AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Thunder rumbles outside, and I can hear the distant sound of rain, but I don’t have time to worry about that.
The hallway is big, but not big enough right now as our beasts threaten to take over with the need to protect Serena. Before I can even make the conscious decision, I’m shifted, ready to keep him from doing whatever he has planned.
It’s unnecessary, though; no sooner than my teeth sink into his tail, he goes limp, falling to the ground and transforming back.
What the fuck was that?
I whimper, unsure what happened or if he’s okay. I’ve never seen him go down like that.
“He’s fine,” the queen assures us as she moves around me to drop to Storm’s side. She hovers a hand over his head, and it glows much like Garrett’s did when he showed us his light magic, what seems like a lifetime ago.
“I just put him to sleep.” She holds up a bottle with silver liquid inside, waving it around for us to see before she tucks it away again.
“I had a feeling he would react like this, though I couldn’t be sure. I wanted to give him the chance to see her. It would be wrong for me to assume and keep him away.” She brushes some of his hair out of his face, looking down at him with a sad smile. “Having a partial bond is waging a war on his mind and his beast. I’ve never seen one in this state before. Usually, they’re in the early stages and snap into place after a few days at most. How long has it been like this?”
She looks at me, but I shake my head. I’m not sure, honestly; the days have been a blur from one to the next.
Lyle and Blair shift back, and even knowing their pants are supposed to survive the shift, I’m still surprised to see them intact.
What a great thing to have. It would have saved us a lot of awkward shifts with Rena when we were younger, not to mention accidental shifts. I can’t even count how many times one of us accidentally got an eyeful when we were younger. Not that I’m complaining, but I know she was always self-conscious about us seeing her naked. Why, I’ll never know; she’s fucking perfect.
My mouth waters at the thought of her, and a growl builds in my chest before I can swallow it. Four sets of eyes turn toward me, and I duck my head in embarrassment, realizing I’d been daydreaming about Rena and not only missed what they were saying but interrupted them.
My bad.
Blair steps up beside Storm and scoops him into his arms in one swift move.Huge fucker.
“I’ll show you the way,” Garrett says, casting a longing glance into the room. His lips pull down for a moment, and though I can’t see her, I know it’s Serena he’s looking at. He takes off down the hall a second later, with Blair a few steps behind him.
“I want to know where he’s being kept,” Lyle says, falling into step behind Blair, and together, they disappear back the way we just came. I’m not surprised he wants to know, he’s all about keeping tabs on us, keeping us safe. There’s a reason Rena calls him the dad of our group, and this is a perfect example. Lyle is great at hiding his feelings, but I can see the stiff set of his shoulders and clenched jaw. He didn’t want to leave, but that doesn’t matter to him when the rest of us are concerned.
“Come on, little wolf,” the queen says after a moment of me staring down a now empty hall, lost in thought.
My beast doesn’t appreciate being called little and huffs at her, but I think it’s funny. Nothing is little about my beast, but the sparkle in her eyes lets me know she’s only teasing.
She disappears into the room without another word, and as much as I want to follow her and see Serena, I hesitate. Whatever Storm saw was enough for him to lose control. The queen thinks it’s from the bond, but what if she’s wrong? Who’s to say I can handle it?
I lost control not that long ago. I don’t think my beast had intended to harm her; it was more about the hunt, the chase, but I can’t know that for sure because I didn’t get her. Garrett had intervened, and while I’m grateful, it leaves me doubtful.
Can I be trusted?
Garrett isn’t here to step in this time. None of them are. Sol, Serena, and the queen are the only people in that room.
The queen was able to handle Storm, but she was suspicious of him already, which gave her an edge. Could she do that again? Would she even think to? She didn’t seem to think anything of me going into the room. Hell, she called me in with her.
Sol might be able to do something. One-on-one, most of us are pretty evenly matched, and I don’t want to fight Sol, especially not in a small room where someone could get hurt.
I step back against my beast’s wishes, and he whines. I’ve never been able to push past what he wants, not even when we chased Serena through the woods.
Mate.
The word rings through my head so loud that it feels like an explosion, and my legs almost give out. It takes a second for my mind to clear, but when it does, it’s as if something has shifted.
The fear I had a moment ago is gone. In its place, all I feel is the need to protect Serena. I want to be around her so much that it’s almost as if it’s a physical ache in my chest, the same way I’ve always felt the absence of my pack when I stay away too long. As if she alone is my pack, my reason for being.
With this new feeling, it’s easy to move forward, impossible not to, really.
The second I make it to the door, I understand Storm’s reaction.
