Page 24 of Lost in the Fog

“He healed me. It stands to reason that he healed you as much as he was able. That would mean telling your brain that I was still around in some capacity. Even as a doll.”

He sighed. “You are correct.”

“Right, but what you don’t seem to grasp is that you two were linked through the possibility of me. The fact that your link remained whole and you didn’t go completely nuts indicates that I was alive somewhere.” She smiled. “Some part of you knew that.”

He looked at her and bent to kiss her. It wasn’t an arousing kiss. He was seeking comfort and contact. She could give him that.

Pandora held tight to her mate and reached out with her senses to link into his mind and soothe him. He was an angry raw nerve and had been for a while.

She leaned back and murmured, “How long have you been out?”

He smiled. “I’m straight.”

“Hah. You know what I mean.”

“Yes. I was thrown back ten years ago.”

“Oh. That explains a lot.”

Zhin was next to them and got a basket from the back of Knur’s vehicle.

“Come on, you two, let’s go inside.”

He swiftly got through the lockbox and opened the door. “Welcome to your possible home. Here, we will have appetizers.”

She smiled and kept her arm around Knur as she walked with him into the building. She stopped a few feet into the entryway. “Oh, my.” The space was huge. There was a fireplace, and the rest of the space was empty. Her voice echoed through the space.

“Oh, this is lovely.” The wood was dark and well-maintained. “But sorry, Knor, I have to see the kitchen.”

She let go of him and sprinted for the kitchen. She had just stopped and was looking at the tile and countertops when arms lifted her and set her on the granite. When the mouth came down on hers, she heard a low, thrumming growl. She slid her hands around his neck and met Zhin’s tongue stroke for stroke.

When the urgency slowed, he lifted his head. His eyes were crimson in a midnight face. “Don’t run. Never run.”

She chuckled. “Sorry. I run everywhere. Moving as fog is way too slow.” She stroked his white hair back from his forehead and ran a light finger up the curve of one ear.

He shuddered and said, “I get it now.”

“What?”

“Why our omega is different from any others. You are tuned to us, to what we need.”

“As you are supposed to be tuned to me and what I need.” She smiled. “But that doesn’t kick in until after the link is formed. For now, I will try to walk.”

Zhin grinned. “Don’t try too hard. Do you need a nest?”

“Nope. I hate confinement. Anyone interrupting my mates and myself during a heat is going to get a lungful of cyanide. Well, chloroform, if they are lucky. For a while, cyanide was my default.”

He grinned. “Aren’t you a deadly and gorgeous creature?”

“Let’s hope you don’t find out. Knur already saw my chloroform in action.”

His voice said softly, “She took out everyone but the folks in the boardroom with the door wide open. The precision is amazing.”

“Aw, shucks.”

Knur chuckled. “You are good at handling us out of a mood.”

“Well, I observed for a decade. I have seen far more than I wanted to, and omegas dealing with alphas was always of particular interest for some reason.” She slid her arms around Zhin and leaned her head against his chest.