Page 69 of Hidden Fate

CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE

I read the text message,willing my exhausted brain to catch up. There was so much fog, I couldn’t function. All I knew was that I needed to do something.

Finally, on the third read-through, I noted it was from Uther. Adrenaline pounded through my body, fully waking my brain.

Thorn tensed beside me before removing his arm from underneath me and jumping to his feet. He typed out something on the phone as I followed his lead.

Standing beside him, I glanced at his reply:When did they leave?

I opened the door to the living room and rushed past the sofa bed, trying not to wake the girls.

We didn’t need to wait for Uther’s reply. Either way, we needed to get to Theron quickly so he could contact Wyvern. I wanted to kick myself that we hadn’t contemplated that Peter would tell Drakeeverything.

As we hurried out the front door, Kari groaned. “What’s going on?”

Answering her would take precious time that Wyvern and the others might not have.Go. I’ll be right behind you,I connected to Thorn.

He hesitated, then nodded and jogged toward the next cabin over. I turned back to Kari, who was sitting on the bed, her face tense. In all the chaos, Chandra was awake as well, her attention locked on me. The two warriors were standing in the doorway, rifles in hand. I was thankful that Reece was still asleep. The last thing that sweet little girl needed was more turmoil.

“Do we need to get to the vehicles?” Kari tossed the covers off her legs.

“No.” I lifted a hand. “Drake is on his way to attack another thunder, and we’re sending word to them. We’re fine here. Go back to sleep.”

Chandra frowned. “Is there anything we can do?”

The reality of the situation sank in. “No, there’s not. We all need our rest for training and what comes next. If something changes, I’ll wake you and let you know.”

Kari yawned. “Thank gods.” She covered herself up and lay gently back on the bed, trying not to wake Reece.

“Do you want us to go with you?” Echo asked and stepped into the room, hitting the side of the table. He was huge and took up all the space between the pantry and the table.

“Stay here with them, please, in case something happens here.” I scurried to the door and paused as I grabbed the handle. “I’m running next door.”

Fury walked onto the porch with me. “I want to stay out here for a bit. I thought something was wrong, and I needed a moment to calm down before going back to bed.”

I couldn’t blame her. Most of the time lately, I was running on adrenaline. I had a feeling that whenever things calmed for us, I would crash for a month to catch up on sleep and everything I’d neglected physically.

Tapping into my dragon, I ran to the edge of the porch opposite the stairs and jumped over the railing. I dropped, my feet hitting the grass, and took off running.

The hairs on the nape of my neck rose as I considered what might happen next. The front door was open, and I could hear shuffling in the house.

“We’ve got togo,” Saphira said loudly as I took the stairs two at a time. “They’re going to hurt Wyvern!” The last word took on a hysterical edge.

“Saphira—” Thorn said slowly as I stepped into the doorway.

“No!” Saphira stood in front of the sofa bed, shoving Thorn into the kitchen table behind him. The table groaned across the wood floor and slammed the wall, shaking it. “You don’t get toSaphirame. We’re getting in the car and goingnow.”

Vlad and Cassidy stood between the table and the stove. They grabbed the table, trying to hold it in place, blocking Rex and Opal from coming into the room. They were stuck at the door.

Grunting, Saphira grabbed Thorn’s arms. Pain prickled through our fated-mate connection, and my dragon roared.

I barreled toward her, grabbed her arm, then yanked her away from my mate. Every cell in me was on fire, wanting to teach her a lesson, but the part that loved her like a sister surged forward and asked me how I’d feel if Thorn were in a similar situation.

I’d done many stupid things in the name of protecting him, and as much as I wanted to rip her head off for hurting my mate, she was going through the same thing trying to get to hers.

Her pupils were slitted, and her hands shook as she kept her hold on Thorn. I’d suspected that Wyvern was her mate by the way they responded to each other, and this confirmed it.

“Saphira, donottouch my mate like that again, or you won’t be able to walk to the car,” I snarled, my dragon leaking through. What I wanted to do to her was way worse than this, so I counted my blessings for the control I had.

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