I quickly stride out to our porch and take a seat on one of the loungers, placing my girl on my lap. Cecily stares up at me with questioning eyes. “Okay, baby. We’re going to spend five minutes experiencing all the emotions you want to release. No judgments, no guilt. We’re going to set them free into the world, and then move on with strength and conviction.” Cecily closes her eyes and leans her forehead against mine, taking a few deep breaths. I snap one of her soundproof bubbles around us so our moment can remain private. She lets out a frustrated groan while shaking out her hands. “Just let it go, baby,” I encourage her again.
She lets out an animalistic growl before tipping her head back and screaming. After using all the oxygen in her lungs, she takes a deep breath and continues screaming again. The piercing sound is high-pitched, causing me to wince. When the sound finally cuts off, she expels a long stream of colorful curses, which turns into a fit of giggles. Once she laughs herself out, she breaks down, collapsing onto my chest. I wrap my arms around her, running a soothing hand along her spine.
We use more than the five minutes I gave her, but it’s worth it if she’s able to run through everything she’s bottled up. With deep gulping breaths, she finally calms down. “Thank you, my peppermint patty. How did you know that’s what I needed?” she asks. Her finger traces nonsensical patterns on my chest.
“When my emotions came back, I kept trying to bottle them all up. It was hard for me to understand what they all meant, so I tried to ignore them. Before too long, it just became overwhelming, so in a private moment, I allowed myself to experience them. Letting them flow through me like a river was more beneficial than creating a dam to try and hold them back.” I shrug. “It seemed worth a try to see if it would help you in the same way.”
She smiles against my neck where she’s snuggled up to me. “So incredibly insightful. It’s like I’ve had a weight lifted from my shoulders, like I’m ready to face what’s before us.”
“Good,” I say, while pressing a kiss on her head. “Shall we find the others and make sure our plan is foolproof?”
She runs her nose along the column of my neck before placing some feather-light kisses. “Yeah, we could do that,orwe could just stay here for a while longer.” I run my hands down her back and reward her with a chuckle before squeezing her ass. As her head pops up and she grins, thinking she convinced me, I smack her ass. The squeal she spews makes my dick throb in desire, but now isn’t the time to distract ourselves with slaking desires.
“Not a chance, you little seductress. We need to set plans into motion. Afterward, we can drown in each other and forget the rest of the world.” I pull her in for a consolation kiss, then pick her up by the hips. “Come on, baby, let’s get it over with.” Settling her on the ground, I tuck her under my arm and we walk back inside.
The moment we step inside, we can hear the others arguing from Alex’s room. “I’m telling you she’s fine, and if you checked the bond yourself, you’d know it. You just want to find her to comfort yourself right now, not her. If you’re going to be selfish, you should at least be honest about it.” Klaus chides one of our brothers. Cecily and I speed up our approach to calm the tension brewing. Silas brings out the stress in all of us.
Before anyone can move in on her, Cecily holds up her hands indicating they should stay in place. “Listen, I know we’re all facing a variety of fears when it comes to Silas. He was able to get one up on me before, and there’s a chance it could happen again. But when it happened the first time, I didn’t have all of you, and we all know we’re stronger as a unit. Now let’s get to work and concoct something badass.”
∞∞∞
“Do you think it’ll work?” I ask William. We continue down the hall, making our way to the training grounds and the newly built barracks.
Without missing a beat, he replies, “Absolutely. I’ve had more than ample time to study him, not to mention access to sabotage him throughout the years. We just need to stay strong and keep our faith.” I’m not sure how he can maintain his calm through this. Maybe because he was there and lived through it the first time, or maybe it’s because of all the experiences he’s lived through since. Either way, I’m thankful to have him and draw comfort from his serenity.
Knowing William received a message, Cecily’s dad has kept all of the soldiers waiting for orders. Rebecca is in the middle of helping him in a refresher course of defensive magic when we walk into the barracks. The soldiers are all sitting, raptly paying attention to her instructions. Some of the younger men showing signs of anxiety, knowing they’re more than likely fixing to have to apply everything they’re being shown right now.
Most of the men here are either former soldiers, who left with Cecily’s parents when they had to abandon the castle, or they’re the men and women who William helped to escape Silas. More than anyone else, these individuals are the ones who possess the most passion to stop Silas from spreading his evil vitriol like a plague.
Some of them aren’t a part of either of the two categories, including the ones who have wandered in, being inspired by the Fates to show up. Some experienced prejudice at the hands of Silas, some have been hunted by him and escaped capture. There’s a variety of reasons why each person has joined us, but they all have a passion for removing our race from the precarious position Silas has put us in. He’s threatened our very existence.
