Page 52 of Ensnared by the Pack: The Complete Series (Destined Realms #3)

AUDREY

Snarls and yips of pain and Cyrus cursing jerked me into sudden awareness. My pulse leaped into a quick, frightened beat, and my attention jumped to the darkness beyond the illumination of our small campfire toward the cave’s entrance where the sounds were coming from. But I couldn’t see anything and had no idea what was actually going on.

“It’ll be all right,” Bishop said, sliding me out of his lap. “Stay here.”

I nodded, still dazed from sleep, as he hurried to the mouth of the cave, claws extending from his fingers. But he didn’t rush out to help the others. He stopped at the edge of the firelight, slightly crouched, ready for an attack. He was guarding me. Except from the sounds of Knox’s low-pitched snarls and barks and Cyrus’s grunts of exertion and pain, they needed his help.

I grabbed a piece of firewood and stood, putting the fire between me and whatever was out there.

“Bishop,” I hissed, grabbing his attention. His eyes widened at me holding my makeshift club then he jerked his gaze back to the darkness but didn’t move from his position at the entrance. “Go help.”

“They’re fine,” he said, not sounding like he believed himself. “I won’t leave you defenseless.”

A wolf howled in pain and Bishop’s back tensed. Fear swept cold and hard into my gut and everything within me said I had to go, help, save my mate. But I knew I’d only get in the way if I ran out there, which meant it was up to Bishop.

“Go. I’m not defenseless,” I insisted, even though I pretty much was, especially if it were grimalkins out there. Back in Stonehaven, my club hadn’t even made the grimalkin pause let alone stop it, and I doubted this piece of wood would do much better even though it was a little thicker. Still, the things yipping in the darkness didn’t sound like the grimalkins I’d heard before. The cries that clearly weren’t from a wolf were too high pitched, which meant it could be something smaller. And that meant my club might actually be useful.

The wolf howled again and Cyrus roared. My pulse tripped and my soul screamed at me. My mates were dying. They needed help. I had to help them. I had to do something… and that something was to convince Bishop I was safe enough without him.

“For fuck’s sake, go,” I snapped. “I’ll scream if something gets past you.”

His body trembled, his expression torn, which didn’t make sense. Sure, he might feel an obligation to protect me even though I was a stranger, but his brothers were out there, and they needed him.

Unless he felt something more than an obligation toward me.

His soul steadied mine like no one else’s. That meant we had a connection, something deeper than just friends who’d met a few days ago. Maybe he really did care. And maybe that was just what I wanted to believe.

And none of it mattered if Knox died because the mate bond would kill me or drive me insane.

“Bishop, please.” Fear and desperation pounded through me, thu-thudding with my racing heart. “Help them!”

Bishop stiffened, his eyes widening for a second, then he leaped into the darkness.

The yips and snarls increased along with the grunts and growls from the guys. Someone, probably Cyrus, roared an inarticulate battle cry and something heavy landed with a wet thud near the mouth of the cave.

I tightened my grip on my club, my palms sweaty with fear, my eyes locked in the direction of the entrance. Standing behind the fire made me an obvious target and made it harder for me to see into the darkness, but it was also a small line of defense against anything rushing inside.

The wolf howled again, the sound sharp with pain, and my pulse lurched.

Oh, God.

Knox might hate me for accidentally trapping him in a mating bond and could have handled our situation better — although if he’d been kinder to me it would have been harder to resist the bond’s compulsion to have sex — but I didn’t want to see him hurt or dead. I didn’t want to see any of them hurt or dead. I needed them so I could survive in this realm, at least until I got my bearings.

Except it was more than that. There was something about these men that drew me to them, called to me. I thought it was because the bond and my heat were making me horny and they were handsome, or because Bishop was kind to me, but there was something else, something more?—

Something that was just my imagination. I was afraid to be left alone in the wilderness. If the guys couldn’t survive out here, I didn’t stand a chance. That was all. I already knew my emotions were a mess. I was mistaking my dependence on them for something deeper, something that didn’t exist.

It was just the bond messing with my emotions. Just the bond. Once it was broken or sealed I’d feel the way I was supposed to feel toward them: grateful that they’d helped me and hopeful that maybe Bishop and I could be friends.

Cyrus roared again and the yips grew softer and softer as if whatever had attacked us was running away. Then the guys’ footsteps drew closer and I blew out a relieved breath. Except they stopped before stepping into the light, making me tense all over again. Was the fight not over?

“You’re not fine and no you’re not just sleeping it off,” Cyrus said, followed by a pause where I didn’t hear a response, which meant he had to be talking with Knox who could only speak telepathically in his wolf form. “I know you’re hurt worse than that. Now get in here and shift so we can tell if you need an elixir or not.” Cyrus growled, the sound low and dangerous. “You know exactly how big the cave is and I don’t fucking care,” he snapped, his tone exasperated. “I said get in here and shift!”

A massive wave of Cyrus’s power pounded over me, bringing me to my knees, stronger than anything I’d felt from him or the others before.

It crushed around my heart demanding obedience. I needed to shift. I had to.

Maybe my wolf hadn’t woken because Merrick hadn’t been my true alpha.

But the pressure of Cyrus’s power kept building, stealing my breath until black spots danced across my vision and nothing else happened.

