Chapter 25
Isurfaced slowly, feeling like someone had wrapped a blanket around me from the inside out. Warm amber and ripe peach hung in the air. I opened my eyes, finding myself sandwiched between Carter and Bryan. The alpha in question was fast asleep behind me, if his breathing was any indication.
Carter traced my cheek. “You okay?”
I nodded and let out a long sigh, releasing the lingering tension from my body as I did so. “What happened?”
“You had a heat flare.”
Panic shot straight through me and Bryan bolted awake, leaping off the bed, both of our panics ricocheting until we were staring at each other.
“I had a heat?” I scanned my body, more confused than anything else because I didn’t remember any pain. I was bare beneath the blanket, but Bryan had pajama pants on.
“Just a flare,” Carter clarified, though it didn’t actually explain anything.
“What’s a flare? Not a heat? What does that mean? We didn’t learn about that in school and I’ve never had one before.” I’d never had anything involving a heat that wasn’t steeped in pain.
“It’s a scent match thing, I think,” Carter continued. “I had them when I met Colt and Wyatt before I started consistently using suppressants. They’re like mini heats. I think our bodies get too excited being around scent matches and it triggers to get us bonded so we don’t let that connection go.”
Bryan sat back down on the edge of the bed. It was only then that I realized we were all in his bedroom. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to bite you back. I wasn’t thinking.”
Bite me back? My memory was a little hazy, but now that he said it, I remembered that much.
Everything prior to losing control had been exactly what I’d needed: Carter there protecting me just by existing, Bryan respectfully navigating my conditions, the two of them making me drown in sensations I never wanted to stop.
I shivered. I’d been so overwhelmed, so out of control.
Bryan’s skin was right there when my teeth started to ache, and I knew the only solution was to sink my teeth into him to stop it.
The bond felt…soft? It wasn’t like when Carter and his pack drowned out Paul.
More like a curtain had been drawn around us, a sweet and nervous energy that stood between me and the anger I lived with daily.
I closed my eyes, reaching for it. If I had to choose a color for it, I’d choose blue, like the sky when you lie on the grass and let the rest of the world fall away.
“What now?” I whispered the words, half afraid to say them out loud. Bryan was privy to my suffering in a way no one else was or could be. I didn’t want that for him, and I didn’t want to share something so painfully intimate with anyone else.
Carter sighed, leaning closer to kiss my forehead. “We’ll figure out the bond stuff, but there’s something else I need to tell you about.”
“What’s that?”
“Get dressed first. Bry, can you put the kettle on?”
“Oh, yeah, of course.” Bryan bustled away into the kitchen.
My body immediately ached at the distance, so I burrowed into Carter’s arms. I didn’t know what to do with this development.
Tears slipped down my cheeks. A new bond didn’t erase the old, and now I was tied to two alphas with no more certainty than before.
Except that if Paul ever got me back, we would all suffer even more, and Bryan would never escape that.
I sucked in a shuddering breath. “How long was I under? Where are the kids?”
“Only a few hours including your nap,” Carter replied. “Colt and Wyatt have them watching a movie in the main house. Everyone is fine.”
One less thing to worry about, at least. “Okay, good. Thank you.”
Carter slipped out and I dressed carefully, shocked that none of my movements hurt. Had Bryan truly been that gentle with me?
When I joined them in the kitchen, Bryan was arranging boxes of tea in a tidy line. I felt all of his nerves churning within me. No resentment lingered there, only concern. For me?
I picked out a peach green tea and Bryan filled my cup, taking it to the table for me where I added a bit of honey.
“It looks like Paul has stopped waiting,” Carter said when I sat down.
“What do you mean?”
He slid his phone across the table, where an Amber Alert filled the screen.
Dread pooled in my stomach as I read it.
Descriptions and information about all of my children, of me, my vehicle.
Even if I’d had the means to leave here, I certainly couldn’t now.
With one report, Paul had turned me into a fugitive.
How did Paul convince the police? I wasn’t sure what other conclusion could’ve been drawn.
Riley told me they had heard the stories, and I had hoped if the police got involved, they would’ve understood why I ran.
I hated being bound to Paul for a lot of reasons, but the fact that he was my first bond only made it all more difficult.
If bonds after that had the same authority, then at least there might’ve been a chance that Bryan would have the power to keep my children out of the compound if anything happened.
I didn’t want them to grow up there.
The words stuck in my throat, but I forced them out. “You have to protect them. Don’t let him take them back.”
“We’re going to protect all of you,” Carter insisted.
“How?” It came out as more of a scoff, and I instantly felt guilty. I wanted to believe there was a way, but I didn’t have any clue what that way could be. “Do you think he did it because of the bond? Because he knows he’s losing his grip on me?”
