Page 21 of Never Tamed
Torin moves first, moving to crouch beside her with careful hands on her chin. He doesn’t speak. None of us do. We just watch as her breathing evens, the tension in her face fading away.
“This is a good sign,” Mathis murmurs, like if he says it too loud, he’ll jinx it. “She’s coming back to us.”
Torin movements are slow and stiff. “She has to. I…I need her. She has to come back.”
“We all do.” I feel the bond pulse again, faint but undeniable, a single thread pulling tight in my chest, connecting me to her. To them.
Ren is the center of us. Unconscious, yes, but here and still fighting, and her heartbeat echoes inside mine. Every single one of us gravitates toward her until our pulse is a single unified beat.
Pushing my voice through the bond, I hope she will be able to hear it and somehow follow it back to consciousness.
Come on, baby. We need you.
Chapter 6
Ren
The rough swim up to consciousness leaves me with the worst taste in my mouth, like I’ve spent a few hours licking the underside of a rock.
My tongue works over my fuzzy-feeling teeth, and I slowly blink open my eyes.
Mistake.
Huge mistake, because the second the light touches my eyes, the pain worsens. It splinters through my head and trails like a drawn magnet to the place in my side where claws tore through me.
I squeeze my eyes shut again. Oh, god. Or goddess. I’m alive. I shouldn’t be.
The dull ache in my side thrums like the beat of a drum and my head might as well be filled with the rest of the marching band. It clangs against bone, loud enough to blot out the comforting reassurance of my mate bonds.
But not entirely. I draw in another breath to the bottom of my lungs and feel them start to separate from the pain, first Torin, then Mathis, and Noble. All three of them are there, lending me strength and comfort.
I might be sore, one step up from a corpse, but I’m also pissed off. The second my brain flicks on and the memories click back into place, a familiar fire lights in my gut.
Fucking Catarina.
Fuck her and the rest of those double-crossing sons of bitches who thought they were going to take us down. I force my eyes open out of spite this time and ignore the pain, pushing off the unyielding floor of the storage container.
Awareness flickers inside my head as a strong arm bands across my shoulder and tugs me close.You okay?
Noble’s voice is there, all full of concern and love and things I don’t want but need right now.
“No,” I say out loud. “I’m not okay.”
My voice is a growl, and I cough to clear my throat.
Where’s Torin?
His mate bond is the strongest, the newest, the one pressing close and demanding I make space.
They have all taken up their respective places inside my head and my heart and I know instinctively that Torin isn’t around.
The shipping container is cold, the metal unyielding, and reeks of stale oil and rust.
Noble scoots me closer yet and rests his opposite hand on my knee, gently, reverently. “It was touch and go for a night. You shouldn't get up yet.”
Clearing my throat a second time does nothing. Only reminds me of the foul taste. “I’ll be fine. I should walk.”
The gravelly words grind together.
