Page 157 of Broken Dreams

“What the fuck?” he whispers.

“Nest,” I gasp.

Duncan slams the door closed without a word, sweeping me into his arms.

“Linus, Callum!” he yells. “Nest, now!”

His long legs eat up the ground as he jogs to the stairs and up to the second floor. Pounding steps follow behind him as I sob, having a hard time breathing.

Duncan purrs as he rubs his cheek against mine. The slight sting of the hair of his beard helps to ground me slightly, but I feel as if I’m choking.

“You’re doing so good,” he whispers. “I felt all of this anger, but you didn’t answer your tablet. You also slammed the door in your mind from all of us. All we could do was wait for you to get home.”

Oh shit.I didn’t realize I’d done that, and I can’t relax enough to figure out how to undo it.

“She’s having a panic attack,” Linus says as Duncan opens the door to the nest, leaving the lights off.

“Help me with her clothes,” Duncan murmurs.

Hands help him to pull off my shoes, dress, and all the weapons. The second my hair is released, it somehow helps the clawing panic that something bad is happening to me.

There’s this gnawing hole inside of me that doesn’t go away, even when the guys close the door to the nest and strip down to wrap their bodies around me on the mattress.

The panic eases, their scents help remind me of what I have, and their love. The door in my mind that I slammed shut opens, which means their presence fills me through the bond as well. It all helps, but something is missing.

“I saw Christian tonight,”I whisper through the bonds as the tears continue to drag down my cheeks.

I’ve gone from panicked to slowly feeling numb and shaken.

“Cian knew he’d be there, and he didn’t warn me. I don’t think he realized?—“

“Quinn,” Callum whispers, kissing my shoulder as he hugs me. Duncan is on the other side of me, and Linus is half laying on top of me, his head resting on my ribs. “Fuck. You’re scent matched.”

“There’s no way he’d have done this on purpose,” Duncan says, blowing out a breath. “Life is about to get a lot more interesting, Sweet Girl. We’re here, hold onto that for now.”

Their purrs help in the darkness of the nest, while my mind replays the night to them through the bond. Linus holds me tighter as my breaths get harsher, the threat of another attack very real.

They hold me, tell me they love me until my eyelids droop with exhaustion, but my soul has a Christian-sized hole inside of it and I don’t know how I’m going to survive it.

CHAPTER 31

QUINN

Listlessly laying on the swing outside, I watch as Linus practices his routine for tonight. His body appears to fly as he rotates through the air on the pole, and I wish I had the energy to throw myself into dancing.

It’s as if someone cut my strings, and Linus carries me out here to make me stretch my muscles with him and makes sure I’m comfortable on the swing before he starts to practice.

The sun feels nice, which is why I’ve napped here for the past two days since the scent match snapped into place between Christian and I. I’ve ignored all calls, refused to speak outside of my mate bonds, knowing that I’m going to need to get my shit together for tonight.

The party my father insisted on, the one I’ve been preparing for, is finally here, and it’s hard to find the will to care. I can feel the worry emanating from my alphas, but closing down the bond would hurt us all more. So I open my eyes and watch Linus dance.

My scent matching with Duncan and Callum didn’t feel like this, but maybe it’s because I’m always with them. There was happiness, joy, and excitement when my senses cleared of the shit Bret was pumping into my system.

Christian… my emotions are all over the place when it comes to him. Linus told me he feels the same way, and he’s angry that my choices were taken from me. I’m always going to feel as if there’s something missing now.

A torturous thought enters my mind, asking me what Christian must be feeling. Is this why he’s been working so hard to impress the mafia community?

I looked up images of the construction on the building through video cameras the neighbors have, and its beauty made me cry. I’m a sap right now. Christian’s energy was different the night I saw him, almost sounding humble as he discussed his actions.

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