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“We are glad to have you back, brothers,” Slade says, and there’s a solemn note to his voice.
“We’re glad to be back,” Phantom says with a little bob of his head.
“It wasn’t easy these last few months without you, but Elder Auero explained your disappearance, and your capture by the fae.” There’s a note to Slade’s voice I don’t like. I can’t decide if he’s suggesting we got captured on purpose, or he’s hinting it’s an embarrassment that we allowed ourselves to be made prisoner by such weak creatures.
Either way, I don’t like his tone.
“Since it led us to our mate, it must have been part of Fate's plan,” I say, a warning in my voice.
Slade seems to have remembered just who he’s talking to and gives a little bow to us all. “Of course. We only came to offer our help in collecting the moon shards.”
I want to refuse him, but we can’t be prideful in war. “We would appreciate that.”
My brother lifts a brow, and I almost apologize before I remember that our roles aren’t quite the same as what they once were, and that I can make decisions too now. In this world, my voice matters just as much as Phantom’s.
When I remain silent, clearly not willing to bend to him, Phantom clears his throat. “We shouldn’t waste any more time.”
Despite the fact that darkness is looming near, we set out into the woods. The warriors, Slade and Flame, walk on each side of Ann and I follow closely behind, because no way do I trust these fuckers with her. Even if I trust them with my life, my mate is worth more to me than that.
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 she should 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 fake it.
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, to tell her everything I’m thinking and more, is overwhelming. 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.
