“Hurts,” Cotton whined.
Tears flowed down Wylder’s face at the pain he heard in his only friend’s voice. “I’m sorry.”
“I hurt you,” Cotton said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
Lifting his hand to the bandage over his cheek, Wylder squeezed his eyes tight. “Not your fault.”
“I didn’t mean to,” Cotton told him. “I’m sorry, Wylder.”
“Not your fault!” Wylder said more firmly. It wasn’t.
“I’m sorry,” Cotton repeated.
“We’re going to be okay,” Wylder lied to his friend. “We’re going to get out of here someday. And run far far away. We’ll never be hurt again.”
“I…I hope so.”
“We will,” Wylder insisted even though he didn’t believe his own words. Why would the government let them go?
“And you’ll find a cute guy to settle down with,” Cotton responded.
“We’ll go on double dates with that feisty female you left behind.”
“Amelia.” Cotton said the name with reverence.
“Yes, you and Amelia, and me and my guy. And you and Amelia will make me an uncle. I am going to spoil your pups rotten,” Wylder vowed.
“Tell me more. What else will we do?” Cotton begged.
This was what got them through the dark, cold, and lonely nights. Dreaming of a future that neither of them were going to have.
“Wylder?” Alek’s fingers held his face tight. “Come back to me, mate.”
Wylder blinked, clearing away the memory. His stomach turned like it did anytime that he remembered those days of the past. They had gotten out. Him and Cotton. Two of the few that had lived through hell.
Cotton had returned to Colorado in search of his love while Wylder had been drawn toward the small university town. The plan had been for him to go with Cotton but fate had other plans for him.
Fate. Destiny. Whatever it was that had worked to get Wylder into the right circumstance to finds his mates. And Theo. He needed to think about his little shifter.
They hadn’t been together long but in the short amount of time that Wylder had met his mates, especially Theo, they had become Wylder’s whole world. He wasn’t a natural fighter, no matter what the military or his family had tried to make him into, and yet he would fight the world for his mates.
“We have people searching for Theo,” Alek told him. “In every realm, including fae.”
Wylder licked his dry lips. How long had he been lost in his dark memories? Guilt flooded him as Wylder realized he’d allow his panic to draw him away from what he should be doing. Rescuing Theo. “I need to go. Find him.”
“We are,” Alek told him. “It doesn’t hurt to send out scouts. And get any and all help that is available.”
“What aren’t you saying?” Wylder asked, because he could tell there was something that Alek was holding back.
“Time works differently there. For all of us,” Alek said.
“And?” Wylder asked.
“Minutes here equals hours in the fae realm. Even though Theo was just summoned from here, there is no telling what he’s been through already.”
“Or what condition we’ll find him in,” Wylder finished for him.
“And it is going to take time to find him. Although we’re hoping that if we’re in the same realm, the bond will come through,” Alek explained.
