Chapter 4
EMME
Hunter had clearly anticipated that move from me, and in return I got the darkening of his eyes and a deep, wolfy rumble from his chest. There was a promise in his gaze though, that he would be addressing my tiny acts of rebellion later.
Oh no. I’m so scared right now.
“You three go for a walk,” Hunter ordered the dragons and me. “Show Talon some of the city. Breathe some fucking air. Talk to each other and make sure you’re all okay with the next steps in the bonding process.”
Slade turned his head side to side, as if stretching tension from his neck. “We’ll head for the apartment.”
That had me pausing. “Apartment?”
I knew they owned multiple buildings, but he’d said apartment as if it was more than just their usual rental or investment property.
Hunter let a rough laugh escape him. “It was once Slade’s escape, where he could watch over the city he controlled. He hasn’t used it since you came into our lives.”
For once, I decided not to overthink it and trust in my pack. We had to complete the bonding to fight in this war we didn’t sign up for, but more than that, I wanted to complete the bond.
I’d go wherever they led.
Finley stepped closer, oozing protectiveness as his bear rose up. “You’re ready to bond with both Talon and Slade, right? You don’t have to rush. I don’t care if the world is ending.”
The dragons in question remained silent at my side, showing no anger or unease over his question. “I’m ready.” There was no hesitation in my response, and the alphas relaxed around me.
My wolf howled, so excited to finally complete her pack.
“Come on, Snow,” Slade said, holding his hand out to me. When I placed my palm in his, he threaded our fingers together and my heart almost stopped. When Talon did the same on the other side, it took everything I had to just walk and breathe.
Kellan released a groan, which thankfully broke some of my panicked tension. “I swear to the shifter goddess,” he said, exaggeratedly fanning his face, “we need to see this bonding. Their fucking chemistry is already destroying me, and they’re only holding hands.”
He tilted his head back to howl to the sky, but Hunter slapped a hand over his mouth as he dragged him from the hut. We followed into the icy winter air, which cleared the haze in my mind enough that I could function once more. The fire of my dragons encased me, keeping me warm.
“Now, annoying pup,” Hunter said in his most patient tone, “you will not sneak over to the apartment. Let them have their moment to fuck and bond. We all had ours.”
Heat rushed to my cheeks at the casual discussion of me getting railed by two massive shifters. Two massive dragon shifters, who were currently holding my hands, and engulfing me in the burn of their energy.
Hunter’s expression morphed into a smirk as he stepped over to me. “Her skin pinks up so pretty,” he murmured, cupping my face. “Our perfect little omega.”
If the heat flooding me was any indication, I was pink all over. Slade’s chest rumbled but he didn’t stop Hunter from pressing his lips gently to mine. “Thank you, baby girl,” our entitled alpha whispered. “You’re the only piece of this puzzle that is irreplaceable.”
Fear struck me like a blade to the chest. “Not for me,” I replied with a panicked huff. “I can’t live without any of you. It’s fucking ridiculous how obsessed I am with all five of you possessive assholes.”
Kellan snorted. “Told you that we’d grow on you.”
“Like a fungus,” Finley added cheerily. Well, it was cheery for him.
Talon and Slade squeezed my hands, at the exact same time, as if they’d coordinated it. Which was possible with the way they could mentally communicate.
“The obsession goes both ways,” Hunter reminded me, stepping back, his expression reluctant. “Now go. Before I steal you away and keep you naked and sated in my bed for the next week.”
“Fuck the witches,” Kellan growled. “I’m so sick of their stupid shit.”
That made six of us.
Finley and Kellan dropped kisses on my lips after Hunter.
Finley’s was firm, his fingers threading through my hair as he held me close.
Kellan pressed light caresses over my face and freckles, until he cupped my chin, and swept his tongue across mine.
When they walked away with Hunter, I forced myself to ignore the wrench in my chest at being parted from them.
“Come on, Snow,” Slade said, but didn’t pull me along. He gave me the time I needed to start moving.
“We’re here for you, Sweet Honey,” Talon added.
As I stared between two faces that were unearthly in their beauty, an urgency to claim them swept through me. I started to walk, and they caught up in a single stride. We had quite a few blocks to reach the city, and at first we were alone in our little bubble.
When we reached downtown the sound of chatter and vehicles was joined by the scent of city living.
It wasn’t a bad scent—a mix of gasoline, food and shifters—but it also wasn’t the more natural scents of the outer regions.