“That would make sense,” Bryan said softly. “He’s escalating, probably to scare you, maybe to punish you, too. Either way, we’ll do everything we can to push back. I know I’m not a first bond, but I’m not nothing. He’s not taking you without a fight.”
Carter’s phone rang, startling all three of us. His brother’s name lit up the screen and he answered quickly. “Hey, Cash. Yeah, we saw. Sure, one second.” He passed me the phone. “Riley wants to talk to you.”
I lifted the phone with shaking fingers up to my ear. “Hi.”
“Maisie, are you okay?”
“As okay as I can be. How do I keep them safe now? Everyone will be looking for us.”
“I know you said you didn’t want to, but would you reconsider talking to the police? Levi’s cousin got assigned to the team working on the case they’re building against the compound. They need to know what happened so they can call off the search for you.”
“Or he could find out where I am and take us all back.”
“What other choice is there, though?” Riley didn’t say it sharply, but it cut me all the same.
“You took them to protect them, and the world needs to know that. Jensen told me they can’t move forward unless they have a witness to what went on.
I know it’s terrifying, but if you can work with them on this, maybe we can end all of it before anyone else goes through what you did. ”
“And what if they side with him? What if I lose my children?” The very thought of it made me ill.
“We can have him meet us at the house when we all go for dinner tonight. Just Levi’s cousin, neutral location, he could record your statements.”
“Not the house. I don’t want them to know about my connection here. They already know we’re sisters. Maybe we can drive somewhere, he could meet us, sit in the car for questions?”
“Sure, I think that’s a great idea,” Riley replied. “I can arrange it. I know all of this sucks, but you have so many people in your corner. We’re going to do everything we can to protect you and the kids.”
I took a deep breath, trying to quell the nausea burning through me. Bryan laid his hand on my shoulder. The relief was instant, the warmth of him in the bond reaching out to wrap around me. I let myself indulge, leaning into him so I could keep my wits about me.
“I hate all of it,” I confessed, “but if this is the only way, then I’ll talk to whoever you think I should. I don’t know how helpful I’ll be.”
“You never know what bit of information will be what finally becomes enough,” Riley said. “You’re so fucking brave and I love you so much.”
“I love you, too. See you tonight.”
“You bet your ass. I’m going to hug you so hard.”
When we hung up, I turned fully to Bryan, drawing him closer so I could rest my cheek on his chest. I didn’t understand the comfort he brought.
My first bond had been a continuous source of stress, but this?
Was this what a bond was supposed to feel like?
Was this how Riley felt with her alphas, how Carter felt with his?
Fresh, bitter fury filled me—this time my own, and not filtered down from Paul. How many things could I possibly discover that he had stolen from me, and how many things would he continue to taint? Why couldn’t he let me go? How much did he need to ruin before he would finally be satisfied?
“I’m going to call my parents,” Carter announced. “If this comes down to a legal battle, we’re going to be ready. They’ll find the best lawyers for the job, then we’ll fight this with everything we have if things go south. Are you okay if I leave you here with Bryan for a few minutes?”
I nodded and Carter went outside to make his call.
I worked my way through a few sips of my tea before feeling too stir-crazy. Bryan took me out the back door where I stood in the cold November air, underdressed, but with his arms around me.
“What can I do?”
“I wish I knew.”
I closed my eyes, standing there taking deep breaths until I started shivering. When I peeked up at Bryan, his brows were pinched.
“Are you okay?” I should’ve asked that sooner. He wasn’t the only one with an unplanned—and probably unwanted—bond. Bryan’s heart was aching.
“I’m fine,” he said, but the words sounded automatic.
“You’re not. Please tell me.”
“He’s so angry,” Bryan eventually said after a few more moments of silence. “I can’t believe this is what you were living with.”
“I can hardly feel him,” I whispered, leaning harder into Bryan.
“Good. I wasn’t sure if it was working.”
“If what was working?”
“I’ve been trying to block him since I woke up. I don’t really know how bonds work in that regard, if I can do it because we’re scent matches, or your bond with him is old enough it would get quieter naturally with a fresh one introduced.”
I stared at him, not sure how to process what he said. Bryan was protecting me? He had put himself between me and Paul, like a blanket over barbed wire. The silence was a blessing, even if I did feel terrible that it was because he was absorbing everything.
“Don’t,” he whispered. “I can feel your guilt. I’m doing this because I want to.
Fate decided you’re mine to protect, and we chose each other, even if neither of us was in our right minds to do it.
I have the opportunity to keep you safe like this, so I’m going to take it.
Whatever happens, you’re never facing that man alone again. ”