Page 19 of Never Tamed
We sit in uneasy silence, broken only by the whine of distant cranes and the whistle of wind off the sea threading through the stacks of shipping containers. It’s a strange kind of understanding, of peace, haunted by the very real possibility of losing our mate.
The mate that belongs to all of us.
“What we need right now is time,” Mathis says eventually. “Ren can’t be moved again. Not like this. The wounds are too deep, and it’ll take a long time to heal. If we try to move her again, we’ll lose her.”
I close my eyes again and memorize the flutter of her heartbeat through our bond. It’s faint and fragile but still there.
“She’s strong,” I whisper. “She always has been. And the Moonstone gave her an extra boost. We just have to hope it’s enough to help her pull out of this and keep her alive.”
Torin glances down at his hands, then at the bloodstained jacket in his arms again. His fingers clench around the fabric like it might anchor him to something solid. “Did…Did you all feel it when I did? When the mate bond snapped into place?”
My eyes pop open.
Mathis snaps stiff, his gaze volleying between us. “The mate bond, yes.” He scratches his scalp. “It was like another piece of a puzzle clicking into place.”
I’d wanted to be angry with it, at first. But I have the most practice with it. I understand how it feels to make room for something inside of you that always felt inevitable. I hadn’t realized the pieces were missing until they were finally in place.
I nod. “That’s how it felt when she formed a bond with Mathis, too. I wanted to be upset that she wasn’t just mine, but instead it felt right. I’m stronger being connected to him, and now you.”
When my alpha lifts his head, there’s something new in his gaze. Guilt, perhaps. Regret. He’s still coming to terms with what this all means—he’s one of us now, bound to her, despite how hard he tried to fight it.
It only goes to prove there’s no way to fight fate and what is meant to be. It will always find a way.
I drag the fingers of my opposite hand along my face and wince when I get to my swollen and bruised eye. “There’s no way to deny she’s like us. Bound to us all.”
“Trust me. I know we can’t ignore what it means.” Torin casts a punishing gaze at me and then at Mathis. “Our packs are joined by more than just tragedy. Their alphas share a mate.”
The statement lands with the weight of an anchor.
There’s a long silence. Then Mathis exhales slowly and leans back. “It means we stop fighting over who leads, and start figuring out how to lead together.”
Our Goddess has a sick sense of humor. There’s no mistaking her hand in this and the irony has me wanting to smile despite the circumstances.
“That’s not how pack hierarchy works,” Torin mutters. “Two alphas? It’s unheard of.”
His blond hair is askew and pulled loose from the neat knot he always keeps at the nape of his neck. He’s wild-eyed and tense. If his hair were a sunnier shade and his back turned, I’d almost mistake him for Dax.
Almost.
“All of this is unheard of. The stone, a human turning into a wolf, multiple bonds—” I count them off. “It’s not normal, but maybe this is what it needs to be to beat Andras.”
Mathis has gotten himself under control. Composed and ready for the next step. Torin is all sharp edges and buried, uncovered guilt. Dax, wherever the fuck he is, is unpredictable and volatile.
And me. Where do I fit in?
How do I play into this mess?
I’m broken and still healing, but clear-eyed now. More than I’ve been in years.
“Ren chose us,” I remind them, treading lightly. “And we chose her. We can’t keep fighting each other and expect to win this war. We need to work together as one pack.”
A few weeks ago, if I’d said as much to Torin, he would’ve snapped my head off without thinking twice.
Now his jaw tightens. He turns away with the red hoodie crushed to his heart.
He’s fighting something, some ingrained instinct that doesn’t want to give.
“I spent weeks trying not to feel the bond, or give into it. I told myself how love was a weakness and true mates only existed in fairytales. I told myself that loving Ren was… dangerous, and if I let her in, it would tear me apart,” Torin says.
