Page 16 of My Pucking Family

I was in the car with Roman.

Roman pulled me out of the car.

Roman is holding me tightly to his body to calm the flood of despair.

Roman let me beat on him without a care.

When my mind finally reaches all the same conclusions as my body, I'm unable to control the way my body trembles, releasing the adrenaline it had prepared to fight my way out. My wolf and I just whimper, which only causes him to hold me even tighter.

“It's okay, my little miracle. It's just me. I've got you. Always. I've got you,” he continues his mantra, while he rocks my body and rubs my back.

I'm thankful it's already dark outside and few people, if any, would have seen my panic attack.

When I've finally calmed enough to stand, he closes the car doors and walks me into my dorm building. All eyes are on me, which means they all know what happened. Or they think they do anyway.

The second I open the door to our room, Zoey comes barreling into me hard enough that I would have fallen to the ground if Roman wasn't supporting us.

I don't even have a moment to say anything before Zoey bursts into tears, and I have no choice but to follow her. Roman shuffles us far enough into the room so that he can close the door, granting us privacy, and just stands guard while we let it all out.

When I've cried all I want, I look from him to Zoey and say, “I think...I think I'm okay from here. Thank you.”

He's definitely not happy about my dismissal, but he nods anyway and lowers himself to kiss the top of my head, holding it for three Mississippi's before he slowly walks out of the room, leaving Zoey and I to have some time to talk about everything that happened.

When the door closes, I rush over to lock it. With Roman gone, it immediately feels colder. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't considering calling him back to come get me. I feel like I left one of my limbs with him. Will it always feel like this when I'm away from him, or is it because of the abduction?

With my wolf growing stronger—that's still so weird to even think about—so is the mate bond between Roman and me. The previously light tugging feeling between us has grown into more of a magnetic-pulling feeling that's becoming increasingly hard to ignore.

I make my way back to Zoey, and we curl up in her bed and talk. I tell her about everything that happened, minus the wolfie stuff, and I must still be in shock because, while my nerves are running high, I'm not a hysterical mess like they are in movies.Is this what disassociating feels like?

I just want to go back to pretending to be a normal college girl, trying to have a normal college girl experience.

We order some comfort donuts to be delivered since I already had a second dinner with Roman.

I only eat one donut, severely overestimating my stomach's capacity for food. We eat in peaceful silence, just cherishing each other's company. When Zoey finishes her donuts, she turns on the live-action Cinderella to watch. Not the Disney one. The one with Brandy and Whitney Houston.

We stay snuggled in her bed until I feel like I can't keep my eyes open any longer. My phone pings across the room, so I pull myself from the warm blankets to check it.

Smiling to myself, I text him back before crawling back into Zoey's bed to sleep near someone. I don’t want to be alone. I finally drift off to sleep with Brandy singing about her own little corner and her own little chair.

14

In order to keep the peace, I allow Leera to believe that I’m giving her the independence she so desperately wanted, but with her being kidnapped, there’s just no way in hell I’m leaving her alone.

I will not lose her again. Not now. Not ever.

So I’ll grant her the illusion of my submission for now, unless something causes me to show myself.

I make myself comfortable in my car, parked with a direct line of sight to the main door of her dorm building. Benny is stationed at the other end of the building. At the only other door out of her building.

We’ll be tired tomorrow, but for my mate to be safe, being tired feels like a very small payment to make. Andrei, Slate, and the twins all offered to take shifts, but I refuse to leave. I can’t.Benny also declined and vowed to stay in position.

Thinking of how easily she allowed herself to smile at dinner, having been kidnapped mere days ago. I know she's strong, but she thinks being strong means doing everything on your own. It doesn't have to be that way, but it seems that's a lesson she'll have to learn on her own over time. I am proud of her tenacity to overcome this, though. Some people allow themselves to wallow in the fear, but you have to find a way to keep going or it will drown you.

Thankfully she wasn’t harmed, and, because of the drugs, she slept nearly the entirety of her captivation. In our short amount of time together, I had already noticed she struggled with some panic and anxiety before all of this happened. The last thing I want is for those to worsen.

I can also feel her wolf growing stronger. I still can't get a solid read on her, and neither can my wolf, but Leera can feel her so much more now, and that will allow them to finally connect as well. I know my wolf can't wait to be reunited with his mate.

He chooses that moment to huff in agreement, and I smile.

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