by Peyton Bogue
There isn’t any pain as Rhys bites him. There’s no fear, no blinding terror. It’s unlike anything Sage has ever felt. There’s no name or definition that could ever explain how he feels. It’s mysterious and wondrous and magnificent. Mind numbing ecstasy washes over him as he releases a choked-off noise that’s halfway between a moan and a whimper. Every inch of his body burns and tightens at the feeling of pure love that seizes his heart and floods through his veins. Rhys was right—anything he’s ever felt before is insignificant to the heat that is coursing through him, completely consuming every nerve, every atom in his entire body.
It hits Sage then, right in his chest, how close he was to never having this with Rhys. He almost died. Rhys almost died. They could have never been able to give this to each other. They could have never been able to know what this feels like. Rhys could have been taken from him, and the last thing he would've heard would have been the sounds of Sage’s screams as he writhed in pain on that warehouse floor. Sage would’ve never known that he and Rhys were mates. He never would’ve known how deeply their love for each went. He never would’ve known what it would feel like to be loved so completely that it fills his entire body.
More tears fall down Sage's cheeks. He’s helpless to do anything else besides try to draw Rhys in closer, to feel Rhys’s body against his, to feel that Rhys is alive and breathing.
Rhys thrusts into him hard and fast, drawing out their pleasure until Sage can feel their bond clicking into place between them, as if it’s an unbreakable chain that links them to each other’s hearts, to each other’s souls. It’s an undimmable ray of light that shines only for their eyes. With each pounding thrust, their bond grows brighter and brighter and stronger. Sage can feel that tether between them and can see and smell that chain until they become one, until he is Rhys’s and Rhys is his, and they’re the beginning and middle and end to everything that has ever existed in the world. They are the very first spark from the very first ember of fire in the world, so bright and searing but so trusted and intimate.
Sage feels their mating bond shine clear and luminous between them as Rhys moans brokenly.
Release tears through Sage’s body, then, at once too soon and not soon enough. He clenches around Rhys as a shaky moan exhales through his lips, his entire body thrumming with his arousal. He whimpers, “Rhys,” as he falls over the edge, overwhelmed as a fresh wave of tears falls from his eyes once more. Above him, Rhys tears himself away from Sage’s neck, growls as Sage becomes unbearably hot around him, and buries himself to the hilt. Sage gasps at the feel of him, at that stretch, and tightens his fingers in Rhys’s hair.
“Sage,” Rhys gasps brokenly against his lips. “My mate,” he moans, his entire body shuddering as he shatters deep inside of Sage’s body.
Silence overtakes them as they gaze into each other’s eyes, only interrupted by their panting breaths. Rhys’s eyes are radiant, still Alpha red as he looks into Sage’s eyes with pure love and adoration. His breaths are fast as he leans forward, still buried deeply inside of Sage, and presses a light kiss to Sage’s lips.
Almost immediately, he pulls back quickly and gives Sage a concerned look, his stoic and beautiful face tentative.
“You. . .” he pauses, frowning as he pants. He leans forward, gently taking Sage’s face in his hands, and wipes away the remaining tears on Sage’s cheeks with his thumbs. “You’re crying.”
Sage doesn’t say anything for a moment, panting as he tries to catch up to what Rhys is saying. He feels as if his head is full of cotton, and he’s starting to get a little lightheaded again. He loosens his grip in Rhys’s hair, boneless, and lets his hand slide down to Rhys’s shoulder.
“I’m so sorry, Sage. Oh my, God. Did I—” Rhys cuts himself off, his eyes immediately dimming from Alpha red as he effortlessly retracts his canines, his control now finally his own. He pulls out of Sage completely, and Sage makes a noise in his throat at the feeling of emptiness that washes over him. Rhys’s face pales at the sound, and his grip on Sage’s face turns panicked. His gray eyes are tormented as he stares down into Sage’s eyes and asks brokenly, “Did I hurt you?”
His voice cracks, and the sound of it clears through the remaining haze in Sage’s head, and he blinks blearily, inhaling deeply.
“I—” Sage tries, but his voice is absolutely wrecked as he shakes his head. He swallows, then tries again. “No. No, Rhys. You didn’t hurt me.”
