Page 7 of Oracle
My gaze swung to land on each of my mates for a moment, wanting to see exactly how they each felt about this when I challenged their decision. "You guys didn't see the agony in his eyes or the way his little body shook at the thought of hurting me. He didn't do this out of a desire to be evil. He did it for the love of his father and the grief that threatened to swallow him whole inside."
Jameson, Wes, Luca, and Seth held my eyes, not backing down from their decision. Whereas Milo, Tian, and Caleb's eyes dropped almost immediately as I stated my feelings on the issue. Perhaps at the time it had happened—when emotions had been high over the thought of me dying—they had been unanimous, but it was clear it wasn't anymore.
"Who gave you guys the right to make such a decision? We aren't the council. That is not our role," I reminded them, genuinely shocked at how the rest of the wolves here would have allowed a child to be sent away.
Luca strode forward, the light shining through the tree branches lighting up his silver eyes and highlighting his sharp jawline and high cheekbones. He was honestly breathtaking, but I couldn't allow myself to be distracted by his alluring looks, because the fire in his eyes sparked my alpha side to rise to the surface, intent on putting that fire out.
On occasion, I had allowed him to take the lead in situations, but it was because I wasn’t arrogant enough to think I knew everything. In the cases that he was more knowledgeable, I had let him take the reins. But I had no issue making it known that I was the alpha in these situations.
I would make my wishes crystal clear before my time on Earth with them was up.
Luca came to stand mere inches from me. He looked down at me and said, in a voice that rang out clear and confident, "Wearethe new council. A lot has changed in the week you were asleep."
I'm sorry, what?My head reeled back in shock. My mates were now the new council? I thought my ears might have been broken for a moment there. That couldn’t be true.
My shock must have been evident because Luca chuckled as his voice lowered and his lips dipped to rest against my ear. "You may be used to getting your way with your other mates, but when it comes to your safety, I'll gladly accept your wrath if it ensures you'll stay alive. I have no qualms with being the bad guy in your eyes in this scenario."
A growl rumbled from my chest as he issued the challenge clear as day.
If only they knew that keeping me alive wasn't even a possibility at this point. Their efforts were futile. My life was forfeited to the Fates, and I'd be damned if a child roamed out there just to keep him away from me. I'd be gone soon, anyway.
Curling my trembling hands into fists, I fought the urge to wrap them around his throat and knock him to the floor, knowing this battle for alpha between Luca and I went way past physicality. This was a mental war of strength, which was something I hadn't yet faced in a mate bond.
You can kick his ass physically or mentally.
I don't want to kick his ass. A weird part of me wants his respect. I know he'll submit as he has before, but I want him to submit and be content to know I can handle myself and our pack. To believe in me as alpha. To know he can step back and be confident in my decisions while I’m still here. There is so much at stake in the next two weeks. We cannot have internal battles in our pack.
Fair enough.
Pulling my head back, I pressed my forehead against his, pushing him back as I did, and infused my words with steel, "It isn't that I got my way with my other mates. It's that they respected me to be my own woman and make my own decisions. The consequences of those decisions are my own to handle, Luca."
His eyes narrowed to slits as he whispered, "We'll see about that," before straightening and walking back to the line of mates who stood before me now. They had congregated by the exit of this room and formed a unit. Morgan was nowhere to be found now.
"We love your kind and forgiving heart," Seth started, his dark blue eyes pleading with me to listen, but he should know me better by now. I wouldn’t concede on this.
Milo added on, still looking at the ground, as he mumbled, "But it is what is going to get you killed."
I couldn't stifle the chuckle that bubbled out of me, causing mirrored looks of alarm on all my mates’ faces. I shook my head and admitted, "I'd rather die knowing I spread as much love as I could in my time on Earth than spend eternity knowing I had been too scared to truly live. To cower in fear and block myself off from what life has to offer because I'm terrified of who is friend or foe."
No. I was going to live these final two weeks onmyterms.
CHAPTERTHREE
WES
She might have been bare-faced and wearing just a plain white t-shirt that draped to just above her knees, but she was like a damned radiant lioness standing before us. Beautiful and awe-inspiring. Fierce and steadfast. Not afraid to take on a challenge from anyone. And damn if it didn't make my cock ache with a throbbing desire. I loved that she didn't let anyone make decisions for her, despite my incessant need to do exactly that.
I wanted to put her in a bubble where I knew no one could ever get to her again after what Christofer had done. And if I couldn’t put her in a bubble, I'd burn the world down until it was safe for her. I wanted her to find just a spark of joy, without the weight of her role in this prophecy holding her down. The chance for that spark to light an inferno within her, filling her life with passion and the happiness she deserved. I wouldn’t settle for anything less.
I saw the mouths of the others opening and closing as they continued with their conversation, but my focus was on Kira, and none of their words broke through my concentration. I was fixated on the way her pulse thrummed steadily in her slender throat, my gaze narrowing in on that steady pulse. I wanted to lick her most sensitive areas, teasing them with my tongue and canines.
We'd grown up being told of the intensity of a fated mate bond, but no amount of forewarning could have prepared me for the level at which I cared for Kira already. Or how much I needed her. She filled up every ounce of space in my being, making me realize how empty I had felt before. Her home was in my heart, and mine in hers.
She swallowed hard, looking uncomfortable and shifting her weight from foot to foot. I felt my protective urges rising up within me like a well overflowing. I wanted to snatch her from this room and hold her to me until whatever these tumultuous emotions within her were, had settled.
In all regards, I hardly knew her. Yet, on a deep level, my soul did—and that was such a conundrum when I let myself think about it for too long. Sometimes, I found myself doubting that she could possibly feel the same way for me that I felt for her when she had seven mates and only truly knew three of them.
That was the beauty of our soul bond, though, I supposed. It didn’t matter if we knew each other—our souls did, and they chose each other. The rest would fall into place over the rest of our lives together.
