Page 191 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)
AUDREY
Relief rushed through me as I sagged back against the flagstones and swept my gaze over the courtyard. With Sterling dead, the snake monsters burst into smoke and vanished and the grimalkins paused mid-fight and shook their heads. Cyrus took advantage of the distraction and killed the grimalkin in front of him, spurring on the others who made short work of the remaining beasts.
Thank, God. It was over.
The medics that had been standing at the edge of the battle, rushed to treat the injured, one heading toward Bishop, who waved him away before taking off his clothes and shifting into his wolf.
Healing his injuries while shifting would drain him, but it meant he wasn’t tying up a medic. Knox, who’d fought as a wolf, shifted to his human form to heal and together they walked toward me.
I could feel their love and worry for me rushing through our mating bonds, and my heart swelled with joy. Mine. They were mine.
With that thought, I reached out with the dark magic, searching for signs of the horrible poison. All three of my guys had been poisoned, but before I could freeze in fear, the magic dove into their bodies and, drawing a scream from all three of them, ripped the poison out.
They were safe and it was over.
Finally.
Except the dark magic inside me didn’t settle after removing the poison, it grew stronger and stronger, whirling in and around me, stealing my breath.
My stomach cramped and I dropped to my knees. Bile burned up my throat and across my tongue, and I heaved forward, black smoke pouring out of my mouth.
Panic raced through my mating bonds, but I could barely sense it with the dark magic roaring through me.
“Get a medic!” Knox yelled.
He raced to my side, dropped to his knees, and pulled me into his arms. Desperation filled his wolf-darkened gaze, and his alpha power stuttered against my power as he fought to stay in control and not go feral.
Audrey, Bishop said in my head as he pressed his wet nose against my bare thigh.
I could tell he wanted to hold me as well, needed the physical contact to calm his wolf, but knew he couldn’t crowd me. The medic needed space to help me and Bishop couldn’t take me away from Knox who’d completely lose it if he wasn’t holding me.
A second later, Cyrus skidded to a stop beside us, his eyes so dark I wasn’t sure who was in control of his body, the human or the wolf. He brushed my hair away from my face as he made space for a medic who thankfully knew enough to not take me from Knox.
I gasped for air, the dark magic growing stronger and stronger and a heavy exhaustion dragging on my limbs. My back heaved, and I vomited up more smoke and bile half onto the ground and half into Cyrus’s lap.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said, not caring about the mess.
“She’s bumped her head and has a whole bunch of lacerations that need bandaging,” the medic said. “But that doesn’t explain the smoke.”
“Something has to explain it,” Knox snarled.
“It’s the darkness inside her,” Whil said, nudging the medic out of the way and placing a hand on my forehead, as the medic started binding my wounds. “This close to Tzanagoth’s resting place, I can tell the dark magic is his, and it’s rushing into her.”
“How is it rushing into her?” Cyrus demanded.
“The tether is also gone,” Whil replied. “We suspected it was connected to Sterling and now that he’s dead all of Tzanagoth’s power is pouring into Audrey.”
My stomach cramped and I bit back a moan. The guys flickered in and out of focus, and I struggled to keep my eyes open.
If she’s getting all of Tzanagoth’s power… Bishop said.
“Then the curse on the realm is putting her to sleep,” Whil finished.
“You don’t know that,” Knox snarled.
“She’s already on the verge of passing out,” Cyrus snapped back then turned to Whil. “Do something. Save her.”
“I can’t. I’m not strong enough and there isn’t anyone in our realm who is,” Whil replied.
I raised a trembling hand to caress Knox’s cheek but couldn’t lift it high enough before the exhaustion dragged it back down. “It’ll be okay.”
“Nothing will be okay.” His voice cracked and my heart broke for him.
He hadn’t wanted a mate in the first place and I’d accidentally bound myself to him— No, fate had bound us together. It hadn’t been an accident at all. Except now I could feel in my soul that living without me, even if I was in a coma, would shatter him.
His grip around me tightened. “I can’t lose you.”
Bishop whimpered and Cyrus raked his hands through his hair.
“If you can get to Faerie, you can find a sorcerer strong enough to save you,” Whil told me. “But that means I have to open a rip.”
