Page 57 of Forged Bonds

Our bodies wouldn’t stay connected once we entered the portal, but I nodded. Shan put one foot in, glancing around us, and then went through, pulling me with him. As my arm slowly disappeared into the other plane, I said a few spells and glanced back one last time over my shoulder.

There was a flash of dark hair at the mouth of the alley, but I threw myself into the portal before I could find out what it was. It slammed shut behind me.

SEVENTEEN

Freya

“You’re telling me you all got caught there and had to kill over ten vampires to make it out?” Ama asked, disapproval weighing down her words. “I thought we were tryingnotto antagonize Kylan into attacking us again.”

In theory, that was the goal.

In practice, we needed to find him somehow, and if we had to take risks to do it, so be it.

“He’s got plenty more men where those came from,” I said.

I leaned against a cold cement wall in the parking garage. Without adrenaline rushing through me, my legs were tired. I tried to make it look casual, but Ozzy and Emmett both knew why I wasn’t standing straight. They felt my fatigue through our bonds.

After spending so many years with limited access to my magic, I should have eased into expending mass amounts at one time.

When had I ever eased into anything?

“He’ll see this as an attack,” Ama chided.

“Well, it was one. Might not have started that way, but it certainly ended that way. They shot Nolan.”

Amabella glanced down at where her bosses’ shirt was torn, the skin almost fully healed. She’d brought blood bags down when she’d helped me open the shield, just in case Nolan or Ozzy had injuries. Both were sucking one down right now, though Oswald was only doing it to replenish the blood he’d let Nolan drink in the penthouse.

“This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.”

Sighing heavily, I pushed off the wall. “I’m fucking aware of that. Shit happened. We’ll be better next time. Right now, my pack is going to go take a nap and talk about whether or not we found anything useful.”

Altair and Sky were already gone. They hadn’t wanted to face Amabella’s annoyance. She sighed and gave up on talking to us, which I was grateful for. “Fine. We can chat tomorrow,” she said.

“Chat and train to do better than we did today,” I promised.

Turning on my heel, I went to the elevator and aggressively pounded the UP button. I noticed Nolan heading silently for the stairs. “Nolan,” I said. He stiffened, heeding the warning in my tone. “Don’t even fucking start with me right now. Come back here and get in the elevator.”

He looked over his shoulder, scanning the group of us. Oswald crossed his arms over his chest — clearly, he’d been trying to evade his bond mate too. “I’m not—”

“Shut the fuck up,” I said, trying to soften the words by speaking quieter. Dumb idea. It didn’t work. “You’re mine and you were shot. Get in this fucking elevator with us or so help me gods, I will force you to. It’s irritating me how you refuse to accept you’re part of the pack.”

His gaze hardened and I was worried I’d lost him. This was why Ozzy had told me not to push him, after all. He was liable to run. My aggressiveness had been a touch too far. I had the excuse of being tired and worried about him, but really I was just a bitch.

Emmett was the one to save my ass, shockingly.

He stepped up to Nolan and clapped him on the back, shoving him in with our little group. “It goes easier if you just believe her when she says she owns you. I’ve been in her emotions for a few days now, and she’s the stubbornest person I’ve met in my life. At this point you’ve got two options. Kick us out completely and wash your hands, or let her have what she wants. She doesn’t have to fuck you. Just include you. We don’t bite. That’s you two, remember?”

“For the record, I wouldliketo fuck you,” I said. “But Em is right. Not required. You’re part of the pack whether you fuck me or not.”

Nolan’s posture relaxed and he heaved a sigh. “You’re insufferable.”

“Are you really one to talk?” I teased. “You taunted me when I first got here.”

“You played into it so perfectly, I couldn’t help myself. Every time I fucked with you, you got so angry.”

The elevator opened and we shoved ourselves inside, six people a bit much for the confined space. “Do you keep denying my efforts to integrate you into the pack because you like seeing me angry? Is it a kink for you?” I asked, half teasing and half curious.

He smirked, pressing his body against Ozzy’s in a corner of the box. “Not exactly, but I’ll admit it’s one of the upsides.”

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