Chapter 13
LUCY
“Are you kidding me?” I mutter, stumbling down the dark path in the woods, in the middle of the night. I’m in my robe and sneakers, one hand clamped over the burning bite. “How could I have been this stupid about my bond?”
Two kinds of misery are battling inside me, and I hate them both. Every heartbeat sends another bolt of pain spearing out from the bite and up my arm, while the ache low in my body leaves me trembling so hard I can’t think straight.
I couldn’t wake Ethan like this. Not drenched in sweat, barely able to string two words together, and my whole body broadcasting its craving for Alphas. I’d rather collapse on this trail than knock on his door, which, at the rate I’m going, is becoming a genuine possibility.
So I push myself toward the only place my body will let me go—to their cabin.
My foot catches on a root, and I stagger into a pine tree, palms scraping on the wood as another wave tears through me. A broken groan rips out of me as I fold over the trunk, my forehead thumping against the bark.
“I’m actually going to die out here, aren’t I?” I murmur to the tree.
The cabin can’t be more than a hundred feet away, so I push off the tree and keep going. What if I don’t make it? What if I collapse out here in the dark, and by the time the sun comes up, it’ll be too late, and the last thing I ever did was decide not to wake Ethan because I was embarrassed?
The cabin looms up out of the dark, one window lit, and I make it to the edge of the clearing before my legs give out. I drop to my knees in the cold dirt, and the cry that comes out of me has no joke left in it at all.
Then nothing. Just me on the ground, trying to breathe through the pain as I convulse, trying to find enough energy to call to them.
The cabin door suddenly explodes open. “Lucy!” Grayson charges off the porch like a tank, bare-chested, sweatpants slung low, and closes the distance in a heartbeat. He drops to his knees in front of me. “What happened? Did someone hurt you?”
I cry out as I shudder, tears spilling over. “The bite. Hurts. So much, and…” I can’t say the rest or mention the shameful, roaring, wanton desire. But I don’t have to, because his nostrils flare and his whole body goes rigid.
“You smell like heat.” His voice drops.
“It’s not heat,” I gasp out.
“Then the bond, maybe. It’s been open too long.” He’s guessing as I hear the worry in his voice. He instantly scoops me off the ground and into his arms, and I sag against his chest. “I’ve got you, little bird.”
He shoulders us through the doorway and into the living room. “Get the hell up! You fuckers, out here, now!” he bellows through the dark house.
He’s carrying me down the hallway while I cling to him, every part of me burning as though I’ve been dropped into an inferno.
Sweat clings to my skin, my thoughts slipping further out of reach, leaving me able to do little more than stare at his beautiful face.
My gaze drifts to the ink curling up his neck, and for one strange, ridiculous moment, I wonder if it hurt.
But words are beyond me. A broken groan is all that escapes as I melt against his bare chest, breathing in his scent and chasing the brief relief it brings to the relentless ache twisting low inside me.
“I heard you from my room,” he murmurs. “Thank God I wasn’t sleeping.” He kicks open a door and lays me on a bed that smells like him—brandy and leather. It engulfs me, and I bury my face in the pillow with a moan, clutching it in a death grip. I inhale deeply, needing more.
“For fuck’s sake, Roman, get your ass in here!” he roars so loud the room seems to rattle, and I flinch onto my back. As he lowers his attention to me, his whole face softens. He’s at my side in seconds and brushes the sweat from my brow with his thumb. “Let me get you some water, some—”
I grab his wrist before he can pull away. “No.” I shake my head. “Stay. You… you help.”
Having him close feels like a hand pressed over the worst of it, dulling the agony just enough that I can breathe. My other hand is already flat against his bare stomach, desperate for the warmth of him.
“I c-can’t…” My voice catches. “It’s… It’s two things.
At once.” I squeeze my eyes shut as another wave tears through me.
“Hurts so much. And I’m… I’m…” The words slip away.
“I don’t… know.” My breathing turns ragged, and I swallow hard, panic rising with the tears burning my eyes. “Please… I’m scared.”
“I’m here.” He cups my face, the worry in his eyes raw and unmistakable. “Whatever you need. But we deal with the bond first, okay?”
Loud, thunderous footsteps boom, and Roman’s there in seconds, chest heaving, hair wild, wearing nothing but blue love-heart boxers.
The second I spot him, something inside me lurches.
My whole body reaches for him before my mind can catch up.
I’m half off the mattress before I even realize I’ve moved.
