15. Simon
I am going to burn this fucking house of nightmares to the ground.
I tamp down on my rage as I tend to Luc, the pattern of wounds and bruising on his body telling a story nobody should have to endure. As callous as it may seem, broken bones and bruising from beatings is almost expected in a place like this. Even surgical scars can be considered the norm. But the punctures and cuts around Luc’s dick and balls…? No. That’s a wholly different type of brutality, and not one I expected from O’Hare and his ilk.
Luc cries softly, his keens of pain tearing at my insides as I gently clean him. He keeps whimpering something, his words so quiet I can’t make them out.
“What is it, Luc? Am I hurting you?” I ask gently, trying my best not to exacerbate his trauma with my touch.
“Get it out. Please!”
Bile rises in my throat as a thought so dreadful, so horrific crosses my mind. Oh, please, tell me they didn’t?
I help Luc onto his hands and knees and gingerly pry apart his ass cheeks. I choke back an anguished cry at the bruising and tears around Luc’s ass, and the glint of an instrument inserted up his rectum.
They did.
Tears stream down my cheeks as I carefully try to remove the object without causing further damage, but it’s impossible. The cylindrical wire brush someone shoved up Luc’s ass tears at his skin as I slowly manipulate it, and the moment it’s out I bundle Luc into my arms, clutching him tightly as he wails over the abuse and violation he’s suffered.
There’s nothing scientific about rape.
It takes a bit longer before Luc’s ready for me to finish cleaning him, and I don’t know how to feel when I check his ass once more only to find it mostly healed. Part of me is relieved that his shifter healing has kicked in and he won’t need to worry about the possible internal injuries sustained from the brush, but the rest of me is raging at Luc being desecrated so profanely, and demanding vengeance. Tál is strangely calm, and I turn my ire onto him.
How can you stand to see this? Are you that unfeeling?
Tál simply sends me feelings of assurance and calm, as though he has everything under control. It’s almost as if he has a plan. I guess I just have to trust him.
I manage to get Luc clean and dry, dressing him in the loosest scrub bottoms I can find. I don’t know how sore or uncomfortable he’s going to be for the next little while, and I don’t want his pants to irritate his still-healing injuries. He’s probably going to need to sleep on his side for now and won’t be able to sit comfortably either.
I don’t even bother trying to let Luc walk. I scoop him up in my arms, careful to make sure I don’t touch his ass, and carry him out to where Nick and Quin are waiting for us. The expression in Nick’s eyes tells me he knows what they did to Luc, and Bo’s zealousness over Luc’s well-being is suddenly more understandable.
I make my way over to Nick and set Luc down on his side next to his mate. Luc shifts slightly so that his head is on Nick’s lap, shuts his eyes, and silently sobs as Nick strokes his fingers over Luc’s head, his long fingers threading through the auburn strands.
I meet Quin’s questioning gaze and shake my head. While I think that Quin should know what happened so he can help Luc and Nick deal with their trauma, it’s not my place to explain. I know they both trust Quin, and they’re all three as close as brothers. It might just take a minute until they’re ready to speak about it.
Quin and I tuck Nick and Luc between the two of us, curling up around them and covering us all with blankets. I lose track of time as we lie there, not saying a thing, just supporting our friends with our presence as they heal. There’s such a thick layer of grief in the air that you’d be excused for thinking someone had died. I’m struggling to think of a way to comfort and protect them all, even Quin, when Tál nudges me.
He sends me flashes of memory, of the times when I formed my blood bonds with Sila and her guys, Petra and Cyril, and Aodhán and Sarai.
Huh. That could work.
“Did they break your bonds?”
Quin’s murmured question breaks the silence, and it makes sense. The feeling of loss is so tangible, it should have occurred to me to ask.
“No. But they came close,” Nick replies, and it cements Tál’s suggestion in my mind.
“People like to claim that fated bonds are some of the hardest to break, but they can be broken, especially if you don’t care about the shifters involved,” I state, then hold up one of my hands to show them the scars across the palm.
