Magick sought truth, whether you knew what that truth was or not, and acted on it.
Honor pulled her blanket tighter against her chest. “You’re going to need them now, more than you ever thought, Ambrosia. Let them in.” Honor wrapped her hand between hers. “With the loss of your mother and the new responsibilities of your position in the High Council, you need this. Someone to fill the void in your heart. Or, if you’re lucky enough, two someones.” Her sister added the last with a shrug and a small smile of hopefulness to her tone.
Ambrosia stared at her for a long moment before her shoulders sagged and the weight of the night’s events sank in. “What have I done, Honor?” She tensed but didn’t pull away when Honor wrapped both her hands in her own. “You know it’s not that simple.”
“It really is. You know the Council, what’s the worst they can do? Take your powers? Are you so attached to them that you would cease to exist without them?”
A small voice in the back of her mind whispered she’d be lost without Luke and Evan.
“You remember Marabelle?” Honor’s eyes clouded and filled with undeniable guilt. She hated to bring up buried memories. Witnessing the stripping of their sister’s powers still gave her nightmares. Honor too, but she needed her to see why she couldn’t let her heart lead her down this dangerous path. “After they took Marabelle’s powers, we almost lost her for doing exactly what I did and she almost didn’t make it out the other side.”
Honor wasn’t letting go of the subject. “That’s because she didn’t have a Luke or an Evan there to support her. The man Marabelle thought loved her turned out to be an asshat, only to use her and leave her.” Honor gave a slight shrug. “A broken heart is a lot different from a bond, Ambrosia. A bond is a choice while the other is… well, isn’t.” She paused and lowered her voice, “do you trust them?”Honor ran her hand up Ambrosia’s arm and gave her shoulder a tight squeeze.
Did she? “I do. I know they wouldn’t hurt me like that.”
Her sister straightened and looked her directly in the eyes before speaking. “Look, the damage is done. It’ll all work out. Trust me.” She wanted to, but things never turned out the way she wanted them to.
Two sets of feet thundered up the side of the building. Her heart did a triple flip and her stomach—damn her stomach—followed suit.
Her vision blurred and heat bloomed across her chest. What was happening? Her breath came ragged and an overwhelming nausea overtook her.
She felt the charge in the air change instantly. Unsteady she pushed to her feet.
Pounding on the door brought her around and she stumbled back a few paces. “Honor, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have lied.” Her eyes widened, darted between the door, her sister, and the window at her back. “There’s no way out of this. Before the night is up I’ll belong to them one way or another.” Water rimmed her eyes and she blinked back the tears. How could she be so blind? She wanted to laugh out loud and cry all in the same moment.
“And this is a bad thing?”
What? She stared at Jake, running through her last words. Her chest stilled and her fingers tightened around the soft material of her gown. “It is if you’re me.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Ambrosia Grace. We know you’re in there.” Determination laced Evan’s muffled tone. If that wasn’t enough, he’d used both her given names. “We can smell your sweet body and our wolves can sense you.”
“Little witch, let us in. We need to talk.” Luke’s tone brooked no argument.
Her wolves stood on the other side of the door. Bare-chested with only low-slung jeans to cover them—both demanding her. These were the men that just had her plied open, stroking her into a hot frenzy and telling her there was no escape. Her channel quivered and contracted.
Car keys glinted in the low light of the lamp and caught her eye on the end table by the window. Let’s see them outrun a four-wheel drive Jeep.
She flung open the back window. Ember’s magic and spice shop was just a couple miles down the road. With a silent prayer on her lips she’d find her there. Please let there be enough time to find a counter-potion before the elixir completely takes control. “I… I have to go.” Her legs gave a little, but she managed to push out the window and start down the two flights of rickety stairs. So much for stealth.
Two more steps. She reached for the railing. After everything tonight, making it to the Jeep should be a cinch.
Despite the motion light giving away her position, it failed to reveal the icy patch until she hit it. Blackness edged in and closed off her line of sight, the railing nowhere near where it should be.