“Then why are you crying?” Rhys asks, his voice pleading even as his face twists into a pained expression.
“I—” Sage cuts himself off again, inhaling sharply and sniffling. “I just. . .”
“Hey,” Rhys says concernedly yet softly, running his thumbs over Sage’s cheeks again. “Breathe, sweetheart. Talk to me, baby. What’s going on?”
Sage takes another deep breath. “I just. . .” He blows out a puff of air. “I just love you so much. And he tried to take you away from me. He almost killed you. I almost lost you.”
“Sage. . .” Rhys trails off, leaning forward and pressing their foreheads together. “Baby, I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. No one is ever going to take me away from you. I promise, sweetheart. I’m yours, baby. I’m right here.”
Sage sniffles again, lifting his hand off of Rhys’s shoulder and wrapping it around Rhys’s neck. He hugs Rhys tightly to his body as Rhys moves to bracket his arms around Sage’s sides. It’s too hot, and they’re both sticky, but Sage doesn’t care. He needs this. He needs to hold Rhys in his arms. He needs the weight of Rhys’s body to press him down into their bed and never let him up. He needs this reassurance.
“You’re mine,” Sage says quietly, another sniffle escaping him, and Rhys nods vehemently.
“Yeah, baby,” Rhys says softly into Sage’s ear. “I’m yours.”
Sage makes a noise in his throat, and Rhys gently tugs on him. Sage moves, and Rhys falls on his back onto his side of the bed, tugging Sage along with him. Sage wraps both of his arms around Rhys’s neck, not caring if the pressure hurts his bad arm, and buries his face into Rhys’s throat.
Rhys doesn’t say anything, just wraps his arms around Sage’s back and starts rubbing his thumbs soothingly along Sage’s spine.
It’s quiet for a while as they lay together, the sound of Sage’s sniffles the only sounds between them.
“You know,” Rhys says quietly into the silence after a moment, continuing to rub his fingertips over Sage’s skin, “when you were taken back into surgery, I almost completely lost it. They took you back into that operating room, and there were so many noises and sounds and conversations that I couldn’t—couldn’t hear your heartbeat anymore. It was. . .” he stops for a second, inhaling a shuddering breath. “It was awful. I couldn’t hear your heartbeat. It was so slow when I’d brought you into that emergency room, but I could still hear it. I could hear it get weaker and weaker and weaker, and then I just. . .couldn’t hear it anymore after they’d taken you away. And I thought—I thought that maybe I’d lost you. That maybe I couldn’t hear your heart anymore because it had stopped beating. And just the thought of losing you, of not hearing your heartbeat anymore—” Rhys inhales wetly, pausing. “It was the worst thing I’ve ever thought of, Sage.”
He takes in a shuddering breath again, clearing his throat. “I sat in that waiting room with Kai for hours, waiting for someone to tell me if you were alive or not. And then when a doctor finally came to tell me what was going on, she told me that they were having trouble getting your heart to keep beating, that you had stopped breathing. I have never in my life felt that kind of terror before, Sage. Not even when I’d watched my house burn down with my family inside of it. It was a different kind of terror, then, but what I felt when they told me that you just wouldn’t stop coding. . .” he trails off, swallowing.
“You’d stopped breathing, Sage. Your heart had stopped beating. And I couldn’t do anything to help you. Not one goddamned thing. I spent the majority of that day just. . .waiting. Waiting for
someone to come tell me that I’d lost you. That for the second time in my life, I’d lost everything again. I could feel my heart breaking. I could feel my wolf starting to mourn. And then Kai helped me get those wolfsbane bullets out, and then I thought about how strong you are, about how much I needed you to stay alive. I knew you were scared in that warehouse. I knew you were in pain, that you were suffering, but you were still trying to get to me, trying to save me, even when you knew that I wasn’t going to be able to save you. And it hit me, then, how so incredibly strong you are. You told me that you would always fight for me, but I need you to know that I’ll always fight for you, too. Nothing will ever keep me from your side ever again. I couldn’t hear your heartbeat in that waiting room, but I could feel you. I could feel you holding on. You are so strong, Sage. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I can’t put into words how thankful I am that you’re alive. I love you so much. Nothing will ever take me away from you. And I swear to you, baby, I will never leave you again.”
