Page 32 of Mated to the Pride

“I’d have spent more time on the treadmill if I knew.”

We smiled at one another, somehow finding a moment in the panic and the threat. Still, I felt that this wind of hers was mostly adrenaline — that once she was back in the safety and security of our cabin, she would process the danger she had been in, and retreat into herself a little.

It had happened to me, too, the first time. There was no way to prepare for it. I just wished it was a lesson she didn’t need to learn.

“Alright,” I said. “Last leg. Let’s get you back inside.”

“And get you patched up,” she insisted. Yet again, she wasn’t her own primary concern. Relief and affection filtered through me, feeling certain once again that we’d have more time together. That she’d know the truth, and be herself again.

Stone, Blake stepped in. I could feel his stamina was low.Is she okay?

She’ll be fine, I said.Just a little shaken.

I could only hope that I was telling the truth.

Jessica

As the light slowly faded in and chased the darkness away, marking my night from hell officially over, I felt like I was waking from a particularly vibrant dream. If not for Stone’s steadying presence beside me on the couch and the silence in the rest of the cabin, I might have believed it too. The last few hours had gone by in a blur, barely strung together in my memory. How long had it been exactly? Only the lightening sky could say — but at last, Stone sat up straighter in the chair, lips pursed.

“They’re coming home.”

I was tired enough not to question how he knew that. It took me by surprise when I sank down into the couch just how little energy I had left; even trying to stand had made me dizzy, so Stone had been fussing over me ever since. He’d brought a blanket to wrap over my shoulders, and tea to drink; his hand seemed to find its way to mine whenever I most needed it, whether I said so or not.

By the time the door opened, it was like I’d almost run out of oxygen. My breathing was shallow and sad, and as much as I was glad to have Stone here with me, I couldn’t relax until I knew that the rest of them were safe — until that door opened and all three came through, battered and bruised butalive.

My legs failed me again, but as it turned out, I didn’t need them. They all came right to my side, and in a heartbeat, I was wrapped in all four of them — Stone’s hand in mine, Hale curling down over the back of the couch to hold me, and Blake and Preston crouching at my front. Preston’s forehead nestled against my knee; the whole thing, being in contact with all four of them at once, felt overwhelmingly intimate, even in the silence.

It only made the guilt in my stomach swirl all the worse. Which of these men would I hurt, once I told the truth?

“I’m sorry,” I managed, after a few beats. My voice sounded raw and broken as the tears finally saw their opportunity to break free. “I didn’t know that was going to happen. I just needed some air; I just—”

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” said Blake. His calm voice was exactly what I needed right now, and I closed my eyes to sink into the comforting tone of it. I felt his thumb brushing the back of my free hand, and the feather-light touch of his fingertips against my wrist. “You didn’t ask for that. I just wish we could’ve gotten to you sooner.”

“I’m okay,” I insisted. “I’m out.”

“Technically, you did us a favor,” said Hale. “We’re done with this mission a whole lot earlier than we expected to be.”

“You weren’t ready.”

“Turns out we were ready enough,” said Stone, squeezing my hand again. I opened my eyes to meet his, feeling a connection course through from his being to mine. The affection and fondness I felt for all these men was almost supernatural; it made the thought of losing it and harming them even worse.

All at once, it swelled to a knot in my throat.

“I’m so sorry.”

I felt a rush of kindness from each of them — a massaging grip, or a tender touch. I had lost track of whose hands were where now; instead, we all felt like one larger consciousness, melted together. Fated.

“You’re safe now,” Stone insisted, shifting closer to reassure me. “We’re here.”

I didn’t know how to tell them the truth, but to keep it from them any longer would be a lie — and I certainly couldn’t lie to them.

“It’s not that,” I managed eventually, speaking past the cracks in my voice. “I mean… it was awful, and I’m exhausted, and I’m so glad we’re all here, but there’s… there’s something else. It’s not just that.”

I could feel them moving around me, and opened my eyes to see a knowing, wordless glance pass between them. I could feel my jaw tightening and shuddering as I pressed myself to speak again.

“You seem nervous,” said Hale, voice a pleasant hum beside my ear. “You don’t have to be.”

“But it’s just… what I have to tell you…”

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