Page 17 of Bound to Four Alphas (Silverthorn Alphas #1)

They had been traveling for two weeks, keeping to the wide paved roads that meandered through the forest. More and more reports were coming in of Silverthorn soldiers following them, setting traps, stalking them on their journey. Ronan had wanted to travel directly through the trees, but given several members of his pack, Kaelen’s dragons, and several Fae wanted to accompany them, it quickly became apparent that a more measured approach was necessary. The wide roads were easier to defend.

It didn’t stop him from spending most of his time in his wolf skin, pacing next to her pretty dappled mare, his eyes permanently fixed on the road ahead, scouting for danger.

Malek too was rarely in his human form as he spent most of his time weaving through the undergrowth, butchering any small nightmares that came sniffing, hunting for any sign of Damien or his soldiers, often coming back with various body parts of soldiers from failed attacks. Kaelen began and ended each day by shifting and patrolling the area for an hour, joining the young alpha dragons he had ordered to constantly keep guard from the skies.

That meant she spent most of the day in conversation with Elian, who rode a beautiful red stallion and seemed utterly unperturbed by the prospect of any danger that might come their way. Instead, he kept her distracted with story after story about the Marble Halls, and Selena found herself eager to see them with her own eyes.

The cut on her lip was gone, as was the bruise, thanks to Elian’s healing powers. But she could still feel it, the phantom ache of the small injury.

“She’s a pretty little thing,” another voice behind her called out, “been a while since I’ve fucked an omega.”

“Hands off,” the man holding her still growled. “Our orders are to transport her unharmed and untouched to the edge of the forest. Besides, she’s already been taken by those filthy shifters, do you really want to sully yourself with such a dirty whore?”

The insult. The voices. The memory of the villagers dragging her into the forest for sacrifice hit her like a wave.

But this time, she wasn’t bound with rope.

She bit down on the hand covering her mouth, her mouth filling with the earthy taste of leather, and the man shrieked and dropped her.

“The little bitch just bit me!”

She didn’t pause. Scrambling to the fireplace, she pulled the iron poker from its stand and whirled around, grasping it with both hands like a sword, waving it from side to side to ward off her attackers.

Five men. Five alpha men, against her. She gritted her teeth. Now wasn’t the time to run the odds. She just had to get out of this room, get downstairs. The door was bolted. But if she was fast, perhaps she could distract them for long enough to—

“Well, well, well.” The man whose hand she had bitten swaggered forwards, his hand on the sword at his side. “Seems like you’ve got spirit after all. Come on now, darling, put it down. You’ll only hurt yourself.”

“Back off,” she snarled, pointing the poker at him.

The man laughed, taking another mocking step closer. She moved back, her skirts brushing against the stone wall. She was cornered.

“Look, sweetheart, this’ll be so much easier if you just—”

She launched forward, bringing the poker in a great sweeping arc above her head and striking the man in the arm. He roared in shock and reared back, but she had but too much force in her swing, the momentum carrying her forward.

“Bitch,” he hissed, grasping the poker with his other arm and wrenching it from her grasp, letting it fall to the floor with a clatter.

They were circling her now, one man coming up behind her, getting closer and closer.

She took her chance. Bolting to the door, she just got her hands on the heavy iron lock when she was yanked backwards, a heavy palm connecting sharply with her mouth and sending her tumbling to the floor with a moan of pain.

“Idiot, I said not to hurt her!”

“She was going to escape!”

“You didn’t need to strike her!”

Selena wobbled to her knees, choking back the tears that threatened to fall. Was this it? After only one week, she was going to be taken from her mates?

Her mates. A long whine escaped her. She wanted her mates. Where were they?

“Come on, we’ve already wasted enough time, get her to the window, and for fuck’s sake, this time don’t—”

A pounding on the door, so forceful that dust clouded from its edges, stopped the men in their tracks.

Selena nearly wept. They were here.

“Selena?” Elian’s voice was full of concern, his horse nudging closer as he leaned over to brush a thumb over her cheek, “Are you alright?”

She forced herself to nod, giving him a small smile, but she could tell he wasn’t convinced. His jaw worked, anger flashing in his eyes.

“We won’t let them take you again,” he said, his voice full of dark promise. “You’re safe. I promise you, you’re safe.”

She nodded again, not knowing what to say. She believed him, of course she believed that they would do everything in their power to protect her. But things happened, unpredictable things. Malek had managed to be distracted, a fact which she knew he was killing himself over, but it didn’t diminish the fact that any one of them could be forced away from her. And then she would be vulnerable.

