Page 105 of Mating at Midnight: Book 1

“It’s time you knew the truth,” Elder Nelah said.

Moments later, Levi cried out as he began to partially shift. Braxton charged to his aid but was tackled to the ground by daddy and Bryant.

“What is she doing to him? Levi! Let me fucking go!” He growls, struggling underneath them as momma, and I wrapped our arms around Kenia who tried to run to her mate.

“Ballian,”Braxton’s voice thundered in my head, almost making me lose my grip on Kenia.

“Levi!” she screamed as her tears fell on my arm. “Levi! Elder Nelah, please!”

Bryant’s wolf’s eyes slowly moved to Braxton. “He has to know, son.”

A loud howl comes from the woods just as Ballian came through like a rabid wolf ready to attack with Skia behind him. He must have sensed Braxton’s distress. I’d hate to imagine what would have happened if it were not for Lord Odin holding up his hand while stepping into Ballian’s path to stop him. As Lord Odin spoke to him in a language I had never heard before, Ballian’s heated gaze remained focused on Braxton. There was no doubt that Ballian was internally fighting with himself to follow the command of Lord Odin or do what he is supposed to do as Braxton’s destined wolf, protect him. Well, Lord Odin made the decision for him as he shouted Ballian’s name with such authority everyone went silent and still except for Levi who had fallen onto his knees, sobbing like a child.

Ballian lowers his head, showing respect to Lord Odin. Lord Odin placed his hand on the top of Ballian’s head. “Ballian I know as Braxton’s destined wolf it is in your instinct to defend him, but I assure you he is not in danger,” he said in a calmer voice. “He is just concerned about Levi.”

Ballian glanced over to see Elder Nelah holding onto a broken-down Levi. My heart went out to the man I now considered a brother. Whatever Elder Nelah showed him had completely shaken Levi to the core. Whatever it was, it left Levi passed out.

Elder Nelah signaled for James, Vidar, Alpha Lennox, and Joaquin. She moved back, letting them gently lift Levi up. They took him into daddy’s house with Lord Odin marching along after them.

I felt Kenia’s body tremble, only making me feel a hundred times worse from keeping her from her mate. Momma looked at me, stating, “Don’t feel bad, Nyah. Kenia didn’t need to see What Elder Neylah showed Levi. When he is ready, Levi will tell her. We’re strong, but somethings can really fuck with our heads if we learn the truth before its time.”

As her words bounced off the walls of my brain, I noticed Bryant pressing his torso more into Braxton’s back before saying, “We’re going to let you go, but if you show one ounce of defiance, I cannot stop the punishment Lord Odin will bring upon you. Do you understand? Please say you understand, son. I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

Seconds that felt like hours passed. “I understand,” Braxton finally replied before they got off him.

“Let her go, Nyah,” momma said. “Levi is going to need his mate now more than ever.”

Kenia’s eyes fixated on me. Was she mad at me? Had I created a riff in our relationship? God, I hoped not because the last thing I wanted was Kenia to stop talking to me.

“That will never happen. You’re my sister, Nyah,” Kenia conveyed telepathically, then giggled as my jaw dropped.“Yeah, I can hear your thoughts when I want to, but I learned early on how to block them when you started noticing boys and turned that shit off. But sometimes, when needed, I would remove the block.”She pointed her finger at me.“And by the way little sis, you are a freak.”

“Kenia.”I gasped as momma and daddy did the same.

“Shit,”Kenia exasperated.“Momma, daddy I was just teasing Nylah.”

Not waiting for them to respond, I interjected with,“Kenia, we’ll talk about it later. Right now, I need to check on my mate. Love you all.”

“Love you too,”flooded my brain, from them.

“Yes, yes. Of course,” I stammered. “Tell Levi we love him, and we are here for him under whatever capacity.”

“I’m sure he already knows that, but I will reiterate it to him.”

Kenia hugged me again before going into the cabin.

I went over to Braxton. He was sitting up, regrouping himself as Ballian and Skia stood guard around him. I silently hoped his compliance wasn’t a ruse. As I sat down next to him, I took his hand in mine.

“Levi is going to be fine, Braxton.”

He squeezed my hand. “I know, but to see him like that, in pain, crying out, I only wanted to help my friend. We have always been there for each other and this one time; I couldn’t help him.”

I squirmed closer to him, then laid my head on his shoulder.

“I totally understand how you feel because I felt like I was betraying my sister by not letting her go to him.”

Braxton hung his arm around my shoulders, then pulled me in to kiss the top of my head.

“I’m sure you did, but after speaking to my father, there wasn’t anything either one of us could do to stop it. Elder Nelah would have put up an invisible barrier neither Kenia nor I could have gotten through. I just hope after learning about his parents, it doesn’t break him.”

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