Page 136 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)

CYRUS

Audrey woke with a sharp gasp, jerked upright, and pressed her hands over her heart, her eyes wide.

“Audrey.” I scrambled to my feet to get to her on the other side of the campfire. I didn’t know what had shocked her awake — probably a bad dream — all I knew was that I had to reassure her. Her other mates were still unconscious which meant it was up to me?—

My thoughts stuttered at that.

Not other mates.

That would imply I was also her mate.

Her mates were still asleep. She only had two.

Whil sat up as well, though not nearly as quick to react as me. Still, she was closer. She’d been dozing close to the three of them since she and I had given Bishop his late-night dose of elixir. I should let her comfort Audrey or whatever the hell she needed.

But my wolf was determined and there was no way I was going to be able to fight the compulsion.

“Oh, my,” Whil gasped as she squinted at Audrey with her head cocked to the side.

“Oh my, what?” I asked as I reached for Audrey. “Audrey, what?”

So far neither Audrey nor Whil looked upset, suggesting nothing horrible had happened to Bishop, but still— They were both stunned.

“Audrey,” I pressed, capturing her chin with my fingers and forcing her to look at me, my pulse racing. Was she hurt and too stunned to register it or had something else happened? “What?”

“I…” Myriad emotions flashed across her expression: confusion, longing, shock before setting on nervous and she pulled away from my touch.

My wolf snarled at the loss of contact, especially because it looked like she was afraid of us, but I managed to stay where I was and crossed my arms so I wouldn’t touch her again.

But then I realized that made me look angry at her.

I dropped my arms to my side but that didn’t feel right, either.

Fuck. How was Bishop always so relaxed around her? If I was courting her, I’d be holding her tight and never letting her go, which of course, would only piss her off and damage her grown confidence and desire for independence.

Fuck fuck fuck.

“I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised,” Whil said.

“Surprised about what!” I barked, my power snapping out of my control and waking Knox and Deacon who both tensed, ready for danger.

I hated surprises. I couldn’t protect her if there was something I didn’t know. Everything within me screamed that I needed to fix whatever had happened. Now now now.

Whil flashed me a bittersweet smile. “She just mate bonded with Bishop.”

“She—” I wrenched my attention back to Audrey, who was shrinking in on herself before Knox wrapped his arms around her and tugged her close. “You?—”

How could she have mate bonded with him? He wasn’t even conscious and I’d been on watch for the second half of the night. I would have noticed if Bishop had woken up.

Well, if I hadn’t believed in fated mates before, I do now,” Deacon said in my head, his wolf chuffing with wolfy laughter.

“That’s impossible,” I spat out, still stunned.

Shit. I hadn’t meant to say that.

Just because we thought her mating bond with Knox formed because of her incomplete bond didn’t mean that was what really happened.

In fact, she’d already proven that deep down, locked away — possibly for good — were strong alpha powers. She was an alpha, and that could mean with the curse she had all of the downsides and none of the advantages. She could have mate bonded with Knox and Bishop because she needed to. At her power level, she’d need three mates at the minimum to get her through a heat without her developing a fever.

Except bonding with Bishop now was a disaster. She was in even more danger than before and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

“I didn’t mean to,” she said, her voice soft but her spine straightening. “But I don’t regret it.”

“Of course you meant it,” Knox growled, glaring at me. “You and Bishop are meant to be mates.”

“But if we can’t save Bishop, you’ll die,” I snapped.

“I’ll keep her safe,” Knox snarled back.

“You’ll be fucking insane!” More of my power stuttered out of control and Audrey winced but didn’t shrink in on herself like before.

Fuck. I hadn’t meant to say any of that, either.

Sisters, I needed to stop talking. I’d been certain their bond had already been forming when she’d stood her ground and somehow awakened her alpha power to defy me and stay by his side. I should have expected that she wouldn’t need the formal declaration to awaken the magic in a shifter’s soul that created mating bonds.

Why the hell was I freaking out about it?

But the thought of losing my brothers and Audrey made my heart race. Yes, I was determined to save Bishop, but I couldn’t guarantee it. Not everything was in my control — no matter how hard I tried to control everything.

