Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
ARABELLA
The early morning light streamed through the penthouse windows as I continued to stare down at the blueprints I had opened on several tablets from the institute.
All six were positioned on the marble coffee table so I could look at each in depth, as well as grasp an overall picture of the place.
I was a fairly visual person, which was why I preferred paper blueprints, but I also understood that due to the security at the hotel, or lack thereof, it made sense to have everything on encrypted tablets.
Despite feeling exhausted when we’d returned to the hotel, I hadn’t been able to fall asleep—at least not completely.
Even when my eyes were closed, my brain had been preoccupied by two things, the first being the information my father had found on the sis meta lead.
I hadn’t told him that was what the girl was, instead saying it was a nightmare that had used their powers to make contact with me.
The second was the plans for us to break into the MAM base.
Unlike normal, I didn’t have an entire institute of resources and intelligence at my fingertips.
I had a ton of information and technology my father had placed on the jet, but despite that, I couldn’t seem to get completely comfortable with the plan at hand.
I didn’t like unknowns when it came to the men I loved.
Turning my head to scan over a news article with several notes attached from my father, I breathed out a small sigh of relief.
At least we had some good news regarding the sis meta situation.
Well, not good news, because it was fairly upsetting information, but bad news was better than absolutely no leads.
In Los Angeles, my father had found information on the Monster-Human Relation Institute, a human-run institute organization focused on the expansion of relations with nightmares.
Something you would have thought would be a good thing…
If it wasn’t for them being fully focused on how nightmares could be used for human benefit.
That alone hadn’t surprised my father, but the fact that the leaders in it were called ‘keepers’ was a major red flag.
Why were they called that? What were they keeping?
Nightmares? If not, why would they call themselves that?
Call it a gut instinct, but when I’d read his notes, I knew without a doubt that the girl was being held there.
They most likely had no idea who or what she was, which was a damn good thing, but it also meant she was in danger.
Especially if another nightmare being kept there recognized what she was.
My father had already pulled the blueprints for the location, and it looked like there were several floors labeled as ‘storage.’ If I had to guess, it was the storage of prisoners, and that was most likely where I would find her.
I was determined to save the young sis meta, even if I knew almost nothing about her.
But first we’d handle the MAM base right in our back yard.
It would normally be extremely dangerous to break into, but according to the main system my father had hacked into, the body count inside was smaller than usual.
Apparently, many forces had been moved inward towards Michigan and other nightmare suburbs.
Shocking.
I knew without a doubt that the institute wasn’t the only place that was surrounded, though. I could feel that this situation was growing rapidly, which is why we needed to get both of these tasks done and go back home.
I was hoping that this would be simple in and out, gathering as much information about MAM’s plans going forward before leaving to go save the sis meta. This was an opportunity we couldn’t miss out on—it was possibly the most direct access to MAM intelligence we would ever get.
“My moon.”
Ashur’s warm, accented voice sent chills over my skin as he appeared right behind me.
I was curled up on the couch of the living room, everyone else sleeping or at least pretending to sleep, probably knowing I wouldn’t feel better until I had concentrated on our plan today.
But Ashur looked wide awake. I was starting to wonder if the man slept…
Maybe he was nocturnal? That wouldn’t be all that surprising.
“Hey, you.” I offered a soft smile as he rounded the couch. I fought the urge to touch my necklace, not wanting to make it too obvious how much the marker meant to me.
Honestly, I didn’t feel nearly as much confusion as where I stood with Ashur as I should have.
The nightmare was different from Amun or even Saint, despite the three of them being close in age.
Ashur had an almost feral edge to him, but it was silent, an ever-growing intensity that you couldn’t pin down but constantly felt rolling against your skin.
I could practically feel the pressure of his magic crowding around me.
It was both overwhelming and the most natural thing in the world.
“You’re up early. You couldn’t sleep?” he asked, looking concerned.
“I…” I hesitated, not knowing how to explain to an extremely powerful nightmare that I was nervous about the mission my equally-as-intimidating nightmare mates were going on… Well, not completely mine—Ashur would be going as well.