Something in Sage completely shatters as he makes a tiny fragile sound in his throat, and then he starts sobbing all over again. Rhys can feel Sage’s tears as Sage nuzzles his face even further into Rhys’s neck. He shakes with the weight of his sobs, finally letting everything out. Rhys knows that Sage isn’t crying because he’s sad. Even though he can feel the way Sage is shaking in his arms, he knows that Sage isn’t upset. Sage is crying because he’s relieved. He’s crying because he finally understands.
It’s almost comical, the way Rhys is comforting Sage right now because Sage was so scared of losing Rhys when Rhys has always been the one that was terrified that Sage would be taken away from him. One of Rhys’s greatest fears has now morphed into one of Sage’s. But they never have to worry about that again, Sage thinks resolutely. They’re together, and Sage knows that Rhys won’t let anyone rip them apart ever again.
Sage isn’t sure how long they stay like that, but eventually his body stops trembling, and Rhys’s hands have gently moved from cradling his back to soothingly run over the expanse of his shoulders. It feels nice, and the warmth of his hands is calming. Sage completely relaxes into Rhys, sniffling yet again.
“I felt it,” Sage says quietly, minutes or hours later, his throat hoarse from his sobs as he takes another deep breath. Rhys doesn’t have to ask to understand what Sage is telling him. He looks up into Rhys’s eyes, giving him a reassuring smile. Sage's eyes are glassy and bloodshot, but Rhys smiles at him anyway, even though his own eyes shine brightly with concern. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lose it like that.”
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for, sweetheart,” Rhys replies softly, his face a tad grim. “You scared for me a minute there, baby. I thought that I—”
“You didn’t,” Sage assures him, gently cutting him off. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m okay, Ree.”
“Okay?” Rhys repeats, his eyes narrowing.
“Better than okay,” Sage amends quickly, bringing his good hand up to pull Rhys’s face towards him. He feels weak all over and his muscles are aching, but he’s so incredibly happy and relieved. “I. . .don’t really know how to explain it. That was. . .”
He trails off, unable to form the words. He doesn’t think he could even begin to explain how he feels right now.
“I know,” Rhys says quietly, lifting his head up so that he can lean his forehead against Sage’s. “I feel it, too.”
“The bond?” Sage asks.
Rhys shakes his head. “No,” he says, leaning up and pressing a light kiss to Sage’s lips. “I feel you.”
Sage gasps lightly as a dim flicker pulls at his stomach. He smiles, running his thumb over Rhys’s jawline. “I feel you, too.”
The grin on Rhys’s face is blinding as he leans up again, catching Sage’s lips with his own. Sage feels his breath stutter in his chest as their mouths meet, that tether between them sweltering.
He pulls away after a moment, out of breath, and says quietly, “Everything was just. . .very intense. I think I just got a little overwhelmed. It felt amazing, Ree. And I just. . .started thinking about how close we were to never having it. But I promise you, Rhys, I loved every minute of it. Your bite. . .”
Rhys nods in understanding. “It’s okay. I know what you mean. It definitely was. . .a lot more than what I was expecting. A lot better than I was expecting. I can feel you so clearly now. Like you’re an extension of my body, of my wolf. Maybe. . .”
He closes his eyes briefly, and Sage feels another small tug in his stomach, and his breath hitches a little. Then, inside of his head, Rhys’s voice says softly I love you.
Sage gasps, gaping at the sound of Rhys’s low tenor in his head. He sounds so clear, so realistic, that he could have whispered the words into Sage’s ear and Sage wouldn’t have known the difference.
“What. . .” he trails off, breathless. “Are you projecting onto me? Are you reading my mind?”
Rhys shakes his head. “No,” he says softly, smiling. “I spoke to you through our bond.”
“That’s. . .” Sage trails off again, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Too much?” Rhys asks, his smile dimming slightly.
“No,” Sage says, running his thumb over Rhys’s cheekbone again, smiling. “That’s amazing.”
