Page 71 of Called By Fate

The gym is blissfully empty when we arrive, and I immediately hit play on my rock playlist, blasting it from my phone’s speakers. Music is the only thing that it’s good for anymore and the sole reason I keep it charged.

While Hemsworth starts running on the treadmill, using his freaky, familiar powers to turn it on himself, I head over to the punching bag, wrapping my hands. With Memphis May Fire’s song,Make Believe,blaring, I start punching the bag.

Right jab, left hook, right kick, rotate, left kick.

I’m in the zone.

The sound of my fists and kicks hitting the bag, my music, and my breathing as I work up a sweat are the balm I desperately need.

Working my muscles beyond anything… It's euphoric.

I let the bag absorb everything I’m feeling. All my emotions, all my pain, all my guilt. Everything, and it takes it too.

Someone calls my name, and it brings me out of the depths of my mind. “Sadie, are you okay?” they ask again.

It’s then I realize I’m crying. Tears are freely pouring down my cheeks. I turn and find all my mates there, all with bed hair and sleepy faces, but they’re here. Reed opens his arms for me, and I walk over to the middle of them, letting them surround me in a group hug that even Elian participates in.

The bond hums with the emotions I’m feeling, alongside the comfort they’re sending back. They embrace all of it and makes me feel grounded in a way I never have before.

After a while, everyone breaks apart and Elian levels me with a look. “Think you can take us all on?” he asks, somehow knowing exactly what I need as always, and wanting to push me past my limits.

A smile broadens my face. “Hell no but bring it on anyway. I’d love the challenge.”

This is what I love about them. There is nothing conditional about their love like there was with my ex. They love my flaws, my quirks, hell, even my attitude. These men love everything about me, and I’ll be damned if I give this up easily. Either I go out in a blaze of glory… or we win this damn thing.

For everyone’s sake, I hope it’s the latter.

31

My arms are deliciously sore the next morning from sparring and so is the spot between my legs. Not that I’m complaining. Not one bit. My mates know exactly what I need to get my head in the game, or out of it, really. They know I could spend forever in my mind coming up with worst-case scenarios. Or I could be getting dicked down.

I know which one I’d rather be doing.

Currently, my mates, Hemsworth, and I are standing around our dining room table with Matilda, Alpha Darren, Beta Carter, Malachi, Emma, the trio, Oliver, Wyatt, and their new mate, Nova, plus a few other Night Weavers and Light Weavers figuring out our game plan on how to rescue Ash. It’s cramped in here because this cabin definitely isn’t large enough for all of us, but it’s the best place to meet with a semblance of privacy.

With Wyatt’s new bond, he noticed an increase in his power. Not only can he tell what time it is anywhere, he can also use his power to get a general location on anyone. They came to us first thing this morning to tell us about it. One minute they were exploring their bond and the next he was thinking about someone and immediately knew where they were. It’s handy, and we’re going to use it to find Ash.

“Since I’ve never met her before, I’ll need to see a picture or something to find her,” Wyatt says, brushing a piece of his curly brown hair out of his face.

“Sure,” I respond, pulling my phone out of my pocket. I guess music isn’t the only thing it’s good for anymore. I pull up one of the pictures I snapped the night of the festival, and our smiling faces greet me. The grief smacks me straight in the chest. “Here you go,” I choke out, showing him the picture.

He glances from me to the picture in concern, but he doesn’t comment on it which I appreciate. Instead, he takes the phone and studies her face, trying to commit it to memory. When he’s satisfied, he hands me the phone back. “I think I’ve got it.”

Wyatt closes his eyes in concentration. The entire room is so silent you could probably hear a pin drop, maybe even a feather. Everyone waits with bated breath as Wyatt’s eyes scrunch. Suddenly, they pop open, and his pupils are dilated. “I know where she’s at. Seems like some kind of outpost on the outskirts of the Elders’ property.”

Relief pours through me.

“Being on the Elders’ property is not ideal, but at least we know where she’s at,” Vinson says.

“Where do we go from here?” I ask, looking at everyone. If it were up to me, I’d have Matilda portal us in and snatch Ashley’s ass, but I’m no longer just one person. I have a whole team and community backing me up.

“I say we just portal straight in, snatch her, and portal back out,” Dante says with a huff, thinking exactly what I’m thinking. I shoot him a small smirk.

Adam shakes his head, using the paper in front of us to draw a map of the Elders’ property. “If it’s where I’m thinking, that won’t work.” He points to a building on his map. “The place will be heavily guarded. None of us were ever allowed in there and we’ll need something to get past the inevitable built-in security measures they’ll have in place. I can guarantee you can’t portal in either so someone will have to go in through the front and disable the protections.”

Have I mentioned it’s good to have insider knowledge?

Too bad they still aren’t certain what their fathers are using to remain invincible. That would’ve been nice info for the Elders to share with them, but alas, we weren’t that lucky. No surprise there.

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