Page 114 of Tangled Hearts

She took a deep breath, placing a hand over her stomach. “If they hadn’t pushed me to safety, then I wouldn’t have had a chance to meet you and if I hadn’t met you, then… I don’t think we would have survived that encounter.”

“You don’t?—”

“I do know that. When Zev pushed me to Soren and told him to take me, we were surrounded by people,” she said, biting her lip. “Aeon was already injured, Zev and Lucien were no match for the coven. My magic was already weakening, and it was only a matter of time before all of us were captured. I was mad, furious, but they gave us a chance to survive that they saw we didn’t have, and also to give this little one a chance to have her daddies.”

My lip quivered as I was hit with emotions I was trying to bury. I didn’t want to be mad; all I wanted was to curl up to Max and have him tell me everything was going to be ok, and that we were going to get them back. The emptiness from Ryder, Soren and Gray was hard enough, this space between Max and I was unnecessary.

“I’ve been told what to do all my life. I’ve never had a choice, and they took another choice from me,” I said, taking a deep breath. “But you’re right. If they hadn’t sent Max and me away, then I wouldn’t have been able to do this.”

“I know it’s hard, these possessive men are a pain in the ass sometimes,” she said, glancing at the door. “I know you’re there!”

Her blond mate came walking in with a big smile. “I’m sorry, Kit Kat, you know I’m a possessive beast because I love you.”

He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her cheek.

“Yeah, yeah.” she rolled her eyes, but when she looked at him, she had nothing but hearts in her eyes.

“Sometimes as bonded men, the only way we know how to protect our mate is sometimes to let them go,” Lucien said, looking at me. “It’s an impossible decision to make, but I’d rather die than have her suffer.”

I nodded.

“Why don’t you take a break,” Katarina said, patting my back. “Walk to the village and check out our shops, get a bite to eat, maybe take a handsome shifter with you.”

Lucien growled and I laughed. So possessive.

“Aeon did say to take a look at the shops to see if I found anything extra I might need,” I said, standing. “Thank you for listening and giving me insight.”

“I owe you so much, you gave us the chance we needed, right when we needed it and I’ll always be so grateful.” Katarina grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “Now, go get Max and relax, get some sleep and we will head out tomorrow morning.”

“Kit Kat,” Lucien said.

“Don’t start, I took your request into consideration and I’m going,” she growled at him.

I packed my bag with the things I had made and put on my necklace. The knife Aeon and I had been working on earlier called to me. We hadn’t been able to infuse it with the magic we wanted, but I had an urgency to take it. I grabbed it before I slipped away, admiring that she was so feisty with them, but I didn’t want to be there while they argued. I climbed the steps to the main floor seeing Zev walking towards me.

“Have you seen Katarina?” he asked, his scowl still securely in place.

“She’s downstairs?—”

“Kit Kat, please.” Lucien’s voice was right behind me.

“No, I told you, you can’t force me to stay here. You do realize I am the one who saved your ass that night,” she snapped.

“Hellcat, I thought you were resting.” Zev’s voice was softer, and his scowl completely disappeared.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” she growled.

“She said she is going,” Lucien said, and I scurried away.

“Katarina,” Zev said softly.

Arguing erupted as I ran away looking for Max. The bond led me to the kitchen with doors that opened to a beautiful backyard. Aeon and Max were sparring shirtless and my mouth went dry.

Goddess, Max was sexy.

Max glanced over at me when Aeon hit him in the face knocking him back. I flinched, wanting to run to him.

“And that’s why you never look away during a fight.” Aeon chuckled.

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