“I’m sorry,” Saige states, and though her voice is quiet, it has no problem carrying out here, all of us hanging on every word that comes out of her mouth. “I didn’t mean to offend you, I just wanted to help.”
Kaid completely forgets about me in favor of giving her his undivided attention, face stricken. “I fucked up. I’m so goddamn sorry, Saige, I shouldn’t have raised my voice like I did. I don’t know what came over me, I just got carried away-“
She cuts him off, walking straight towards him without hesitation. “If anyone understands, it’s me. Can we just let it go and move on? We both have some blame on this one, but we can chalk it up to growing pains and just try to do better in the future. Right?”
He wraps an arm around her, crushing her against him. “I think I’d still feel better if you hit me,” he admits and she chuckles without humor.
“Pass.” Rising on her tiptoes, she kisses his tense jaw. “I’d rather save our energy for breaking into Ben’s house.”
He gives her a strange look before I catch him up on everything. Now that we’re away from prying eyes and ears, Kahl steps forward to slide her jacket down her arms, the two of them getting their first good look at the extent of the damage that nearly cost us our mate.
“Maybe we should bite her too?” Kaiden hesitantly suggests, gaze flitting to the edge of the roof as his thoughts no doubt follow mine to watching our siblings nearly fall to their deaths, and tightening his grip on Saige although we aren’t even close.
“Worth a shot, but if I hulk out and eat one of you, I refuse to be held accountable.” She shrugs while wringing the bottom of her shirt to hide her sweaty palms.
Kahl and Kaiden exchange a loaded glance, caging her between them. Kahl brushes her hair away from her neck and she shivers as he leans in slowly. “You sure?”
Licking her lips, she nods her head once sharply. Kaiden grips her hip, bending down to brush his lips on the other side of her neck. It leaves me playing the part of voyeur, but I can’t seem to mind. This feelsright;seeing her surrounded by extensions of myself, arching her back to bare her throat in surrender.
In tandem, their teeth clamp around the base of her throat and the faint scent of blood tickles my nose, leaving me a conflicted, horny mess. “Son of a bitch!” she yips, but it turns into a soft groan as she jumps.
Pupils blown with lust, my brothers reluctantly pull back, keeping her pinned between them. “How do you feel?” Kahl checks, running a careful hand down her arm.
“Turned on and sore?” she responds on a sigh. “But beyond that, the same. She’s been sleeping since Kinsley knocked some sense into her.”
Kaiden’s tongue darts over his lips, gently tilting her head to the side so he can get a better look at his mark overlapping mine. “I don’t know if I’m rooting for you to shift or not anymore,” he admits, leaning in to kiss her throat reverently.
Her eyes flutter shut as she gives him more access, but Kahl’s gentle slap on her hip as he pulls away snaps her out of it. “Let’s at least meet up with Soren to get you started on that stuff before we get carried away up here.” His words are teasing, but his pupils are as blown as Kaiden’s.
He just has far more self-discipline than the rest of us, so I lean on his restraint, absorbing some for my own. Because right now, with our mate’s breathing increasing and eyeing us as she shifts her thighs together to alleviate some of the pressure, I nearly break. If it had just been the two of us alone, I likely would have.
“What stuff?” Kaiden growls, missing out on everything today. His face softens after I explain. “You don’t ha-“
Saige groans loud and long in exasperation, walking towards the edge of the roof. “I don’t feel like I have to! Is it so wrong that I just...want to? You’re hot, I’m horny, and I actually like you. It’s just that simple. Not saying there might not be some glitches, but I’m not made of glass, guys. You treating me like someone to be pitied and that can’t think for herself is starting to give me a complex.”
There’s a lip going around the roof that acts as a miniature wall high enough you could rest against sitting down, but definitely not enough to keep you from tumbling off. As she paces, I inch closer, uneasy.
“You might not be made of glass, but bones break pretty easily when dropped from this high up.”
Extending my hand in offering, she rolls her eyes, but ultimately humors me and threads her fingers through mine. Several shouts have our heads whipping to the side, towards the edge of town. We have the best vantage point in the city from up here, and even though the people look like ants, it’s easy to see the ones scrambling around in a hurry.
“What’s going on?” she asks, grip on my hand tightening slightly.
Whipping out my phone, I open my camera and zoom as much as it will allow, trying to get at least a ballpark idea. It fails miserably though and I desperately wish I had my binoculars on me, but they’re in the damn trunk.
A second later all three of our phones start ringing and we share a nervous look with each other, not sure if we’re ready to pick up. But when a bone rattling roar threatens to shatter my eardrums, a flash of blue and gold peeking out from the center of the fray, obscured by the buildings and trees, I stuff down my fear and answer.
“Kins?”Eli rushes out, and I’m already moving towards the fire escape.“You guys might want to get over here. She...she doesn’t look good.”
My stomach churns with the urge to vomit. “Ez?”
Kahl and Kaiden are busy arguing with fates’ know who, getting different versions of events.
“No,”he quickly corrects and my legs shake with relief, even as I almost slip on a step as we rush down the stairs.“Some girl. A few men hunted her through the woods just outside the city, and she’s in bad shape. Ez and Yri brought her home to get her away from the crowd, but she’s freaking out and I thought maybe Saige would have some luck getting through to her, because, well,”he trails off, leaving things open to interpretation, uncomfortable saying it.
Guys are spilling out of the mall, the news spreading faster than usual in the small town because of the spectacle at the border. Shoving our way through the throng of people, we rip open the doors and jump into the SUV, slapping the locks for good measure, not that they’d do much good against a real threat.
“Are they dead?”