Talon’s hands grew tense around mine, and I wondered how his first immersive experience in the cities would go.
Almost instantly his beast started to rumble, and that drew the attention of those around us, who immediately backed away.
“You two are the biggest predators they’ve ever had in their orbit,” I reminded him. “It’s not a weakness for them to back away… it’s smart. Survival instincts and all that. The city living didn’t remove that.”
Talon’s lips settled into flat lines; his eyes were almost as flat. He was so calm and gentle with me that it was easy to forget the lethal, dangerous assassin he’d been for almost two decades.
“I don’t care about their weaknesses. I just don’t like the way they’re looking at you,” he said, not bothering to keep his tone down.
I tugged him to a stop, and Slade paused with us, wearing an expression that lingered between amusement and annoyance.
“They’re just curious,” I said, and Talon focused on me long enough to stop terrifying the locals with his dark glare.
“We’re a powerful pack, and I’ve been mostly kept hidden.
I’m sure rumors have been raging around since the attack on the compound too. ”
Shifters had died during that attack.
Marcus had died. He was a shifter I cared about, and my heart ached at what Cora, Warrick, Richard and Sierra were going through.
It hurt this morning when they turned me away, but I knew they were grieving. I’d keep showing up, in whatever way they allowed me.
Talon’s expression softened; I doubted he’d missed my pulse of grief. “Okay, mate,” he murmured. “I trust your judgement here. They’re not weak, they’re wary. And they’re not trying to steal what’s mine, they’re curious about our power.”
Slade huffed, and I had no idea how he made one noise sound so satisfied. “They know better than to even get close to me.”
I nodded. “That’s also why they’re looking—Slade doesn’t touch. Anyone. Ever. And here we are, just casually holding hands.”
Slade dragged me closer, leaning down as he said, “Mine. My fucking mate. Mine.”
The smile that ripped across my face felt unhinged. “Yes, caveshifter. I am yours. As I am Talon’s. You’re all good boys, sharing as well as you do.”
Slade’s lips twitched, though his jaw remained rigid. “There’s only one good boy in this fucking pack, and it’s not either of us. You have no idea what you’re stepping into with us, Snow. But it’s too late to back out now.”
This wasn’t the first warning he’d issued me, and just like with all the others, whatever flicker of concern I should feel was crushed under my excitement. “I was born to handle you,” I said with a shrug. “Literally, according to fate. And more than happy to take the job.”
He mumbled something that sounded a lot like “We’ll see,” but he got us moving again before I could ask him to repeat himself.
Lots of shifters bowed as we crossed their path, with even more fearfully side-eyeing Talon. He continued to stare at them like they were bugs and he was the exterminator sent to delete them from this world. It was amusing to see them turn other alphas into stumbling, fearful messes.
More annoying were the females who didn’t appear to care how scary my dragons were. Alpha, beta, and delta ladies turned drooling over them into a competitive sport, and then it was my turn to rumble and glare. Which unfortunately did not have the same effect as the dragons.
When a leggy blonde got a little too close to Talon’s side, his teeth clanked together with a snap and she scurried away.
My beast and I preened in satisfaction, thankful that none of my pack ever made me question their feelings.
They were as obsessed with me as I was with them, and if that wasn’t your quintet, you needed to send them back.
Once Talon was done taking in the shifter city, he returned to watching me, the burn of his gaze scorching. He lifted my hand, and when he pressed his lips to the top of my knuckle, I felt that touch in the deepest recesses of myself.
“You are glorious,” he said, still not bothering to keep his voice down. “There’s not a shifter alive who could compare to you. I always knew it, but today has only reiterated the point. You, Emmeline Anders, are incomparable.”
Goddess. My lower lip trembled but I kept it together. “I feel the same about you,” I managed to say, wanting him to feel as loved as I did. Neither of us grew up with love, so it was a much bigger deal for us. “I feel it for all of my alphas.”
Talon tugged me close enough to kiss, and Slade blocked us with his wide shoulders, so others couldn’t be part of the moment. “Let’s go,” I whispered against Talon’s lips. “I’m ready to seal this bond. Please.”
It was the please that had their energy igniting. They moved much faster through the streets, all but carrying me between them. Shifters scurried out of our way, but I barely saw them as I anticipated what would come next.
The final strands of our quintet were about to be sealed. I would finally claim all of my alphas.
I’d never been more ready.