All this talk about her being some Omega of Prophecy, sent by the Forest God himself, all it had done was paint an enormous target on her back. She had asked about the magical power she supposedly carried, of course she had. But neither her mates nor the priestesses had any more information on how she could actually use it. She was utterly defenseless. She didn’t even have the luxury of the superior senses that her mates were blessed with.

She might be an omega, but she was woefully and completely human.

And by all accounts, from Ronan, from messengers, from the priestesses, the Silverthorn Kingdom had some kind of secret weapon that was capable of destroying anything in its path. What hope did her mates have against something like that? What hope did she have?

There was a great beating of wings, and she glanced up. It was Kaelen, returning from his evening patrol, the dying rays of sunlight gleaming off his golden scales. He landed a few hundred feet away and Ronan’s ears flicked forward, as if listening.

“We’ll camp there for the night,” he growled, his wolf-voice deep and sonorous.

There was a flurry of activity by the time they reached the clearing, the young dragon shifters shooting down from the sky in blurs of blue and green. Iveir was with them; he had refused to return to the dragon’s territory after what had happened to Selena. No matter how many times she had said it wasn’t his fault, the older male had taken a large portion of the blame for leaving her alone with Malek in the gardens in the first place.

He was currently overseeing the construction of camp, wolves and Fae alike building tents as the dragons deposited their various kills for dinner next to great roaring fires. Kaelen was back in his human skin and ran to her side, lifting her with ease from the horse and carrying her towards one of the fires.

“I can walk, you know,” she said, but it lacked any real bite. Ever since the attack, her omega had effectively squashed most of her stubbornness, and she only ever felt truly calm when she was in the arms of one of her mates.

“I know,” he replied, his voice gravelly and tired. “Let me hold you anyway.”

It seemed she wasn’t the only one desperate for physical closeness.

“Kaelen,” Elian came over holding the reins of both horses. “You know we won’t be able to bring all these people into Fae territory. Phaendar won’t like it. We’ll have to leave them at the border and continue with just the five of us and the Fae from the Benellane Court. Once we reach the Marble Halls, I can send word and have them join us.”

Kaelen’s jaw stiffened, but he nodded curtly. “Discuss it with Ronan. I suspect he’ll have some doubts.”

Elian nodded and leaned down to press a kiss to Selena’s forehead before making his way to the group of wolves circling the camp.

Kaelen settled down on one of the shaggy furs that had been arranged around the fire, positioning Selena so that she was nestled between his legs with her head resting against his chest.

She closed her eyes, breathing in his scent, tempted to go to sleep then and there. Ever since the attack she had been so tired. It was probably the stress, the constant worry of attack, the fear for the safety of her mates.

“You need to eat before you sleep,” said Kaelen, though his voice sounded almost as exhausted as hers.

“So do you,” she replied, taking one of his huge hands in both of hers, running her fingers over the calluses on his palm.

He shuddered at the touch, his face dropping low to hers, a spark like lightning shooting between them. The air was suddenly thick, heavy with expectation, and Selena’s core clenched.

She hadn’t done anything more than kiss any of them since her heat. There was the constant threat of danger, of course, not to mention the lack of privacy in a camp such as this. But there was also the nagging feeling deep in her belly that taking them to her bed when not addled by heat was somehow different. Her choosing them, as opposed to just her omega choosing them.

They had all seemed far too distracted to try and initiate anything, and she knew they wouldn’t unless she was willing, but there had been more and more moments like this one. Heated exchanges, looks filled with lustful intention. It seemed like it was only a matter of time.

The spell was broken by Ronan appearing with a skinned deer carcass ready to roast on the spit. Selena watched, her stomach growling, as he skewered it with a length of metal, a small dribble of blood hissing on the fire below.

Her mind went blank.

Blood.

How long had it been since she was sacrificed? How long since her heat broke?

Two weeks.

She hadn’t bled.

She was late by a whole week.

Her whole body went numb with shock, and she dropped Kaelen’s hand. He leaned back in surprise to look at her face, but went tense when he saw her expression.

“Selena? What is it?”

Her eyes darted to Ronan, who was looking at her with similar worry.

“Ronan,” she whispered, “I need you to scent me.”

“Scent you? What do you mean, I can smell you from here—”

“Please,” she whispered, climbing out of Kaelen’s lap despite his whine of protest. “Please, just … scent me?”

He handed the deer over to another wolf, cautiously closing the distance between them with a wary expression. She tilted her head to the side, allowing him to drop his nose to the exposed skin.

He sniffed a few times, his hands coming up to hold her hips, his brow furrowed.

“I don’t get it, what am I supposed to be able to—”

His whole body tensed, eyes widening as he pulled back. He scented her again, then a third time. Panic welled in her stomach.

Ronan staggered a few steps back, his face taut. “You’re … you’re…”

“I’m pregnant.”