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He scrambled to his feet and backed away, clutching his midsection. “No. I deserved this,” he answered through a hiss, blood from his nose running into his mouth.
She rolled her eyes to the dark sky. “You alphas are so stubborn.”
He waved her away when she reached for him again. “No, I’m good. I need to get home. Go spend time with your mates.” He stared at her mates’ frozen faces. “Sorry.” He paused. “For everything.”
She thought about going after him when he stumbled toward the woods. His car was parked several miles away. His ribs could’ve been broken or worse. She trusted that Tor would realize his mistake and come back. Maybe by then her mates would’ve calmed down.
Cocking her hands on her hips, she glared at them. “Now you will heed my words because I’m not going to repeat myself. Tor did not force me to go. Ichoseto go. My sons have been suffering for almost three thousand years at the hands of an evil demon!” She wagged a finger. “You can be mad all you want, but I wasn’t going to let them suffer another moment.” She threw up her hands, pacing the stone pathway that had been thankfully cleared of snow and ice. “Could you imagine letting Constantine’s pack suffer like that?” Her mates would’ve gone down to hell, too, if their grown sons had needed them, yet they expectedhersons to suffer. Rage built up in her skull like a steaming kettle. She turned on them with a snarl. “I’m going to release my spell on you. Before I do, I need you to promise you’ll calm down. Blink once if you understand.”
Geri and Marius immediately blinked, but stubborn Jovan and Boris took their time.
The moment she unfroze them, Jovan and Boris jerked forward with roars, both still giant white sasquatches who were about a head shorter than her sons in their protector forms, and even smaller compared to Tan’yi’nug. This didn’t make her respect or love them any less. They’d been prepared to die for her. That didn’t mean she had to put up with their shit, though. She crossed her arms, glaring up at them and refusing to be intimidated.
Boris pounded his chest like an ape. “You could’ve brought us with you. We’re your protectors!”
She shook her head. “The Amaroki wolves aren’t equipped to battle demons.”
Heedless of the cold, Geri shifted into a nearly naked human with tattered clothes hanging off his lean, muscular body. “We’ve battled demons before.”
“You’ve only encountered a few lesser demons—succubi. This was a powerful sorcerer.”
Jovan let out an agonized howl, like she’d stabbed him through the heart. “So what you’re saying is we’re worthless.”
Eilea fought back a sigh. “What I’m saying is you mean everything to me, and I couldn’t risk you getting caught in a sadistic sorcerer’s snare. If you only saw what he did to my sons.” She looked away, shuddering at the memories. “The way he tortured Phoenix.” Her voice broke, and her spirit nearly did, too. Her sons had endured too much for too long during her time in oblivion.
Marius, her sweet gamma, went to her, nearly naked in his human form with just a few scraps of clothing clinging to him. He grasped her shoulders, searching her gaze. “Is she okay?”
She nodded, her throat constricting. “Her mother gave her soul to save her.” When she looked into his eyes, she saw no judgment, only compassion.
He took her in his arms, kissing her cheek and murmuring in her ear. “I’m sorry,Iubita mea.”
Releasing a shuddering breath, she clung to him, unable to stop a few tears from falling. She’d been so focused on saving her sons, she hadn’t had time to process everything, but now she faced the realization that things could’ve gone much, much worse. Her sons or their mate could’ve been obliterated. If she’d been obliterated, her young children would’ve grown up without a mother, and her mates would’ve been twice widowed. The thought was a blade twisting in her soul. She was so grateful for her sweet gamma who held her, whispering soothing words in her ear.
“Our condolences to Phoenix.”
She broke her hug with Marius, looking into Boris’s eyes. Her mates crowded around her, having shifted into naked humans standing in the snow while shuffling from foot to foot. Her feet and face were frozen. She couldn’t imagine how cold they were.
“Let’s take this inside,” Marius said as he grabbed her elbow.
She thanked him when he led her into the house and set her beside the fire. She looked around for the children.
“They’re all in bed,” Marius said as he wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. “I’ll go warm you some tea.”
She turned into him when he kissed her cheek, breathing out a sigh as her lips lingered on his. How badly she wanted to melt into his arms.Thank you,she projected.
He kissed her back, nibbling on her bottom lip.I’m just happy you’re safe,he answered with a wink before leaving her with her three other mates.
She cinched the blanket around her shoulders, mindful of her tender breasts. If she couldn’t nurse soon, she’d need to pump, though she was tempted to wake her sleeping infant, just for the excuse to hold her. She warmed her feet by the fire when Jovan sat next to her, a blanket wrapped around him like a Grecian robe.
“We would’ve given our souls to save you, to save your sons.”
She looked sideways at him, her breath catching at the intensity in his eyes. She refused to let him unnerve her. Pulling back her shoulders, she released a slow breath. “Which is why I couldn’t let you come with me. My memories have returned. I am the resurrection of a sorceress queen, one of the two most powerful in all of hell, my sister being the other.” She paused, waiting for them to absorb her words. Boris, Jovan, and Geri gaped at her as if she’d grown a second head. Marius dropped silverware in the kitchen, swearing. “This doesn’t change my love for you or for the children we share, but what this does mean is that you will respect my position. I’m not a helpless she-wolf breeding machine.”
Jovan flinched as if she’d slapped him. “We’ve never treated you like a breeding machine.”
“I know,” she murmured. “Thank you for that.”
“You don’t need to thank us,Iubita mea.”
