43. Chapter 43
Chapter 43
Alyssa
T he second day of walking was as uneventful as the first. Suspiciously so. Dean was keeping his distance from Damon, and the nightmare hadn’t caused any trouble for hours. Ryder was right. It was getting harder to tell when the nightmare was in control if it didn’t want to make it obvious to us. The only time we knew for sure was when Damon seemed to be in a pit of depression and muttering about how we were all about to die.
I wanted to tell him about our plans so much, it physically hurt. Thankfully, I had enough sense in me to not trust him just yet. Not when we were in such a precarious position as we were. I wasn’t even sure Rhidian was right about this trail not being used. There was a tree further down that something had completely obliterated, and I was thinking this area wasn’t quite as free of the creatures of Nymeria as Rhidian had led us to believe.
Thankfully, we’d found a relatively sheltered spot to camp down for our second night, which was about an hour away from where we were expecting the fight to happen. It meant our fighters could get some rest, even if it would be a tense night waiting to see if we were discovered.
Tomorrow was going to be horrific. I wasn’t na?ve enough to think we’d walk away from this without casualties. We didn’t really have sound intel on the numbers we were going to face, but if we could pull this off, it would deal a hard enough blow to Arik that it could give hope to the people of Nymeria. There would be harder battles to come, but this felt like a turning point. One where we finally showed everyone that Arik wasn’t as powerful as we’d all believed.
Of course, we had to pull it off first.
The guys had already set up our camp for the night, and Dean had secured Damon in a way that meant we didn’t really need to worry about the nightmare getting away and giving away our position.
That didn’t mean I wanted to sit there all evening and watch Damon chained to the ground. Especially not when the whole point of coming here in the first place had been to save him. Seeing him now made me feel like nothing but an epic failure. It wasn’t exactly the best headspace to be in before what we faced tomorrow.
The chatter around the camp was all just a bit much, and I wandered to a quiet patch of grass and I sat down, tipping my head back to soak in the moonlight. I’d never done this in Nymeria before. Back in the human realm, this was the closest I could get to home, but now I was back, I could feel the buzz of magic like a vibration across my skin.
I felt my mates come and join me as they quietly sat down in the grass around me. The bond was filled with a sense of peace and relief that made me smile.
“I can actually feel it,” Tank whispered. “After all this time, I finally understand what you were talking about.”
A smile lit across my lips, and I opened my eyes only to find him sitting in the same position I had been, eyes closed, with his face tipped towards the moon.
It was nice to share this with them. To sit here and be able to witness the wonder unfold on their faces while they felt the touch of pure Nymerian magic directly from the source.
“What are you guys doing?” Rhidian asked from behind me.
I’d been so engrossed in watching the quiet awe on Tank’s face I hadn’t even heard him approach.
“Can’t you find something else to do?” Dean snapped. It was rude, uncalled for, and evidence of how much it was bothering him having to deal with Damon all day.
The alpha was stressed, and I should have been taking better care of him than to let Dean get to this stage.
“We’re bathing in the moonlight and soaking up the magic of Nymeria,” Ryder cut in, happily diverting Rhidian’s attention away from Dean’s foul mood.
As I glanced over my shoulder at the man in question, though, I realised Ryder hadn’t achieved what he’d thought he had.
Rhidian looked up at the moon in confusion and then down at me. He looked like Ryder’s words had utterly destroyed him and he finally said, “I’ve never felt that from the moon.”
Then he turned and walked away.
“You know he’s in love with you, right?” Dean pointed out.
The anger was gone from his voice, but I could tell he still wasn’t in the best mood. I couldn’t blame him. This was something I should have dealt with long before now. It wasn’t fair on Rhidian and it wasn’t fair on my mates. I just didn’t want to hurt him, though. But in the long run, that was exactly what I’d done.
“I think I’ve always known, but I never wanted to hurt him by rejecting him or…”
“It’s okay,” Maddox said quietly. “You’re not responsible for how he feels, and it’s not like you’ve encouraged him. He deserves a conversation, though. Even if you think it’s going to hurt. He needs to know where he stands.”
I nodded sadly because Maddox was right and I knew this would change the relationship I had with Rhidian forever.
“You don’t have to do anything now,” Tank pointed out. “This isn’t where your head needs to be the night before a battle. Try to put it out of your mind for now.”
That was definitely easier said than done, but he was right that I didn’t need the distraction right now. I shouldn’t have let it go on this long.
“Why don’t we practise filtering our magic through the bond?” Maddox suggested suddenly. “I know you’re anxious about it, and maybe it will help tomorrow.”
I slowly nodded my head, seeing the sense in what Maddox was saying but not really wanting to do it, anyway. I couldn’t help but think Fizzle had a point and there was something to be said about just letting the magic do its thing. We needed to think about guiding it, rather than seizing it with some kind of iron grip, and forcing the magic to do what we wanted. There was a delicate balance between the two. But maybe trying to achieve that for the first time in a fight for your life wasn’t exactly the best idea.
Urgh, why was this whole thing so exhausting? My head was hurting so much that all I wanted to do was lay down and sleep, but there was no way any of us were going to find sleep easily tonight.
“I can think of a much better way to relieve some of that anxiety,” Ryder quipped wickedly as he moved to my side.
“Sure, if you want to let the entire camp listen to our mate’s screams of pleasure,” Dean added, clearly not entirely impressed with the idea.
My body had entirely different ideas, though, and I felt a wave of heat rush over me as Ryder brushed my hair from my shoulder, softly kissing my shoulder as he did.
