Page 149 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)

AUDREY

“Tell me, please,” I begged, trying to will Bishop into consciousness. He had to live. The thought that this wouldn’t work, that we’d hiked as fast as we could and still failed was soul-crushing. It was worse than walking all the way to the death god’s temple and failing to break my bond with Knox.

Whil’s glow flickered bright for a second then completely vanished, and she collapsed against Deacon who held Bishop’s head above the water.

My pulse lurched. She was out of magic and Bishop still hadn’t woken up.

“No,” I insisted, “just a little more. Please, Whil.”

We were so close. Most of the veins had already sunk under his skin, but I could still see the poison lying like dark, horrific bruises under his flesh. She needed to get rid of all of it, every last stain to ensure he was safe.

My throat tightened and more tears streamed down my cheeks. If Bishop died, I didn’t think I’d ever stop crying.

More blue light snapped through the water, dancing over Bishop, wrapping around his torso before sinking into him.

He gasped and pain lanced through our bond as streaks of blue raced to each poisoned bruise. His muscles contracted, but Knox held on tight, stopping Bishop from hitting me in the face again.

“Come on, Bishop,” Knox growled. “Fight.”

The blue light glowed brighter than the bruises and spread until his entire body glowed and I could barely look at him.

The pain from our bond sparked, little zaps that made me jolt, but they were getting weaker and weaker.

Finally, with a brilliant flare of blue that forced me to close my eyes, the pain vanished.

“What—?” Bishop groaned, the words making my heart lurch with hope.

A second later, I realized the agony that had been a constant presence from the moment I’d bonded with Bishop was gone. All that remained was my relief and Knox’s.

My eyes flew open, locking with Bishop’s gaze and I was falling, falling, falling into a sea of warmth and love flecked with brilliant green stars.

“Audrey,” he breathed and a giant wave of love crashed into me.

I gasped, shocked that I could feel Bishop’s emotions so strongly before we’d even sealed our mating bond.

Then Knox’s relief and concern swelled, crushing inside me, swirling and churning with Bishop’s, becoming a giant whirling vortex. I was exhausted and confused and relieved and worried and afraid and everything at once.

It was too much. So much more than what I’d been fighting before.

I’d thought Knox’s emotions had been overwhelming, but this was a tsunami, inundating me from all sides. I couldn’t figure out what emotions were mine and which were theirs, unable to push through the onslaught from my mates.

I clutched my head as if that would help me focus and differentiate where they ended and I began, but their worry slammed into me, tearing at what little hold I had on myself.

The worry exploded into fear and someone reached for me, but I jerked away. I couldn’t let them touch me. Physical contact would only make it stronger.

I needed space. I needed to breathe. I needed all the emotions to stop before I lost myself completely.

“Audrey,” Knox growled, his fear roaring through me.

I pushed away from the slope, farther into the pool.

Get away get away get away.

Please.

“What’s wrong with her?” Cyrus demanded.

“She’s panicking but I don’t know why,” Knox replied as I fought to breathe and keep my head above the water.

More fear roared through me. I was going to drown, emotionally and physically, if I didn’t pull myself together.

But was that my emotion or Knox’s or Bishop’s?

I grasped onto the emotion and tried to concentrate on it but couldn’t tell where it had come from. Desperate, I tried to connect with my bonds. Maybe if I found them, I’d be able to tell which emotions were theirs, but I couldn’t find my bonds in the consuming vortex inside me.

My head dipped into the water, shattering my concentration, and the vortex whirled stronger.

No. Please.

I flailed, heaving myself up long enough to break the surface and suck in a quick breath, before dipping back under.

Nothing was working and now all I could feel was panic. It made me thrash even when a barely audible voice in the back of my head knew if I just stayed calm I could tread water.

But everything was happening so fast, crashing around me, crushing my insides, and?—

Strong hands grabbed me, hauled me up, and pinned me to a wide muscular chest. Heat swelled around my heart, my shifter connection latching on to whoever held me.

Except it was more than just a fellow shifter. The connection was strong and steady, drawing me out of the vortex of emotions for a second, long enough for me to find a spark of myself and cling to it. It was someone my soul aligned with as if he were a mate or family… except the connection wasn’t from Bishop or Knox.

“Can’t take you anywhere,” Cyrus rumbled and he cupped the back of my head with his hand and pressed my face into the crook of his neck, soothing me with his scent. “I should have asked if you could swim before I let you jump into the pool.”

“I can swim,” I groaned, hyperaware that I was completely naked and not caring that I was or that he didn’t want me the way my soul wanted him, the way our shifter connection said we belonged together.

He carried me back to the edge of the pool and lifted me out of the water, setting me on the edge before pulling away. Except the loss of our connection let the vortex of emotions crash over me, twice as strong as before.

“Bishop, Knox, you need to try to block your bonds,” Whil said with a weak voice.

“I’m not blocking my bond,” Knox snarled as he reached for me. “Never again.”

But the second he touched me, his emotions roared stronger, sending me spinning into darkness.

I heaved out of his grip, my heart breaking at the hurt in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I just— It’s so hard to concentrate.”

Cyrus hopped out of the water and clutched me to his chest again as I squeezed my eyes shut, sucking in ragged breaths and concentrating on the warmth around my heart from my shifter connection with him.

“I’m not letting you hold her all night,” Knox spat. “She’s my mate.”

“And right now, you’re overwhelming her with your bond,” Whil said.

Knox growled. “I wasn’t before. Not like this.”

“She didn’t have two mating bonds before,” Whil huffed back. “You don’t have to block it permanently, just until she can regain her bearings, and then you can carefully open it again. With both you and Bishop completely open to her, you’re flooding her with emotions. Audrey—” Small hands grasped mine and I cracked open one eye to look at Whil.

She looked exhausted, her complexion was gray, and all of her golden glow was gone.

“Once you find your center, restrict the flow of their emotions. Just enough so they stop overwhelming you.”

I nodded and leaned into Cyrus, needing all the steadiness I could get from his soul.

Slowly, the roar of emotions from Knox and Bishop eased, getting quieter and quieter until I could recognize my soul bonds with them and which emotions were theirs.

The heat around my heart grew and so did a warmth in my core. I was completely naked in Cyrus’s powerful arms, my body pressed against his naked, muscular chest, and my soul ached for him to recognize that we were meant to be together.

Which was not what I was supposed to be thinking about.

I dragged my attention away from him and concentrated on turning down the volume on both Knox’s and Bishop’s emotions.

“That’s it, beautiful,” Bishop murmured.

He stared at me, his love and desire surging through our incomplete bond, not overwhelming me like before, but igniting a suddenly wild, primal desire within me.

The sensation exploded through my body, searing my nerves, turning them instantly hypersensitive, and making my breasts and core ache. My breathing turned ragged, and I trembled in Cyrus’s grip, desire leaking from my core, my body instantly ready for what it wanted.