Chapter 24：23.

I heard the steady hum of the machine hooked to various points on my body, I felt the blood pressure cuff as it constricted against my upper arm every so often, I felt the pin pricks, the temperature checks, the squeeze of someones hand against my own. I felt the rise and fall of my chest as the sweet oxygen filled my lungs and danced through my body. All of these things would have irritated me months ago, but now, I cherished them. I cherished the feeling of simply living, being alive, no matter what I had to go through. 

I felt the familiar current of electricity flow through me as I felt Colton's fingertips brush across my cheek for the 90th time. I smiled towards him, instantly relaxing into his touch, my wolf purring at the contact after all this time. I was finally home, and I was finally back where I belonged, with Colt and my new pack. 

I watched as the grin spread across his lips slowly, the corners crinkling as his laugh lines made their appearance. I think they'd grown to be my favorite thing about him. Each time he fully smiled my breathing would become erratic and my heart would skip a few beats and I probably wouldn't be able to tell you my name if you asked. He blindsided me and turned my mind to mush. 

"I've missed you so much." He finally breathed when we were alone at last as he pulled me towards him, wrapping me in his arms on the bed as I buried my head in his chest and wrapped my arms tightly around his back, refusing to ever let go. 

"I missed you too." I sighed, inhaling and memorizing his scent. 

We stayed that way for what seemed like hours, neither of us wanting to move an inch. I was content to stay in his arms like that forever. 

"India.." I heard him whisper into my hair after a while, and I looked up to meet his brilliant blue orbs looking down on me with so much care and affection it made my heart squeeze. "I love you so much." He breathed as he crushed his lips down onto mine in a frenzy, as if the moment he pulled away I would be gone. 

I launched myself into the kiss, burying my hands in his hair as he pulled my legs around his waist and locked us together, his hands finding my hips and squeezing lightly as I suppressed a moan. 

I shivered when he ran his hands along my back and up to my neck, angling our kiss to deepen it as my back found the mattress beneath us. 

I felt my blood begin to boil, my body on fire everywhere his fingertips brushed. There was nothing I couldn't feel or see or smell or taste that wasn't Colton. He was everywhere, and he was everything. I sent a silent prayer to the goddess, thanking her for blessing me with the gift of another chance. Another chance to be with this man, to love this man, and to lead this pack by his side, and bear his pups. 

I was hit by an overwhelming sense of urgency as I pulled him impossibly closer to me, tears blurring my vision as I realized just how much Colton Lithe meant to me. 

The salty aroma gave me away and he pulled back, wiping the tears away with the pad of his thumb delicately. 

"What's wrong darling?" He breathed huskily and I shook my head smiling up at him. 

"I just love you so much." I smiled, laughing as the tears spilled over. 

"Then why are you crying sweetheart?" He asked concerned, wiping them away gently, only for another to follow in its place. 

"They're happy tears." I whispered against his lips as his smile mirrored my own. 

He kissed me once again, the hunger returning as he made his way across my cheeks and down my jaw until he reached the hollow of my neck, the point where I would bear his mark. 

His lips brushed against the sensitive area so feather lightly, and a wave of shivers hit me as I moaned beneath him, my body angling up towards him on its own accord. I wanted him to mark me. I wanted him to take me and make me his forever. 

"Do it." I whispered and he growled in response, his eyes meeting mine. 

"Are you sure?" He finally managed to say as his eyes found their way back from black to the blue I loved so much. He was barely restraining his wolf. 

"I want you. All of you. Forever. Make me yours. Take me." I breathed.