Page 27 of Bond & Protect

Unity. I see that word a lot. The monster must be overloaded with unity. It’s the only way to make the creature implode. It will struggle with itself. It’ll start to fall apart, it’s the closest to mortal that we have managed to make it. Only then, can anything be done about it.

I wanted it dead, I wanted to kill it so no one ever has to ever deal with it again, but our unity wasn’t quite enough. All we could do was push it back through The Rift again.

Back to where it belongs. Back in hell, because I imagine that’s what's on the other side of The Rift. A fiery pit of hell where they can sizzle and burn alive.

Shit, they didn’t have enough unity. I wonder why. Does a mating round have more chance of pulling this off? If so, doesn’t it need me with it? The wolves aren’t enough all on their own. They might not have the right unity without me there as well…

This is obviously what they have been up to, and why they have kept me out of everything because they knew I wouldn’t like it. They knew I would insist on coming along, but I’m sure I need to be there. I really think we need to show a unity unlike anything this monster has seen before.

I need to be there. I really need to be there, especially if the wolves go in full of negative emotion. If they go in full throttle and make a shit show of the fight, worried that the monster might be eating flesh, then they’ll end up dead.

I can’t stand this. I need to find them, and I have a feeling I might know where they are. If they are thinking about The Rift and pushing the beast back through it, that’s where they might be right now, at the edge of Faraway Lane, right near my apartment, ready to cause a scene. Fear surges through me as I envision what that’s going to look like. Not good, I’m sure. The small vision I have of the wolf who was hurt in my mind, or the memories that are still hazy, is replaced by them. I can’t imagine any of them being hurt. Elias screaming in agony, Sydney crying out in pain, Amos with blood coming out of every orifice, and Liam looking on, helpless, unable to move because he’s in agony also.

I shake my head hard, trying my best to rid my mind of any of these thoughts. I will be there. I’m going to make sure that I save the day somehow. Even if I just need to be there to make the unity a real thing. I don’t know how I know this, it’s just surging through my veins, making me need to do this. There’s a compulsion unlike anything else that’s ever come before.

So I swallow hard, gather myself up, and force myself out of the cabin. The cold air rushes over me, running through my veins. Now I just need to find the wolves before anything comes along to stop me because I’m still so scared.

11

AMOS

Idon’t like this. I don’t like it one bit. Running out on Mila without telling her what we’re doing just feels gross. I know why we have to do it. I get Elias’s perspective, trying to keep her as safe as we possibly can, but that doesn’t mean I like it at all. I keep thinking about how scared she must be back there, wondering where we are. She’s not been talkative through the last few nights as it is. I think she knows we’ve been hiding things from her, which only makes this worse.

I can’t shake off the fear that we’ll lose her because we’ll push her away completely. I don’t want to go back home to find her gone, back to the city where it seems like she is already in danger. The idea of some stalker getting to her is absolutely killer.

‘Focus,’ Elias snaps at me. ‘We’re all worried, Amos, but that isn’t helping. Unity, remember.’

Shit, I really do need to get myself in order. This isn’t going well at all. I try and focus, I really do, I try and get caught up in Elias’s rage, Sydney’s frustration, even Liam’s sadness that it’s come to this, but I end up just feeling lonely and a little bit lost.

I don’t know how to use this to draw the monster to Faraway Lane, but that’s what we’re going to have to do. It’s far too close to humans, which is worrying considering it likes to feast on flesh, but the opening to The Rift is there, so that’s where we need it to go.

‘We can do this,’ Sydney suddenly declares firmly. ‘We will. We have to.’

Liam is as silent and anxious as me. I shoot my eyes to him, but his gaze is firmly fixed forward. He has his eyes on the prize and nothing will stop him. Nothing will get in his way. That’s where I need to have my head to be honest. Eyes on the monster.

‘Urgh, what’s that feeling?’ I suddenly ask, my insides squirming with a brand new iciness that definitely wasn’t there before. ‘Is that the monster? Is it here?’

‘It’s already at Faraway Lane?’ Elias demands in confusion. ‘That doesn’t make any sense. Why would it be there, by The Rift? Unless it’s waiting for us?’

I swallow my fears down because I’m actually worried that it’s there to attack people. There to fight them and feed on their flesh. Or even worse, to lure more things out of The Rift. No one knows what’s on the other side of that thing. No one knows what other creatures are there. I wouldn’t want to even think about what else could come through.

If other beasts come through, then I don’t know what we will do. We’ll definitely have to reach out to other wolf packs, try and heal rifts that have been there for generations… yeah, that doesn’t sound easy. But if it’s necessary, then surely it must be done…

‘I can feel it too,’ Liam says, almost rearing backwards. This must be the first time he’s experienced it. But I have gone through this before, the last time the monster attacked me. Shit, we really must be getting ever closer to it. It’s a nightmare. ‘Oh, I don’t like this.’

‘Fight through it,’ Elias insists. ‘Keep going. We have to keep going. Fight against it.’

‘Remember the good things in life,’ Sydney joins in with actually some good advice. ‘Think about anything and everything that makes you happy. This is its way to disarm you.’

I close my eyes for a second, mostly thinking about Mila. I know I had some good things going on in my life beforehand, but I can’t recall any of them now. Being with Mila, having her sweet warmth around me, is the greatest that I have ever felt in my life.

I think about her sweet face, loving smile, and sparkling eyes. I almost grin with happiness. It’s good to think of Mila anyway because it makes our unity that much more powerful. Elias has a great idea that because we’re a mating round, that makes our bond so much more overwhelming. He thinks we’ll be able to take this beast down easily. I seriously hope so.

‘I love her.’ I snap my eyes open as someone announces this, almost in an out-of-control manner. Like the words just popped into his head out of nowhere. ‘I know it, I love her.’

I appreciate Liam being the first one to admit it. I’ve been trying to push down that I’m actually in love with her because I wasn’t sure that our mating round had hit that point as yet. I’m so grateful that here, right in the middle of danger, we can just say it out loud.

‘I do too.’ My heart sings as I admit this out loud, loving how the warmth floods back into my body. Thinking about this love does help fight off the creature. ‘I love Mila.’

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