Dominik POV
For a moment, I remained exactly where I was, her weight supported by my arms, her breathing soft against my chest. My heart swelled as I took her in. I had never been this close to her, never touched her. The pull I had been feeling now made sense. If there was any doubt left that she was my mate, it was now replaced with certainty. My body responded to her touch in ways it never had before. I had long since given up finding my mate, but here she was. And I was holding her.
The forest had gone quiet again, as if everything that had just happened had been swallowed back into the night, leaving nothing behind but the two of us. I adjusted my hold slightly, careful of her ankle, making sure it remained supported as I held her closer. She didn't stir. Whatever had taken hold of her had pulled her too far under for that.
My gaze lifted and I scanned the trees one last time before moving on. There was nothing left here that needed my attention, nothing lingering that would dare come near her now. So I lifted my head and called to my goddess.
A path revealed itself and I followed it without hesitation, carrying her through the forest with leveled steps. I didn't rush, though every instinct urged me to move faster, to put more distance between her and what had already tried to take her. The terrain flattened beneath my feet, my power clearing the way as branches snapped softly. I moved through the darkness with ease. She stirred sooner than I expected, and I felt it before I saw it.
At first, it was nothing more than a subtle change in the way her body rested against mine, but it was enough to pull my full attention back to her. Goddess, she was beautiful. Her chocolate skin glowed in the moonlight, brown curls framing her face. Her breathing altered, no longer as deep or distant, and I knew immediately that whatever had pulled her under was beginning to loosen its hold.
"She'll wake soon," I murmured to Nyx. He grunted in agreement.
I adjusted my hold instinctively, tightening my arm just slightly beneath her knees while steadying her back more securely against my chest as I moved more quickly through the forest. My steps remained light, to keep from jostling her injury or causing her to slip too quickly into full consciousness before her body could handle it. The warmth of her settled more clearly against me now, no longer just the passive presence of someone unconscious, but something active, something aware, and it anchored my focus in a way I had not prepared for.
She shifted again, her head moving faintly against me and my breath caught in my throat at the movement. I kept my gaze forward, forcing myself not to look down at her, not to meet her eyes even when I knew they had opened. If I allowed that moment, if I let myself fully acknowledge her awareness, I knew it would make what came next harder than it already was.
Her attention settled on me anyway.
I felt it in the way her body stilled just slightly, in the faint tightening of her grip against me, in the quiet shift of her breathing as she tried to make sense of what was happening.
"What..?" The question came softly, her voice shaped more by confusion than clarity, but I understood it all the same. She didn't know where she was. She didn't know how she had gotten there. She didn't know who I was.
I gave her nothing in return.
There were no words I could offer that would not complicate what she was already trying to process. So I remained silent, as if carrying her through the forest in the middle of the night required no explanation at all.
Her awareness lingered only briefly. I could feel it slipping even as she tried to hold onto it, her body too overwhelmed to sustain it. I felt the tension ease from her again, her weight settling more fully against me as whatever fragile grasp she had on consciousness gave way. Her head rested against my chest once more, her breathing evening out, and I knew she was gone again.
The rest of the distance passed in quiet, the forest gradually thinning as the structure of her world began to take shape around us. I followed the pull until it stopped, until I stood at the edge of her home with her still in my arms. I allowed myself to look at her once more, taking in the softness of her expression, the quiet steadiness of her breathing. Nyx and I reveled in our mate's beauty. So perfect, so soft.
Reluctantly, I stepped forward and lowered her onto the porch, carefully positioning her to ensure her ankle remained supported and her body undisturbed. She stirred faintly again, not fully waking, but enough to remind me that she would not remain like this for long. I stepped back, my chest already aching with her absence.
I knew I could not stay, knew that remaining here would only complicate something that required time and space to unfold the way it was meant to. She did not understand what she was to me, and forcing that understanding onto her before she was ready would do more harm than good.
Even if leaving felt wrong, so wrong.
I knocked once, firm enough to be heard, but controlled enough not to startle her. Then I waited, listening as movement stirred inside, as voices approached, close enough now to ensure she would not be left alone.
That was all I needed.
I did not stay to see the door open. By the time it did, I was already gone, the distance between us closing in seconds as I returned to the night, to the place where I could exist without disrupting the life she had yet to realize was no longer entirely her own.
But even as I left, the connection remained. And I knew it would not fade.