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They need to understand that she belongs tous. And any designs they have on claiming her for themselves, to be the heroes in a story that doesn’t involve them, will be notions I disabuse them of.
At first, we’re just kind of wandering around, but at one point, she just stops and switches directions. None of us say anything, we just watch her. When a stone shard suddenly lights up from a nearby bush, we all freeze. The light is so damn bright, that even in daytime, it’s obvious. She hurries to it, then hands it to Slade. He takes it with a shocked expression on his face before handing it to Phantom.
“Is this good?”
“Very good,” is all I can manage.
She does it again. It’s like we’re all just walking together, and she freezes, and switches directions. I swear we’re all in some kind of shocked stupor. After spending years combing the woods, hoping like hell to find a shard, digging through bushes, looking in the branches of trees, we’ve never seen anything like this. And yet, when the next shard starts glowing like mad, none of us are surprised, just overwhelmed.
I swear Slade is holding back tears when she gives him the next one, and Flame murmurs a thank you that’s choked. Yes, we’re big warriors. Yes, we’ve been through hell and back. But it’s like we’re all watching a miracle.
Even Phantom and Onyx look a little choked up.
She leads us to four or five shards within an hour or two, but there are more and she’s like a bloodhound, her steps quick and decisive after she realizes to follow her gut. I don’t know that she knows how incredible what she’s doing is, but either way, the joyous surprise on her face isn’t the kind of thing she can fake. So, whether she knows how important this is or not, it’s a good thing that she’s happy about it. Not that I can think of a reason why she would want to.
Our mate likes helping. And she has a skill that I’ve never seen before, she should be proud.
The shards glow brighter as she gets closer each and every time. And with every shard we collect, we take back some strength from the Void and the Shadow King himself. That we’re only able to do this because of her strengthens my need to mate with her.
To make her mine.
I’ve never been so compelled… not even before our lives were destroyed. This desire to make things formal between us is more than a want, it’s aneed. The deep connection between us means that there is no one else for us but her, and that without her, we’ll feel like we’ve lost a part of ourselves. But in the grand scheme of this war, making her our mate will be the thing that turns the tide. I know it! Not just because of the shadows' whispers, but because of her unique ability.
The desire to pull her into my arms is overwhelming, to tell her everything I’m thinking and more. It builds inside of me until I’m panting. Does she understand? Can she even realize what all of this means?
I would marry someone I didn’t love to save my people. But to have a woman who is destined to be our perfect mate? To have a woman who makes my heart race at just the sight of her be the person to save our people?
It’s almost more than I can handle.
She looks at me. “Are you okay?” And there’s a little worry in her eyes.
Smiling, I nod, not wanting to scare her off by telling her how I feel. “I’m fine. Just keep doing what you’re doing. It’s wonderful.”
I push back the overwhelming feelings and stare at her as she picks up another shard and hands it to Flame. He’s a bastard, who’s ogling her like she’s lunch, and he has about three seconds to stop before I take his head off. She turns away from him, and his gaze goes to her ass. I feel my teeth clench together so hard I’m worried they’ll break.
Flame hands the shard to Phantom, still staring at Ann. Phantom and I are the only two shadow beasts who have the ability to resist the call of the shards, but him more than me. Over the years, we’ve had to execute a couple of our kind who kept their shards, and let darkness into their hearts. But since then, luckily for all of us, the others have been quick to return any shards to us.
They avoid them, knowing that their pull is too strong to resist.
Even though Ann doesn’t seem to have the same… connection to them.
She sets off walking again and Flame drops back. “She’s something, isn’t she?”
I give him a non-committal grunt and watch her. Ten steps after she’s taken off left, she stops like she’s listening. And even if it’s just some inner voice, she makes a quick U-turn and goes back.
Slade shakes his head. “This is so fucking easy with her.”
I nod. I search for shards all the time. Never have I found so many in such a drawn-out area. We’ve probably walked five miles already. This will quite literally change the way we work.
With every shard she hands off to Flame or Slade, their smiles spread. But by ability alone, she has a target on her back. After a while of suffering the fawning and flirting of Flame and Slade, she drops back to walk beside me. “What do you know about the Shadow King?”
Oh, it’s a dangerous question. Not as dangerous as the answer, though. “Why do you ask?”
She shrugs one elegant shoulder. I stop walking.Elegant shoulder?Oh God. This mating bond situation has me spinning. I don’t look at her again while I wait for her to answer. “He wants to marry me, so I figured I deserve to know more about him.”
“He’s a man who likes power more than anything,” I say, choosing my words carefully.
“But… he’s trapped there, right? He can’t come to get me?”