Rhys smiles, pressing Sage’s body down into his and connecting their lips. Sage feels heat flicker in his stomach once more, his breath hitching. He moans into Rhys’s mouth, at the taste of him, and Rhys opens his mouth for Sage, letting him brush their tongues together as Rhys scrapes his own tongue across Sage’s teeth. Everything feels electric again, that need bubbling up inside of him once more.
Rhys bites Sage’s bottom lip lightly, and Sage moans lowly in his throat. Rhys pulls back quickly, a blush on his cheeks.
“Sorry,” he says, his voice heavy once more. “It’s the—frenzy,” he continues, motioning in the air with his hand. “When mates accept the mating bond, it’s. . .overwhelming. I’m just feeling very. . .attuned to you right now. I don’t know if I’ll be able to be more than a few feet away from you for the next few days. My ma wrote in her journals that newly mated couples feel very protective over each other, and sometimes, they both get so volatile that it can be dangerous for them to be apart for longer than a few hours until the bond grows accustomed to that separation. And I don’t think we should really be out in public and around other people right now,” Rhys says sheepishly. “When my ma and my dad had just mated, another woman looked at him for too long, and she. . .completely lost it. Luckily, that woman was another werewolf, so she healed after a few days.”
Sage stares into Rhys’s eyes, shocked. He’d forgotten that wounds from an Alpha werewolf took longer to heal when inflicted upon another werewolf, but still. . .
At Sage’s wide-eyed look, Rhys quickly adds, “I like to think that I have more restraint than that, but. . . please be patient with me if I seem a little on edge when we do eventually leave this bed. I. . . can’t really think about anything but you right now.”
That, at least, is familiar to Sage. Rhys is always a little on edge if anyone else looks at Sage for too long.
“So, you’re not going to leave my side then, are you?” Sage asks, grinning. He’s only somewhat teasing. The thought of having Rhys near him like this, so close and so easily accessible, is already starting to make him a little desperate again.
“I wasn’t going to, anyway. I’m not going to leave you when you’re hurt and still healing, but especially not when we’ve just. . .mated,” Rhys says, running one of his hands through Sage’s hair. His eyes run over Sage’s body again, over the glistening skin of his chest, and he bites his bottom lip before looking back up into Sage’s eyes with a teasing smile. “But, honestly, all I want to do right now is to stay in this bed with you and make love to you until we’re both hoarse from screaming too loud,” he continues, and immediately, Sage is ready for him, aching to feel Rhy
s deep inside of him again.
He whimpers, and Rhys’s lips are on him once more.
He makes it as far as wrapping his arms around Rhys’s neck before Rhys easily flips them over, holds Sage down, presses him down into the mattress, and makes love to him, slow and deep, well into the early hours of the next morning.
Later, much later, when Sage is too exhausted to do anything more than lay in Rhys’s arms—at least, for the time being—Rhys holds him close to his chest in silence. Sometimes, they don’t need words. Sometimes, this is enough. Sometimes, all they need is this, where Rhys just holds Sage in his arms as they both begin to drift off to the sounds of each other’s heartbeats as he runs his hands softly through Sage’s hair and promises him the world without words.
Sometimes, this is exactly what they need. For minutes. Hours. For as long as they need to cling to each other like two halves of the same heart.
Just the two of them—just two souls—entwining in the dark. Forever.
And for the rest of time.
HUNGRY FOR MORE?
Sink your claws into the next installment of Sage and Rhys's story in the fiery sequel!
SHATTERED HOWL
Coming Spring 2021
Hey werewolf lovers! If you loved reading this story as much as I loved writing it, please leave me a review on Amazon! Even just a quick few sentences would mean the world to me and will help other readers such as yourself discover my book!
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Much love,
Peyton
Acknowledgements
The idea for this book, as all good ideas are sometimes prone to do, came to me while I was dreaming. This dream baby simply would not leave me alone, no matter how many times I told myself that I simply didn't have the knowledge nor the means to write an entire novel. I began this journey in Ocotber 2019 and finally started to write my first draft in January 2020. For the entirety of the COVID-19 Quarantine of 2020, I wrote this story without really planning to do much with it. After some extensive late-night talks with my amazing roommates, this eagle has finally landed (lol).