(I didnt realise we were over 100 golden tickets already. Thank you to Apple Dumpling. That was a lot of tickets. So, hang on to your hats people, our couple is about to go out with a bang. Pun very much intended. I gave this my all, I had to take a shower. *wink*)
Eric swung the door open, breath catching in his chest. Sera didn't wait for words, didn't pause to read the tension in his posture. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a hug that squeezed all the air from his lungs, pressed warmth into every corner of his body, and refused to let go.
His mind scrambled. The speech, the rehearsed phrases, all of it dissolved into nothing under the strength of her arms, the soft press of her head against his chest, the steady heartbeat he could feel through her warmth.
Ravok stirred in his mind, the ancient beast, silent for so long. You cannot do this, Eric, it warned. You cannot reject her.
Eric exhaled, knowing the wolf was right. He could not. He would not.