Hell, at the moment, it looked like any control I possessed was pure fantasy.

“It still needs to be sealed,” Whil said to Audrey. “But we’re only four or five days away from the pool. I’d suggest waiting until we’re back in Stonehaven and have more privacy, but that’s probably not reasonable with how your incomplete bond with Knox set off your heat.”

Audrey’s eyes widened and her breath picked up as panic tightened her expression. “You mean I could go into heat again even though it’s only been about three weeks since my last one and I’m not supposed to have my next one for another five months?”

“A strong mating bond can set off an early heat,” Whil said, not easing any of Audrey’s fears.

My pulse lurched. I couldn’t let her go into heat again in the middle of nowhere. Sure, she wouldn’t put off dealing with it like the last time, but the chances of her having heat fever again with her alpha power level and only one conscious mate, me, and Deacon to help were too high — since non-bonded mates weren’t as effective at keeping the heat fever at bay.

Everything that could go wrong with Audrey had, and she could still end up in the same dangerous situation she’d been in with her first heat because of her incomplete bond with Bishop.

And fuck me, the signs of her heat had started showing her first night in Stonehaven, two days after we’d found her. With her luck, it would hit just as fast and harder now.

Fear squeezed around my heart. If Bishop died, she wouldn’t be able to seal her bond. Would she end up stuck in a heat fever until it killed her?

“Bishop and I will get you through it,” Knox reassured her, nuzzling her neck in an attempt to get her to relax.

Except that was only if her heat didn’t start until after we reached the pool and if Bishop survived.

But you can help, my wolf snarled at me. Like you did last time.

Still a terrible option, I huffed back. We’re not going to be able to walk away from her and that makes her a target. We can’t be with her until the pack can see her for who she really is.

And then?

The memory of being captured in her gaze when I’d lifted her out of the cast last night flashed through me. She’d been so soft and warm, and her sweet scent had enveloped me, seeping into my soul. The urge to kiss her had been overwhelming and it hadn’t just come from my wolf. I wanted to wrap myself around her, plunge inside her, and bind my soul to hers.

She was mine. She’d always be mine.

I just needed to be patient and wait for my pack to fall in love with her, too. Then I’d be free to court her.

Except I was a disaster at courting women. I didn’t know what to say and my responsibilities to the pack took up a lot of my time.

But even that thought couldn’t snuff out the tiny spark that had ignited in my soul at the idea that one day Audrey could be my mate.

I ached for her smile, her caress… her everything, and I’d been torturing myself by trying to make her hate me while keeping my distance from her.

It had taken everything within me to not look at her or stand close to her when I’d shown her to the community center for Nova’s first aid class the other day, and my control had slipped when I’d had to ensure the room was safe for her.

I hadn’t been happy that Danica and her followers were in the class but knew Zavier and Quinn would protect Audrey. Micah and Hazel wouldn’t have been as aggressive in Audrey’s defense as Zavier or even Quinn, but they, too, would have stood up for her.

I wasn’t going to last until everyone in my pack had gotten their heads out of their asses. Except I had to, especially if it had been a member of my pack who’d tried to murder Audrey… a thought that made me furious and one I really didn’t want to accept.

I couldn’t believe that anyone in my pack was capable of murdering the mate of one of their alphas. They had to know Knox would go feral and we’d never get him back if Audrey died. Not to mention if Knox lost it, there was a chance Bishop would lose it, too.

Were there members who were so disgruntled with our leadership that they wanted to destroy us?

If so, they had to be serious in their hate, enough to get an extremely rare magic poison.

Was it one person? More?

I shoved those thoughts aside. So far there was no proof the man who’d attacked Audrey and Bishop had been a pack member, and there was nothing I could do about it right now. I had to get Bishop to the pool and save him then pretend to not know when he and Audrey sealed their bond and not be jealous about it. Which was another impossibility I doubted I’d be able to control.

When we got back, I’d ensure Audrey was safe, even if I had to be by her side all day every day… except that could only happen if she didn’t go into heat and if Bishop survived and sealed their bond.