Chapter 33 Orion
ORION
My mate is on the phone with her bodyguard, and I’m trying to keep myself in check. All I want to do is drag her back to bed—preferably with Tanner this time.
“What happened?” Tanner whispers. He’s asking me, but he’s staring after Raven.
We’re all still standing in the hall outside the bedroom door, too stunned to move, or maybe we’re just trying to give Raven a moment of privacy for her phone call even though the walls are thin enough that we can hear everything.
“The south building, yeah.” Raven’s voice carries, though I can’t see her. “I just need… um… yeah, I know.” She’s quiet for a minute, like she’s listening. “Can we talk about it when you get here?”
My packmates and I exchange looks, uncertain how this guy’s gonna respond when Raven tells him what happened.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he kicks my ass.
I might even welcome it. Raven may have been the first to bite, but I could have done more to stop it.
I was the sober one. I should have been more careful.
“What happened?” Tanner repeats his question from before, keeping his voice down so Raven can’t hear.
“I followed her out of the party. We were talking, I explained things, and she was really listening. I was getting through to her. But then, she had a heat spike. I knew that’s what was happening, but I didn’t know she was so out of it she’d forget.
I mean, she was pretty dazed, but I thought.
...” I wrap my arms around my stomach, curling in on myself.
Tanner steps closer, fists clenching like he’s trying to stop himself from reaching for me.
“She was begging me to bond her, and I tried to resist, tried to stop her, but… she bit me, and I kind of lost it after that. The second the bond snapped into place, it was like…”
“Everything felt right,” Tanner finishes quietly.
He may not have been the one to bite her, but he can feel an echo of her though the bond he and I share.
They all can, well, not Rhodes. I always assumed we’d bond Rhodes eventually, but he’s not an impulsive guy.
We wanted to give him time to be sure. Now, I feel bad for him that he can’t feel how beautiful Raven is in the bond like the rest of us can.
“Did you… you know?” Vann asks.
I shake my head, unsure what he’s asking until he makes a circle with his thumb and forefinger and slides the pointerfinger of his other hand in and out of it.
“Don’t be so crude,” Tanner backhands Vann’s chest.
“Hey, someone needed to ask.” He rubs the spot Tanner hit even though I’m sure it didn’t hurt.
“No,” I answer. “I at least kept a modicum of control.” I’m not sure that little bit of restraint counts for much when I still let a bond happen. There was time to pull back my hand before she broke the skin. I could have stopped it. I just didn’t really want to.
“Please, Foster,” Raven says. “I can’t handle the questions right now.” There’s a spike of anxiety that follows the words, so strong it nearly bowls me over. She hasn’t figured out how to close off the connection yet.
“Damn,” Vann says.
“Fuck.” Tanner sinks against the wall.
I’m not sure what else to say about what happened.
They get it. I don’t think any of them could have stopped if they’d been in my position either.
And as bad as I feel that I wasn’t more careful, I can’t find it in me to regret it.
Not really. It shouldn’t have happened this way, but I’m glad it did.
She belongs here with us. We just need to prove it to her.
Tanner stares down the hall, rubbing his chest. “What are we gonna do?”
“Isn’t that obvious?” Vann replies. When we all look at him, he adds, “We’re gonna grovel.”