Strengthening Their Bonds (Miracle Book 13)

by Shea Balik

  If any of them made a run for it, it would put everyone left inside the camp, including Tevin and Arjun, in danger. Hoping the three would stay put, he went to the next cage.

  The shifter in there didn’t move. He was lying in a curled ball, with blood covering large portions of his body. But he was breathing and his eyes recognized that Tevin was there to help.

  Deftly, Tevin picked the lock but didn’t try to open door. “Stay here. One of the men with me will come in and carry you out once we have all the cages open.” The man, Tevin was fairly sure was a giraffe, blinked in acknowledgement.

  Five minutes later he had all the cages assigned to him unlocked with those that could fight given a knife. He glanced at the other three shifters that were opening the cages and saw they were almost finished.

  “Intruders,” a human called out as he caught sight of one of them. “Capture them.”

  But Saber’s men had been prepared. Hudson began shooting from the trees at anyone who came near Tevin, Arjun, or the other two as they finished opening cages. Tevin raced to the ones he’d been in charge of and called out, “Anyone who can move on their own follow me. Men are coming to carry the others out.”

  He hadn’t even finished saying that when Saber, Chadwick, and Mannix rushed forward. Each took a shifter and tossed them over their shoulders, all the while shooting anyone who tried to stop them.

  Tevin was relieved to see Baz heading toward Arjun’s group, knowing their stronger mate would keep Arjun safe.

  “Hurry,” Saber yelled to Tevin. “They’re almost upon us.”

  Tevin glanced back, and sure enough, there were at least twenty men barreling down on them. “Run, but stay right behind me or you might set off one of the traps,” he told the others as he raced ahead to show them the path.

  When bullets started whizzing past them, Tevin knew there was no way they’d all make it out if they didn’t do something. Chadwick had been ahead of him, so he pointed him out to the others. “Stay with him. I’m going to set off some of the surprises we have for the humans.”

  He knew Arjun. His mate was devious when it came to booby traps, especially when it came to situations like this one. He had at least one or two devices that would scare the crap out of the humans and slow them down if nothing else.

  He ran into the thick brush that surrounded the camp. It took him less than twenty seconds to set off the first one. The sound of rapid machine gunfire had the humans that were the closest to them diving for the ground and covering their heads with their hands.

  The next one was the dirt bombs, which didn’t harm anyone but made it seem like a huge explosive of some kind had been detonated. That had many of the humans running into the trees for cover, which set off at least six more devices.

  The humans were too afraid to move, just as Tevin had hoped. Running back to the rendezvous point, Tevin accidentally set off one more explosion.

  At what he assumed was dirt, rained down all around him, Tevin continued to run. He aimed for the main path Arjun had created for the shifters to make their escape since the last thing he wanted to do was have any more of those damn things go off in his face.

  They may not hurt him, but it would give away his location. Rushing to the path, Baz and Arjun were there waiting for him. His mates. The men he loved more than anything. He’d expected both of them to open their arms and hold him.

  Instead, Baz’s eyes widened as big as saucers and Arjun covered his mouth as if trying not to laugh. Okay, so he was covered in dirt and debris, so what? He’d gotten the humans to back off enough to make their escape didn’t he? That should deserve credit.

  But then Chadwick raced back toward them from further down the path and skidded to a stop when he saw Tevin. “Dude, I’m not sure orange is your color, but I like the purple and blue.”

  Confused, Tevin looked down and saw he was covered in iridescent color.

  “Arjun,” he said.

  But Chadwick was shaking his head. “Later. Hudson said the humans are already on the move again. We gotta go.”

  All four of them ran for the last two vehicles. Saber was at the wheel of one, Draco the other. Hudson raced up from another direction and skidded to a stop when he saw Tevin. “Bold color choice,” he said. “They are less than…”

  He didn’t even finish as gunfire erupted behind them. Everyone jumped into the two vehicles and fled.

  “Sorry,” Arjun said in Tevin’s ear as they were scrunched up in the backseat with Baz shooting his rifle at anyone chasing them. “But it wasn’t like I thought you’d just go into there and set them off.”

  Leaning in, Tevin kissed him on the lips. “I know. I love you.”

  Arjun beamed at him. “I love you, too. Do you think now is the time to tell Baz we love him or should we wait until he isn’t shooting at the humans?”

  A growl rumbled around them as Baz shot two more soldiers in the knee. At least he wasn’t killing them, but he definitely would make them think twice about going after shifters again, assuming they could walk.

