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Ann is suddenly in front of me. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Nothing,” Phantom snarls, his hands in fists.
But it doesn’t matter how much we intimidate the other males. If Ann decides for some reason to pursue something with them, we can’t stop her. Even the thought of it makes me sick, and something inside of me twists like a knife. I feel a desperate need rise inside of me.
“Everyone go ahead, we’ll be there in a moment,” I snap.
The other warriors look from Phantom to me. I know Ann is changing something inside of me. Normally, I don’t give orders. My brother does. But when it comes to Ann, I can’t seem to just wait and see if Phantom will do what I feel is best.
“Go,” Phantom says, and the men quickly obey, not going far, but giving us just enough space to talk.
“Ann, you have to listen to me.” I take her by the shoulders and turn her toward me so she can see how important this is. “You can never venture out without me, Phantom, or Onyx.”
She shimmies her shoulders as if she’s either dancing or she’s trying to break free from my hold. The scowl says she isn’t dancing. I let go and cross my arms.
“For my safety?”
I nod and she rolls her eyes. I hate that. “Yes. For your safety.”
“Like mating is for my safety and not because you guys have some sort of group sex fetish?” Her words say she isn’t about it, but a flare of desire darkens her eyes.
“Mating with you is for the good of us all.” But she huffs away before I can explain.
She walks to the center of the group and looks at Flame. “We’re done here. Take me back.”
I warn him off with a look and get a glare in return, but he backs off and follows behind as I walk beside her while she stomps away. She’s angry. I don’t blame her for her confusion, but I do blame her for her unwillingness to do what has to be done for the good of all.
Onyx seems frustrated and signs that he’ll get dinner. Phantom agrees to go with him. I look after them in longing. Ann has to be protected. She has to be watched. But I feel like I desperately need space from her. Every dirty look, every refusal, cuts me so deep inside that I feel like I’ll never recover.
By the time we reach the cave, Phantom and Onyx have hunted dinner and it’s on a spit over the fire in the center of the huge cavern. And while the warriors are enamored with Ann, they love food even more. And since they caught enough for us all, we invite them to join us. Yes, we’re protective of our Ann, but we’re not assholes.
Besides, while they’re eating, she’ll have a reprieve for a few minutes before they start trying to find ways to get close to her. To claim her for their own.
I brush past Phantom, feeling my anger rise.
“What’s the matter with you?” he asks me, but we both know that what’s the matter with me is the same thing that’s the matter with him.
“Hungry,” is all I manage.
He catches my arm and speaks in a whisper. “Do you think she’ll come around before it’s too late?”
His question is one without a clear answer. The truth is that if Ann doesn’t want to step up and do her duty, if she doesn’t agree to bond with us, the Shadow King will find a way--by either manipulation or force--to marry her, and then nothing else will matter. Now that he knows she’s here, there’s no way to keep her safe without guarding her every minute. And she’s never going to allow that.
I nod to Ann, who’s taken a flask of water from Flame and tips it back. Her neck lengthens as she drinks and I can’t stop staring at her. “The Shadow King wants to marry her, and I don’t know if we can stop him.”
Phantom nods. “I don’t know either.” He blows out a harsh breath, eyes dark with anger. “But never again are we going to let a woman we love near the Shadow King.” He speaks with quiet force. And I agree.
The loss is too much for my memory to bear.
FOURTEEN
Ann
While the othersstay around the firepit in the center of the massive cavern, Dusk leads me away from them, up the steps along the walls of the cave, where he says I’ll be safer from the Void and the creatures that took me. I don’t argue because, even though it isn’t fully dark yet and I suspect he isn’t as worried about the Void as he is about the other men, he looks exhausted. And for some reason, I don’t want to be the reason he looks so tired and worried.
Besides, if he really wants me inside the cave, he can put me there and likely make sure I never leave. As cool as all my new powers seem to be, they wouldn’t exactly stop a giant like him from forcing me to stay somewhere. Although I doubt he would actually do that. Not so long as he thinks there’s a chance we’ll all be mating soon.And also, because I actually think he seems to be a nice person.
So, for now, I guess I’ll take their protection, whether I really need it or not.
