Chapter 23

Maia POV

“Mate” his baritone voice growled.

Disbelief coursed through me coupled with an overwhelming sense of relief as I felt Celeste awaken within my mind. She raised her head and howled, long and deep as she felt Thanatos calling to her through the mate-bond.

How was this real?

Doubt crept into my mind as tears began effortlessly falling down my cheeks.

This was something I had never allowed myself to even consider to be a possibility, because I knew that if I were to either be rejected, or if something were to happen to the mate bond, the damage would be irreparable. I had endured a lot of pain in my life, more than the average person, but that…that would destroy me.

And here I was, faced with my salvation and my destruction on a knifes edge.

My feet failed to move as I watched Julius stalk towards me, wearing nothing but a pair of black shorts, his muscular body glistening with sweat in the summer heat.

How could I be worthy of him?

“The Goddess doesn’t make mistakes.”