Chapter <b>171 </b>


    The forest was quiet now, except for the crackle of the fire and the thunder of my own beating heart.


    Julian’s werewolf healing ability worked with me, pushing out the splinters as quickly as I removed them. Before long, his back was only covered with dried blood and fur. Though in a moment, even that was dissipating as he shifted back to his human form.


    At some point, he must have awakened again. As I sat there, frozen, my shock taking hold, he sat up and


    turned to me. When he cupped my face in his hands, I blinked and refocused onto his eyes.


    “Are you injured?” he asked me.


    “N–no,” I said. At least, I didn’t think so. The shock could be hiding an injury<b>, </b>so I gave myself a quick once


    over. Julian did as well. Then we both looked at one another again. “I’m okay,” I said.


    That didn’t feel honest. Physically, I was well, but the rest of me was trapped in a wild vortex of fear and agony, reliving the ne crash again and again.


    “Amber,” Julian said, and when I finally heard it, I knew it wasn’t the first time he said my name. “Stay


    with me, can you do that?”


    “I don’t know,<i>” </i>I admitted.


    “Can I help?” he asked.


    “I don’t know,<i>” </i>I said again.


    He thought a moment, his brow furrowing. “Can I try something?”


    “Yes,” I told him. I didn’t want to keep feeling like this. If he could do something to distract me, to rattle


    me out of this fear spiral I was in, I would have agreed to anything.


    Tugging my face closer, he leans down and kisses me.


    I gasp, startled, and somehow pleased. My heart aches, but for new reasons as my mind shifts from the terror of freefall to the joy of kissing my mate again.


    He was such a good kisser, always so careful with me and so attentive to my needs. Even now, he moved slowly, gently licking at the seam of my lips without pushing for more. It was only after I parted my lips, weing him, did he slip his tongue into my mouth to tangle with my own.


    I wed at his shoulders, instantly transported to the home we once shared. The forest, the burning car, felt like a different lifetime now, like it had happened to someone else.


    Always, I had been here, safe, with my husband. With him kissing me. With him reminding me that I am


    his and no one else’s.


    I was alive and so was Julian. We had survived this, survived everything.


    I clutched him tighter. One of his hands slide around my wait to tug me closer to him. I practically crawled into hisp.


    I didn’t want the kiss to end, but eventually I had to breathe.


    As we separated, he pressed his forehead to mine and we breathed together.


    Alive.


    As one.


    Too soon, he pulled away. “I have to check the driver,” he said.


    I didn’t want him to go, but I understood the necessity. With great effort, I utched my fingers from his


    shirt.


    “Stay here,” he told me, as he slid away from me.


    My legs were so weak, I didn’t think I could follow him even if <b>I </b>wanted to.


    He was only gone for a moment, but when he returned, he was carrying a man’s wallet. Theck of a physical person, I knew, meant the driver was dead.


    Julian’s face was filled with concern.


    “What is it?” I asked.


    “The driver didn’t make it,” Julian said. “He was thrown from the car before the explosion so I was able to search him for identification.”


    “And?” I prompted.


    He looked down at the identification card in the transparent sleeve of the wallet.


    “He’s from my pack.”