Page 17 of Bond & Protect

“I can’t leave you, Mila. Not like this. Not until you tell me what’s wrong.”

I let out a guttural sound, a bit like a scream. The anger doesn’t subside even a little bit, though. If anything, it grows and blooms, almost swallowing me up whole. There’s a heat burning in my cheeks, raging through my whole body. I actually might explode here, and Sydney still won’t leave me alone. What the fuck is wrong with him? He’s driving me crazy.

But as I go to push Sydney again, he opens his arms wide and embraces me. Tears come flying out of my eyes the moment I crash against his chest, and he wraps himself around me. I don’t want this, this is what I’m trying to fight off, but annoyingly, it feels kind of good.

Shit, I like this comfort. I need Sydney more than I care to admit. I love the sensation of him holding me. I can’t help myself. The only problem is I know that as soon as he learns the truth and knows what I’ve done, he will hate me forever.

A part of me wants to take the secret to my grave, even though I know that’s absolutely impossible. The other half of me wants to scream it all out now so he sees me for who I really am and leaves me alone here to stew in my own misery.

“Talk to me, Mila,” he pleads. “Come on. It’s okay. I can help you with whatever it is…” He pulls back to examine me closely. “Is it because of Elias and Amos…?”

I’m gobsmacked. I step back a little and stare at him with horror struck eyes. “You know?”

He nods slowly. “We can communicate telepathically, so I know a little of what’s happened.” He sighs heavily, but it doesn’t feel like he hates me or anything. More that he’s really just curious and he wants to know everything from my point of view. “It’s been a hard time… for all of us. There have been a lot of confusing feelings going on here with all of us. Please, don’t feel bad about that. Don’t blame yourself because the guys had a fight. That didn’t even happen. It was more just a chase before they got into trouble with the monster.”

“But they wouldn’t have been running or whatever if it wasn’t for me.”

Sydney shakes his head. “No, the monster was going to attack us anyway. It’s been coming for us the whole time. The Rift being opened has nothing to do with you.”

“Ah, so you finally accept that?” I ask, chuckling lightly. “Am I finally off the hook with you?”

Sydney smiles and opens his arms wide to me again. This time, I fall against him hard and I hug him right back. The tears continue to stream violently down my face, but I don’t feel quite so alone this time. At least Sydney knows and wants to be around me.

That doesn’t solve everything, though. These feelings are still very mixed up and complicated. None of us know where this is going to take us. It’s so very hard. I really wish I hadn’t gotten into another mixed-up situation. It seems like I’m never going to get a sense of peace.

“I think I need to lie down,” I admit to Sydney. “I’m absolutely shattered. Do you mind?”

Not only does Sydney not seem to mind, he climbs onto the bed beside me, with his arms around me the whole time. The sense of his embrace, as he hugs me from behind, makes me feel calm and safe. Like nothing bad can happen to me here. We might still have to face the monster, but I don’t think it’s going to come to the cabin. Not right now.

“Do you really think that Amos will be okay?” I ask Sydney, feeling terribly protective of him. “That looked like a really nasty injury the monster gave him. He won’t be really bad, will he?”

Sydney presses his lips to my ears, the sensation of his kiss sending trickles of desire right down my spine. But I’m too exhausted to allow that passion to get the better of me, here and now.

“Trust me. There’s nothing that Liam can’t do. He will make sure that Amos is okay.”

I do feel okay, knowing that Liam is in control and Elias is down there helping him. That thought allows me to switch off a little, and to just relax for a little while. It feels really good to sink into the bliss of blackness, and just not to have to worry for another second longer. I’m hoping that by the time I wake up, everything will be all right…

Sydney whispers something in my ear, but I don’t quite catch the words. If I had the strength, and the ability to keep my eyes open any longer, then maybe I would ask him to repeat what he said. But whatever the trance-like state the monster put me in has drained me completely. I never want to be put in that situation again. I don’t want to even look at that fucking thing. It’s evil, pure evil. I don’t know where it came from, and what is on the other side of The Rift, but I don’t want to find out either. It makes my skin crawl with absolute horror.

This is not what I thought I would find in the town where my family comes from. Not at all. My issues in the city were horrible and becoming increasingly impossible to bear, but this is just madness. The Rift, the monster… my God, I still can’t come to terms with any of it.

Maybe the stalking sent me insane, and none of this is real, not even the wolves. I might be imagining this whole scenario in some crazy dream because I’ve snapped. If that’s how it is, then I don’t know if I want to go back to normal. I don’t like the bad stuff, but I do like being in Sydney’s arms, staring into Liam’s eyes, kissing Amos, and fooling around with Elias too.

None of this is me acting like myself, but yeah… if it’s a dream, I never want to let them go.

7

LIAM

“He’s going to be okay?” Elias asks me in a slight state of panic as I finally step away from Amos. “That was a horrible gash across his body. Will he survive?”

I turn and smile at him with a sharp nod. “Yeah, of course. He’s going to be fine. I told you that. It was a bad gash, but he’s a strong pup. He’ll be good. We just need to give him a moment.”

“Not a pup,” Elias insists. “He doesn’t like it when you call him that.”

I let out a little laugh. “Well, did you when you were eighteen years of age? You know what it’s like. You’re entering manhood. The last thing you need to do is be made to feel younger.”

Elias sighs heavily. I have a funny feeling that there’s more going on here. Something else is troubling him, and I can’t pinpoint what it is. Usually, I can read Elias’s feelings all over his face, but it’s different this time. His issues seem to be running so much deeper. I want to ask him what it is, but I don’t know if he’s ready to talk yet. Elias only ever talks when he’s comfortable.

---