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“What's going on?” Slade said, frowning.
“You’re stopping her from going to her other mates,” Hawk growled, getting in Finn’s face. “What kind of bullshit is this?”
“Love…” Jack said, grabbing his arm.
“Everyone just needs to stay calm,” Brandon said through gritted teeth, sounding anything but.
“What are you fucking doing?” Slade snapped, moving between Hawk and Jack, reaching out to pull Hawk’s hand away, and that’s when our link was formed.
If I thought the feeling was burning hot within me, I had whole continents of emotion to discover yet. We were connected through love, intended violence, and just glancing caresses, but the bond didn’t care. Whatever had been aching in me all this time settled, then bloomed.
That was a funny way to put it, but how else could I describe it? The power seemed to bubble effortlessly from within us, rocketing through our connections, and out it all came. Emotions—from the profound to the prosaic—spiralled inside me, moving too close for me to pay too much attention to, and then they moved up. My head fell back, and I stared blind eyed at the sky, the grey clouds, then witnessed a bolt of white light slice through them. We were a circuit, generating the power and unleashing it on the world, and the crystals, in our pockets, in the backs of the utes, were singing now, the sound getting louder and louder.
And with it came peace. No need, no wants, just…satisfaction-recognition-comfort-pleasure-closeness. There was no real word for it, as it was so foreign to a human mind.
When you are united, you reach for me.
The voice was not my Tirian’s, but it was familiar. I saw a brief flash of green eyes and white fur, and then she was gone.
The shouts were what finally roused us from our collective brain snap. All of us came to at once and pulled apart, the crystals instantly going dark, the note falling away.
I felt a wrench as I realised at least one of the voices was Aaron as I walked over to the ute tray, and strained to look over the back of the car.
“That sounds like Aaron,” Brandon said, appearing by my side.
“Unity…” I breathed, and I moved forwar
d, out of the cocoon of my recovering men, the ring of the crystals still echoing in my ears as I wove my way around the car and to the other side. Aaron looked devastated when he saw me appear, his hand straying to his rifle, but the albino LOTR rejects straightened when I appeared.
“It is you that makes the stones sing,” one said by way of introduction.
“Yes.”
They slipped from their vaguely horse-looking mounts, and dropped down to one knee.
“My queen,” the spokesperson said. “You must accompany us to our village. We wish to invite you to celebrate a successful hunt.”
Do not want, I thought, my eyes darting over to Aaron. He nodded, but his gaze went to the bows currently strapped on their backs.
“We have…collected your entourage’s equipment and supplies, and have them safe, waiting for you.”
Aaron’s smile when it came was bitter, because we both knew how this was gonna go. All this queen talk might be one thing, but the fact that all our supplies were with these guys and we had no way to get replacements was going to be the deciding factor. But there was nothing wrong with going in as a queen.
I nodded my head regally. “We would be honoured to accompany you to your village for the feast.”
17
“It’ll be OK,” Finn said, rubbing a hand along my back as I climbed into the car.
“Don’t worry, we’ve got her,” Jack said, waiting for me to climb in beside Hawk.
“I know. I trust you’ll care for her as I would.”
As I settled down on the seat, the warmth of Hawk’s leg against mine a welcome one, there was a moment where the two of them just took each other’s measure, and then with a nod, Jack swung in next to me. Hawk and Jack’s hands were on me the moment our belts were clipped, and the need was still throbbing inside me. I looked out the window as we pulled away, watched the rest of my mates lead the way, Aaron driving with Brandon in the passenger seat. He waved as they took off, and we followed behind.
“And just like that, he goes back to being Prince Perfect,” Jack said in a low voice, but of course, Finn heard him. His eyes went to the rear vision mirror for a moment before directing them to the path in front of us.
“I love Finn,” I said.
