35. Cherry
Cherry
Holy Goddess, I shifted into a phoenix!
It only takes a few tentative flaps of my wings until I’m able to lift myself up above the cliff. I see my mates surrounding Blaze’s strange form, and when I see Chase, injured from a burn, my vision turns red.
“Stay back!” I yell through the bond as I open my mouth. Instinct has me spewing a stream of fire right at Blaze.
But then I realize Bain has lunged for him and is now directly in the line of my fire. I snap my mouth shut as I scream, “Bain, no!”
The flames consume them both, and I scream his name again.
“Bain!”
Fear like I’ve never felt tears through me. I’ve never felt this scared before. The closest was when Gage almost died, but even that isn’t like this, knowing that I’m the cause of Bain’s pain and probably death.
The fire dissipates, leaving a dazed Blaze with patchy fur and Bain… lying on the ground, looking completely unharmed.
My fire didn’t hurt him!
Of course not, he’s our mate.
My eyes widen in shock at the voice in my head. Is that my phoenix talking to me? My eyes move to Blaze, who’s shaking his head and coming out of his daze.
Finish that abomination, my phoenix insists.
I land in front of him, letting out a squawk of anger as my phoenix pulls back, knowing my human form is needed for this part.
Wearing my crossbody purse is probably the best decision I made all day; it has somehow stayed with me through each shift. And as I stand in front of Blaze on two legs, my hand quickly slips inside, finding the injector pen and flicking off the lid.
Seeing Bain ready to lunge at him once again, I yell through the bond, “Wait!”
I don’t want him to aim his fire at my mates. Seeing Chase’s burnt body tells me they aren’t immune from his flame. I’m not sure if I am, but better me than them.
I step closer to Blaze as my mates growl, but Blaze is clearly confused by the action, his strange bird head tilting to the side as he watches me. I have to get close enough to touch him, so I push my repulsion aside and do the one thing I’ve never done to him before.
I smile.
Then, clutching the pen tightly in one hand, I open my arms to the side and step forward, as if wanting to hug him. His head pulls back a little in shock, and I pray he doesn’t try to peck me with that giant beak.
I take another step forward, adrenaline pumping through my veins. This is it, almost there. Then I watch in fear as Blaze seems to take a deep inhale, and his mouth starts to open.
Is he going to burn me?
I barely even have time to ask myself that question before Blaze is tackled by my mates. Bain’s paw pushes Blaze’s head to the ground, aimed out over the cliff as he lets out a stream of fire, safely away from our pack.
Bain, Maddox, and Hunter are all holding him down.
Now, my phoenix hisses inside my head.
I step forward and drop to my knees as I jam the injector pen into Blaze’s neck. A pained squawk escapes him just as a strong arm bands around my waist, hoisting me off the ground and pulling me away.
I recognize the tattooed arm and cinnamon and brown sugar scent of Gage immediately, and sink into his embrace.
“I’ve got you, darling,” he whispers, wrapping both arms around me and kissing the side of my head. My hands grip his biceps as we watch Blaze writhe in pain.
My mates quickly get off him, backing up and watching with us as Blaze shifts back to his human form in a way that looks like pure agony.
When he’s finally shifted, he lies on the ground, naked, with burned patches of skin all over his body. They look painful, but somehow I’m unable to muster up any sympathy for the monster that enjoys seeing me tortured. Not only that, but most of it was his idea.
And apparently, he did it because he thought I was his mate.
A scowl covers my face as I watch him slowly sit up, lifting his hands as he stares at them in confusion. Then he turns to me, the confusion overrun with anger. “What have you done?!”
“You don’t get to speak to her like that,” Gage seethes, his arms tightening around me as Bain and Chase move between us in wolf form, shielding me. “In fact, you don’t get to speak to her at all.”
“You can’t keep me from my mate!” Blaze yells as he pushes to his feet. But instead of anger, I feel amusement and satisfaction coming from Gage as he slowly moves me behind him, blocking me from Blaze’s sight. I wrap my arms around his waist from behind, wanting to keep him close.
“She’s not your mate,” Maddox says. I peek out, seeing him standing at Blaze’s side in his human form as he cracks his knuckles.