A soft pine scent wafted over her. Teetering on the edge of the beyond, she mentally waded through the deep voices, picking out a word or two. Lost... die.
Anger welled in the pit of her stomach. She didn’t want to die or slip away into nothing. Darkness engulfed everything as her eyelids slid closed.
Trapped. Invisible bands wrapped around her. Imprisoned in her own body, her heart pounded against her chest.
“Tell us what to do. Ambrosia.” Warm fingers curled around her face. It felt so good. Safe. She liked safe. “Listen to our voices. Fight, come on. Pull on our strength. Feel it in the bond.”
They were not going to like what they found if she revealed the tattered remains of their bond. If they were to look deeper within themselves, they’d see it. The broken shards. “I… I can’t. I can’t feel it.” An iron fist wrapped around her energy, smothering the last traces of her magick.
“Not yet, sweetheart, not yet. But we don’t have long. Reach down, find the tethers and hold on.” Hard-edged, Luke’s voice penetrated the thick fog that claimed her, but the darkness lulled her closer like a siren dragging her under. Ambrosia shook her thoughts, desperate for control.
“So sorry.” She struggled to form the words that weighed heavy on her heart. They had to know before it was too late. She didn’t mean to hurt them.
Her tongue grew heavy and her body grew stiff. Evan and Luke needed to know if she had another chance, she’d take it and accept their bond with an open heart. Accept them and everything they wanted to give her, with open arms. She’d known after their first kiss that they were what she wanted, but the choice wasn’t hers to make.
Maybe Ember was right—the archaic cave-dwelling Elders needed to step down. Angry heat clawed at her gut. How could she let someone else decide her fate?
“Little witch…” Pain weighed heavy in looks tone and it cut her deep. Their sweet moniker for her carried the weight of an atomic bomb.
Evan’s lips lingered along her ear. She knew it was him from the sweet words he loved whispering to her. Like little treasures of pure love deposited in her soul. “You’re perfect, Ambrosia. Perfect for Luke. For me. I’d lose myself if you ever left us for good.”
Ember had told her it would take some time for the elixir to slip into its final phase. Her muscles shook with her magick trying to retake a hold within her. Or from the bond fighting to keep its hold, she didn’t know. She focused her attention inward and found nothing but a dim light, her powers less than a spark. She’d been so wrong and now everything was lost.
On the tail end of that thought, a ferocious violent need anchored in the pit of her stomach and spread until an iron grip restricted over her heart. The Council could have her powers, her precious chair, and all the magick they could bleed from her veins. She didn’t need it. She needed—no, craved them—like her next breath.
Electricity hummed along her skin and for a split second she slipped from the dark veil of the elixir pulling her under its spell. Head resting on Evan’s shoulder, she forced all the energy she could siphon for herself and poured it into her next words. “My circle. You have to re-forge our bond. So little time left. The elixir. I was wrong to take it. It’s bad magick and now you…” She trailed off, unable to finish.
“You’re wrong. It’s not broken, we can feel it. You have to stop fighting the pull and let us in
. It’s the only way.”
Her chest rattled—ached—for a deep drag of air, but she could only manage small gasps. She had to hold on. For her. For them.
Hopefully they could repair the damage and save her from her own mistake of thinking it was wrong to follow her heart.
Everything slipped into darkness, her last thought of amber and golden eyes.
****
Ambrosia lay in Evan’s arms, paying the price for their mistake. Possibly with her life. “Squeeze my hand if you can hear me.” Evan and Luke strode quickly across the small back yard that led into the woods out of sight of any patrons of the Matchstick bar.
Gritting his teeth, Evan shifted Ambrosia’s weight tighter in his embrace and pushed harder. What he wouldn’t give to shift. Move faster through the dense fucking brush and snow.
Tonight ended everything. She would be theirs in heart, body and soul. One way or another, they’d see to it that she finally accept them in her life. He challenged anyone who dared stand in their way. Her fucking High Council included.
