“But the Goddess wanted me to tell you, your destiny was to meet Bear, to become like him.” She glanced at me and smiled. “Your parents gave birth to you the way it should have been. I can’t give you the reason why that is or anything. Even the Goddess can’t give me all the answers.” Journey shrugged her shoulders. “I just know this was how she wanted it. What she thought would be best for you.”
I wrapped my arms around her, my nose rubbing into her mark. She shivered and rubbed my arms that were tightly wrapped around her.
“And what about my parents? Are they—?”
“I’m sorry.” Journey shook her head. “That’s all I can give you.” Her eyes softened, and she placed a hand on Nadia’s arm. “Let’s concentrate on getting you better first.”
Nadia’s shoulders deflated. “Thank you,” she whispered gratefully.
The room stayed reverent as Journey backed away. Tajah flicked her fingers, illuminating the lights and turning off the electricity in the room.
“Right, Nadia,” Tajah began. “Bones has given me part of your diagnoses, and Anaki has been kind enough to update us on what’s been going on in the cabin. With Bear’s permission, of course,” she added, “I would like to ask a few more questions about this nightmare. It will give me a better understanding of what we are working with.” Tajah smiled, looking at Journey. “And congratulations on your mating.”
The rest of the room grinned and nodded, all except Grim. The idiot never smiled, only at his mate while he was ravaging her senseless.
“Um, thank you. And yes, we are… together,” Nadia said quietly.
Her fear was building, so I automatically picked her up, began purring, and cradled her to my chest. I rubbed my face into hers. She smiled and let out a silent laugh.
“I think hell has frozen over,” Bones whispered to Hawke. “He’s purring, and he’s being… nice, and what the hell are those?”
I ignored Bones and concentrated on my mate. Her heart slowed, and her breathing eased. “Are you better?”
“Yeah, I’m just. I’m sorry. I should be stronger than this. Its—”
I growled louder, my grizzly’s noise taking the entire room. “You’ve been through a lot of shit, Nadia, and still have a lot more to go. You are allowed to be overwhelmed. You have someone to lean on now. Besides, you are exhausted from not sleeping. I think that gives you an excuse.”
She pursed her lips and fisted my shirt.
“Hey, I’m serious.” I moved her chin to look at me. “And I should have taken care of this earlier. I’m an ass and wanted you to myself. Forgive me?”
My mate rolled her eyes. “It was better you took me away. You gained my trust. I would have been kicking and screaming if anyone tried to touch me.”
I sighed and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
At least she didn’t think I was an ass.
My mate reached up and touched my grizzly’s ears. “And thank you for bringing out your nom nom ears,”she linked.“They are my favorite.”
We were interrupted by Beretta who came from the back. Her dark skin glistened in the candlelight as she carried in a portable padded table and opened it up in a cleared part of the room.
Beretta smiled at my mate. She had bright green cat-slit eyes and long claws on her fingers. “This is my mate, Beretta,” Tajah said. “She’s a panther shifter.”
Beretta gave a slight bow and backed away to give my mate room.
“Bear, this table will not hold your weight. It’s for Nadia to lay on during the spell. Nadia, do you feel comfortable sitting here while you give me a brief explanation of your nightmare?”
I swallowed and nodded. I was reluctant to let go of her, so I didn’t. I kept my hand on her thigh and stood right beside her. I blocked the rest of the bodies in the room so my mate wouldn’t feel overwhelmed.
They were here for support, to show that my mate wasn’t alone. I appreciated their efforts but knew my mate still had trouble in sizable crowds.
“Are we still not going to talk about what’s on his head?” I heard Bones whisper to Hawke again.
“Nadia calls them her nom nom ears. It’s damn adorable. Don’t bring it up to Bear, though. He gets kinda pissy about it,” Anaki whispered.
I rolled my eyes and counted to ten, trying to ignore the idiots behind me.
“Nom, nom,” Nadia linked and bit her lip.