“She is!” he yells with his frustrated, overgrown toddler temper.
Bain shifts next, taking a moment to tilt his head to the side and crack his neck.
“Are you sure about that?” Gage asks, as Blaze’s expression changes to confusion.
“Y-yes!”
“If you were her mate, you’d be able to sense her.”
Blaze looks confused, then panicked as he yells at me, “What did you do?! I can’t feel you anymore! You broke our bond!”
“You never had a bond with her,” Maddox tells him calmly, though I can tell there is nothing calm inside him right now. He’s like a brewing storm.
“I did!”
“No man would ever try to harm his mate. He would do everything in his power to protect her,” Gage explains, with the same restrained energy as Maddox.
“You know nothing of our bond!” he yells at Gage.
“They know better than anyone,” I shout back, making his eyes connect with mine. “They’re my fated mates. Not you.”
His brows pinch as he glances around. “What? All five of them?”
“Yes. I love them, because they treat me with respect and look after me.”
“I can—”
I interrupt him before he can finish that sentence. “You don’t even know my name.”
His mouth opens, but nothing comes out as my mates stare at him in shock.
Then Blaze’s eyes narrow on me, anger filling all of his features as he seethes. “You fucking slut! You ruined everything!”
I’m not sure what he expected as he takes a step toward me, but that’s all he gets, one step.
Maddox quickly moves to his side, punching him in the gut. Blaze lets out a pained groan, bending forward only to be met with Bain’s fist from a ruthless uppercut that sends him flying to his back.
Chase growls, moving closer in his wolf form. Even though he’s badly burned, he clearly wants to be a part of this. And as his head looks down at Blaze’s body, I realize he’s taking his time, deciding where to bite him.
When he aims his growling mouth at the juncture of Blaze’s thighs, Gage suddenly spins, pulling me against him and blocking my view, just as Blaze’s scream tears through the forest.
“Don’t try to look,” Gage says, pulling me closer. I hear another scream, making me jerk in his arms as he strokes my back.
I hear footsteps, and a moment later, I’m passed over into another warm embrace. Hunter.
I tilt my head up to look at his face and notice some blood on his chin. “Did you hurt him?” I ask, pointing at his chin. He wipes it with the back of his arm then looks at me for a few seconds before he finally nods. “Good,” I say, pressing my cheek into his chest and letting him hold me tightly.
“It’ll all be over soon,” he tells me quietly as Blaze’s screams echo in the background. “I’m so proud of you,” he whispers against my head.
“Thank you for coming,” I say, making him huff in amusement.
“You never have to thank us for coming for you, baby girl.”
“But I’ll thank you all the same,” I tell him as I wrap my arms around him tightly.
More pained sounds come from Blaze, but I find my mates are suspiciously quiet. I try to peek around Hunter’s chest, but he turns me away, not letting me see.
“You don’t want to see that,” Hunter warns, holding me tighter.
I glance up and see him looking straight ahead into the empty forest with a scowl on his face.
“You guys are talking through the bond,” I say in realization. He glances down at me and nods. “I want to hear.”
“They’re discussing how to hurt him,” he says carefully, like it might upset me.
“I want to hear,” I tell him again. He sighs, then I hear him speak through the bond.
“Guys, Cherry wants to be a part of the discussion.”
“Sorry, sweetheart. We just didn’t think you’d want to hear the details,” Maddox tells me.
“You’ve already hurt him,” I say through the bond. “What’s there left to discuss?”
It’s quiet for a minute before Bain’s voice fills my head. “I want to skin him alive.”
“We don’t have the tools out here to do it,” Gage says, sounding exasperated.
“Let’s drag him home,” Chase suggests.
“I don’t want his blood stinking up our place,” Hunter says in disgust.
“Cherry?” Maddox asks gently. “Do you have an opinion on this topic?”
I think for a moment about what I want. Blaze has stalked me and hunted me for far longer than I even knew he existed. More than anything, I just want him gone.
But I know that several of my guys need a bit more than just his death to satisfy their need for vengeance.