I finally gave into the urge to touch my necklace—maybe he was mine. He totally felt like mine.
I nearly shook my head, not knowing how to deal with the strong emotions this man evoked in me. Ashur made me feel like I was losing my mind, but in the most wonderful way possible.
“I am a bit nervous. I don’t want anyone to get hurt on this mission, and I don’t have the normal resources and assurances that I would have back at the institute.”
Ashur stared at me in thought, mulling something over before answering quietly, “I’ll go with them, Arabella. I’ll make sure your mates come back to you.”
Emotion swelled inside of me because I could see that he didn’t doubt his abilities to do that. Ashur was promising to use his magic, even possibly shift back into his wolf form, in order to protect my mates, and that…Well, that made me love him more than just slightly.
“And what about you?” I asked hesitantly, my cheeks heating. “Will you stay safe…and come back?” To me?
His large hand came up to my cheek, gently tucking a piece of hair behind my ear before speaking with a soft, almost curious tone.
“Come back to my mate? Of course I will, my moon. We may have only just met”—his hand pressed right to the center of my chest, its heat radiating through my clothes—“but our hearts, our souls, know one another.”
Oh.
Oh wow.
I swallowed, feeling a bit steamrolled by this man’s simplistic way of expressing so many emotions at once. I don’t think he was trying to be romantic; he was just telling me what he felt… And what he felt was extremely intense for me.
“Mate?” My voice sounded high-pitched, almost squeaky.
When his fingers slid up to gently toy with my necklace, he offered me a searing look.
“Yes, my mate. I would never mark a woman who wasn’t my mate…
I’ve never had a mate, until you, to mark.
” Ashur seemed momentarily overwhelmed by emotion before continuing, “Much like god terrors, as you call them, we can’t feel desire or emotional connection to those that aren’t our intended mate.
The fates made it that way so we could fulfill our destiny to create without bias.
It was why I never minded the isolation of the Oceanic Forest… until you.”
“Me?”
“You changed all of that, my moon. You made me feel like I was living for the first time in so damn long.”
“Ashur.” I felt my eyes prickle with tears at his earnest and affection-filled expression. My eyes darted down to his lips, wanting to kiss him, to show him through actions how I felt this connection between us and how strong it was.
Turned out Ashur only needed the small look to spur him forward.
He ran his fingers along my jaw and tilted my head back, then pressed his lips to mine.
The kiss lit up my entire body with a hard, demanding heat that had a soft moan leaving my throat.
His tongue ran the seam of my lips and I opened up for him, craving the natural dominance that rolled off of him in waves.
Holy crap. Who needed coffee when you had a kiss like that? I mean, seriously.
I didn’t shy away from the moment and pressed forward into his muscular frame, wanting to merge his body with mine. Papers tossed aside, I crawled on top of his lap so I was straddling him, eliciting a dangerous rattling sound from his chest, like something was threatening to break out.
When I finally pulled back, I stared into his gaze and could feel the raw primordial power radiating off of him, wrapping around me in a restrictive hold that I absolutely loved.
A sensation I didn’t understand tickled the back of my scalp as my body turned into a heated mess, his gaze only making the sensation grow.
I couldn’t look away. I knew I had to be the one to do it first, and I knew it was in part because of his magic, but also because I was trying to come to terms with what he made me feel.
What he made me want.
It was like this primal urge of my own, maybe connected with my sis meta heritage, wanted to be dominated by Ashur like I’d been that first night.
The night he said he wanted to breed me.
Shit. I mean, I knew I found it hot that the guys were so serious about our future, serious enough to start a family…
But the breeding aspect—Was I seriously finding that hot?
Yes. I completely did, without a doubt. I just hadn’t realized until now how powerful that instinct would pull at me and how much I would want that.
“Arabella.” His rough voice commanded me to snap my eyes shut. His lips brushed over my forehead, and I nearly preened, feeling like he was rewarding me.
