“It’s not your time yet.” Suddenly releasing my death grip on Cin’s wrists, I roll off of him and flop onto my back on the grass.
“Sabrina?” Kaige’s concerned face appears above me and he extends a hand in offering.
Shaking my head, I give him a half-assed thumbs up. “Just need a second to catch my breath,” I pant as my head spins. It’s been barely more than an hour and I’ve already given myself whiplash with the abrupt back and forth switches between me and my other half.
Cin brushes some of the hair off of my forehead, breathing heavily as he rolls to hover above me and block out my view of Kaige completely. “Did she tire herself out? You back with us now, angel?”
I waver my hand back and forth. “Fuck if I know. Currently easier to hold onto the driver’s seat in my brain for the moment, I suppose? But I don’t think I should, in all honesty. I don’t have the first clue what the hell I’m doing, and she’s been doing a stellar job with you guys so far. So I’m going to trust her to take point unless she decides to go on a murdering spree or something; not that I have much choice in the matter.”
Closing the small distance between us, he kisses me softly. “As long as you come back to me, alright? I know it’s tempting to give up and let your other half run the show full-time when things get hard, so you have to dig your heels in at least a little bit tonight, or she’ll take control completely. So I need you to promise me, Sabrina. Promise that you’ll fight, that you won’t leave me.”
As he pulls away, I push myself upright with a groan. “Like I’d go anywhere. I haven’t even tried taking out your screaming metal death trap, yet. Isn’t touching all of your stuff until you have an aneurysm and regret getting married a requirement toreallybe mated?”
With a small smile that doesn’t completely reach his eyes, he helps me to my feet. “You talk a big game for someone that tried to squeeze the life out of me the last time you were on my bike. If you actually stole it and managed to bring the both of you back in one piece, I’m pretty sure it means I have to marry you again. I think double marriage means that I become the favorite husband, outranking the rest, so you should definitely not look in my nightstand where I’m going to start hiding the keys.”
My weak laugh cuts off as I feel my other half stirring again, so I rush out, “Until then, go keep Reid company?”
He hesitates, but ultimately agrees, slamming his lips against mine in a quick, bruising kiss before jogging into the house. Kaige and Hunter are left standing on the sidelines, but their attention isn’t on me. It’s on the men transforming and growing before them, the process far less seamless than Emmy made it out to be.
The sound of Bo, Slade, and Damian’s pained grunts and shouts are overshadowed by the snapping of breaking bones, movements jerky and unnatural. Through the splits in their flesh, grey wisps of smoke flash in the moonlight, overtaking the bloody wounds for brief moments before disappearing, like it was all a trick of the light. Fur of obsidian and ash spreads across their bodies in a blurred haze, the last of their humanity disappearing alongside their cries. Ears ringing with the memory of their agony, an ominous silence settles over the open expanse of the yard.
As the last pieces click into place, the three of us are left staring in morbid fascination. Hunter’s fingers curl around my wrist, tugging me back a step without ever taking his eyes off of the three massive beasts in front of us. “Those things aren’t wolves, they’re fucking hellhounds.”
At the sound of his voice, three massive heads swivel in our direction. Their eyes snap down to his hand instantly, setting off a chain of low growls that I can feel in my bones. Baring his teeth, the sound deepens as Slade takes a single step forward in warning. It’s easy enough to tell them apart; their eye colors are the same as their human counterparts, even if there’s a feral glint in them now, their pupils blown. And currently, all of that newly released aggression is being directed toward the man that’s holding my wrist in an iron-grip.
“Hunt,” Kaige warns, but the suicidal bastard only urges me back another step, like he means to drag me into the house with the two of them.
My voice is light and upbeat, not the cold one I was coming to associate with my inner monster. “Hunter, how wouldyoureact if you saw another man touching your mate? They’ve spent a long time locked up, you know. Hungry. Starved for attention. Resentful. I don’t imagine ‘patience’ is in their vocabulary quite yet.”
Where Slade and Damian stand as tall as my ribcage on all fours, Bo could easily rest his massive head on top of mine. So as soon as my golden-eyed mate takes a step forward, Hunter loses some of his bravado, finally releasing me.
Kaige clasps his friend’s shoulder. “We should get inside.”
“So should she!” he snaps.
This time, Bo gives no warning. One second he’s standing a stone’s throw away, the next he’s in front of me, my face pressed into his chest as he snarls. Reaching up, I run my fingers through his soft fur, and the vicious sound instantly drops down to a warning growl that vibrates his entire rigid body.
“It’s alright, they’re not going to hurt me.”
Looking over my shoulder at Hunter, I raise an eyebrow in genuine surprise. Either he has balls of steel, or he’s incredibly fucking stupid, because he hasn’t budged from his spot, even with Boden’s teeth inches away from his throat. A hard look of determination has settled over his features, like he has every intention of not going down without a hell of a fight. Kaige on the other hand has his lips pressed into a grim line, and my other half can’t help but grin at the small bit of panic she sees flare in his bright orange eyes as he comes face to face with the sudden, terrifying realization.
His ability is useless where they’re concerned.
There’s no manipulating their wolves into submission if necessary, and for alphas that have spent their lives overconfident and relying on the power that they wield over everyone else? Here, they have none, because these three aremine.
Teeth clamp around the back of my shirt, tugging me away from Bo and forcing me to stumble backwards, scrambling to stay upright as I’m dragged farther away from the house, and the two alphas standing in front of it. When there’s a good bit of distance between us, I dig my heels in, twisting to shoot Damian a pointed glare.
“You can let go now.” I gesture to the house as the door slams shut, Hunter off to throw a bitch fit about being overruled when he’s used to being the king of his little castle.
Damian growls, and I roll my eyes, but smile at his antics, nonetheless. Glancing back at the house, I see the twins aren’t alone up on the second floor balcony, Emmy and her mates beside them. My smile falls and my stomach flips, though I’m not sure why, exactly. It feels too much like we’re on display, maybe, as if everyone is watching and waiting for something. Whether that thing is something impressive, or for one of them to tear my head off at any given moment, who knows. Or maybe it’s simply that so much has changed since Emmy came into my life that it feels like I’m being forced to take a hard look in the mirror when I’m at my worst, something that I’m not nearly ready to process yet.
A low whine is followed by a nose butting against my arm, as if Damian is picking up on my internal turmoil. Scratching absentmindedly at his neck, I watch as Bo and Slade sprint across the open expanse of yard to join us by the tree line. Despite their size, their movements are unnaturally graceful, especially since the smoky haze hasn’t dissipated from their fur, helping them blend into the night as if they were created from its essence. The ground trembles beneath their heavy footfalls, yet even those are soundless, their approach a warning youfeel.
Small whines and growls surround me as all three of them start nudging at me, buffeting me around between them. Slade’s head butts into my stomach, sending me stumbling back into Damian.
“Oomph! I’m going, I’m going, geeze. Don’t get your panties in a twist.”
Grumbling, I follow Slade’s line of sight to where he’s shooting frequent glances back at the house while Bo’s busy glaring at the backyard like it personally offends him.