“Whoa.” Grayson catches me before I hit the floor, an arm banding around my waist. “Little bird, careful. Fuck.” He eases me back onto the bed, but I’m already writhing, too hot, clawing at the collar of my robe.
Roman crosses the room in two strides and drops to his knees beside the bed. I’m grabbing for him, needing him. “Touch me!” I plead, and he’s got me pulled to the edge of the bed, his arms around my middle, another under my neck.
“Lucy?” His gaze flicks over me, confusion giving way to alarm. “What happened?”
“The bond,” Grayson says sharply. “It’s unraveling.”
Roman’s attention flies to the bite on the palm of my hand, his eyes widening.
“The bond’s trying to finish itself,” Grayson states. “It’s tearing through her while she seems to be going through some kind of mini heat at the same time. I don’t know how much longer her body’s going to keep up.”
“Hey.” Roman settles my head back down and cups my shaking hand between both of his. “Gorgeous. Look at me.”
My eyes find his for half a second before everything blurs again.
“Lucy.” Grayson’s on the mattress, on the other side of me, and he’s holding my jaw, turning it toward him.
I’m forced to look between them. “Open your eyes, beautiful. Don’t fall asleep, you hear?
Stay with us.” His voice is calm, but I hear the fear trembling underneath it.
“Listen to me, little bird. We need to finish what we started.”
My brow pinches, and I’m gasping for air.
Roman’s touch on my cheek has me moaning and pushing toward him. “I need more of you,” I whisper. “But I’m so tired.”
“Be strong, please. We only just met our Omega. Don’t you dare leave us, Lucy.” His thumb brushes over my lips, and I’m trembling, the pulse between my thighs quivering. “For this to stop… you’re going to need to bite me.”
I blink at him.
“Just one bite,” Grayson says softly. “You’ll close the bond.”
I shake my head weakly.
My thoughts scatter, hearing them, knowing it’s what I need, but it feels too difficult. “What if… if…” I squeeze my eyes shut. “Not sure I can.”
Roman’s fingers tighten gently around mine.
“Lucy, stay with us. Open your eyes,” Grayson pleads, his voice low and steady despite the fear bleeding through it. “You can do this. We’re not losing you.”
“If you don’t complete the bond…” Roman says as he swallows hard. “I don’t know if you’re going to survive this. And then I will never forgive myself if we lose you.”
Their hands against me are trembling. And dread tears through me as the desperate pull toward Roman grows stronger with every heartbeat, drowning everything else out.
“Wait, Lucy’s here?” Wolf blurts out, cutting through the room. “Nobody said—”
I force my head to turn, meeting his startled gaze. He crosses the room in seconds, leaning over toward me beside Roman. Horror flashes across his face as he studies me. “Fuck,” he breathes. “What happened to you, songbird?”
“She has to bite Roman. Now,” Grayson states with urgency in his voice. “They left the bond open too long. It’s tearing her apart.” Hearing the words reminds me that I screwed up.
Roman nods once, his jaw locked so tightly I think it might crack.
He cups my face between his hands, his thumbs brushing over my cheeks with heartbreaking gentleness.
“Lucy.” His voice is barely above a whisper.
“Are you ready to bite me? To finish this and close the bond… to tie us together for real?”
No going back.
The words settle somewhere deep inside me. My body arches toward him once more. Every cell inside me is reaching for him, begging for the hurt to end.
“I…” My voice catches before breaking free in a desperate sob. “I’ll do it.” I clutch at his arms, barely able to think through the agony consuming me. “Please… make it stop.” Another shudder racks my body. “I want it… I want you…” My breathing comes in ragged gasps.
Instantly, the three of them help me sit up, Grayson’s arm at my back, Roman steadying my shoulder, and Wolf’s hand holding mine. The whole time, I’m moaning because I’m unsure what’s worse—the pain threading through me from my arm, or the savage hunger deep in my belly demanding an Alpha.
I roll onto my side, and Roman’s already there, kneeling beside the bed, bare-chested. I breathe him in, unable to get enough. My hands find the hard planes of his chest, desire sinking its claws into me deeper than before.
I lean closer until my lips meet the warmth of his skin.
He’s burning beneath my mouth, and I kiss his chest helplessly, unable to stop.
One of his hands cradles the back of my head, holding me gently against him.
Grayson’s behind me, steadying me, while Wolf stays close enough that I’m surrounded by them all.
“That’s it,” Grayson growls softly behind me. “Take what’s yours, little bird. He’s not going anywhere.”