Page 21 of Twin Warriors

The pain and fear in his eyes were back, but so was something else. An emotion that she wasn’t sure about. When he started to release her and step back, anger filled her.

“Why?” she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

Cole just shook his head, backing away from her. When she moved to follow him, Iron gripped her arm in a firm but gentle grasp and stopped her.

She spun, anger filling her body. “Let me go!” she demanded, trying to pull her arm out of his grasp.

“Cole, go. I will find you in the compound later.”

Amy spun to see Cole run out of the room and disappear in the passage leading to the pool room. Once he was out of sight, she turned her rage onto the huge red-haired male that still held her arm.

“Let… me… go!” she screamed, already feeling Kisma and Maku racing towards her through the forest. Emi and Tope stayed back, keeping an eye on the brothers as they wandered through the trees.

“Calm, Amy. There is a lot you do not understand about them.” Iron barked back at her, his grip tightening around her arm.

“I don’t care! Get your hands off me!”

A part of Amy knew that this anger, this need to go to them and be close to them was not like her. It was strange and she knew that she was being unreasonable, but she couldn’t fight it. She couldn’t stop the need to be close to them.

“Amy!” Iron called, his voice echoing off the bare walls of the cave. “I need to simply ask you a few questions first. Then, if you wish to go to them, I will take you to them myself. Please, female, calm, I do not want to accidentally hurt you.”

Amy calmed her struggle, glaring at Iron. “Let me go,” she said in a calmer voice.

He did so instantly, and she stepped back.

“Grab me like that again, and it will be you who gets hurt, got it?” Her voice was cold, flat, and filled with anger and promise.

Iron raised a brow at her, the corners of his lips twitching with a hidden smile. She narrowed her eyes at him, the insult of him thinking she would never be able to take him burning through her like a sour acid in her veins.

“Those markings on your wrists,” Iron said after a moment of staring at her, “What are they?”

She looked down at the markings of her symbiotes, then met his eyes again.

“They are who I am.” she said honestly. It was true. They were as much a part of her body, life, and mind as the rest of her.

Iron sighed, his eyes softening. “I need the truth from you. Do you fear Cane or Cole at all?”

She frowned, shaking her head. “No! Why would I?”

“Is there any part of you that wants to be kept safe from them? Did they hurt you in any way, or force you to do anything you did not want to willingly do yourself?”

“What the hell is this all about?”

“Please answer my questions. It is for your protection as well as theirs.”

“No, they didn’t hurt me or force me to do anything I didn’t want to do. Now tell me what is going on.”

Iron sighed, crossing his arms over his wide, muscled chest.

“Let us return to the compound. Once we find Cane and Cole, we will explain everything to you.”

Amy stilled, her mind going to Emi and Tope. They had said they would be alright in the forest, but she still felt unsure of leaving them alone. Of the five of them, the two huge beasts were the most likely to keep each other safe, but a part of her felt responsible for them. They called her their alpha, their leader, and a vital part of their existence, and leaving them alone made her nervous and unsettled.

“I will go with you, but I won’t stay long. I need to be back here before sunset.”

Iron frowned, “Why? Are you not alone in this cave?”

She thought about telling him the truth, but decided it was best to keep the others a secret for now.

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