I shuffled anxiously, feeling that telltale ache starting between my legs. Damn, my mates could switch my body into high gear with just the simplest of touches.
Ryder’s hand came to my jaw as he turned my head towards him, fiercely kissing my lips as soon as they were within reach.
“Do you want me as much as I want you?” he whispered into my ear.
My head nodded without any thought even crossing my mind. All I could think about was him, his touch, the things I wanted him to do to me.
“Can you feel that ache building between your legs? My cock is throbbing with the need to be inside you.”
His hands slowly brushed down my front, teasingly grazing across my aching nipples before he tucked his fingers into the waistband of my trousers.
I tilted forward, desperate to find his lips again with mine. Needing to have some kind of connection with Ryder to satisfy the fire he’d started inside me.
As my lips brushed against his, he spoke again. “Sink into our bond, Alyssa. Follow it until you can feel what I’m feeling.”
There was a part of me that knew what he was doing, but there was no way I’d deny him. I knew deep down, nothing could happen here, but I was so desperate for the pleasure I knew he could bring that I closed my eyes and let my mind drift away from my body without even needing to think how.
The bond I shared with Ryder burned hot with desire, like a glowing ember inside of me. The other bonds lit up just as strongly, and I smiled as I realised my other mates were enjoying watching what was unfolding before them.
I didn’t force it, didn’t make the magic do anything it wasn’t ready to do. Instead, I just sank into the feeling and felt how the power inside of me reached out for the bond that held my attention.
I found the blazing ball of Ryder’s emotions at the end of his bond. Felt the touch of his wolf as I let myself sink into everything that made up the man I loved. He smiled against my lips and quickly kissed me.
“There you are,” he said proudly.
I’d been so engrossed in what I was doing I hadn’t realised the others had moved closer until Maddox kissed the back of my neck, and I felt Dean’s hand graze down my arm.
As I pulled away from Ryder’s kiss, my head felt light. All I could think about were the four men surrounding me. Everything else faded away.
Maddox kissed the back of my neck again, and I sighed in bliss.
“Find your connection with me,” he whispered against my skin. “Follow our bond to me.”
I didn’t even have to look. My magic needed no direction as I felt it flow along to the shining ball of love that was Maddox. His arousal glistened around the edges of the overwhelming emotion. A tear came to my eye as I sank into the depth of his feelings, knowing that with these men, I’d finally found my place in the world.
The others didn’t even need to ask as my magic flowed freely, finding the pathways the bond had forged between us and letting me sink into the emotions and magic that lived inside them.
I felt so full of power, I was sure I’d burst open, and yet, still, it grew. Now the bonds were so easily accessed, the magic we shared flowed freely. A pulsing rhythm of need and love filling every single cell in my body.
My head tipped back onto Maddox’s shoulder, and I felt Tank's lips brush across my shoulder followed by a subtle graze of his teeth. I wanted so much more, and in the back of my mind, something whispered that we couldn’t, but I couldn’t for the life of me remember why.
The wind danced around us, my hair picking up in the breeze and floating like a cloud around me. I felt it tug at my clothes as a whispered voice found me. One that was unfamiliar but spoke to a part of me I’d never accessed before.
As my eyelids fluttered open, the moon filled my vision, hanging heavy in the sky, and the whispers grew louder. I could almost make out the words and rose to my knees, like closing the distance even a fraction more would help me recognise the urgent whispers that were now growing stronger.
If I could just have a moment longer, pull just a little more power, I was almost certain I’d find the answers to all my questions in the insistent voice that floated on the breeze.
But then a sharp sting in my wrist had me suddenly gasping for breath and lurching to the side as I looked down to see Fizzle withdrawing his teeth from my flesh. With a hiss, he took off from the ground, flying around us as he lashed out at my mates, scratching deep grooves into those who hadn’t yet returned to their senses.
“Are you really this foolish?” he snapped. “Drawing such power when we’re trying to conceal our forces from Arik is something I wouldn’t have thought you stupid enough to do.”
Fizzle hissed again, diving to the side when Dean swatted out at him. But then, shaking his head, Dean’s eyes widened as he glanced around our group, realising what we’d done and where we still sat.
The magic that had been building inside of me was gone as quickly as it had started and my hand came to my chest as I rubbed at the strangeness of the empty feeling it had left behind.
What had just happened?
“I’m sorry, Fizzle. You’re right. We shouldn’t have tried to do something so risky at a time like this.” It seemed like the right words to say, but I didn’t for the life of me know what we’d started or how it had escalated so quickly. We’d only been trying to test out the connections between us.
Fizzle apparently had nothing left to say to us as he turned on his wing and soared away, his grumbled insults still recognisable as he left us once again with nothing but questions.
“I’m sorry,” Ryder said. “I didn’t mean to start something that…”
“It’s not your fault,” I quickly interrupted. “None of us could have known that would happen, and while it’s not something we can do again now, we definitely need to attempt it again soon. Did you… I thought…”
How did you ask someone if they heard a voice in the wind without sounding like a crazy person?
“Hear a woman whispering something I couldn’t quite make out?” Dean finished wryly.
Wow, so apparently it was that easy.
“What the hell is going on?” Tank asked, reaching for me as if to check me over.
I shook my head in denial because I didn’t have any answers for them. And whilst I was freaking out about what it could have been, there was also a part of me that was happy. I, at least, knew now that I could access a power I hadn’t even known existed between us.
The problem was, I had no idea what door we’d opened and if it would cause us problems in the future. But what choice did we have when it was the only thing that could potentially save us all tomorrow?