Page 37 of Shadowlands Sector 2

“Don’t. It drives me crazy standing here and not touching you. It wasn’t this bad before.” Her chin trembles as reality crashes into her thoughts. “If we just keep apart, our bond will break. It has to.”

Her legs tremble, and Dušan scoops her up before she falls. He’s still naked, which intensifies his connection with Meira, aiding her in healing quicker. The energy from my Alpha and me are overwhelming. OmegascraveAlphas. They need them for survival, and she’s been away from us so long.

The ache she’s experiencing is like someone has lit a match in her chest, causing the fire to spread wildly, burning her from the inside out. It comes from spending too much time away from the ones you’re bound to. This is why we can’t have her run away again, why she needs to fathom the danger.

“You’re going to be all right now,” Dušan coos, and she cradles against his chest. She looks so innocent and small. The opposite of her usual self.

I follow my Alpha out of the woods, grabbing his clothes off the ground in the process, and head into an area of land where the sun beams brightly. He drops to his knees and holds her against him. I kneel in front of him and reach over, pushing hair out of her face. Her scent hits me, heavy because she’s so close. Sweet candy, just as I remember from when I went down on her, but there’s something else. A masculine smell on her too. Bardhyl’s.

He’s claimed her. Fire slams into my chest to think he’s laid with Meira. I’ve known him for years, know he wouldn’t force himself on her… He wouldn’t dare. What the fuck went down?

I meet Dušan’s gaze, his eyes reflecting back my sentiment.

Bardhyl’s smell is strong and reminds me of snow and dirt. Every wolf carries a unique signature, so there’s no mistaking it was he who was with Meira.

Meira twists her head and looks at me, and I forget everything else. The primal instinct living inside me awakens, the savagery, the familiarity of what we have together. She feels it too, our connection like taffy pulled to the point of tearing.

“We missed you,” I say, but she winces and pulls away, curling in on herself in Dušan’s arms.

“Give her time,” he says.

I dump Dušan’s clothes near him and get to my feet as I stare into the surroundings, looking for any movements that would indicate undead are near. Time is what she needs for the pain of our reunion to settle down, for her to come to the realization that what we have is real and isn’t going anywhere. I won’t deny, though, that it stings like a bitch to have her pull away.

My thoughts slip back to my first fated mate, Cataline, taken by the undead. When she died, it felt like someone had scooped my heart right out of my chest while I watched. I never want to experience that again, yet here I am, connected to Meira, that same feeling crawling through me again.

“Go find him,” Dušan orders, and I know exactly whom he’s talking about.

I nod once and march back in the direction from which Meira came. I don’t for a minute believe Bardhyl forced himself on Meira, but rather they had a similar connection as I have with her. Our wolves drew us together like magnets, the call impossible to resist.

We’re animals programmed to breed. That’s the core of what it comes down to. And sometimes, that connection is split. Bardhyl told me of women taking several men as mates in Denmark. Admittedly, it pains me to share Meira with two men, because I’m a greedy bastard—it makes me want to steal her away from everyone. Having her other mates being my best friends does ease the ache, though. I wouldn’t accept them if they were strangers, or worse yet, someone I disliked. But I won’t walk away if she takes Bardhyl into our relationship. I just need to make sure that is what happened between them.

I’ve been walking for over fifteen minutes, and my gut instinct tells me to return to Dušan. He’s alone with Meira, and out here, we’re the vulnerable ones.

A few more steps forward and a wall of stone peers back at me in the distance.

Caves.

I speed up and dart into the first one. It’s empty, as are the next two, but in the fourth one, I hit the jackpot. The waft of a fire lingers in the air, as does the musky scent of sex. Twigs and a pair of boots litter the ground, and there are burned-out remnants of a small fire.

The sunlight behind me illuminates a figure rolling over onto his back, groaning like a bear.

Bardhyl squints in my direction. “Lucien?”

“Who’d you expect, Santa?” I tease, stepping deeper into the cave. He once told me he used to believe in the jolly bearded man, even when he was twelve.

Now that I’m closer, I can see his wrists and ankles are bound by vines. I chuckle while he growls at the realization that Meira attempted to tie him up. He rips the vines with sheer strength and his bare hands, then drags himself off the ground. He’s naked, and his long blond hair resembles a bird’s nest.

“Where is she?” he snarls, his shoulders squaring, his chest pumping rapidly with breath. His expression morphs into one of dread.

“Dušan has her. Get dressed, man. We need to go,” I order.

His wide brow furrows, watching me. “She ran, then? Of course she did. That little minx is a fucking handful.” He bends over and collects his jeans before climbing into them, followed by his shirt and boots.

“What the fuck happened in here last night?” I need to hear the truth from him.

He lifts his chin toward me. “Fuck, Lucien, she crawls under your skin. And being alone with her, it was impossible to resist the allure.” He steps closer, rubbing his fingers through his hair. “It wasn’t my intention to touch her. Her wolf called to mine like never before.” He gives me a lopsided grin that makes him look stupid, but I know exactly what he’s saying.

“You marked her?” My voice rises with a hint of jealousy.

“Yes,” he admits immediately. Bardhyl has always been a straight shooter. Says it as it is. “As soon as I sensed she was my fated mate, I left my mark, hoping it would bring out her wolf. No fucking luck there.”

“Shit. I’ve never faced someone with her condition before. What if her wolf is throwing off signals to all Alphas, and we’re getting mixed signals too?”

Bardhyl snorts a laugh and claps me on the shoulder. “Have faith in the wolves, my friend. She may not be completely put together yet, but our wolves are smarter than you think. The mating game needs both sides to feel the eternal calling.”

I shake him off and we march outside into the sunlight. I missed Meira like crazy, and now jealousy burns through me, but this is my darkness to deal with. If Meira’s wolf selected Bardhyl as well as Dušan and me, then we’re all in this together.

I shove him in the arm. “Fair warning. Dušan might be pissed. Your scent is all over her.”

Bardhyl licks his dry lips and rolls his shoulders. “Won’t be the first time he and I have clashed.”

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