AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The strange looks that my mates give me help sober me up. They all seem fairly relaxed, and I feel cautiously optimistic about the chances of getting through this conversation without anyone getting frustrated or annoyed.
“I take it you know about Scott?” I’m almost holding my breath as I wait for their response.
Joel nods, placing his hand on my exposed leg. “We felt it when the connection snapped into place and knew what happened, but he came out to speak to us all individually to check if we were okay with it.”
Eyes wide, I gaze at Scott who looks incredibly awkward, his cheeks turning pink as he rubs the back of his neck. I’m shocked that he felt the need to speak to the others. I thought we worked through Scott’s worries about fitting in with my mates.
“You’re my mate, Scott. There is always a place for you here,” I insist quietly, sitting up on the bed so I can face him properly. “Even if you didn’t get your mate bond back, you still don’t need to explain yourself.”
He smiles, his eyes crinkling at the sides, and I feel his gratitude flood through the bond. “I know, but I’m coming into this late, and I wanted to explain that I was always supposed to be with you. They deserved to know the full story.”
There is something incredibly sweet about the fact that he did this when he didn’t need to. He wanted to make sure that everyone got a say and knew exactly what happened. None of us expected Scott to be granted his mate bond, so it makes sense that he would want to clear the air.
Taking a deep breath, I look around the room and meet all the guys’ gazes. “How do you all feel about this?”
There’s not much they can do about it, even if they did disagree. My bond with Scott is as unbreakable as the one I share with them. However, they deserve to have a say, especially since Scott has opened this conversation.
“It’s about time,” Syn says, surprising the hell out of me. Of all my mates, he struggles the most with sharing me, yet he’s now the first to speak in Scott’s favour. Nicolai snorts from the doorway, and I know he’s just as surprised as I am.
Syn raises a brow at our attention and shrugs his shoulders lazily. “It means I don’t have to put up with his pining or wistful stares any longer.”
Now that’s the Syn response I was expecting. I can’t help but laugh, and thankfully, Scott finds it funny too.
“We all knew Scott was yours, this just confirms it,” Nicolai comments, and hope begins to soar inside me. This is it, this could actually work. The idea of having five amazing mates who work together and love me beyond reason always seemed like a dream come true. It was so good, in fact, I was waiting for the penny to drop, for one of them to say they couldn’t handle it.
Trust in the goddess, something whispers inside me, and I vow to follow that guidance for the rest of my life.
Joel nods his agreement, crossing his arms over his chest. “It’s good you completed your bond. We need to be a strong, unified unit.”
My happy buzz dims at the reminder of what waits outside of this room. I’d gotten so lost in the blissful post bonding haze that I pushed the other worries to the back of my mind. It was impossible to forget completely, but at least I was able to lose myself in Scott for a few hours.
“Any word on what’s going on in Haven? Has anyone been by with any news?” I ask, almost afraid to hear the answer.
The tension in the room suddenly shifts as my mates remember the threat that awaits us. Joel’s hands clench and unclench at his sides, but I’m pretty sure he’s doing it without realising, his body seeming to grow as he anticipates what could be coming our way.
“Other than the guards bringing us food every six hours or so, we’ve seen no one.” My alpha mate is a planner, and at the moment, we have no clue what the queen’s going to do, and that seems to be putting him on edge.
Biting down on my lower lip, I try but fail at hiding my anxiety, my gut clenching uncomfortably as I acknowledge what that means. No one has been by, meaning none of us have seen Kano since everything went down yesterday. I hoped that he would have been able to stop by, at least just so I could see for myself that he’s unharmed. I’ve been worried about him ever since Luna raised her fears, a worry that’s only increasing the longer I don’t see him.He was probably banned from coming here, I reason with myself. After all, there’s no point in jumping to the worst-case scenario.
Needing to shift my mind to something else, I pull the sheet tighter around myself and rub my arms, suddenly feeling cold. “Atlas, do you have any idea what the queen might do now?”
He huffs out a tired sigh and rubs his hand across his face, the action not doing anything to help alleviate my worries. “You stood up to her in front of everyone, failed the challenge, and then basically announced that she was manipulating them,” he reminds me, his grim expression making me wince.
Hearing it all said aloud like that makes it sound much more like treason than I thought.
Leaning against the doorframe, he seems to contemplate his next words. “She will either continue blaming your failed challenge on your ‘trauma’ and find a way to force you into killing Maliki to gain the witches’ confidence back.” Everyone shifts uncomfortably at his words, but he continues. “Or, she could go down the opposite path and outright call you a liar and denounce you as the chosen one. That could end up causing her more problems, as it will create a split between those who follow you, and those who believe the queen.”
Atlas’s first example sounds more like the queen that I’ve come to know, but I’ve never pushed her this far before. She’s a smart woman, so she’ll know the risks of an all-out war against me, but at the end of the day, it will come down to how many supporters she has. If she believes she can win, then I think she could choose that option. Of course, we could be wrong, and she’ll decide to do something else that we hadn’t thought of and catch us off guard.
“Honestly, I don’t know what she will do, but you can expect her to attempt to manipulate you in some way by threatening to hurt someone you care for.” Atlas doesn’t mince his words, telling me exactly what I need to hear. However, he says it softly and with an understanding that this knowledge is going to unsettle me.
He’s right, and it doesn’t take me long to realise who would be the easiest target.
“Kano,” I whisper with horror. He’s bound to the queen in a way I don’t understand, so he’s forced to follow her orders and has limited freedom. If that was the pathway the queen chose to take, then I imagine he would be the first person she would hurt.
Joel moves closer and kneels at my side, placing his hand on my leg. My skin tingles at the contact. “We’ll do everything we can to make sure he’s okay.”
I meet his loving gaze and give him a strained smile, appreciating his efforts to comfort me. It’s not just him though, I can feel the others reaching out with comforting vibes through our bonds, along with the wish not to overcrowd me. Taking a moment of quiet to absorb their love and supportive mental touches, I let it strengthen me. Goddess knows I’m going to need to be strong to survive this.
