Except there was no safe or hiding from the curse. It would come for us all, and there was only one way to stop it.
Needing another taste before I left, I swept her feet off the ground, and when her arms wrapped around my neck the world stopped for just a beat. We kissed until my dragon roared in my head, wanting to bury in her softness. My dick was a hard length between us, which we were both ignoring.
I stroked my tongue against hers, inhaling her sweetness. Goddess, I wanted to drop to my knees once more and worship at the altar that was Emmeline Anders. Only this wasn’t the time or place.
“I love you,” I said. Theeasiestwords I’d ever said. “I fucking adore you, Honey.”
She pulled away breathless, her expression lighting up. “I love you too,” she said, with so much warmth that my heart cracked again. I never knew a shifter could have such a full, intense feeling in their chest and not die from it.
Brushing her messy hair back, I cupped the side of her face. “If my twin is too hard on you in training today, I will kick his ass for you. It would doeveryonewell to remember that I can kill a shifter in at least a hundred different ways.”
Slade scoffed, but through the bond I felt his amusement. My twin was the only shifter who could give me a run in a fight, and I was looking forward to testing myself against him one day.
I will destroy you without even breaking a sweat, brother.Yep, he was definitely amused.
“I can handle Slade just fine on my own,” Emme sassed, shooting a soft smile over her shoulder. “And he always goes easy on me. He may not say the words, but I know he loves me.”
Our mate had grown confident within the quintet bond, reading all of us on a level much deeper than what we showed the world.
Slade’s growl filled my mind, straight in our twin connection.Love is such a pathetic word to use for what I feel. People love kittens and food. They love walks in the park and television shows. What I feel for our mate is beyond all love, obsession and idolization. I would not survive or exist without her, and she wants me to call it love.
His tone was filled with fire as he raged with each sentence, and I barely contained my smirk.Doesn’t matter if the word is pathetic. She wants to hear it from you.
He better give our mate what she wanted, or I really would beat his ass.
“Slade loves you,” I confirmed, ratting him out. “He loves you in ways that are far beyond a single word.”
Emme’s smile was broad, and her eyes shone like crystals, icy in color but somehow still filled with heat. “I know. He shows me every single day how he feels, and it means more than the words themselves. But he’ll say it eventually too. We all fall back onlove,as it’s the best we’ve got.”
My twin growled and muttered, “We’ll see,” as he crossed his arms over his bare chest.
Emme popped up on her toes for one last kiss. “I love you,” she murmured again, as if to prove her point. “Please stay in touch.”
With one last deep breath of her scent, I let her go, and she hurried back up the stairs. Slade scooped her off her feet as she passed him, hugging her shivering form to his chest.
When she relaxed against him, I dug deep for the strength to call on my beast and shift. The change was fast, and I shot into the sky, aware that if I didn’t leave now I never would.
It was far harder than I expected to race away from Golden Claw, but thankfully there was no strain in our bond. Emme’s beast remained strong and vibrant, and the connection swirled even with distance.
I’d never have expected to enjoy living in an overdeveloped city of metal and concrete, and for the most part I didn’t. But I certainly enjoyed the pack I’d found myself in.
Over the next few hours, my beast took control, and outside of checking in on the bond, I lost myself to the freedom of flight. Emme was training now, and through Slade I marveled at her skills. In both hand to hand and with her blades, she was learning exceptionally fast, and with each lesson her confidence soared.
When familiar landscape started to appear, I slowed and let the clouds shield me from view as I assessed for danger. Finding none.
On the ground, I shifted back and pulled my clothes on. Wasting no time, I took off along a rather underused path into the compound, using every skill I possessed to remain undetected.
There was no sign of life in the area, no scents, sights, or sounds. It also looked rundown, with the grass, browned from frost, sitting at uneven lengths. Fletcher would never normally allow his surroundings to look so unkempt, but since he was dead, that didn’t mean there weren’t still others inside.
Using the back entrance, I moved past my old quarters—a prison far worse than the one I’d found myself in at Reeves pack house. At least there I’d had company and my mate nearby.
The top level of the compound was where Fletcher and his son lived, but there was no one inside today. I’d never been into the lower facility before, but I knew the entrance was a concealed door near the garage.
As I got closer to it, there was an echo of a thud from below, so faint that I doubted anyone with weaker senses than a dragon wouldhave heard. Another thud followed by a groan, and I sensed a shifter down there.One of Fletcher’s captives?
Not that I was going to open the door to find out today. I had no idea how many might be below, trapped and waiting to die. Getting back to my pack was my only concern today, along with keeping my promise to Emme that I wouldn’t take any unnecessary risks. There was very little a shifter prisoner could do to hurt me, but it would be better to return with the full quintet tomorrow. Just in case it was one of Jewels’ well-laid traps.
She might not be here in person, but it didn’t mean there weren’t dangers here of her making.
