Page 11

Chapter Ten

Talia

T he vehicle moves towards a large house, illuminated by lights all around.

The outside of the house looks like it was built with large tree trunks, the dark red wood accented by dark grey accents around the windows and on the door.

It’s extremely tall, with windows at the top that go into a peak.

Despite the only houses I’ve ever seen being from the Croises approved list of movies I watched when I was younger, this house is by far one of the most beautiful houses I’ve ever seen.

The forest stretched out behind it is calm and peaceful with spots of lights dancing throughout.

That must be the rest of the pack houses, nestled in the trees behind this one.

There’s a large building off to our left that looks like it houses most of the vehicles.

It’s a dark grey colour, similar to the accents at the house, but the front has huge doors that move upwards instead of outwards.

The cars that were in front of us and behind us pull up there while we move closer to the house.

The moment the vehicle stops, the guys jump into a flurry of movement.

My heart jumps into hyper drive, the reality of where we are sinking in with every passing second.

My door opens suddenly with Wes standing there holding it, an awkward smile on his face.

I put on my brave face, not wanting any of the guys to feel like I can’t handle this moment.

For so long I’ve been made to feel weak and inferior, my every reaction and emotion judged then used against me.

It’s a habit to hide how I feel, to shut down any vulnerability that could be used against me.

Not that I believe my mates would do any of that, it’s just that I can’t stop being the person years of captivity have turned me into.

“Watch your step,” Wes murmurs softly, looking down at the ground as he holds his hand out for me.

“It rained recently so it’s a little muddy here. We don’t have typical asphalt out here for driveways or anything so we don’t attract too much human interest.”

“Thank you, Wes. I appreciate the help,” I respond, placing my hand gently in his and shivering with the touch.

Wes grimaces, pulling back at my touch as quickly as possible.

An ache blooms in my chest, his rejection of me punching me in the chest.

“You don’t have to touch me, it’s okay. If you don’t want to be bonded to me, you don’t have to be. I would never make someone do something they didn’t want to do.”

The words rush out my mouth, the need to reassure him that while it may hurt, I would never force our bond.

My entire life has been me being forced into things, no matter how I felt about them.

The thought of forcing this mating bond on any of the guys is enough to make me feel sick.

“No! No, no, no. That’s not— I just,” Wes stutters, falling over his words and grabbing the back of his neck with both hands.

“I’m guessing Penn told you about his visions.” At my nod, he continues.

“I also have a gift beyond that of a shifter. My gift is seeing and feeling impressions that have been left behind. The stronger the emotional reaction to a person, place, or situation, the stronger the impression left behind. It’s even stronger on living things. When I’m near you or touch you, I see all of it. Every single thing that those people did to you.”

"Oh,” I answer, my heart aching for a completely different reason now.

“Taking all of that in can be difficult for me. Having such a strong insight to other people’s lives makes it hard for me to connect with others. All I want to do is shut off my emotions so that I can compartmentalise what I see and feel,” Wes explains while twisting his fingers together in front of him and looking at me with a sheepish smile. “With you, I can’t do that. Our bond makes it hard for me to not only feel all of it, but to do so to the full extent so I can bear the burden of it with you. That said, old habits die hard so I pulled away from the strength of the impressions to preserve myself.”

My heart clenches at his inner torment, the need to ease his pain so strong I can't think straight. The magic inside of me instinctively knows what to do, so instead of fighting the innate parts of me, I let them take the lead.

Fix it. Soothe it. Heal it.

“Wes.” I breathe out deeply, pushing a smile onto my face because I believe that’s what he needs to see. “You don’t have to bear the burden of my past with me. Please don’t put yourself through all of that for some noble mate duty you think you have to me. You need to take care of yourself and I absolutely want you to preserve yourself. My past is mine, just as my present and future are as well. They are mine to live with and you can help me live with them, without hurting yourself in the process.”

“I just don’t know how you’re holding it all together so well. When Drayton carried you out of that castle of horrors, all I could think about was comforting you and taking away all the pain they inflicted on you.” Wes takes both of my hands, his expression shutting down a bit but his eyes staying on mine. “The impressions from that place and from you, were overwhelming and terrifying. It was a fight between whether I shut down and process everything, then move on, or live it for you.”

“You chose to live it for me? Even knowing it would hurt you?” I take a step closer, wanting to comfort him yet not knowing how.

“Of course, you’re my mate. I’ve been waiting for you my entire life. Penn used to talk about you constantly,” he muses, smiling over at the guys by the doorway to the house. Penn, Drayton, and Alaric are all standing around, trying to look busy but not moving into the house at all. “I feel like I started falling in love with you when I was only fourteen years old.”

“That’s a long time. What if I’m not who you thought you were falling for?”

“To go through what you did and still come out of it as this kind, sweet woman in front of me,” Wes says, shaking his head with tears in his eyes. “It’s beyond anything I could have imagined. You are exactly who I was, and am, falling for.”

A lump forms in my throat, the impact of his words hitting me right in the soul. Never in my entire life have I been loved by someone. There were Croisés that were almost kind to me, yet no one showed me an ounce of love or affection. Now I have five fated mates, and the meaning of that is just starting to fully sink in.

Leaning farther into Wes, I open and close my mouth a few times, unsure how to tell him how much his declaration means to me.

“Stop hogging her!” Penn yells from the doorway, his head thrown back in annoyance. “God damn it, dude! I can only rearrange the plants so much while eavesdropping.”

Drayton smacks the back of Penn’s head, making Alaric burst out laughing. The three of them look so comfortable with each other, a true kinship bond. It brings an even bigger smile to my face, watching them. This is the family that I’ve always dreamed of having.

