, the chatter stopped abruptly.

Marco was sitting there, still partially covered by bandages, with Giulia clinging to his side and comfortably placed in his arms, while Rex was with his elbow resting on the bed frame.

In her state of happiness, a small part of her mind had realized that there was something wrong with Marco. His smile was not reaching his eyes and an aura of sadness was hovering over him. Usually his eyes shone with a mixture of playfulness and cheerfulness but at that moment they lacked light.

But she decided to investigate that later.

Looking at him, she realized how much she had missed him.

"Ele ..." He called.

She literally jumped on him, wrapping him with her arms and legs, like a monkey. Shutting her eyes, she felt big repressed tears finally roll down.

Whatever had happened, whatever the future held for them, Marco had returned. And a world with Marco was the best place to live.

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Read up to chapter 48 on P,atreon. Also 20 extra bonus special episodes already available on Patreo,n only (some are mature content)!!

ladytrex is my name on P a t r e o n

Some of the bonus exclusive special episodes are: "When Mirko was single and had his needs", "When Mirko and Elena met in the woods", "Marco and Crucifero first's time", Mirko POV from chapter Fluffin" and so much more extra content! :D

And thank you so so much for reading!! Have an amazing week!