She was theirs. Long brunette hair, plump lips, and sweet curves. Only thing that held them back for the last three months was the power of her wishes to follow her laws. Their mistake for listening. For not showing her what being bonded with two alphas meant. The strength of a family and loving with no fear.
An oversight he planned to rectify tonight.
First things first, though. They had to make sure the elixir didn’t steal her from them. Fear had him stealing glances at her as he wove around one tree then another. Moonlight glinted off the cool surface of her necklace he and Luke had given her as a birthday gift. Knots tightened in his gut. She hid the necklace beneath her clothing even now, when no one could see her except them. Was she that ashamed? Scared of what others thought?
Evan made a mental note to have a long chat with her coven sisters. They should have called him or Luke the minute Ambrosia got it in her head to try to break their bond.
“I know what you’re thinking. I can see the murder written all over your face, Ev. Ease up, we’ll bring her back and when we do, you’ll see. Everything will be fine.”Luke was a pro at keeping his shit together and hidden from the others. As alpha he had to.
Except from him. He knew Luke too well. Bursts of moonlight broke through the trees and caught the grim harsh lines under his eyes and around his mouth that gave away the warring emotions Luke struggled to keep at bay.
“I wish I had your calm resolve.” He hiked his feet higher and pushed faster through the deep snow. “How far is it to her circle?”
“Half mile.”
“How’d we miss the signs the first month, Luke? We’re not exactly fucking pups here. We should have protected her. Even if it meant from herself.”
“You’re right. Focus on the here and now. It’s all we can do.”
“I just hate knowing she was in pain and preferred suffering instead of let us close.”
“It’s wrong on all accounts, and I know you hate losing control as much as I do.” Luke clamped a hand on his shoulder. “Sometimes shit happens, but we’ll pull through. Always have.”
Their Ambrosia was afraid and that needed to change.
When they first felt the pull of the bond, they thought it was from their human sides, yearning for the sweet woman who loved them and left—not their inner animals claiming a mate.
After ending their call with Ember a few nights ago, both he and Luke were done waiting. Never once did he think it would end like this and he knew Luke felt the same.
If they could have kept her from taking the second elixir, everything would be a lot different.
Angry vibes consumed him and his wolf clawed to shift, ready for a fight.
Luke kept stride with him, shoving his hands through his hair. Between man and beast, his friend looked ready to shift and rip someone’s head off. “Fuck. Why did this have to happen, Ev?”
The same question haunted him and he couldn’t shake the fear eating at his gut. It gripped his heart and hurt like hell.
A light squeeze to his fingers halted him and damn near brought him to his knees. The only thing keeping him up was the need to cure her. Luke pushed the long, dark strands of Ambrosia’s hair to the side and placed two fingers to her carotid artery. “Steady but weak. Move faster.”
They did.
Luke passed him, his movements stiff and jerky. He ducked and cleared their path of low-hanging branches. “You think we should do this?”
So it bothered him too. Evan shot him a dark look. “Do you know of another way?”
Panic colored Luke’s words and the irises of his eyes grew brighter by the second. He couldn’t remember the last time he’s seen Luke lose it. He was the hot head when shit hit the fan, Luke the patient one. But tonight nothing seemed the same.
If Luke didn’t pull his shit back together and fast, he’d fall to the power of his wolf and shift. He couldn’t do this alone.
“Take it down a notch, man.” Luke swiveled his head and locked their gazes at his command. Evan was born an alpha, but Luke was The Alpha. To edge his words with a command forced his wolf to visibly bristle, but Evan didn’t see another choice. Amber eyes flashed a warning but he held Luke’s gaze. “Pull it together.” Luke inhaled, the veins in his neck popping and straining through the skin. Cool air wafted across Ambrosia, caught in her hair, and carried her sweet scent to them.
“Steady. Calm your wolf or we won’t make it through the night with her.” Evan injected dominance into his voice, bypassed his human mind and spoke directly to Luke’s wolf. His eyes shifted to show his inner beast and the wolf’s panic breached the surface.
