Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Alyssa
Icouldn’t stop thinking about Damon.
The way his eyes had looked when my magic pushed the nightmare back. That single, perfect moment of peace on his face before the darkness crashed back in. The desperate hope I’d seen there, and the way it had shattered when he realised it wouldn’t last.
I’d done that. Somehow, without any training or understanding of how, I’d reached inside his mind and given him silence. Even if it was only for a few moments.
My magic hummed beneath my skin, restless and eager in a way it had never been before.
Something had changed. Something fundamental had shifted inside me, and I didn’t know when or how.
I was pretty sure it happened since I’d stepped into that ring of stones and opened up the portal to Nymeria.
It had been so slow at first that I hadn’t noticed, but I could feel the difference now. It was impossible not to.
The potential of it thrummed through my veins. It almost felt like it was waiting. Like a storm building on the horizon, full of power I didn’t know how to control.
What if I could save Damon myself?
The thought seized me with a sudden, desperate intensity. What if we didn’t need to risk him with the bite at all? What if I could get strong enough, fast enough, to reach into his mind and tear that nightmare out by its roots?
I didn’t understand how I knew how to do the things I’d done. No one had taught me. No one had shown me the way. It was like the knowledge was just there, buried somewhere deep, waiting for me to reach for it.
But reaching for it blindly felt dangerous. And Damon couldn’t afford for me to make mistakes. I was messing around in his head. That wasn’t something you took lightly.
There was something about him that called to me.
Something that felt like the bond I shared with my other mates, but muted.
Buried. Like a song playing in another room, just barely audible through the walls.
He was supposed to be one of us. I knew it with a certainty that went beyond logic or reason.
But what did that mean? What would it look like if he survived this?
Would the bond snap into place the way it had with the others?
And why did it feel so muted and shadowed now?
Was it the nightmare? Was it because Damon was supposed to evolve into something more than human, just like his brothers had?
Would we finally get the chance to explore what we could be together?
Or would I lose him before we ever had the chance to find out?
My thoughts spiralled deeper, darker. Too many questions without answers. Too many possibilities, most of them ending in grief. I needed to figure out how to get stronger. I needed to understand my magic. I needed to save him before the nightmare won and I lost another person I…
A hand on my cheek made me jump.
My eyes snapped into focus to find Dean standing directly in front of me, his brow furrowed with concern.
“I was talking to you,” he said quietly. “You didn’t hear a single word.”
“I’m sorry.” The apology came out automatic, distracted. “I was just... thinking.”
Warmth pressed against my side as Ryder leaned into me, his hand brushing slowly up my back. The touch grounded me, pulling me back into my body, into the present moment.
“We’re worried about you,” Ryder said softly. “How are you really feeling? And don’t give us the ‘I’m fine’ answer. We can feel you through the bond, remember?”
I looked between them, only now registering that the room held just the three of us. “Where are the others?”
“Tank and Maddox are checking in on the wounded and taking stock of the supplies,” Dean explained. “Seeing what we have to take with us to the Fifth Court. Rhidian had a collection of maps in his cabin. They’re sorting through them to see if anything can help us navigate the Wildling Forest.”
I nodded, hearing the words but still feeling distant from them. Still half-lost in the spiral of my own thoughts.
Dean’s eyes narrowed slightly. He knew me too well to let it go.
“You need something to quiet your mind,” he said firmly. “You need to let go and relax, or you’re going to burn yourself out before we even start this journey.”
“I can’t just turn it off, Dean.” The frustration leaked into my voice despite my best efforts. “There’s too much to do. Too many plans to make. Too many people counting on me to have answers I don’t have.”
He kissed me.
No warning, no hesitation. Just his mouth on mine, warm and demanding, swallowing whatever else I might have said.
His hand slid into my hair, tilting my head back, and I found myself melting into him despite everything.
Desperate for the feel of him. For the steady warmth that his presence always brought.
When he pulled back, there was a cocky look on his face that made something flutter low in my belly.
“That’s better,” he murmured. Then his thumb and forefinger caught my chin, turning my head to the side. “Now him.”
Ryder was already there, waiting. His kiss was different from Dean’s. Slower. Sweeter. His lips moved against mine with a tenderness that made my chest ache, and I whimpered softly into his mouth as his hand came up to cradle the back of my neck.