My gaze slowly dragged up past Cyrus’s shoulder to the far side of the courtyard, searching for the rip. Last I’d seen it, it was too thin for us to go through without us touching the sides and turning to ash. Whil would need to use her magic to widen it, but surely that was easier than creating a new one. But even as I searched for it, I knew the telltale shimmer was gone. It had died with Sterling.
Do you have enough power to open a rip? Bishop asked. I’m sure you thought about it in the past and you’re still trapped in this realm.
Sadness filled Whil’s expression. “I’ve figured out how Sterling opened the first rip, but?—”
But she needed an incomplete mating bond to do it. That was the toll Sterling had made me pay the first time and it had to be the toll now. Except I’d never ask someone to bond with me or anyone else just to create a rip between realms.
“I’ll do it,” Cyrus said. “I’ll bond with Audrey.”
My soul soared at his words even as my heart plummeted. He was my mate. We were meant to be together, but I couldn’t let him bond with me, no matter how much I wanted it.
And I sure as hell didn’t want him mate bonding with me because he felt it was his duty. I wanted him to love me like I loved him.
“No,” I said, trying to sound firm and failing, my voice coming out breathy and weak. “If Whil can’t make a rip and I fall asleep, you won’t be able to seal the bond. You’ll go crazy.”
“I don’t care about that,” he said.
“And if she can open a rip and we can’t get back?” I asked. “What then?”
“You’re not going through the rip without me,” he snarled.
“You can’t, the pack needs you.” Why was he being so insistent? He couldn’t just abandon his pack.
“But I need you .” He cupped my cheeks with his palms, forcing me to look at him. “I’ve given up a lot of things for my pack, put myself last my entire life, but I won’t give up you. I can’t.”
The heat from his touch seared through my skin, raced down my neck, and swelled around my heart.
Mine. He was mine.
The warmth of our shifter connection was as strong as my connection with Bishop and Knox.
“I love you,” he said. “I’ve loved you from the first moment you woke in the Residence terrified of me, a spark of defiance in your eyes.” He squeezed his eyes shut, and a single tear released and trailed down his cheek. “You’re my mate, Audrey. You’ve always been.”
My heart sang as my soul wept.
It was too late… but it was better this way.
If he didn’t bond with me, he was safe. He wouldn’t die from a broken heart or go crazy. There was no guarantee that Whil could make the rip or that we’d be able to find a fae sorcerer who could help us.
Cyrus turned to Whil. “I’m bonding with Audrey and you’re making a rip.” His attention jumped back to me. “I can’t live without you. Please. Let me do this for you. Take me as your mate.”
My throat tightened. It was clear in his eyes that he wouldn’t take no for an answer and I didn’t want to tell him no. I wanted to say yes, wanted to yell it so everyone could hear that my soul was finally fully complete. Cyrus was mine. It was fate and I didn’t want to run away from it.
“Yes,” I told him, my voice barely a whisper. “I accept your bond.”
Joy filled his expression, and he brushed his lips against mine in a soft, quick, heartbreaking kiss.
“It could be a one-way trip,” Whil warned. “I’ve done the research and there’s something about the gods’ power that’s unique to them that the curse gloms onto. The gates to this realm are safe to open, but if the Fae elders refuse to unlock them or you can’t find someone who can create another rip, you won’t be able to return.”
So be it, Bishop said.
“ We won’t return—?” I asked. Whil wasn’t including herself. “Whil, this is a chance to go to Faerie. You can finally go home.”
Whil’s expression softened and she took my hand. “I know. For a long time, I wanted to go back, wanted to talk to and be with other fae, but I can’t leave Stonehaven. This pack is my family. There are so many people here I love and care for. In Faerie, I’m barely a sorcerer, but here, my sorcerer ability doesn’t matter.”
I weakly squeezed her hand, understanding how she felt. I needed to be helpful, too. I hadn’t realized how much I wanted a pack until I’d stumbled into this realm. Now that I had one with people who I knew in my soul I needed to protect, I didn’t want to leave.
But I also didn’t want to fall asleep and never wake up, and I didn’t know how me being in a coma would affect Bishop and Knox. Would they be fine or would they slowly start to go crazy as if their mating bonds were dying?