His laughter rippled in my head.I love you too, but no dying. We’re going to survive everything that’s coming and I’m going to ruin you for a thousand lifetimes.
They were smug as hell and I couldn’t even be annoyed about it. A simple shift of their hips had me crying out, desperate for more and less at the same time.
Come give me a kiss, panther.
On my way, wolf.I grinned, getting as close as I could before the tug on his knot halted my progress and he was forced to rise up and meet me.
A surge of affection almost knocked us both sideways and I laughed against Haru’s mouth.I think Logan woke up and noticed we’re bonded.
Not a jealous bone in that one’s body.
Perk of being an omega?I asked.
I’ve met jealous omegas before. I think she’s just like this.
I’d buy that. I’m kind of blessed to have both of you. It wasn’t so long ago I never thought I’d have either.
Haru’s smile was the brightest I had ever seen it.Fate might fuck with a lot of things, but not this. I knew you were mine from the moment we met, and maybe I didn’t know for certain you would come back to me, but I always had hope.
And now I’m yours.
Their lips were soft against mine.Forever.
Not forever.I devoured their perfect mouth.Much longer than that.
Ihated how quiet the inside of my head was. It was a fucking lie. With each person Logan bonded, my frustration with Rachel grew. Could she feel it? If she could, did she care? What was the point and purpose of preventing me from being happy? Had I failed her that badly?
All the guilt I had carried over the years—that I hadn’t been able to protect her or give her the life she wanted—was gone.Maybe I had been a worse version of myself back then, but now I knew that the same was true of her. Would she really let us all die just to spite me?
I stalked over the grass in my panther form, too agitated to stay with Logan while she was surrounded by her new bondmates. I didn’t begrudge them having that connection to her, but gods, I wanted it for myself too.
With a huff, I flopped down in the dark, my tail whipping to burn off some of my annoyance.
I didn’t want to hate Rachel. At one time she had been my whole world. Why had she agreed to bond me if she was planning to leave? Why irrevocably tie herself to me just to run away with Seth? None of it made any sense.
I lifted my head at the sound of soft footsteps, seeing Yelena in her lioness form.I’m trying to be alone.
I know. She settled into a loaf next to me, not quite touching, but near enough I felt the aura of her power.
If you know, why are you here?
Sometimes when we want to be alone is when we most need company. Talk to me.
No.I lowered my head, trying to ignore her, but I should’ve known she wouldn’t allow that. Her body heaved to the side, crashing against me. She pinned me with her paws and dragged her sandpaper tongue over my forehead.
If you’re not going to talk, I’m going to groom you into submission.
I tried to flail, but she had about a hundred pounds on me in this form and kept me right where she wanted me. My purr came out involuntarily. I couldn’t remember the last time anyone had treated me like this. Yelena kept up her work until my fight had abandoned me.
See, not so bad.Yelena rubbed her cheek along mine, a friendly scent marking, as much of a claim as she could put on me without a bite.Ready to talk?
I melted from panther to human and propped my head on my hand, staring at the grass. “I’m just feeling sorry for myself.”
Yelena joined me in human form, her golden eyes holding me captive. “I’m well aware of that, but you reacted better to Seth and me bonding Logan. Is it just that you’re the only one in the pack without a bond? Or something else?”
“It’s that I’m fucking stuck. I’m being held hostage by someone I haven’t seen for sixty years. I keep turning the questions over in my head, but they make me more confused than anything else.”
“Rachel is the only one who can truly give answers. We might wish otherwise, but it’s not something we can force. Logan loves you. Bond or not, that is reality, and Rachel can’t take Logan’s love away from you. I understand you want more than that, and I’m sorry it’s not safe for you to get everything you want.”
