Page 72 of The Dragon's Gambit
Chapter 49 New Friend
There were muffled voices sounding in Reiya’s head. At some point, she had fallen unconscious. Her thoughts had immediately gone to Lumi, her wolf. Being able to feel her was so fulfilling. Now that she was gone again, the void inside herfelt even bigger. Lumi’s strength had saved her. The two of them together were able to come back from the brink of death. She now felt this overwhelming loneliness inside her.
“Reiya?”
The muffled voices stopped, and she felt a warm hand brush against her face. It was damp. No. Her face was damp. She was crying.
“Reiya …”
She heard Lee call out to her, sounding almost desperate. It was hard to fight through the exhaustion, but she painstakingly opened her eyes. She had to open her eyes. She could hear his worry, and she wanted to see him. Her eyes bounced around at everyone. She saw Brody and Chelsie, who looked instantly relieved. Next, she looked at Xander, whose posture looked to be irritated but his eyes looked gentle toward her. Further back, she noticed Freja, who had a soft smile on her face as she looked at her. She gazed upward at the man holding her in his arms. His eyes had so much emotion in them. Relief, anger, and most importantly, love. She gave him a weak smile to show him she was okay.
“Reiya, are you in pain?” Lee softly cooed near her ear.
“No.”
“Why are you crying?” He prodded his nose against her neck as he took in small whiffs of her scent.
Reiya opened her mouth to say something but decided to wait. She wasn’t sure what Freja had told them. She would have to explain meeting Lumi and wanted to wait before she got into that.
“Freja, are they bullying you?” Reiya knew that this overprotective bunch would most likely be looking at her skeptically. She would be a person of suspicion until proven otherwise.
Freja smirked. “Eh, nothing I can’t handle.”
“So, how much story time did I miss?” Reiya was waking up more and more by the second, enough that she was ready to engage in the discussion they were having prior to her waking up.
“I already covered all of it, mostly. I at least covered everything I knew.” Freja looked at Reiya with interest and expectation.
“On a scale of one to ten, how mad are you?” Reiya glanced up at Lee with a sheepish smile.
“Oh, it’s a ten right now, and we will be speaking about it later, privately.” Lee let his tone drop a bit threateningly at the last part.
She smiled a bit, looking at him.A punishment? I’ll take whatever punishment you’ll give me, she thought with amusement. He seemed to already know what she was thinking as a crooked grin rose on his face.
“What am I going to do with you?” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. Damn her ways, and her ability to spin everything around so he wasn’t mad.
“So, Reiya … I’ve seen a lot of things. A lot of different things, of all different natures. What I haven’t seen was what you pulled off. You were engulfed by death. I felt it. You were almost gone. How did you come back from that?” Freja finally decided to ask what Reiya had not volunteered to answer.
Reiya felt Lee’s arms tighten on her as Freja mentioned how she was close to death.Geez, Freja. You could have omitted that part. Or at least sugarcoated it. Wow! You were really out of it. Or, that was amazing how you were able to beat the darkness like that. Pick one … say anything, but not about me almost meeting the Grim Reaper. Not with the crowd of people I’m surrounded by. I’m going to be packaged in bubble wrap and left to pop my own bubbles for entertainment. I must save myself here.
“I mean, sure, it was rough, but I wasn’t almost dead or anything.” Reiya tried to ease the weight of it. However, life always had a way of kicking Reiya and laughing. And once again, it pulled the rug and held her head under the water.
“I know what someone looks like when they’re dead or near death. And trust me, you were there. Honestly, I was shocked to see you alive. I don’t believe in miracles. Gods don’t care enough to perform them, but you … you are as close to a miracle as I’ve ever seen. You might even be one …” Freja trailed off, thinking about how it was the Moon Goddess who had sealed them, so maybe she saved Reiya.
Reiya’s gaze bounced around at her friends, and she let out a nervous, airy chuckle. She could see the looks on all their faces. She didn’t need to look at Lee … she could feel it in the possessive way he was holding her.Maybe life in a bubble won’t be too bad.Reiya looked up at Freja. She had no idea that she’d done anything detrimental. Reiya bit her bottom lip.So much for downplaying it.
“It wasn’t a miracle.” Reiya finally conceded and figured it was best to just come out with everything. “When I felt it, felt the darkness capturing me, I had a lot of things going through my mind. I had spent up my energy purifying you, and I knew I didn’t have much left. But I began to think of everyone waiting for me.” Reiya glanced up at Lee and smiled. “I knew I couldn’t leave them. I have to protect everyone. Even if they don’t think I’m here to protect them, I am. Then, I felt her. My wolf, Lumi, surged out, and together we eliminated the darkness. She’s still sealed, though. It was nice. I was able to talk to her. Now that I can’t feel her again, it feels empty inside. It’s a lonely feeling,” Reiya said quietly as she felt her eyes water up again.
Lee lowered Reiya to her feet but pulled her body into his chest as he continued to hold her.
“Why is she still sealed?” Brody felt frustrated for his sister. He was one and the same with his beast, but he knew from others that their wolves were like their other half. He could see that it pained Reiya not to be able to communicate with her.
“I don’t know exactly. I guess she had to grow with me. She said she was with me since the moment I was conceived, and that she would be ready soon. It’s taken her longer to develop and be ready because she’s special.” Reiya didn’t know anything except that the two of them would be stronger because of their bond. She couldn’t wait until she was always with her.
She leaned her head into Lee. She was glad Lumi was able to break through when she did. She couldn’t leave Lee all alone. It would have been too cruel after they had just gotten together. Besides, they were still unmated. She couldn’t die without fulfilling that aspect of her life. It was only the moment she’d dreamed about continually since she was sixteen.
“I know you’ve called me here for a reason. However, I’ve decided to dedicate my life to Reiya.” Freja’s green eyes locked onto Reiya’s. “Reiya, you saved my life, and I will use my life to serve you.”
Reiya smiled at Freja. She started to walk toward her, but Lee wouldn’t let her leave his side. Instead, he tucked her in closer and walked with her. He’d made that mistake once. It wasn’t going to happen again.