I’ve served in every branch of the American human military. This has allowed me a deeper understanding of how an individual without our powers will end up fighting. I’ve been working on passing on what I’ve learned to our troops in hopes it will give us an advantage. The individuals we’re about to face have lost their magic, so more than likely, they’ll be fighting more like the humans. Two weeks isn’t even close to being enough time to pass on a fraction of my knowledge, but it has to be good enough. Hopefully, we’ll be able to protect the lives of as many innocents as possible. And short of that, my greatest hope is for us to dispatch the threat of Silas in a minimal amount of time.
As soon as we’re noticed, we become the center of attention. Rebecca and Joseph gravitate to each other and clasp hands, waiting for us to announce what Cecily’s orders are. As much as I’ve always been the take-charge person in our group, always acting as the leader, I’m relieved when William speaks up first, “Listen up, everyone! After reviewing all of our options, Cecily’s decided the best course of action is to intercept Silas where he’s mobilizing his followers. We’re waiting for a final location, which we should have by tomorrow. Once we have it, we’ll be moving out. In the meantime, we need to pack provisions and prepare our weapons. All squad leaders will report directly to Joseph for all assignments. My fellow Kings and I will be unavailable as our focus will be centered on guarding our Queen.”
Cecily had asked us why we gave leadership of her soldiers to her father, and the real reason is so we can provide her with protection without distractions. My brother and I never want our attention to be split from making sure no harm comes to her. We wouldn’t be the leader they deserved when our concern wouldn’t be on directing them in a battle situation.
Upon William’s announcement, the room bursts into action. Joseph and Rebecca stride over to us. “I’ll make sure everything is squared away. Just let us know the location and we’ll set off on your command. We should give anyone who isn’t here the chance to arrive if they wish to join us. I know all the pack Alphas will want to be there,” Joseph announces. It’s something we already discussed and implemented into our plan. It’s why we’re giving orders to begin preparations now. Anyone who needs time to travel should be able to get here in twenty-four hours.
William and I share a glance, both uneasy about leaving everything in his hands. Not that we don’t trust him, it just doesn’t seem right to leave all the work to the former ruling couple. Joseph glances back at us and pauses the private conversation he’s having with his mate. “Seriously, boys, go and make sure your mate unit is all squared away. We’ll call the Alphas and they’ll help us in getting everything ready. You just need to concentrate on being mentally ready to face any surprises Silas may throw at us.”
Concern and understanding flashes in his eyes, and his wife adds more encouragement to his statement. “I know you’re compelled to stay here and help, but we really have everything under control. Let us do this for you. Your bond is what anchors our magic in this world. It means you’ll be the most important weapon in the war with Silas. Nothing you can do here will be more important than building your bonds with your family.” She smiles and then pulls us both in for a hug. “Don’t worry about things here.”
I slowly nod, accepting her reassurance. “Thank you. If you need any help, just let us know. We’ll keep you up to date on any new developments.” As I turn to walk away, I’m filled with an odd sense of relief. I was full of guilt for wanting to spend time with our group instead of helping to prepare with the soldiers. To have someone I respect tell me my instincts are the right call... it renews my confidence. Something I never used to lack. I’ve spent most of my life performing the role of a soldier, and now all I want is to protect the woman I love. I want to spend every moment of my life with her, to dedicate my attention to her completely.
“You know we won’t be able to confirm Silas’ final position until tomorrow, right?” William asks me as we enter the castle once again.
“Yep,” I respond, unsure why he’s reiterating something we’ve gone over several times.
“It means, we have a free night,” he continues as if I’m not understanding. Which is a correct assumption. Catching on to my raised eyebrow for him to get to the point, he continues. “We have a night of being able to do anything we want. No meetings or planning our next moves. We need to give Cecily a night of distraction. It’ll be the best way to keep her from fixating on what’s going to happen, from over-analyzing every little thing that can go wrong, from replaying what happened the last time. And like her mother said, work on building our bond as a whole unit,” he implores me.
“Oh, well, yeah. I thought that was obvious. I already know exactly what we’ll do tonight. You up for learning a new skill from your older bro?” I goad him.
He scoffs, rolling his eyes. “What makes you think you’re older?”
I tsk between my teeth. “Typical younger brother’s response. Come along, kid, I’ve got plenty to teach you.” My arm wraps around his neck before pulling his head down to give him a noogie. Our night full of bonding is well on its way.
Chapter 16
