Fall into Ashes: Ashes, Book One by RA Aulenbach

Author:RA Aulenbach [Aulenbach, RA]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-04-29T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Eight

"Raye," Malik spoke, drawing my attention back to him. "Raye, this is hard. My whole nature is screaming at me to take you and run so far away that no one will ever find us. But at the same time, my rational side is telling me that wouldn't work. There's too much at play here. I want to keep you safe and protected. I want to love you the way you deserve to be loved, and I want to keep the darkness of this world from ever touching you and marring your beautiful soul."

My face softened as I gazed at him. I walked up to where he had stopped pacing. Malik was facing away from me, and I wrapped my arms around him from behind, feeling him shudder under my hands.

"You can't though, Malik. You know that. You can't protect me from it all. I don't need you to."

He turned in my arms and wrapped me into a hug pressing my face into his chest. "I know. I’d never dream of taking you away from your destiny. Besides, this world needs you, I need you, and I guess Kaiden needs you," he added begrudgingly. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

I smiled into his shirt. "No, you don't have to like it, or approve of it. I just ask that you respect me enough to know that I'm doing my best. You think you're confused? How do you think I feel? I found out this is real life. All the things I knew to be 'truth' growing up? It was all wrong. Everything I knew was a lie. I feel weak."

Malik's hand stroked down my hair as I clutched onto the back of his shirt. "What? Raye, you’re anything but weak. You survived for two and a half years in a goddamned underground bunker on your own. You went through a shift alone, with no one to help walk you through it. You got out of that bunker and survived life as a prisoner of that pathetic Alpha, on your own. You faced down three shifter wolves, on your own. You managed to escape and keep the pack off your tail, on your own. You came here, and have stood your ground against me, and anyone else that threatened you, on your own! Are you getting it? Raye you’re one of the strongest people I know, and I know quite a few," he said with a wink, and I had to smile.

"You’ve faced down more things in a few months than others face in their whole lives. And yet, here you are, still standing, still pushing for things to get better. In the short time I’ve known you, all I’ve seen is you caring for others above yourself. Even during the attack on your family, you knew the safe room was there, but you didn't run to it and leave your family behind. You went when your father demanded you go. Your heart is so big, and it just seems to keep growing to have room for an ever-increasing amount of people in there.

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