AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We’re right here with you, Red,” Ry reassures me.
I turn to the man they claim is my father. “I’m sorry I don’t remember you. I trust my mates, and they say you’re my father and you can help. I don’t really understand any of this. Will you help us?”
Trevan smiles at me. “My darling daughter, I would do anything to help you. We should probably take this out into the clearing, though. Just in case your magic goes a little haywire.” His suggestion scares me a little, but I nod. Outside would be better than risking hurting someone or ruining our home.
Once we’re all outside in the clearing, far enough away from the cabin to be safe, we all look to Trevan again. “Now you just have to focus on James and open yourself to remembering. It may work better if you three make a circle around her, holding hands.” He waits for us to do as he instructs.
“Very good. Now, dear one, place your hands on top of their joined ones. Good, very good. Yes, this could work. Don’t fight the emotions; let them wash over you. With them should come the memories.”
I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths. I hear my mates do the same, though I’m not sure if they’re staring at me or if they’ve closed their eyes. Against my eyelids, I see a variety of bright colors come and go. I hold tightly to their hands as the pain lances through my chest. I start to fight it, then remember that if I want this to work, I can’t. I have to accept it and acknowledge it.
The pain stabs me again, and I hear a sharp intake of breath. My mates feel it too. I wonder if I should let go of their hands so that they don’t suffer too, but I can’t. I need their strength, even if it’s selfish.
As the pain courses through me, I see flashes of memory. “It’s working,” I whisper. More flashes of memory come with every intense slice of pain in my chest. I feel as if I’m breathing through sand, and my heart is pounding so hard it might explode.
Throbbing starts at the base of my neck and pulses up through my head. At this rate, I’m not sure if I will survive this pain, or the memories it’s returning to me. I see everything. Ry’s challenge of Gunnar and his subsequent takeover of the territory. Then James’ injury and our time in the Fae realm.
Time skips around, and I see my first kiss with James, then the moment I learned that I’m not a wolf shifter after all. Just when I think it’s all too much and I can’t take it, the images stop.
The pain intensifies, and I can feel my heart being ripped into pieces. At that moment, I hear James’ words. I see the pain in his eyes as he tells me that he’s leaving. When he insists that I’m better off without him, my heart shatters. Again. I remember everything now, including how I managed to push my feelings down and lock them away.
I could do it again, but that won’t help anyone. So, I don’t. Instead, I focus on the love that I felt for James before he destroyed the bond. I use that feeling to help me stay strong through this agony. When I look into his eyes, I hear that voice again. At first, I thought it was my voice. But it’s not.
It wasn’t my voice. Wait, was James hearing that voice too? Is that why he destroyed my heart? Tears streaming down my face, I open my eyes and look at the men surrounding me. “I know what happened. I don’t know how she did it, but Amber is behind this. She wants to weaken me. Ripping this bond away will do that. It has done that. We need to find James and fix this.”
Luca, Ry, and Orym stare at me. It takes me a minute to figure out why. There are flames circling my left arm, and a ring of water around my right arm. Vines wrap around my right leg, and what looks like a small tornado rings my left leg. I’ve never seen anything like it.
“Are you okay?” Ry asks, clearly worried about my magic manifesting that way.
“It’s not hurting me. I remember everything.” I reach for my magic and all four elements disappear from my limbs. “I can control it again. I’m sorry for scaring you all. I couldn’t deal with James leaving, and I blocked it all out. It won’t happen again.”
“You have to lean on us when things go wrong, Red,” Luca scolds me like I’m a misbehaving child. I grin at him.
“I know. You’re right. Don’t get used to hearing that.”
ten
Waiting
LUCA
I know that Red is okay when she tells me not to get used to hearing that I’m right. I drag her into my arms and kiss her. Red’s arms wrap around my neck and I think she’s holding on, but in reality, she’s reaching for Orym and Ryland. It catches me off guard but doesn’t upset me. She needs all of us, James included.
Now that we know this was all Amber’s doing, even if we don’t understand how, we can find a way to fix it. “So, what do we say to James to get him to come back?” I ask as Ryland kisses Red.
I turn toward Trevan, realizing that it should be awkward for us to be making out with his daughter in front of him. It’s not, but it should be. He doesn’t seem to notice, deep in conversation with Grammy. They keep it in hushed tones, but it’s impossible to miss the connection there. I would have picked up on it sooner or later. Luckily, they’re not hiding it anymore.
Orym clears his throat, and the Fae man finally looks at us. “Oh, that was directed at me. I didn’t realize.” Trevan’s cheeks go pink and he takes a step away from the elder wolf. “I believe that speaking with him about this matter may be enough. Perhaps if he knows the truth, he will decide to return.”
“I don’t know if that will repair the bond, though,” Grammy adds. That was what I was worried about. If we want Red at her best, she needs the bond connections with all four of us. We need James in order to win this. I just hope it’s not too late.
“So, we have to figure out where he’d go,” Ryland says, holding Red to his side.
“There’s only one place,” Orym insists. “He let his apartment go, so he would have called his brother.”
“We need to talk to Dec.” I pull out my phone and dial, then wait a couple of rings for him to answer. When he doesn’t, I leave a short voicemail asking him to call back. “No answer. I wonder if that means James is with him and doesn’t want to talk to us.”
“Or something is wrong and they can’t answer,” Red says, fear marring her features. I hate that she’s worried about James, and that Amber caused all of this. I want to rip the bitch’s heart out for what she’s done to the people I love. Since I can’t do that, I have to make do with helping Red prepare to take her out.
