Page 18 of Dodging Bullets

His pain was like a burn beneath my skin, his trauma beating against my brain over and over.Pain. Fear. Anger. Pain. Fear. Anger.Then briefly, he’d look at me, and it would be adoration.Wonder. Joy.Then he’d look at the guys again, and it would be back to pain.

I didn’t understand what was happening right now, though I knew I’d bonded him. They’d said as much. I’d tied us together for life without his permission, and guilt ate at my gut.

Picking at the skin of my forearms, I listened as they discussed what had to happen. I’d bonded him, and he needed to bond me back to turn off the battering waves of his emotions.

Fear. Pain. Anger.

I whined and crawled back into his lap. I felt so guilty. Leader Malakai had been right; I was a curse on society. I was a selfish,selfishchild who took what she wanted, without thought of anyone else.

Llew didn’t kick me off, didn’t throw me away like trash, didn’t scowl at me in disgust. No, this Alpha that I’d just attacked and trapped, wrapped me back up in his arms and walked me to the bed in his room, curling his huge body around mine and purring softly.

He growled when Max stepped forward to take me back. “She’s fine,” Llew grumbled, and as I snuggled further into the cocoon of his warmth, I had to agree. I was fine. Perfect.

Wonder. Joy. Fear. Pain. Anger.

“How do we break the bond?” Rio asked softly, and my Omega whined and cried harder.

I didn’t want to break the bond. He was mine.Mine.

“She claimed him before she bit him. We have to consider that perhaps they’re… that they might be…” Rio trailed off.

I just wanted to scream,What?! We’re what?

As if he could see the question on my face, August squatted down in front of me. “Fated mates. There’s an idea that they once existed, but it doesn’t happen much anymore. However, given that Llew’s Alpha is so close to the surface, and your Omega has been constrained for so long, perhaps it was a perfect storm.”

My Omega hummed at that, or maybe it was Llew’s purr. It was nice—different to Rio’s, rougher and maybe not as soothing, but still, it made me feel secure. Safe. Everything was okay.

“He should bond me back.” My voice sounded more sure than I felt.

They all looked at me like I was an alien. “I don’t think you’re in a position, within yourself, to know what that would mean. Not just for now, but forever. There’s no undoing a completed bond, Paloma.” August’s voice was soft and sure, not judging, just informing.

I frowned. “Bonding him was the first thing I ever did for myself.” Even if I hadn’t understood why at the time, I still didn’tregret it. “I might be oblivious to the world around me, but my instincts are just fine. I know what I feel from him, and it feels right.” I didn’t mention the negative emotions. Rolling over, I looked at Llew. “Unless… you want to break the bond?” I hated how fragile my voice sounded at that moment.

His eyes ran across my face. They were large and hazel, like they hadn’t been able to decide on a color and settled on both, and I could see his brain turning over. More than that, I could feel it through the bond in my chest. His yearning to keep the bond. The guilt that I’d be saddled with him. The selfish urge to bond me back. The feeling of responsibility was like a heavy weight on his shoulders.

I didn’t understand anything about the world, but I understood this. I understoodhim.

Hesitantly, he shook his head. “I don’t want to break the bond. I don’t think the Alpha would allow me to, even if I could.”

Something relaxed in my chest. He wanted me back. In a move that was almost entirely instinctual, I tilted my head to the side, exposing my throat to the Alpha behind me.

Rio stepped forward, and I held out an arm to stop him. I wanted this.

I felt a bearded cheek scrape along my skin, up over the nape of my neck. He inhaled deeply, and it made something deep in my gut clench with need. Lips brushed my skin, and I held so still, waiting.

“Are you sure about this, Paloma?” His voice was barely a whisper against my ear, but my lips curled. I was sure. Surer about this than anything since I’d been dragged away from the only home I’d known.

“Yes. I’m sure.”

“This will hurt a little. I’m sorry.” Then he bit me. And he wasn’t wrong; it did hurt. More than a little, it hurt alot,making me scream.

Everyone lurched toward me, but then my scream turned into a moan as the bond settled between us. The bad emotions were gone in an instant. No more fear. No more pain. No more anger. There was only joy and pleasure.

I moaned, and the energy in the room changed dramatically. August let out a small sound between his teeth that could have been a whine. Then he looked at my big beast of an Alpha and stuck a finger in his face.

“You do nothing without her express, informed permission. I want you to talk through every little decision, until she’s so sick of talking about it she takes matters into her own hands. She doesnothingshe could regret. Otherwise, I’ll make you share her regret every single day of the rest of your life.”

He didn’t say how he’d achieve that as an Omega, but he was so vehement, I didn’t doubt him for a second. Neither did Llew, I guess, because he rumbled his agreement.

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