“Should we head inside?” Wes asks, truly smiling for the first time tonight.

“Yes, let’s go. Don’t want Penn to have to keep rearranging those poor plants,” I joke with a laugh. It’s strange hearing my own laugh out loud. Heck, it’s strange hearing my own voice out loud.

“They love the rearrangements,” Penn says, throwing a hand over his chest. “How dare you imply they don’t! These plants are much happier now.”

“They’re back in the same places they started, dumbass.” Alaric looks over at me, rolling his eyes playfully with a smirk. “You moved them so much they ended up back in the exact spots they were. You were just eavesdropping so much you didn’t notice.”

Penn gasps, looking at Alaric in the most dramatic way possible. “I— You— I’m offended!”

Drayton throws an arm over my shoulder, shaking his head and making his dark hair flop even closer to his eyes. “We were all eavesdropping, the fern is three inches over from where it was before, and our mate needs to get inside so she can get comfortable and get some sleep. All of you are a bunch of children, I swear.”

“Hey!” Wes yells out, pushing past Alaric and Penn to follow us in the door. “I wasn’t doing anything! Don’t lump me in with those two.”

“You were just confessing your love while the rest of us watched when our mate hasn’t even been with us for twelve hours,” Drayton yells back at Wes while looking down at me with his mesmerising blue eyes. “I’m the alpha, I should have gotten that privilege first. Now, I need to plan something extravagant to beat that romantic word vomit.”

“You’re the alpha of the pack, not our mate bonds, asshole.” Alaric’s voice carries over from behind Wes. “Don’t you try to use that alpha shit on us when it comes to her. I’ll personally kick your ass.”

Drayton’s eyes glow ever so slightly at the challenge in Alaric’s voice. The hint of his wolf pushing forward sends a shiver of excitement down my spine. Looking away from him to catch my breath, I finally glance at the inside of the house and audibly gasp.

This is a long ways from the damp prison cell in the rundown castle that I escaped from. The inside is warm and inviting with beautiful, deep reds and light cream coloured furniture. There’s stairs directly in front of us that curve as they go up.

“Wow,” I breathe out, my eyes darting everywhere and yet not retaining a single item I see.

“Welcome home, Talia,” Drayton whispers into my hair, lightly brushing his nose in the strands. “Let’s get you upstairs to one of the guest rooms. There’s one by me that’s never been used before and I think you’ll love the view. Once we’ve all gotten some sleep, I’ll give you the full tour.”

“That sounds like fun!” Penn runs up beside me, a beaming smile on his face.

Alaric grabs his arm, pulling him away with a shake of his head. “Not for you, it’s not. We are having a chat about what happened the day you were taken. Security has been buffed up since then, but I want all the details so it can never happen again.”

“Fuck. Fine,” Penn sighs, pulling away from Alaric to come back up to me. “Get settled in and get some sleep. I’ll steal you for the rest of the tour when Dray is done with the house. Sleep well, baby girl.”

After a kiss on my cheek from Penn and a wink from Alaric, they walk away with serious faces and their heads bent together. Drayton places a hand on my lower back, guiding me to the stairs. I walk forward, a sigh of contentment escaping my lips as I step onto the soft, plush stairs.

It’s not until this moment that I realise how disgusting I am. It’s not unusual for me to be in a state similar to this, but it is unusual for me to be around people who actually care. This house is so clean and I’m a dirty, bloody disaster.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so gross. You’ve been touching me and I’ve been touching your stuff and I’m covered in who knows what. I should have been more aware of the state I’m in.” The words fall from my mouth so quickly they string together like one long breathless word. My feet start moving quickly as I try desperately to get up the stairs without making anything dirty.

“Hey, hey! It’s okay,” Drayton easily catches up to me, sweeping me off my feet in a single move. I cringe at how dirty I am and the smell wafting off of me. “Talia, look at me.”

Instead of listening to him, I turn my head the opposite direction and close my eyes tightly. The humiliation from it all is enough to make me want to hide in the valley with my peryton until I can’t anymore. My peryton disagrees and blocks my entrance, grunting and pushing me back into the consciousness of my body.

“Talia. Look at me,” Drayton says again, his voice firm yet kind. His authoritative voice makes me obey without a second thought. My peryton chirps in my mind, prancing around and rubbing against my consciousness in a strange dance.

A rumbling sound comes from Drayton’s chest that draws me closer to him, pulling me until I close all space between us. Laying my head against his shoulder, I look into his eyes expectantly.

“Good girl,” he growls, brushing his nose against mine. “Do not apologise for being dirty or messy, or anything like that. A mess can be cleaned. All of this.” Drayton waves his one hand in front of us vaguely. “It can be replaced if it can’t be cleaned. You are the only thing I care about, not any of this material stuff. I do want to get you cleaned, but only so you can be more comfortable. You’ve had a lifetime of abuse. It’s going to take a long time to work through that.”

“Thank you,” I whisper, barely audible even to my own ears.

“Always. Let’s get you to your room.” Drayton walks down the soft, wide hallway to our right.

My head rests against his shoulder, silent tears falling from my eyes and soaking his shirt. He took my mindless spill of words and found the direct root of the fear behind them. I don’t know how, but I’m extremely grateful for it.

It hasn’t even been a full night away from that place, and I’m terrified I’ll screw this up with my mates and be sent right back there. I’m not ready to come to terms with any of it, yet. Right now, basking in the newness of being free and having five mates by my side is all I want. That doesn’t mean the fear, anxiety, and habits I developed in that prison won’t come up frequently. Of course they will, they’re all I’ve ever known. I just don’t want to be that girl forever, and this is my first step to being who I should have been all along.