  Then their mate pulled them in for a heated three-way kiss. When he ended it, those golden eyes glowed at them. “I love you too, my mates.”

  Tevin smiled. “I know Arjun said it for me, but I love you both. I’m so damn glad we found each other.”

  He wasn’t stupid enough to believe it would be sunshine and roses from then on, but they’d managed to find a way to love each other and that was all that mattered.

  EPILOGUE

  Happy as Arjun was that he and his mates had admitted their love for each other, it was hard to be happy at the moment. Even though they had saved most of the shifters that had been captured, they hadn’t found Jayden’s parents. Saber had left men to keep searching, but after they’d rescued so many, the humans would be stupid to hold on to anyone else.

  That would either mean they’d been sold, or… Arjun wasn’t one to shy away from the possibility of death, but when he was sitting on his front porch with Tevin and Baz as they explained the situation to Jayden, Arjun couldn’t bring himself to even contemplate that the man’s parents might be dead.

  “Saber’s men are still looking,” Baz told him. “And Arjun, Tevin and I will be heading back to Africa to help.”

  Jayden’s eyes widened in surprise. “You are? But isn’t that dangerous?”

  It was. Out of the two hundred men Arjun and his mates had battled against, thirty died. That left one hundred and seventy left to create more havoc. Although, thanks to Hudson and Baz as well as several others, it would take time for the humans to heal from their injuries, assuming they would ever really recover.

  But the other camps hadn’t been as badly hurt. Sure, some had suffered when they’d tripped Arjun’s booby traps, but most of those were minor injuries and the humans would heal quickly enough. Although, with any luck, some of them would think twice before going after more shifters.

  After Baz had admitted he wanted to go back to Africa and help find a way for shifters to live in peace, Tevin and Arjun had quickly agreed to go with him. It would mean leaving Miracle, at least for now, but if they could help shifters find even a modicum of peace, they felt it was worth it.

  Putting his hand on Jayden’s arm, Arjun made him a promise. “We won’t stop looking for your parents. I swear it.”

  The young man nodded but he didn’t appear to believe his parents would ever be seen again. “Thank you. I appreciate that. After talking to Iniko, as well as Yosi and his mate Kylo, I’ve decided to move to Salvation. There are a few others who will be going with me. We just don’t feel safe any longer.”

  That was why Arjun and his mates were going to Africa. It wasn’t right that shifters were being threatened. They already had enough infighting amongst packs to make life hard. The last thing they needed was to have humans hunting them, too.

  “That’s a good decision,” Tevin told Jayden. “Salvation will help you heal.”

  But Jayden shook his head. “I’m not sure that will ever hap
pen. But I’m just not strong enough to live with the constant fear.” A tear leaked from his left eye and traveled down his cheek. “My parents would be disappointed in me.”

  Baz pulled Jayden to his feet and pulled him into a hug. “No, they wouldn’t. They would be proud that you are doing what is right for you. Never doubt that. They loved you, Jayden.”

  A few minutes later Jayden left and Arjun went into his mates’ arms as they all comforted each other. So many shifters had died. Many others were being sold for god knew what.

  “What is the world coming to?” Arjun whispered.

  “I wish I knew,” Baz whispered hoarsely. “I mean, what is the point of any of this?”

  It was Tevin who kissed each of their cheeks and then gave them each a smile. “This is what life is about, my loves. We fight so we can meet who we are meant to love.” Those brown eyes flicked to Baz. “I’m just glad we found you.”

  Arjun leaned in and kissed Tevin, then Baz. “He’s right. Before you we were floundering. Now, with you by our side, we’re strengthening our bonds.”

  The three of them leaned in and kissed. It still was a bit awkward, but they were learning to make it work.

  Also from Shea Balik

  The following series are all available on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited!

  Miracle Series: MM Paranormal Romance

  Mystic Pines Series: MM Contemporary

  Hart Medical Center Series: MM Mpreg Omegaverse Romance

  Paranormal Wars: Stone Haven Series

  Druid’s Curse Series

  About The Author

  Shea Balik

  Bestselling author of the Cedar Falls Series, Hart Medical Center Series, Miracle Series, and Paranormal Wars Series, Shea Balik has always had a vivid imagination with stories running around in her head. Often her stories are taken from observations of other people with her own spin.

  Traveling is one of her favorite ways of fulfilling her passion of people watching. You never know, one day you may spark her imagination for her next book.

  Whether at home or traveling she is usually in front of her computer writing or curled up with a good book. Find Shea at any of the links below!

  www.sheabalik.com

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  https://twitter.com/BalikShea

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