“Why didn’t you bond me?” I asked when I was finally able to speak again. I could still feel the sharp points of his teeth against my neck, and I had to admit that I was a little bit disappointed that he hadn’t taken the next step.
Bat’s sigh was heavy as he brushed a stray curl out of my face, hugging me tightly to his chest. “I don’t want to risk bonding with you until the Titans situation is all cleared up. I would rather die than let you feel even an ounce of my pain.”
I’d been staying out of the MC situation as much as possible. I knew it was stressing the guys out, especially since the BBs had gone back on their promise that they would only be away for two weeks. Apparently Silas was calling the shots now and he needed Legs and the rest to stay put in Cape Cod.
Last I’d heard, the Sons of Silence were successful in cutting Orpheus and the rest of the Titans MC off from the outside world. It was only a matter of time before they finished them off entirely.
“But you do want to bond me?” I pressed, feeling suddenly vulnerable with him knotted deep inside of me still.
Bat nodded emphatically. “Very much so, I have to say I am a little worried about sharing some of my darker feelings with you.”
I cupped his face in my hands. “Last I checked, that is the point of a bond. So you don’t have to shoulder everything yourself.”
Bonding with Rex had shown me that. I could feel all of his emotions, and it was easy to pull him out of a bad mood. Podcast and I made a fairly efficient team when it came to comforting our alphas. I think he was a bit relieved to not be the only emotional soundboard in the house anymore.
“It’ll happen, soon,” he promised as we stood together under the green leaves, listening to the cooing of the pigeons.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ithadbeenaweek since I last talked with any of the BBs. I was pretending like it didn’t bother me, going about the week like I normally would, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I spent the mornings with my pack, the afternoons prepping the bar, and the nights serving the patrons that rolled through.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that shit was about to go sideways. I knew Doc was feeling the same way. Sometimes I caught his worried eyes from across the room and we shared a commiserating look before putting on our smiles and continuing on with our days.
Silas had also been as silent as the name of his MC. Prior to the breakdown of communications with the BBs he would call me a few times a week to update me. The Sons of Silence had been successful in cutting Orpheus off from the West, but in doing that they’d exposed their intentions to the Titans. The battle was on, and I couldn’t help but feel like there was now a target on the backs of all of my packmates.
It was also the week of the summer solstice. Juneau had put on a brave face as the date approached, but I could feel her grief through the bond as we got closer and closer to the twenty-first.
Today was D-Day and we’d been doing everything in our power to keep her distracted. Doc and Podcast had woken her up this morning and taken her into the bathroom for some shower sex that had made me want to drop everything and join them.
Then she’d helped Bat with the pigeons and Storm with stapling new canvases in the garage.
Now as I cleaned the beer taps she was sitting in her favorite corner booth doodling in her notebook, a soft smile on her face.
I knew the smile was fake, I could feel the sadness wafting off of her in waves that she thought she was concealing from me. Juneau wasn’t very good at hiding anything from me. She was completely at a loss when it came to closing the bond off.
I finished cleaning the taps and went to check on the mirror. I’d been doing it every hour or so since waking up this morning, but it remained completely the same as it was every other day. If I hadn’t known better I would have thought that there was no way that it could become a magical time-traveling portal.
I stared at it, though it probably looked more like a glare. It was leaned against the wall a few feet away from the grandfather clock that I’d also brought in on the same day.
The mirror looked the same as it always did. Gold, ornate, definitely one of the fanciest pieces that we owned. When Podcast showed it to me I thought he was crazy. It definitely didn’t fit in with the rest of our decor. But he’d been adamant about it and I’d never been able to tell him no.
As I continued to watch it, the air around the frame seemed to shift and become distorted. It happened so fast that I wasn’t sure if I’d imagined it.
“You stay fucking still,” I told it, feeling like I was losing my damn mind. “You can’t have her.”
“Are you yelling at the mirror?” Doc’s voice came from behind me, I nearly jumped out of my skin.
“Can you not do that? You just about gave me a heart attack,” I grumbled at him as I grabbed a box of mixed nuts off of the shelf and shoved it in his direction.
Doc’s brows rose as he examined my expression. “Someone’s a bit on edge. The mirror isn’t going to activate, besides we agreed to keep Juneau away from it just to be safe.”
It was obvious that Doc didn’t see the air shifting around the mirror, because he’d be just as freaked out about it as I was if he could.
I shut the door to the storage room firmly behind us and we headed back into the bar. Podcast was sitting on a stool, listening to whatever Bat and Storm were arguing about. Juneau was still in her booth, staring off into the distance as she twirled a pen between her fingers.
I headed for her first. “You all right, princess?” I asked as I bent down to press a kiss to the top of her head.
“Hm?” Juneau’s voice was far away as she blinked a few times and turned to me with a smile. “Oh, yes! Just thinking about things.”