When he finally released me, I was breathing harder. The spiral in my mind had gone quiet, replaced by something much simpler. Much more primal.
Dean’s hands hooked under my thighs, and suddenly I was being lifted off my feet. My legs wrapped around his waist instinctively as he carried me toward the bed.
“We’re going to look after you,” he told me, his voice low and rough with promise. “That’s the only thing you need to think about right now.”
“But what about...” I struggled to hold onto the thread of concern even as my body responded to his closeness.
“Our magic did something we didn’t understand the last time we were together.
It might not be safe to go there right now.
What if we call on levels of power we don’t know if we can control? ”
Ryder moved to stand beside us, his hand trailing along my bare arm.
“This is the safest place we’re going to get for a while.
Soon we’ll be on our way to the Fifth Court, and we don’t know what being there will do to our magic.
” He caught my eye, his expression softening.
“We should get a sense of what it’s like before we go.
But if you want to stop, if you just want to lie in the bed, we’ll hold you until you’re able to fall asleep. Whatever you need.”
I thought about it. Really thought about it, despite the heat building between my thighs and the way Dean’s hands gripped me possessively.
When I was with my mates, I felt peace. My magic was right there at the surface, but it was calm. Waiting. Not demanding or overwhelming, just... present. Ready.
And I wanted this. I wanted them. I wanted to stop thinking, stop planning, stop carrying the weight of everyone’s survival on my shoulders for just a little while.
“I want this,” I told them. “I want you.”
Dean’s smile was pure wolf as he lowered me onto the bed.
The mattress was soft beneath my back, a stark contrast to the hard heat of Dean’s body as he settled over me. Ryder climbed onto the bed beside us, his hand immediately finding my waist, fingers slipping beneath the hem of my shirt to trace patterns on my bare skin.
“Too many clothes,” Ryder observed, his voice light but his eyes dark with want.
Dean hummed his agreement. Together, they stripped the fabric from my body with an efficiency that left me breathless. Shirt, trousers, undergarments. All of it gone in moments, leaving me bare and wanting beneath their hungry gazes.
“Beautiful,” Dean breathed, his eyes roaming down the length of me. “Every single time, and it still takes my breath away.”
Ryder’s mouth found my shoulder, trailing kisses along the sensitive skin there. “She’s ours,” he murmured against my flesh. “Every gorgeous inch of her.”
The possessiveness in his voice made me shiver.
Dean lowered his head to capture my lips again as Ryder’s mouth continued its journey down my body. When Ryder’s teeth grazed the swell of my breast, I gasped into Dean’s kiss. When his tongue circled my nipple before drawing it into his mouth, I moaned.
“That’s it,” Dean encouraged, pulling back just enough to watch my face. “Let us hear you. Let us know what feels good.”
Ryder’s hand slid between my thighs, and I parted them eagerly, desperate for his touch. His fingers found me already slick with need, and he groaned softly against my breast.
“So wet for us,” he said, echoing Dean’s earlier sentiment. “Always so ready.”
He stroked me slowly, teasingly, circling my clit with just enough pressure to drive me wild without pushing me over the edge. I writhed beneath his touch, my hips rolling to try to increase the friction.
“Please,” I heard myself beg. “Ryder, please.”
“Please what?” He lifted his head to grin at me, his fingers never stopping their maddening rhythm. “Tell me what you want.”
“More. I need more.”
Dean chuckled, the sound dark and satisfied. “You heard her.”
Ryder’s grin widened, and then his mouth was trailing lower. Down my stomach, across my hip, until his breath ghosted over my aching centre. When his tongue finally touched me, I cried out, my back arching off the bed.
He devoured me like a man starving for it. Long, slow licks that had my toes curling, followed by quick flicks against my clit that made me see stars. His hands gripped my thighs, holding me open for him as he feasted.
Dean watched it all with gleaming eyes. His hand wrapped around my throat, not squeezing, just holding. A reminder of who I belonged to. Of who held the power here.
“You look so good like this,” he told me. “Coming apart on his tongue. I could watch this forever.”
