AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I’m not sure if he hears me, his gaze distant as his mind turns over everything he’s learned. Not pushing him for a response, I rest my head against his chest, letting him process without interruption. His arms wrap around me, and he lets out a sigh, dropping his cheek to the top of my head.
“All this time, we were destined.” His voice is distant, and I get the feeling he’s reliving his memories and seeing them in a different light now that he knows he had a mate all along.
“You knew this,” I say gently, not wanting those memories to be tarnished. Since the moment our eyes locked when I was brought here, we’ve known what we were to each other. It was undeniable, and seeing our mate marks doesn’t change that.
“I know, but actually seeing evidence of it… to know that at birth I was yours all along, just waiting for you…” He lifts his head and looks down at me with a troubled expression. “What if things hadn’t worked out this way? I might never have found you. Ihatedyou when we met.” Scoffing, he shakes his head with self-disgust. “It all feels so stupid now.”
I place my hands on his face and make him look at me and see the compassion in my expression. “No, it’s not stupid. Your life was difficult, and it shaped your opinions, just like my upbringing did with mine,” I explain quietly but firmly. “What matters is that we’re here now. We’re bonded.”
The tension in his shoulders seems to leave his body with a long sigh. His end of the bond lightens, as though a huge weight has been lifted from it, and hope glimmers in his eyes. “I don’t know what I did to deserve a mate like you. You are perfect.”
My protesting words are caught in my throat as he presses his lips to mine in a slow, passionate kiss. As our mouths move together and we lose ourselves in the touch and taste of each other, I forget what I was going to say. It doesn’t seem important any longer, only this moment matters. I’ve not been “fixed” after my experience in the archway, and I’m still feeling raw from what I saw, but I can get through it with Atlas and my mates helping me. Everything else will still be there once this time together is over, but right now, this is exactly where I should be.
ChapterFour
When I open the door that divides the bathroom from the bedroom, all eyes turn expectantly to me. They are trying not to look, glancing back at whatever they were doing, but from the side glances I’m receiving, it’s becoming clear that they knew exactly what we were doing in the bathroom.
“Feeling better?” Nicolai teases from the other side of the room, not even bothering to pretend otherwise.
Glancing over, I find him sprawled across the huge bed, winking when our eyes meet. He seems relaxed and not at all bothered about what just happened. Reaching out, I find his end of the bond is still shaky, but he seems so much lighter than he was before the challenge. Part of me wonders if it’s because he channelled some of his power into Atlas, but he almost seems like the old Nicolai I know and love.
His comment, while making my cheeks flush, has the benefit of breaking some of the tension that had been hanging over the room.
Scott snorts from where he’s leaning up against the wall. “It’s about time you two fucked. He might lighten up a little now.”
At first, I worry that he’s annoyed, his voice flat, but as our eyes meet, I see the humour in his gaze and his lips turn up in a smile. It was only a matter of time before Atlas and I completed our bond, and he’s had that time to come to terms with it.
Scott and I have a strange connection, one that neither of us can figure out, and I’m drawn to him in a way that I’ve only ever felt with my mates. If I’m truly honest with myself, I can admit that I have feelings for him, and I know they are reciprocated. However, even if all of my mates were okay with me adding Scott to our relationship, he was promised to another.
When he was younger, he was in a relationship with another werewolf. He loved her so much that when she needed to be saved, Scott traded his chance to meet his true mate so his girlfriend would live. Unfortunately, that relationship fell through, and Scott is left with the knowledge that somewhere out there, his true mate exists, and he’ll never find her.
This puts us in a strange place. Why he’s chosen to stick with me this whole time when he knows I’m promised to the four males in this room, I don’t know. All I know is that we have an undeniable connection, and my instincts are telling me to keep him close.
“Yup, Atlas is part of the gang now,” Nicolai coos from the bed, and I drag my attention from Scott to find him wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Syn strolls over and pulls me against him, burying his face into the side of my neck only to pull away a moment later, his nose wrinkling. “You smell like him now.” Despite his apparent disgust, he doesn’t release me from his hold, just eases back enough so he can glare at Atlas over my shoulder. “I don’t like you, and if you hurt her, I will disembowel you. However, for her, I won’t cause any problems.”
Wow. Although not the warmest reception from Syn, he was the one that I wasn’t sure how he’d react with Atlas becoming my full mate. The two of them didn’t have the best introduction, what with Syn becoming feral and somehow tracking me down to the witch’s hidden sanctuary. I also know he still struggles with controlling the madness our separation caused in him, so this is a huge step for him. Nuzzling against him, I take a deep inhale of his scent and kiss the delicate skin of his neck.
“Gee, thanks,” Atlas mutters sarcastically, his arms crossed over his chest. I can feel how difficult he’s finding it to see another man touch me, not to mention my reaction in return.
Taking a deep breath, I attempt to step back from Syn, but it’s not easy. My bond is crying out for all of them. Honestly, I feel like I’m high on the scent of my mates after finally completing the bonds and with all of them here in one place. My mind is spinning with possibilities, and I want to crawl all over them and cover myself in them.
My mates can feel the direction of my thoughts, thanks to my horny bond, including Syn, who tightens his hold on me as I try to pull away. This only agitates Atlas all the more, the scent of magic surrounding him. He may not be able to growl to show his annoyance like my werewolf mates, but his magic speaks for him. I need to find a way to curtail this now before it breaks out into a fight. If only I could find my voice and control this rising need.
“Syn, back off for a moment.”
Joel’s order comes like a wave of cool water, helping to dampen the crazed feelings in my mind while also breaking the tension that was beginning to build between Syn and Atlas. It’s clear Syn isn’t happy about being ordered around by the other alpha, but Joel just raises his brow, not backing down.
“Don’t you remember how raw everything felt after you bonded? What would you have done if someone else touched your mate at that moment?”
Syn snarls once more, this time at Joel’s comment, confirming what the alpha said. Werewolves are possessive, and alphas are ten times worse. Syn is both of these things, and on top of that, his past makes him react faster and harder than my other mates. Not to mention when he turned feral, the only thing that kept him going was our bond.
He takes one last inhale of my scent and reluctantly releases me from his hold. In silence, he moves to the other side of the room and leans against the wall, watching me with dark, possessive eyes. Atlas releases a tense breath, the scent of magic dissipating as he steps up behind me, his hand brushing the small of my back. Just that tiny contact has my body buzzing and need burning through me once more. His groan tells me that he feels it too.
“Please tell me this feeling goes away?” he asks no one in particular, his teeth gritted.
Joel chuckles ruefully. “The feeling that you want to fuck her all day, every day, and kill anyone who touches her?” The corner of his mouth turns up in a half smile. “Yeah, it eases, but you will always feel that pull. Welcome to our very own pack of misfits.”
