“That’s just a taste of what my female can do,” Ark said.“Show them the thing you can do with coffee tables,” he suggested.
Oaklie returned the stag to its original position, then picked it up and put it on the floor.“We’ll need to clear the table and someone to volunteer,” she said.
“I will,” Semiaza said, standing up as the females removed their mugs and snacks from the table.“Where do you want me?”he asked.At their commander’s order, none of the males had consumed any food or beverages yet.
“Move over to the coffee table and stand with your back to it,” Oak said.Ark was grinning in anticipation.
Semi wasn’t sure what was going to happen.He heard strange movement, then shackles suddenly locked around his biceps and thighs.Whirling around, he saw the coffee table was gone.He turned his head to see it was now looming directly behind him.He tried to take a step, but could only shuffle.His brothers and the females were laughing in amazement.Even with his bulk and strength, he couldn’t break free from the trap Oaklie had put him in.
“It works better when I can fuse it to a wooden floor,” Oaklie explained.Semi was starting to look a bit freaked out, so she forced the coffee table to release him.He stepped away from it with unseemly haste as it resumed its original shape.
“That was awesome!”Vic said, clapping in delight.“We’ll find all kinds of ways to use your talent as a weapon against our enemies.”
Oak was getting some ideas of her own, but they had nothing to do with fighting.“I can install doors and windows for you, if you like,” she offered.“You just need to locate some and bring them here and I’ll do the rest.”
Zoe jumped on her offer immediately.“We’ve been stripping a nearby resort of pretty much everything else,” she said, indicating all of the furniture and games.“We’ve been trying to work out how to install doors and windows.”
“You’re going to stay here with us, right?”Grace asked expectantly.
Oak glanced at Arkas.“I think we need to have a private chat,” she said.She wasn’t sure about all this bonding business they’d told her about yet.
“There’s no time like the present,” Ark said, standing and holding out his hand to her.Oaklie took it and he pulled her to her feet.“After you,” he said, then followed her to the bedroom she’d placed the statue in.
Chapter Forty-Two
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NERVOUS FLUTTERS SWIRLEDaround inside Oaklie’s stomach as Arkas slid the makeshift door shut.She felt power flow from him, then she suddenly couldn’t hear the others.“What did you just do?”she asked.
“I muted the bedroom,” he explained.“No one can hear us now.I’m already stronger just being near my squad.”
She looked around and studied the room.A large bed stood directly across from the door.A boarded-up window was behind it, with another one to the right.She’d chosen the corner bedroom that faced the front of the stone base.An unlit fireplace was on the left wall.There was nowhere else to sit, so she crossed to the bed and sat down.“What do you think about the bond Amaros mentioned?”she asked.
Arkas sat down, leaving a small gap between them.They turned to face each other.“We both sensed each other as soon as I landed in your town,” he reminded her.“We were drawn to each other right from the start.We even sculpted each other.”
“That’s because Fate wants us to become bonded,” she said.“What doyouwant, Arkas?”