The orgasm built quickly, driven by Ryder’s talented mouth and Dean’s possessive grip and the feeling of being completely, utterly theirs. When it crashed over me, I screamed, my hands fisting in the sheets as waves of pleasure rolled through my body.
Ryder didn’t stop. He worked me through it, gentling his touch as the aftershocks pulsed through me, until I lay boneless and gasping beneath him.
“Good girl,” Dean murmured, releasing my throat to brush the hair back from my sweat-dampened face. “But we’re not done with you yet.”
He shifted, and I heard the rustle of fabric as he stripped off his own clothes. When he settled between my thighs, I felt the hard length of him pressing against my entrance, and I whimpered in anticipation.
“Tell me you want this,” he demanded, his voice rough with need.
“I want this. I want you. Please, Dean.”
He thrust home in one smooth stroke, and the stretch of him filling me had my eyes rolling back. For a moment, he held himself still, buried to the hilt inside me, giving me time to adjust.
Then he started to move.
His rhythm was relentless. Punishing. Every thrust drove deep, hitting spots that made me cry out, and I wrapped my legs around his waist to pull him even deeper. His mouth found my neck, teeth grazing the bond mark he’d left there, and the sensation sent sparks shooting down my spine.
Ryder shifted to kneel beside my head, and when I turned to look at him, I found him stroking himself slowly. Watching Dean fuck me with hungry eyes.
“Can I?” he asked, his free hand brushing across my lips.
I opened for him in answer.
He pushed into my mouth with a groan, and I hollowed my cheeks, sucking him deeper as Dean continued to pound into me. Being filled from both ends was overwhelming in the best possible way. I was pinned between them, used by them, loved by them.
And that’s when I felt it.
The magic.
It rose through me like a tide, warm and golden, responding to the pleasure building in my body. But it wasn’t just my magic anymore. I could feel Dean’s too. Cold and sharp, the bite of winter. And Ryder’s, wild and electric, like a storm about to break.
Our magic reached for each other. Wrapped around each other. The edges started to blur, to bleed together, until I couldn’t tell where mine ended and theirs began.
It should have been terrifying. Instead, it felt like coming home.
Dean groaned, and I knew he felt it too. His rhythm faltered for just a moment before he regained control, thrusting even harder as the magic swirled around us.
“Fuck,” Ryder breathed. “I can feel you. Both of you. It’s...”
He didn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t have to. I could feel what he felt through the bond. Wonder. Desire. Love. All of it tangled together with the pleasure building to impossible heights.
The second orgasm hit me without warning, triggered by the magic as much as the physical sensation. I screamed around Ryder’s cock, my body clenching and shaking as wave after wave of pleasure crashed through me.
Dean followed moments later, burying himself deep as he came with a growl that vibrated through my entire body. And Ryder, watching us both fall apart, tumbled over the edge himself with a hoarse cry.
The magic pulsed outward, a wave of warmth that filled the room and then slowly, slowly faded. Leaving us tangled together on the bed, breathing hard, covered in sweat and satisfaction.
Ryder pulled out of my mouth gently, collapsing onto the bed beside me. Dean stayed where he was for a long moment, his forehead pressed against mine, his breath mingling with my own.
“That was...” he started.
“I know,” I whispered.
He kissed me softly before finally withdrawing, leaving me empty but sated. Ryder immediately pulled me into his arms, tucking my back against his chest as Dean settled in front of me, wrapping his arm around my waist.
I was cocooned between them. Safe. Loved. Complete in a way I hadn’t known I was missing until I found them.
“The magic,” Ryder murmured against my hair. “It felt like it was trying to... merge. Like it was on the verge of becoming… something.”
“Something stronger,” Dean agreed. “I’ve never felt anything like that.”
Neither had I. But strangely, I wasn’t afraid of it.
Exhaustion crept over me, warm and heavy, dragging my eyelids down despite my best efforts to stay awake. There was more to discuss. More to understand about what had just happened between us.
But right now, all I could feel was peace.
And something else. Something on the horizon, just out of reach. Not the impending doom I’d grown so accustomed to waiting for. This was different. Warm. Comforting.
It felt like a beginning. Like we were standing on the edge of something new. Something we were always meant to become.
I drifted off to sleep in my mates’ arms, and for the first time in longer than I could remember, I wasn’t afraid of what tomorrow would bring.