“I don’t want him brought back to our property,” I tell them. “But do what you like to him here. Then we go home… together.”
“You heard her, boys,” Chase says through the bond as his wolf growls. “Let’s rip him apart.”
Snarls, growls, and screams fill my ears as Hunter holds me tightly. I squeeze my eyes shut, even though I can’t see what’s happening through Hunter’s large body.
After several minutes, all sound stops. I release my tight grip and lift my head, looking at Hunter as I ask out loud, “Is it over?”
“Almost.”
“It’s your turn now,” Maddox says, stepping up to my side, his hand cupping my cheek as he looks down at me.
“My turn?” I ask in worry.
He nods. “Don’t worry. He’s dead. But we think you should finish the job.” My brow scrunches in confusion as he explains, “Use your phoenix to burn him. Then you’ll know for sure that he’s never coming back.”
“Do you think you can shift?” Gage asks, stepping up to my other side.
I look inside myself and can feel that small ball of flame there. I nod as I reach for it. They all step back as I suddenly shift, my wings flinging out to keep me suspended at their head height.
“You’re gorgeous,” Maddox says, a smile pulling at his lips as his eyes take in my body and wings. I let out a pleased trill then flap my wings, lifting myself up over their hands and moving toward the others.
Chase and Bain step back, revealing a completely unrecognizable pile of blood and flesh. I don’t focus on it; instead, my eyes move to my mates as I let out another trill. Then I aim my face at Blaze’s remains and let my fire burst free.
Instinct tells me how long to do it, only a few seconds. And when I shut my mouth and wait for the fire to die down, all that’s left is a pile of ash.
I sigh, a feeling of freedom suddenly washing over me. For some reason, that has me shifting, midair, and I scream as I plummet from ten feet up toward the ground.
But I shouldn’t have worried. Bain shifts, catching me as gently as he can muster in his strong arms. “Omph!” I cry as he pulls me into his chest.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” he asks, his wide eyes roaming all over me.
I nod, trying to catch my breath as I tell him, “Yeah, thanks. I didn’t mean to shift like that. Thank you for catching me.”
He pulls me closer, surprising me with a quick kiss before resting his forehead against mine. “I’ll always catch you, angel.”
A hiss of pain has my head jerking to the side to see that Chase has shifted back to his human side, his entire left side blistered and burned.
“Chase!” I yell, flinging myself from Bain’s grasp as I run over to him.
My hands hover over him, unsure where to touch him without causing him pain as he tries to stand up tall, but is unsuccessful and plops down to his ass. “Oh my Goddess, Chase!” I gasp, tears instantly pooling in my eyes.
Gage drops down beside us as he places his hand behind Chase’s head and tells him to, “Lie back, Cherry will help you.”
My eyes widen in shock as I glance at Gage.
How was I going to help him?
Gage, seeming to understand my freak out, gives me a small smile then encourages me to lean forward over Chase’s burn.
“Shed your tears for him,” Gage explains, and suddenly I remember how I did that for Gage when he was injured.
My tears have the healing power of a phoenix. Of my phoenix.
I look into Chase’s strained face as he tries to pretend he’s okay, and that helps to let a few tears slip free, hating seeing him like that.
“Good girl,” Maddox says, placing a hand on my shoulder as Hunter drops down to Chase’s other side and grabs his free hand. I’m not sure when I grabbed Chase’s other one, but I pull it to my lips and start kissing each of his fingers, loving the way his eyes get lighter with each touch.
We sit there for a while, watching as Chase’s side slowly mends itself, and when the skin is finally all pink, and no wounds remain, he lets out a deep sigh, closing his eyes as a huge smile splits his face.
I throw my arms around his neck as tears of happiness trail down my cheeks. “You’re okay,” I whisper, rubbing my face against his shoulder, trying to get his scent on me.
Grabbing my arms, he slowly pushes me back, smiling at me.
“Cherry, you are a miracle—” He cuts himself off as his eyes open. They widen as he stares at me, trailing up and down my naked body. “Holy shit!” He gasps, pushing up to a sitting position.
“What is it?” Hunter asks, clearly as confused as I am.
“Your heart marks. They’re gone!”