Page 60 of Rise of the Alpha

Opening the honey, I take a glob out and smear it over my heart, right on my shirt.“Aufers hunc scandalumy sociorum eius. Sciats verots amores fasti.”Handing the jar to Blaine, he mirrors me, then Jude, and finally Zeke.

When everyone has drawn over their heart, I pull the feather out and write on the paper the names of those we’re hoping Magz is mated to. Begging the Goddess that this doesn’t lead to her being mates with Max and Reid. I shove the paper into the jar of honey and seal it before slowly squatting and setting it on the ground in front of me. I pull a ribbon and scissors from my bra. I begin to cut the ribbon, letting the scissors fall to the ground with the ribbon pieces after I cut the last piece. We continue chanting until Magz lets out an ear-piercing scream. She grabs at her chest where her heart is. Falling to her knees, she’s panting as tears run down her cheeks.

The guys all dart towards her, stopping in their tracks when I scream out, “Stop!” They turn, glaring at me, “We need to let the spell finish. We need to wait for Magz to let us know it’s done, that she’s okay.”

“But she’s in pain,” Blaine growls out.

“I know, but we need to wait. We can’t do anything to interfere with the spell. You need to trust me. I love her Blaine, hell I haven’t even told her yet. Do you think I’d do anything to hurt her more?” I plead with him.

“Blaine, man, she’s right. We need to trust her. She knows more about this magic shit than we do. Once Magz gives us the okay, we go to her.” Jude backs me up, placing a hand on Blaine’s shoulder.

“Fine,” he growls out as we watch the spell continue to ravish Magz.

I expected lights and power blasts like the other removal, not pain.Fuck, I would have warned her about pain.She’s just frozen, clutching her chest, staring at the ground, and trying to catch her breath.

“Magz, baby, are you alright? You should be able to feel or know who your mates are now if it worked. Just like Blaine did that night at the mixer when you see them you’ll know right away.” My words are begging her to look at us, to show us some sign that she’s okay.

“Maggie, baby, you gotta do something, say something, so we know you’re okay,” Jude pleads with her

Zeke bends down, moving an arm out to Magz, but Blaine growls and snatches his hand, not letting him touch her. “Let her be. She needs to come to this on her own terms. Just give her a moment.”

“Blaine is right. Touching her before the spell is finished could counteract it. She’ll be okay. We need to wait and let her come to us,” I reinforce.

Finally, those pretty eyes look up at us, and they pin us all in place with an icy stare and recognition shining through them. Her breathing is heavy as she stares at us, her eyes burning a hole right through our hearts. She gives us a cocky smirk that has me spiraling in fear that I, we, were wrong and she’s not mated to us. Looking over at the guys, I see the same fear etched on their faces.

A powerful growl comes from her as her voice becomes husky and the one word she speaks has my heart soaring.

“Mates!” is all she says before she’s standing and throwing herself into our arms.

Magnolia

Mates!Oh,myGoddess.I have mates! All four of them belong to me and my wolf.

What the hell have I been doing? Why have I fought this? Crouched around me are four of my mates, but I can feel there are more, just not who they are. All I feel is an intense draw to them unlike anything I’ve felt before, but there is still an emptiness in my heart for the bonds I don’t know yet. Casting my gaze between them, their eyes are locked on me. Movement in my periphery catches my attention, and my wolf forces a growl so strong it comes right out of me for all to hear.

“Magnolia, it’s me, Brick. Your friend. Remember me. Umm, I see that you’re all okay, so I’m just going to be on my way.” He moves closer, holding his hands up in an ‘I give up’ fashion. His movement halts, but it isn’t my growl that stops him in mid-step. It's the angered voices from the surrounding ones. “No worries, guys, and Wylla. I’m leaving, she's all yours.” He slowly begins to back away from us.

“Brick, thank you for your help, but that might be the best choice. We’re good, and well, we just all want to be alone with our mate,” Wylla tells him before he turns and sprints away across the field. She turns back to me. “How are you, baby? Want to head back to our room where we can have some privacy and talk?”

Zeke is still squatted down in front of me, and he reaches out, taking my hand in his, and helps me stand. I stumble at first, but he saves me by wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling my body firmly against his chest. Bending his head down, he places a kiss on my forehead. “My mate. I’ve waited so long to say those words. Never did I think I would be lucky enough to have a mate as wonderful as you.” His sweet words cause a single tear to escape my eye and slide down my cheek.

“Come on, let's get back to the room so we can sit and process everything and maybe have a stiff drink. Well, puppy, looks like you can give us the ol’ ‘I told you so,’ seeing how you were right about being her mate.” Wylla takes one of my hands in hers, tugs me from Zeke’s embrace, and starts pulling me across the field toward the dorms. “Hey, Fido, how about you, the wet noodle, and sex god get all this shit cleaned up and meet us when you’re done?” She doesn’t even wait for a response, just keeps tugging me along.

A pang in my heart grows the further away from my mates I get. Reaching up, I claw at my chest over my heart. “Wylla, why is the pain in my heart growing?” It feels like a blade has been stuck right into my chest and is slowly being turned as it’s pushed deeper and deeper in.

“It’s okay, baby. The pain will go away once the others are with us,” she tells me, leaving me with even more fucking questions. If that’s the case, why did we leave without them? Why is she wanting me to feel this pain?

“Then why did we leave them?” I need to know. Surely she can’t be so cruel to want me to feel this pain.

“Because I needed time to explain to you what you’re feeling without my brother mates hovering. Until the bond is completed, you’re going to feel this way anytime you’re away from them.”

Before she can say anymore, I cut her off speaking up, “But we did. That’s what we did tonight.”

She lets out a small chuckle that infuriates me. She is slowly moving down the list of my favorite people. Right now, Zeke is at the top.

She stops in her tracks, turning to look me in the eyes. “No, Magz, all we did was move the block, so you would know who your mates were. Until you physically complete the bond and mark each of us with your bite, you’ll feel how you are right now. To clarify, you have to do that with each of us. Once you complete the bond with one of us, it won’t hurt to be away from that person. I didn’t think you knew due to true mate bonds not being a thing with the Exodus pack, so I wanted to explain it to you in private.”

I just nod in understanding as we resume walking to the dorms. My body moves on autopilot as I try to process everything that’s happened and what Wylla has explained to me. The comfort of her hand in mine as she leads me to the dorm soothes my soul, which is screaming for me to turn around and claim my mates.

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