Page 17 of Shadowlands Sector 3

My wolf is right there, nudging me while the corners of my vision blur in blinding rage. All I can see is red, and this fuckwit is going to pay.

Meira

An agonizing sting flares along the side of my face. I groan, scrunching up the eye where I was hit and push myself to sit upright.

The prison cells surround me, metal bars, a terrible stench. But my attention swings to the explosion of growls and blood and cries from the opposite end of the room.

It takes me several seconds to clear my vision and work out what in the world is going on.

White fur, and the guard on the ground standing no chance, while Lucien stands in his path to ensure the asshole doesn’t go anywhere.

The growls, the shouts bounce off the walls, and when I push to my feet, the room tilts.

Then Bardhyl in his animal form charges. The guard screams, and I turn away, not wanting to see this attack. He deserves to pay, but right now from the way he hit me, nausea washes through me. It takes everything in me to not throw up. I’m aching all over from being the prick’s punching bag.

I hold on to the metal bars, taking deep breaths, while the savagery of growls and ripping and bellowing floods my ears.

“Hey, gorgeous, I got you.” Lucien is by my side, his arms looping around me, and I sweep around to face him. We’re pressed together, and I cling on to his shirt, needing closeness, needing him.

“I missed you,” I murmur, then glance over to the bloody assault, which will be over in seconds now. I’d seen the way Bardhyl fought back in the woods, remembered what I’d been told about his wild wolf. So I doubt this one guard stands any chance against him.

Lucien’s hand slides under my chin and turns my head toward him. “Focus on me, beautiful.” He leans in and steals a light kiss. It’s short and closed-mouthed, but the fire he ignites inside me awakens a storm of emotions. Desire. Sorrow. Anger. And a desperation to never lose what is mine ever again.

“I wasn’t sure if I’d see you again,” he whispers against my lips. “It would have killed me.”

His words pierce right through my heart. He mirrors my feelings exactly, and as ridiculous as it sounds, tears prick my eyes. There’s an asshole having the shit beat out of him, and I’m drowning in fear of losing my mates. I’ve never once imagined that finding my soulmate came with a savage torment if I lost them.

All I can think about is Lucien’s first soulmate dying, and I can’t even begin to understand how he survived such a loss.

“You really think I’d let Mad get the better of me?” I answer as I press myself to Lucien’s chest, his heart pounding in my ear. I don’t want him to see the tears or how easily I fall apart because of them. He holds me tightly and kisses the top of my head.

Mama always told me life is hard. Don’t expect anything to be easy. You’ve got no one to count on but yourself. And those words kept me alive for so long. I am convinced they are the only reason I survived living in the woods. They helped numb the darkness in the hardest of times when I swore I was going mad.

That’s how fucked-up I was. Looking back, it’s so clear. But at the time, I held it together by holding on to my hardened life. Maybe I’ve softened since first coming into Dušan’s compound, or I found a new reason to fight for my life. More specifically three reasons.

I’ve searched for a purpose to life, and with the overwhelming sensation slamming into me at how much my soulmates mean to me, I feel weird. Though I know the truth. I finally fit in somewhere… with someone.

“Bardhyl, end this,” Lucien suddenly commands, then he lowers his hand to my cheek and his thumb wipes away my tears.

He doesn’t say anything, simply holds me. I glance up and look into those spectacular steel gray eyes, the smile on his lips, and my words tumble past my lips. “I think I love you.”

The moment they leave, my cheeks heat. What is wrong with me? Is this the place to confess to such feelings? In a prison?

“Baby girl.” He breathes heavily, his smile contagious and in every way captivating. “You are everything to me. My life. My future. My sun. I love you too.”

His kiss comes swift and covers me in goosebumps. More than anything, I want to be away from danger for a change. For so long, I’ve been running from everything and everyone.

And now for the first time, that is no longer me. A guttural growl has us pulling apart, and we both glance across the room.

The guard whimpers, curling in on himself, bleeding and battered. It surprises me that he still lives. Bardhyl stands near him in wolf form. He looks at us, a gleeful expression sweeping behind his eyes just as he lifts his back leg over the man and pees on him.

“For fuck’s sake, Bardhyl!” Lucien turns away from him, shaking his head.

I laugh, but it hurts my jawline from where I was punched. In fact, I want to cry out with excitement. I finally found Lucien and Bardhyl.

“Where did they take Dušan?” I ask.

“We don’t know. He wasn’t with us when we ended up here.” Lucien’s arm around my waist squeezes like he’s afraid I might go too far from him.

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