Through my darkening vision, I saw Bishop help Knox stagger into the cave, his body starting as his massive wolf, blood dark and shiny in his fur, before melting into his human form. He was still bleeding from a collection of claw marks over his thigh and back even though shifting helped a shifter’s body heal, which told me just how bad that fight had been.

The pressure from Cyrus’s power vanished and, still gasping for breath, I crawled the few feet to my pack and grabbed my first aid kit.

“Here,” I called out, holding up the kit, ready to throw it to them, as Knox sagged to the ground near the fire and lay on his stomach.

Cyrus’s eyes narrowed. “Do you know first aid?”

“The basics,” I replied.

“Okay, good.” He gave a tight nod, his response surprising me. I’d expected him to huff at that. I couldn’t do anything else. Why would I be able to do basic first aid?

But come on. Clean the wounds, which they already were because the magic that let shifters shift destroyed everything — clothes, jewelry, and grime — check to see if any of the cuts needed stitches, which they probably wouldn’t because his shift had already partially healed them, then apply bandages to keep the bleeding to a minimum until he had the strength to shift again. It wasn’t brain surgery.

“Bishop, determine if he needs an elixir then guard the entrance,” Cyrus continued. “Audrey, patch up the worst cuts. And you—” He turned his glare to Knox. “You’re still bleeding so it’s bad enough. Don’t you dare shift until morning or you’ll be useless all day tomorrow.”

I’ll be useless all night if I don’t shift back, Knox growled. Now it was his turn to surprise me for including me in his telepathic communication with Cyrus.

“Better tonight while we’re in one place than tomorrow when we need to move.”

I can handle it. She doesn’t need to bother.

Ah. He’d included me because he didn’t want me touching him. My chest tightened at that, even as my core heated with desire.

Yeah, it stung that he didn’t want my help, but if he was feeling half of what I was feeling, it might be difficult to ignore the compulsion from our bond even if he was injured and I was sore and exhausted. That was why he’d been keeping out of sight and joining his brothers at the campfire after I’d fallen asleep.

“No.” Another wave of Cyrus’s power hit me and I collapsed to the ground beside Knox.

“Would you please stop,” I gasped.

The power vanished and I drew in as many deep breaths as I could as fast as I could, afraid Cyrus would unleash his power again.

“I’m going out to make sure they haven’t double backed, which leaves Bishop to make sure you’re protected, and Audrey to patch you up to slow the bleeding.” Cyrus glared at Knox his expression clear that if Knox didn’t obey, he wouldn’t hesitate to use his power again and make him fully submit even if it flattened me. “I don’t want your shift in the morning to take any more energy than necessary. There could be more jackals in the area, so suck it up.”

With a snarl, Cyrus yanked off his clothes and marched away, his body melting into a massive black wolf, just like Knox, before he disappeared into the darkness.

“Fuck you,” Knox snarled at Cyrus’s retreating form.

“Well, you’re clearly not in dire straits so you don’t need an elixir.” Bishop turned his warm gaze to me, the firelight flickering in his eyes mesmerizing me and tugging at that something inside me that I only felt because I’d been afraid they were going to die and I was going to be left alone, not because there was actually something between us. “If he takes a serious turn for the worse, call me.”

He returned to the mouth of the cave and I moved to Knox’s side, my gaze sliding over his body. He, like Bishop, wasn’t as broad as Cyrus and his muscles weren’t as bulky, but even bleeding, his back and ass were beautiful. He was all sculpted, sleek muscles, just like the Knox in my dreams. Even his hair was similar to my dreams. It was the same color and length as Bishop’s except without the braids at his temples to keep it out of his face.

“Can we just get this over with?” he grumbled, turning his head to face the fire.

I wrenched my attention up, heat burning my cheeks from being caught staring at his ass but froze when I got a good look at him.

“Your face—” He looked exactly like my dream-Knox, a darker, more intense version of Bishop. It wasn’t just that there were similarities because they were brothers, they were identical. Twins. They had to be.

“There’s nothing wrong with my face.”

“No, I mean. I didn’t realize you and Bishop were twins,” I said like an idiot, because of course I hadn’t known they were twins. I hadn’t seen Knox in his human form before.

I opened my first aid kit stunned that my dream-Knox was lying before me. I hadn’t known what Knox had looked like and my subconscious had created an angrier version of Bishop. It was just ironic that what I’d imagined had been so close to reality.

Except it was closer than reality. It was as if I was looking at the man from my dreams down to the nuance of his expression and the intensity in his eyes. How could I have possibly imagined him in such perfect detail?

“Let me guess,” he said, rolling his eyes at me. “In your realm twins are evil or something.”

“What? No.” I pulled out a clean cloth and wiped away the blood that had been seeping from the deepest wound on his thigh.

“Then why the hell are you looking at me like that?” he demanded, a whisper of his enormous power rolling off him and his wolf darkening his eyes, a precursor to violence. “I can tell by your arousal that you’re attracted to Bishop, so it’s not because you think I’m hideous.”

“Well it’s… I, ah…”

Come on, think of something normal. Not embarrassing.

Except now all I could think about was how my dream-Knox possessed me and drove me to an incredible high again and again.

My cheeks burned and I locked my gaze on my cloth. Except his beautiful ass was in my line of sight.

“Well?” More of his power rolled over me, threatening to make me tell him whether I wanted to or not.

“I’ve been dreaming of you,” I blurted before he could force me.