Page 115 of Ronan

“Yep,” Elas says, flashing me a triumphant smirk before glancing at Reyes again. “And I told you he’d be pissed about that.”

“It doesn’t count as you finding it since I lived there,” August points out, and Elas pouts as Cameron tilts his head. “I knew where the rooms were, it just took a few days before we realized someone was staying in them.”

“You ass,” I growl, and Elas’s grin is full of mischief. “Always trying to get one up on me.”

“Wait, hold up a second… you lived there?” Cameron asks.

“A long time ago, yeah.” August says, gesturing towards the curly-haired man. “Reyes came out—no stabbing involved—and after a few conversations, he finally told us about the pair of you raiding his camp.”

“We didn’t raid it,” I argue as Cameron snorts.

“We totally raided it,” he mutters, and I glare at my mate until he flashes me a beaming smile.

August chuckles. “You two are sweet together.” Cameron turns to him with that giant smile as he snuggles into my side, and I relent, wrapping my arm around his shoulder and pulling him closer.

“Anyway,” August continues, “we realized who it was right away.”

“Not many Anunians out in the wild?” I ask, and Elas snorts a laugh.

“Well, he described you as a ‘grumpy purple dude who likes to throw around a tall, skinny sarcastic guy with glasses,’ and oddly enough, it just clicked.” I narrow my eyes at Reyes, who shrugs as August continues. “When he figured out you and Elas were old friends, he told him your plan to find a village the two of you had raided. Elas knew immediately where you were headed.”

“I’m sure he did,” I say softly as I meet Elas’s gaze, who pulls his lips back in a sad smile. “There’s somethingyou should know about this place, Elas. It was…” I trail off, glancing at Cameron beside me.

“This was my home,” he finishes for me, and Elas’s eyes flare. “I was out hunting when it was attacked.”

Elas’s mouth opens and closes a few times, his grip on August tightening. “Your… family?” he finally asks, voice strained.

“My mother was killed in the attack. She was the only family I had, so after… everything… I left.”

“I’m sorry,” Elas mutters, his brows drawn tight, but Cameron waves his hand.

“Ronan and I have been through this, too, Elas, and I don’t blame either of you for what happened.” Cameron leans over and reaches out to squeeze his arm when Elas’s gaze sharpens. He grabs Cameron’s hand and jerks him closer, pushing up his shirt sleeve and staring at his mark.

“You’ve both accepted the bond then,” he says, an enormous smile on his face as he looks between us.

Cameron and I glance at each other in surprise, and my eyes naturally fall to my golden-skinned palm. “We didn’t know what it meant when they changed.”

“How doyouknow what it meant when they changed?” Cameron asks, and Elas and August exchange a pointed look.

“Uh oh,that’snever good,” Cameron mutters, and I have to agree.

“Before we left the base, August was working in the medical labs when he came across some files.”

“And that’s also never good.” Cameron tucks himself back into my side, like I can protect him from whatever news we’re about to receive.

“Here… it’s easier to show you.” August walks around to the back of the SUV, waving for us to follow. He opens the hatch, and sitting inside are two giant heavy-duty cardboard boxes. ‘Mates’ is written across the side of both in thick, concise script. “There were more,” August explains as I stare at the boxes, and he lifts the lid to show the first one stuffed to the brim with papers. “Lots more, but this was all we had the opportunity to grab.”

“You aren’t the first set of mates,” Elas blurts, and shock crosses his expression as we both nod our agreement.

“We know.” I pull out a file, the manila cover handwritten with‘Grushna and Elizabeth’ and stamped with a label that makes my pulse race.

Ljómur.

There’s complete silence as we all stare at each other until Reyes breaks it. “Who is that?” he whispers, and all our heads turn as Nyx appears at the edge of the forest, eyes enormous.

“It would seem we have some things to discuss,” I say, nodding my head towards our house. “Come on inside and let’s get comfortable. Something tells me it’s going to be a long night.”

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