AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"But Ihatedhim," I choked out. I hated myself for it, would always hate myself for it. "And I treated him like shit."
"Because he was a dick," Renna said comfortingly. "Anyone would have hated him."
"You can hate someone and love them at the same time," Asta added, and I got the sense the couple were counselling me.
It's not your fault he's dead,Tali rumbled, butting my stomach with her head. I swallowed and said nothing.It's not your fault,she repeated harder.
"Feels like it," I croaked.
Tali shook her furry red head, her eyes so big, so full of worry and pain on my behalf. She began to say something, but her head snapped to the side a moment before emerald green magic blasted through the door and part of the wall, slicing it into shards that collapsed to the floor with an almighty crash.
Renna and Asta jumped up with matching defensive positions, both drawing a knife so fast I didn't see where they came from. Magic shook the room, and I thought it was theirs until Emlyn stormed through the door and I felt the unstable power coming fromhim.
It scythed through three chairs and a table until they fell apart too, and Emlyn strode through the wreckage, his blue eyes fixed on me with bright, red-hot rage.
CHAPTER7
My bottom lip wobbled, a sick, oily feeling twisting my stomach when Kai, Harvey, and Wane strode through the room after Emlyn, sidestepping the severed bits of furniture.
"Back the fuck up," Renna spat, lifting a violet hand in warning. Not the hand holding the knife but another where deep red magic pooled like blood. She and Asta cut off Emlyn before he could reach me, and Tali leapt off the sofa to crowd me behind her, a low menacing growl baring her teeth.
"Don't rip his head off," I pleaded, and cleared my throat when it came out tight and squeaky. "He's my mate, Tal-Tal."
"This caveman'syour mate?"Renna demanded, holding her hand further in front of her, red magic dripping through her fingers. "I thought you said they weren't feral anymore."
"Fuck off," Kai spat. He was so angry that my knees knocked together, my hands shaking so hard.
"Move," Harvey growled, his beast close to the surface.
"So you can hurt my friend? In your dreams," Renna laughed, deep and coarse.
"Yeah, tell 'em, babe," Asta encouraged.
"If you keep me from my mate," Emlyn replied in a voice so deep that the walls shook. Or maybe that was Kai losing control, his snakes going haywire. "I will kill you so thoroughly there won't be a single scrap of your flesh left to bury."
"Threaten my wife again," Asta breathed, so calm that I shuddered in primal warning."I dare you."
"Stop," I rasped, my voice too weak for the shout I tried to form. But my mates paused as if I'd yelled, and that seemed to make the power couple stand down.
I blinked, and Wane was in front of me, his body wreathed in shadows. I jumped hard, my heart slamming into my ribs, but I slumped into him when he pulled me into a tight hug. He made soft,shhhnoises, holding me close, and I fell apart.
"Make one move to hurt her, and I'm castrating you, no questions asked," Renna warned someone. Phantom pain chased through my bonds from the guys, and I managed a weak smile.
"Why did you leave, Hales?" Emlyn growled.
My stomach twisted, sickness crashing through me in waves of nausea. He was angry at me. Like he'd been angry at me the day we were killed.
A low, mournful cry swelled in my chest, and I couldn't stop it escaping.
"I'm sorry," I breathed, my breath catching halfway through and making the words a sob.
"Don't," Harvey sighed, and my shoulders hunched, pain spiking through me. They were all angry at me. He didn't even want to hear my apologies, and I—I'd been so selfish, running off in the middle of the night. "She's here, she's safe. We've done this once before; I don't want to live it again."
Harvey brushed past Tali, my friend hovering protectively close, her teeth still bared. When he wrapped his arms around me from behind, forgiveness and care in the touch, my knees buckled.
"I-I wasn't thinking," I choked out. "I'm so sorry, I didn't think, I just—I needed the knife. I gave it away like it was nothing and it'snotnothing, he wasnevernothing and I—"
Warm fingers turned my face, and Kai leaned close, pressing a long kiss to my forehead. "Shh, it's okay. It's okay now, my rose."
