Chapter Fourteen

Sammy was in agony, which was good because it meant he was Dre’s mate. But it was also—well, agony. Sammy wondered why he had agreed to this. Ah, yes, because he loved Dre, the sex was great and he really wanted to be his mate. Slightly misconstrued advertising, ha. This was terrible. Sammy was dimly aware that Dre was holding him tight, whispering soothing nothings in his ear, but he was too consumed by the feeling of burning oil streaming through his veins to be grateful for the support. With every heartbeat, the pain spread and grew, until it was too much to bear and Sammy slipped into near-darkness.

After what felt like an eternity—Sammy couldn’t be sure in his agonized state—the pain started to dull and became a deep throbbing at the back of his mind. A soft glow rose around him, enveloped his body with a warmth that was so much better than the fire that had been raging through his system.

Sammy blinked when he thought he saw two figures approaching him through the glow. They stepped into his line of vision and Sammy felt tears streaming down his cheeks when he realized it was his parents. Stella and Moses looked as beautiful as Sammy wanted to remember them, not the mangled, disfigured faces he’d had to identify after the accident.

Stella opened her arms and, without a second thought, Sammy flew into her embrace, breathing in the familiar scent of vanilla while he basked in her love. He felt his father’s arms coming around him from behind and knew this was all just a dream, but he was too happy to care. They were here, with him. Nothing else counted.

“My sweet boy.” Stella leaned back a bit to press a kiss to his forehead. “My sweet, brave boy.”

Sammy smiled through his tears and reached for his father’s arm with one hand, while he held his mother with the other. Now that he had them back, he would never let go again. “I missed you so much. So much.”

“We know, son. And we’re sorry. We never meant to leave you so early.”

“It was so hard, going on without your love, without you. But I found friends. Wonderful friends.”

His mother kissed him again. “We know, baby. We’ve watched you all this time. We’re so proud of who you’ve become. And we’re here to say goodbye. You’ve found your happiness with Dre. Good choice, by the way.” She winked. “He’s almost as good looking as your father. We understand that this is kind of your wedding night, and we wanted to give you our blessings.”

Sammy swallowed when the meaning of her words sank in. “I’m not going to see you again, am I?”

“No, son, you won’t.” His father stepped around, one arm still on Sammy’s shoulder, while the other was now draped over Stella’s back. “You’re the chosen mate of a demon. Your life will be a wonderful, great adventure, and we want you to enjoy every second of it, just how your mother and I enjoyed every second of ours. We will always love you, never forget that, but it’s time for you to truly move on and embrace everything Dre has to offer.”

“I don’t want to lose you again.” Sammy looked at them pleadingly. Stella reached out to sweep a strand of hair from Sammy’s face.

“We don’t want to lose you either, sweetie. But we have to move on, just as you do. Life doesn’t stop with death, you know, and your father and I? We have places to be.” She looked up at her husband, a bittersweet smile on her face. “There’s so much to see, and you know we always loved to travel.”

A sob escaped Sammy. He understood. He really did. It still hurt worse than the venom Dre had pumped into his system. “At least this time I can say goodbye properly.” His voice broke. There were no words to describe how he felt, no words to say farewell to the people he had loved most in the world. Luckily, his bond with his parents was so deep that words were not needed. They embraced, leaning their foreheads together, reveling one last time in the bond they’d had. Then they straightened and Stella and Moses each pressed a kiss on Sammy’s cheeks.

“We love you, son.”

“I love you, Mom, Dad. I wish you a good journey.”

Stella smiled sweetly at him. “Thank you, baby.”

Sammy watched as the glow surrounding them started to fade, taking his parents with him. He was still sad, mourning for all the things he could never share with them, but having seen them one last time, happy and whole, gave him a sense of peace that he would have never thought possible. Letting them go was one of the most difficult things he had ever done, though instead of being crushed by it, he felt empowered. They had given him their blessing to be with Dre, and Sammy had every intention of taking this gift and making the best of it—as soon as he had a word with Dre about the unpleasantness of mating bites.