“I’m sorry,” I tell him, yet those words tasted like poison on my tongue. He smirks before turning back to rummage through the backpack. He pulls out a silkie slip dress. He tosses it at me and it lands on the bed. I pick it up, holding it up. Hardly practical, but better than a bra and underwear.“Don’t suppose you bought underwear?” I ask him.“You don’t need them,” he says and I chew my lip. I suddenly wished I had a period. I bet he would change his tune then.Carter comes over to me and passes me a muesli bar. I tried to unwrap it, however, my fingers were not cooperating properly, yet I had a good chunk of my mobility left, though I was a little worried about trekking in the woods like this. Carter takes it from me and opens it, peeling back the wrapper before handing it back to me. “You should have all your feeling back soon,” he tells me as he kneels next to the bed. He pulls my legs to the edge of the bed, rubbing the sides of them before gripping my ankle. He takes the key
Valen POVI had Zoe drop Valarian to the hospital. I smile when I see her car pull into the parking lot. While she parks the car, I make my way over to her before opening the back door. Unclipping his seatbelt, he hops out of the car excitedly, wanting to see his sisters. He brought the plushies he helped pick out with him. Yet as I glanced in the car, Taylor and Casey were both in their car seats which I thought was a little odd. It was pretty late at night."Where are Marcus and Macey? Also, have you heard from my father?" I ask Zoe, who chews her lip nervously. Zoe glances in the back at the girls before climbing out of the car and ushering me to the rear of the vehicle. Valarian climbs up onto the hood of the car and waits for me while clutching the blue and green plushies; Zoe glances at him as if to make sure he is out of earshot."John returned home with Ava," Zoe whispers, and I blink at her dumbfounded because nobody told me Ava was found or handed back. Why had no one told
Kalen POV "What did he say?" I ask Marcus as he hangs up the phone. I start unraveling the new map we bought from the gas station on the hood of the car. "He is sending scouts and is on his way," Marcus tells me as we look over the maps with only a flashlight for light. We were trying to find some trails. We knew roughly where she was, but the forest was so dense that navigating through unfamiliar terrain even for us could end up with us becoming lost or walking straight past her without seeing her. The signal was only weak and kept blinking out. So while we waited for Valen to send some men, we searched over different maps trying to find any sort of trail. John was walking along the forest edge, trying to pick up any tracks or scents, so we were at a standstill for now. We needed help. No doubt my son would be furious with us, yet we were hoping to have found and brought her back before he found out. Yet when the hours ticked by and we found nothing and the day came and gone and
Macey POV "You're right. It is inevitable. But that doesn't mean it has to be unpleasant, right?" I ask before climbing between his legs. He watches me as I reach for the waistband of his pants, my fingers slipping beneath them. My fingers tremble as I grip them and slide them down his legs, only for him to grab my shoulders and haul me up his body. He crushes me against his body, and he rolls on top of me, his body sliding between my legs and pressing against me as he purrs. His hands reach for the thin slip dress as he bunches it before removing it over my head. He tosses it aside, his lips going to my chest. My skin buzzed and came alive at his touch, tingles spreading everywhere as he captured my nipple in his mouth. His lips trailed down my ribs, nipping and grazing my flesh with his teeth. I swallowed, trying to ignore our bond that was telling me to give myself to him. Yet it was hard when, despite not wanting his hands pawing over me or his lips tasting me, the sensations
Valen POVWe were on the other side of the mountain from where we were meeting up with my father. We were still about an hour away because the storm was making visibility a real bitch. Dion and a few other men were traveling in the cars behind us as we tried to get to my father. When the mind link opened up, Marcus came through. Stupidly, I opened it, allowing Tatum in on the link, not expecting the news we got."How far away are you?""About an hour away still, this storm is bloody terrible," I tell him. My windscreen wipers were going a hundred miles an hour, and the road was barely visible, even to my enhanced eyesight. We were going to have a hell of a time finding anything out there if it didn't blow over soon."Your father and John have headed in," Marcus tells us."They were supposed to wait for us," I growled, annoyed they would be so reckless and enter forsaken territory without backup. My father at least should know better. I know John isn't in the right headspace at the m
Macey POVI stared at Carter's body for god knows how long before I came back to my senses. I glanced around the room, and it suddenly looked a lot different. It was depressing before, but now it was as cold and dead as I felt inside. My nose still hadn't stopped bleeding, and vertigo washed over me as I stood up. I stagger, moving toward the bag Carter had brought back with him. Undoing the zip, I rummage through it, looking for the key before remembering it was around his neck, and I glanced at his body tucked in bed as if he was sleeping.Hesitantly, I move toward him before pulling the blanket back. My hand shakes as I reach forward, grab the chain around his neck, and yank it. The gold chain snaps, and I quickly shove the blanket back up to cover him. Tears spill over, and I wipe my eyes, trying to clear them when my vision turns red. I blink, trying to clear them and rub at them furiously, to see my hands come back bloody, making me gape at them. I knew it would be harmful to
EVERLY Hours LaterAll night I panicked, and I felt useless, sick with worry and guilt that I was just sitting here waiting for them to return. I would have just got in the way or become a constant worry for Valen. Sometimes, you need to sit back and allow someone else to take over. But for me, that was easier said than done. However, Valen had proven to me that he could be relied on. Even when we didn't see eye to eye, he still showed up and still kept his promises.And this time was no different. Valen said he would bring Macey home, and he did. Earlier in the night, not long after Valen left, Zoe couldn't bear being home alone. Ava felt unsafe at home with just Zoe, or maybe it was her guilt about what happened to Zoe that she struggled to be alone with her. I didn't know; I was just relieved to have them here. So my room in the maternity ward had turned into a drop-in center. We sought comfort from each other's presence. Zoe had some of the warriors bring in blow-up mattresses
Valen POVWe were finally going home, and I was beside myself with panic and I think that this was the slowest I had ever driven in my life. Cars were honking their horns behind me, and I glared at the driver in my mirror. Does he not see the baby on board sticker?"Valen 50kms is already too slow for this strip. You're doing 20 under," Everly hisses at me as cars overtake me."We have fragile cargo in the car. What if their little heads wobble?" Just saying that has me reduce my speed more. It wasn't worth the risk!"We are more likely to get hit with you going this slow," Everly scolds, and I sigh."I'm serious, Valen. Speed up or let me drive. They're more durable than you think,""They are newborns!" I catch Everly rolling her eyes. "I get this is your first newborn, and you want to wrap them in cotton wool, but seriously, they are durable, geez. Valarian fell off the bed once, screamed his damn head off, but he is perfectly fine," "You dropped him off the bed?" I ask, horrified