His voice was a low rumble as his thumb came out to brush against my bottom lip.
“I understand that this situation isn’t normal, my moon, but I will follow you anywhere.
Leaving my forest was nothing compared to the threat of losing you, so do not hesitate to ask me for anything.
Always assume that we want the same thing. ”
“Okay,” I whispered, my cheeks burning as I opened my eyes.
When a door opened somewhere upstairs, Ashur brushed his lips across mine once more and pulled back, picking up one of my tablets with interest.
“Does the institute have a lot of technology like this?” he asked.
I tried to blink away the stupor I found myself in. How the heck did he do that? I mean, seriously—he looked as cool as a cucumber, and I was over here still wanting to plaster myself against him. Maybe it was a nightmare thing, because I could not collect myself that quickly.
“Yes.” I nodded, thinking about the institute and smiling fondly. “It has everything.”
“It’s what you consider home?” Ashur clarified.
“Yeah.” I nodded and squeezed his hand, trying to remember what he said moments ago and encouraging my bravery. “I think you will like it also. I hope you do.”
“If you’re there, I’ll love it,” he assured me.
“It is way too early for that,” Zain murmured, stumbling down the steps.
When he reached the couch, he practically collapsed on it as Ashur offered a raised brow—mostly because Zain started snoring, completely passed out once again.
I stood up, grabbing a blanket and draping it over him, before I ran my hand through his hair.
Ashur was watching me with a soft look as I walked back over to him.
“What?”
“Your love is beautiful. It shines through every part of you.”
Okay, he was a total unintentional romantic. I loved it.
“Still too early,” Zain complained, waking up just to throw a pillow in an attempt to hit Ashur but instead hitting Damian right in the face.
I smiled as the freshly showered man tossed it to the side, not even bothering with a sarcastic comment and instead going to make coffee. I was unsurprised when Blackwell made his way downstairs, looking fully awake and dressed in his uniform.
Ignoring Ashur, who was sitting near me, he captured my lips in a kiss. “You’re sleeping later. At least a nap, if not more. Now, what do you want for breakfast?”
“Bossy,” I chided before shrugging. “You decide.”
Mostly because what I wanted to say to him would totally get me in trouble, and as much as I loved that idea, I wasn’t positive I had the nerve to say it in front of all of them.
“Done.” Blackwell smiled and turned towards the kitchen, revealing Saint and Amun walking down the steps together, arguing about something.
I patted Ashur’s hand and stood, deciding to interrupt a possible future conflict.
I wrapped my arms around Amun, who looked down at me mid-sentence and brushed his lips against my forehead with a ‘good morning.’
Saint growled and pulled me from his arms, kissing me hard before pulling back and narrowing his eyes. “That wasn’t enough of a distraction to stop me from telling this bastard he’s remembering the battle wrong.”
“What battle?” Ashur asked, causing Amun’s smile to grow.
“See, Saint, now we have a third party.” Amun chuckled, and Saint let out a low growl as they both went to talk to Ashur, eager to prove one another wrong.
Ridiculous. I shook my head and looked up the stairs as Razar jogged down, looking wide awake.
He immediately looked over me, as if checking if I’d changed at all, before picking me up and pressing a kiss to my lips.
“You left my arms.” He brushed his nose against mine.
“I couldn’t sleep,” I admitted. “Nervous.”
I knew it was bad when even Razar’s tight hold couldn’t put me to sleep.
“No need to be nervous.” Cy’s words had me looking up at him.
“The humans are acting weird outside of the gate,” I said, passing along my father’s intel. “They keep appearing to retreat, but then they move forward again. It makes no sense.”
While our missions weren’t exactly battles, I liked to think that both my father and I were good at predicting what people would do, and more importantly, putting together a winning strategy…
But this was clearly beyond my level of expertise.
Of course, now that I knew War was involved, their erratic behavior made a bit more sense.
“Fucking weird shit,” Razar grunted. “Let’s get this shit done and get back home.”
I couldn’t have agreed more.