SIXTY-NINE

SLADE

Pain. The kind of pain that made it hard for me to breath. Pain that made my heart throb, It felt like a hot knife slicing nonstop through my skin. I’d never felt anything like it. Of all the blows life has dealt me in the past, this has to be the worst, and trust me, I’ve had to deal with a lot of things throughout my lifetime. My mistakes have come back to haunt me in the worst way possible.

I shut my eyes in anguish. Asher was making it harder than it already is. It’s all my fault. I should never have left her side, I’d wanted to keep watch over her twenty-four hours a day, but my duties will not let me. At this point, none of those obligations mattered. It’s all useless if I cannot protect the only thing that mattered to me in this world. If anything happens to my mate or my heir, then I’m as good as dead.

Maybe I should have marked her before that announcement. If she had my mark, it would have been easier to know where she is, we would have shared a mate link. If she