36. Zombies be Coming #3
“How?”
“Where?”
“Hey! Settle down!” Zissa yells, her voice carrying over the chaos of everyone speaking. “She can’t answer if everyone is talking at the same time,” she points out, throwing glares around the room. “Were you all raised by Azazel’s demented sulfur stalkers?”
“Say that ten times fast, I dare ya,” Lynx murmurs.
“Lynx!” Rez groans, but Moni takes on the challenge and starts tripping over the words.
I swear I’m about to join Knots on his quest in fashioning a new pair of fur boots for Rez, especially at this time when my emotions are all over the place.
My animals are right under the surface, pushing to take control, and they want to run straight to our mate, even though she’s perfectly fine and standing in front of us.
The wild thoughts flood me, and I stagger back from their sheer force of holding them back.
Did we miss any signs of a struggle through our bond? She’s obviously okay now, but were we too far away to even notice? What did Cain want with her? How can I protect her from him doing it again? Could he pull her away now? Wait. Has he done this before?
I’m so preoccupied with my thoughts that I don’t even think about the feelings that are being flung at Rez through our link.
It’s not until she stumbles over her words and her grey eyes laser in on mine that I realize I’m affecting her.
She makes a beeline straight to me, grabs my forearms, and pushes her head against my chest.
“It’s okay, Alpha. I’m here, and I’m okay,” she whispers, sliding her arms around my waist and squeezing.
Calm, loving emotions rush down our link, and I realize the tension in my shoulders and lower back is releasing.
I wrap my arms around her shoulders and pull her tighter against my chest, and my animals sigh in relief as she melts against me.
“I’m just worried,” I whisper into her braided hair.
“I know.” She places her chin on my chest to look up at me, and I can’t resist that mouth, so I reach down and place a small kiss on those delicate yet dangerous lips.
She smiles up at me and turns to pull away, but now that I have her in my arms, I can’t bear to let her go, so I don’t, and she must take it as I need more reassurance because she continues.
“Look, yes, I was pulled to Cain, but I’m here now.
He didn’t hurt me, didn’t even touch me.
I was portaled to safety before anything could happen, so I’m fine,” she promises me as she rubs a small circle over my pec muscles.
Hearing that Cain didn’t lay a hand on her and she was safely portaled out of there eases some of my tension, but I’m selfish. I just need her a little longer, or if anyone asks, I’m saying my animals need her a little longer.
‘Damn, way to use us as an excuse. Didn’t see that coming,’ Slayer whines.
‘It’s actually a smart idea, and I’m agreeable,’ Barron agrees.
‘I concur,’ Dusky speaks.
‘If it gives us our mate, I’m all for Birdbrains' idea,’ Fluffy yipes.
‘Hey, it was my idea,’ I growl. Aw, hell, who cares? Why am I trying to straighten this out?
Rez smiles up at me before turning her head and addressing the rest of the room while still standing within my arms. “I was only there long enough for him to tell me that he wants us to combine our power to take over the world. You know.” She throws her hand in the air and waves it.
“The whole ‘join the dark forces’ plot line of every cliche trilogy movie. And then, suddenly, a portal showed up that brought me back to the Ever Woods, where I ran into the Harpies. They cornered me into a cave, but luckily, I ran into an old friend who saved my life once before.” She glances up at me with a mischievous smile.
“Bas. He took out Janika and scared off the rest before he led me to the Fates,” she confesses.
“Now, can you tell me where we are and where the closest bathroom is? I promise I’ll tell more, but I’m about to burst,” she admits, and I finally allow her to pull away from me.
“Good enough for me. Breakfast in twenty, then I’m taking you to the portal. Chop chop, Soldiers,” Zissa barks.
“You know you really can’t be talking to us this way, given who we are, right?” JP jokes as he reaches for his boots.
“I can for right now,” she quips, throwing finger guns as she walks out of the room.
Moni melts slightly as she watches Zissa walk out. “I love her.”
“Hey!” Chester yells.
“Oh! But not as much as you. I promise, I wouldn’t add her to our love pile without checking with you first,” she says with wide eyes, and the room goes silent.
“Oook, then,” Rez begins, scrunching her lips together and spinning back to the group. “So where’s that restroom so I can freshen up before breakfast?”
“I call dibs,” Zeke yells, pushing Lynx out of the way and swooping up Rez, running her to the restroom. Her joy filters down through our link, but it’s tainted by a sadness that we need to get to the bottom of.
“Hey, he cheated,” Lynx whines.
“You snooze, you lose, boots,” Knots chuckles.