“Stay away from us!” the tallest of the guys huffs before grabbing Flora’s arm and tugging her towards him. He holds aknife in his hand. Regis doesn’t wait for him to do anything with it and dashes forward, his angry growl ripping through the air. Before he can lunge at the idiot, Flora pushes him aside.
“Don’t,” she blurts out. “He is just a human. He will die! He is literally nothing!”
Regis' view is red, though, he doesn’t seem to hear or see her, because he is just focused on the psycho who threatened our mate. There is a burning fire inside of him that seems to swallow him more and more.
Regis doesn’t focus on the other men anymore, who have retreated to a far corner of the garden; instead, he stares at the asshole who tried to hurt our mate. My head starts hurting at the intensity of his feelings. It’s as if everything is blurred. Regis struggles, too. I can feel him losing and regaining his focus, only to lose it again.
What’s happening?
My head starts spinning. A loud growl echoes through the area. I can hear Flora’s voice in the distance, as if she is trying to reach out to me, but I can’t quite hear her. In an attempt to regain his control or maybe to get rid of the headache Regis tosses his head around, his claws reaching out for whatever he can reach.
When it feels like it’s all getting too much, I can feel something warm against our fur, the presence soothing our head immediately. Slowly, my blurred vision makes way for my regular one. The four guys are cowering in a corner. I think one of them has peed himself. At least it smells like it. Flora has wrapped her arms around Regis’ body, clinging to him and talking to him in a soothing voice.
I smell her blood.
Flora’s blood!
forty-eight
Turmoil
*FLORA*
Idon’t know what exactly happens in Regis and Elden’s mind, but something is awfully wrong. First, there was anger, the cold type of anger that makes one’s blood freeze when facing it. But I can also feel pain through our bond. He seems to have lost track of reality.
Fuck! He is either going to accidentally kill someone, or worse, hurt himself.
Regis’ eyes have a hint of red in them. Celeste and I act on instinct. I won’t allow anything to happen to Elden; he is my rock and my soul. I will be damned if I let him suffer or fall into desperation. Without thinking twice, I lunge forward, wrapping my arms around Regis’ lycan form. There is a twinge of pain Ifeel when him thrash around, but I don’t pay attention to it. It’s not important.
Instead, I try to pour it all into my bond to him, all the love and respect I feel for him, hoping it will reach him.
Regis stops thrashing around. For a moment it all feels calm. His and Elden’s mind is quiet, relaxed, and their body relaxes, too.
It worked!
Then, there is a surge of panic again. Before I can even do anything, Elden has turned back to his human form, grabbing me by my shoulders to push me back slightly. “I hurt you!” he blurts out. “Fuck, Flora! You are hurt!”
I blink down at my body, noticing a claw mark that goes from my collarbone down to my chest. “Oh that! That’s just a scratch.”
“It’s not just a scratch!”
I try to laugh it off at first but notice he is getting more and more upset.
“It’s not funny, you are hurt!”
“Elden,” I say, turning serious. “I literally jumped Regis and hugged him when he was thrashing around. He was in pain, and I was not going to stand by and watch. It’s nothing major, see? It’s healing already. Celeste has been regaining her powers since I got rid of the ties. It’s only the wolfsbane in my system still blocking her.”
“Still-“ Elden says.
“I knew what I was doing,” I say. “I was fully aware. But there is no way in this world I would have let Regis lose control over himself. You were both in pain; something was going on. I had to do something.”
“I am not blaming you for stepping in,” he says quietly. “It’s on me.”
I don’t need to be his mate to realize he is beating himself up over it. I get why he feels that way, but it’s also a bit frustrating.“You would have done the same for me, no matter what it would mean for your wellbeing, and despite not knowing how much I could hurt you with my background,” I push. “Would you have intervened?”
He sighs. “Of course.” Before I can add something, he shakes his head. “Still, I shouldn’t have lost control. I don’t know why it happened. I felt so angry, maybe that’s why. Maybe it made Regis and me spiral.”
I keep looking at my mate, wondering what I can do to ease his mind. I know he feels guilty for having hurt me, but I meant everything I said. It’s true that I had some luck on my side, as well. It could have been so much worse. “I threw myself at Regis in a dangerous moment,” I say quietly, deciding to take Elden’s guilt seriously. “He wasn’t hurting me, he wasn’t even lashing out at me. The moment I hugged him, he instinctively knew it was me.” I take his hand into mine.I know the type of man you are, and I know you would never hurt me deliberately. But I know from Geneva and Emilia that it’s also my job as your mate to be able to reach you and calm you when nothing else can. I don’t have any strategies for that yet. Maybe we can work something out so that it won’t happen again.