Page 27 of Fated Exile

I don't know what to say to that. Thankfully, I don't have to find the words. Kieran speaks up, striding across the space between him and Lance to reach out and lightly punch the other man's shoulder.

"I get it, dude. This is all a lot to take in." Kieran raises a brow in my direction as he murmurs, "I certainly never would've expected that the Delilah I knew as a kid would turn out to havefivepossible mates. Though if you'd told me she'd be the one to save us all, it wouldn't have shocked me. But we just gotta roll with the punches, you know? There isn't another option."

Lance's mouth tightens more. "That's exactly what I'm worried about. I like Bastian, I really do, and I want to give him another chance. But what if this darkness inside him... what if it corrupts Delilah too? Or god forbid, somehow spreads to all of us like an infection?"

I shudder at the thought, suddenly uncertain. What Lance suggests isn't outside the realm of possibility. I'm so new to this magic thing—I don't understand half of it. No one has ever taught me.

Which is what gives me the idea to suggest an alternative. "My aunt Kerry is here now, and she was able to answer so many of my questions last night. Then Vivia came... and I don't know if she'll come back, but I'm sure she could answer more if she does. We won't go forward with the full mating ceremony unless we're certain that Bastian is healed, and it's safe. I promise you that, Lance. Okay?"

His brown eyes meet mine, full of wariness. I hold his gaze and put all my conviction and certainty into it. After a long moment, much of the worry clears from his brow, and the easygoing strength I remember returns.

"As long as we're taking precautions. That's all I ask."

The tension in the air around us drains, which is of course when Finn quips, "And protection. Five times the sex means five times the chance for procreation, after all, and Delilah should probably settle into the pack before we play a game of 'who's the daddy' with each other. Or is it 'who's on first' that we'll play?"

He gets three set of glares at that, while I have to bite my lower lip to hold in the hysterical laughter. I hadn't even thought about the rest of the complications that will follow the Summit once we name Roarke alpha and go through with the mating ceremony.

Five mates. That meansfivemating ceremonies. On the ancient stones, naked and caressed by the pack flame, while... well, let's hope the horny she-wolf inside me wakes up again, because I'm going to need her help to prevent chafing.

Then after that? It's not just about finding time to get to know the guys and spread out dates. I'll have to find time to juggle intimacy, sex, and of course, the possibility of children. An inevitable eventuality I don't even want tothinkabout until the curse is lifted and Delphine is thoroughly dead and done.

One thing at a time. Or in this case, five things at a time.

Roarke chimes in with, "We should save all this talk for later. Right now, we have to figure out what happens to Bastian."

"Exactly. And Idowant to talk about it with all of you," I add. "Fate threw us together for a reason. The mating threads... I know I'm not the only one who's seen them."

"We've had them since the moment you took the chip out," Kieran says. "I've doubted a lot of things in my life, but I've never regretted anything more than doubting that you and I belong together."

"I've seen the threads more than once." Lance reaches out to place a hand on my shoulder, and I feel a spark at the warmth of his skin on mine. "I know that they're there for us. I just want to know if they're meant to be with allfiveof us—before we tie our lives together irrevocably."

"I've seen them with you two, and Finn as well," I confess, getting a wink from my charming paramour. "And Roarke... I saw them with you. I don't know if you saw them, but they're there."

"I saw them." A little smile twists up one side of his mouth. "They scared the shit out of me at first. But I got over that, and come hell or high water, I know that we're in this together."

Finn smirks and bumps his fist against Roarke's shoulder. "Great. Now all we have to do is set up a timeshare. Maybe a spreadsheet? Or we can create a buddy system."

"Oh, shut up." I stalk over to Finn and hip-check him playfully, though I give him a stern glare. "You're just making things more awkward than they have to be."

"Awkward?" He shoots me a white-toothed grin. "Delilah, we're talking about making Roarke alpha of the packtonight, at the Summit. Usually, a series of mating ceremonies follow a new alpha being appointed. Which means that in less than twenty-four hours, you'll be having sex withallof us. It doesn't get more awkward than that."

Lance adds, "Not to mention, apparently the future of the pack itself depends on these five mating ceremonies being performed. So we've only got one chance to get it right."

"Especially with the Mating Circle cracking open." Roarke grimaces, glancing down at his phone. "The pack members up there just sent me another update. The cracks are multiplying, and the existing ones are widening."

Which means that if I don't figure out what's wrong with Bastian and fix it today, we could be hip-deep in vampire attack by the morning, with a broken Mating Circle and an even more weakened pack.

As usual, no pressure.

Just in time, Niall pops his head out of the compound's front door and calls out to us. "Ready to come inside?"

More than ready, if it means I can get this over with and move on to the next issue without a gnawing feeling of dread in my stomach. I'm just thankful that as I stride across the parking lot and through the front door of the compound, all four of the guys follow me in without complaint. Though I can feel the turmoil of emotions behind me: jealousy, wariness, excitement, exhaustion, and everything in between.

None of us has had much time to process everything that's happened lately. I can only hope that after the Summit is over, we're able to get a bit of a break. Maybe once the Mating Circle is repaired, and I'm at my full strength like Vivia predicted, I'll be able to keep Delphine and her bloodsucking vamps away for long enough that we all get to sit down and talk. Without the pressure of impending vampiric massacre.

Or Finn running his mouth just to make everyone squirm.

One can only hope.

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