“What most shifters don’t realize, though, is that there’s another type of bond, one that is unbreakable. When you add it to a mating bond, it becomes indestructible, and can provide more than just a sense of community and comfort. It enables you to communicate with others, to draw strength and protection from each other as well as bolster those same things in return. They’re called Primal bonds, and they’re most effective when formed between Altered shifters.”
Three sets of eyes stare at my palm, and then back at my face.
“Are you offering to bond with us as well, or just tell us what to do?”
Luc’s voice is so hoarse and raspy I can barely make it out. I gently buff his arm in silent thanks for his trust, swallowing around the emotional lump in my throat.
“If the three of you agree, it would be an honor and privilege to have you as my brothers, both in heart and in bond. If you only wish to form it between yourselves, I understand.”
Nick is the one to simultaneously break and mend my heart with his answer.
“We might not have known you for long, Simon, but every minute that we have you’ve shown us nothing but loyalty and acceptance. You see us as yours to protect. Well, you’re ours just as much, and I want to know that I’ll always have you with me, no matter how far apart we might be.”
I don’t even bother wiping away the tears that stream down my face.
***
Although Nick and Luc were anxious to solidify their bonds, I decided to wait for morning. Luc was still healing from his wounds, as was Nick, and I wanted to give them the chance to recover some more before turning their lives upside down, yet again.
I’m up and preparing for the exchange, tearing one of the towels I’ve been provided into strips. While shifters can heal rapidly dependent on our injuries, Nick and Luc have already pushed Bo and Void to their limits of healing. I don’t want them to have to work so hard today. They were almost back to normal by the time we went to bed, and as they sleepily emerge from the nest where we’d all spent the night, Nick’s back only bears silver scars and Luc is moving freely once more.
“Morning, guys,” I call out from my cell, and they groggily wave at me as they head toward their own, ostensibly to prepare for the day’s proceedings. Quin is showering in our shared bathroom, having woken not long after me.
It doesn’t take long for me to finish my task, and by the time I’m back in our common area the others have finished their morning ablutions and are putting the room back to rights.
“So, how are we going to do this?” Nick queries, his nerves visible in the fine tremble of his hands as he rubs them on his pants.
I quickly explain the ritual to them all, and how it will create a tether of titanium strength between us all in a type of familial bond.
“So, are there formal words we need to say? What about Luc and me? Will it impact our mate bond?”
I look over at Luc, forming my response carefully in my mind before speaking.
“I’m not an expert on these things, no matter how many blood bonds I might have. From my experience, the words themselves aren’t the important part, although they do help. It’s the intent behind it all, the feeling in your heart and soul as you make your vows that form the bonds. As for you and Nick, you’ll need to perform an extra step to really solidify your mate bond.”
I hesitate for a moment, wondering how to frame the next part delicately, but words fail me. Sledgehammer it is, then.
“For your mating bond to become truly unbreakable, you’ll need to have sex and bite each other at the moment you climax. From what I’ve been told, it’s the emotional and sexual connections you experience, mixed with blood, saliva, and cum, that creates a true primal blood bond between mates.”
Luc pales at the thought of anal sex, and I scramble to reassure him.
“I don’t know if that means you have to guys have to actually fuck, or if mutual hand-jobs would suffice. My suggestion? Talk about it between yourselves, see what you’re comfortable doing. You can always try the hand-jobs to start with, and then move on to full penetration later.”
How the fuck I managed to say all that without dying from embarrassment, I’ll never know, but having two blood brothers who are currently in the middle of this same process probably helps.
Cyril would be so proud of me.
“How are we going to mix our blood, though? It’s not like they leave knives or sharp objects lying around for us to use as weapons,” Quin asks, and a wicked smile creases my face. I hold up my right hand and call Tál forward. He comes without hesitation, transforming my hand into his monstrous paw, complete with razor-sharp claws.
“Who needs knives when you’ve got an Altered lion who can partially shift?” I chuckle, and my grin broadens at the awe and amazement in the other men’s eyes.
“Now, how about we get this party started, and then we can figure out the best way to fuck with all of O’Hare’s and Vieux Sang’s plans?”