Shoulders stiff and bunched with harnessing in his wolf, Evan stopped cold and braced for the worst.
When a wolf’s mate was in danger their first instinct drove them to fight. Kill the threat. But what they had to battle now wasn’t something that could be slaughtered with brute force. Their inner animals sensed danger—all other details were pure white noise that didn’t matter.
Ambrosia shook, forcing him to tighten his grip and shift his attention to her. Small tremors morphed into full out body spasms. He didn’t know anything about a witch’s magick, but the power that controlled her now was stronger than anything he’d ever seen. Almost like she’d fallen into a Sleeping Beauty trance.
They might not be princes to her princess status within the High Council, but they sure as hell loved her. Hopefully it was enough to break the spell.
Just ahead the thick canopy of craggy limbs cleared to reveal a patch of green-covered earth. Ambrosia’s circle. Magick at its most beautiful and mysterious if he had to label what he saw.
His gaze leveled with Luke’s. “You good?”
Luke’s wolf eyes slowly morphed back to human eyes the only trace of his inner beast the deep red glow of his eyes. “Can you do this?”
Luke gave a stiff nod. “I got it.” Evan rolled his shoulders and let out a low growl, switching his attention to Ambrosia. Gently, Evan stroked a thumb down her cheek. “She’s chilled. Let’s get it in gear.”
They picked up the pace. Part of him feared they wouldn’t be in time, but they’d faced too much in life to let doubt keep them from what both wanted.
They’d fought against rival packs, protected their pack mates against the threat of civil war, and now provided a haven for any shifters without a pack. Next to Sweet Briar Hollow’s pack, they had the largest peaceful territory. With that going for them, losing Ambrosia would make it all meaningless.
“No way are we going to lose her.” Luke’s words reached down into his soul and spoke his own truth.
“I’d kill for her and if she doesn’t wake from this, I’ll personally be responsible for opening the wounds of the past and demanding blood.” Pure violence dripped from Luke’s confession.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, brother.” Evan pressed his lips against her temple. Please God, don’t take her away. “Because no one would sur
vive our wrath.” His wolf howled inside, baring its teeth. Thirsty for blood. “No one.”
Her breath came ragged and he didn’t wait a second longer. Together they stepped through the otherwise invisible barrier, ready for the fight at hand.
Singed from a rush of electricity, Evan could only ride out the sudden attack from the infused magick of her circle. He gritted his teeth and Luke looked as if he wanted to rip someone’s head off.
Ambrosia’s back arched, the force carrying her away from his body. He tightened his grip. “Evan. Luke.” Their names fell from her lips in a garbled mess. “So… sorry.” Her eyelids fluttered but failed to reveal the beautiful gems he loved so much.
“All I care about right now is seeing those beautiful eyes, baby. Come on…”
“And hearing your sweet voice.” Luke’s gaze connected with Evan’s. “She’s the one, Ev.”
“Did you ever doubt it?” Evan’s fingers connected with Luke’s, his other splayed across the tender flesh of her stomach. They both kneeled. Through their connection the strength of their wolves amplified and fed into her. He swallowed the waves of nausea and continued to push more power to her, Luke doing the same.
“Doubt it, no, but I question the why behind staying away, every damn day. That note she left? We should have shredded it and claimed her as ours that same day. Even if we had to kick in the doors to her fancy High Council chambers to get to her.”
They’d both known the minute she landed in their town fresh out of college she’d be their mate. Their feelings were confirmed way before the moment he first had her body wrapped around his cock and Luke claiming her from behind. All three were one and from the years of flirting and dancing around one another, he knew without a doubt Ambrosia felt the same connection they did. They had made a mistake in letting her slip away from them once. He hugged her close and pressed his lips close to her ear. If they were lucky enough for another chance…
Jinxing The Alphas: A Paranormal Werewolf Romance (Hex My Heart Book 2) Page 5