The days and weeks have gone by fast, and most evenings Michael just sits in a chair in the room until I fall asleep.
I am appreciative since Jack has been mostly avoiding me. He spends time with the kids, but it’s not long and then he is gone.
I know he goes to the bar a lot, and it pains me to see him fall down that low. This evening, it didn’t take me long to fall asleep, and I was thankful for that.
I sit up in bed quickly because I hear the sirens blaring. I jump up, throwing on clothes, and run from the room.
I can hear snarling and fighting from outside when people start running towards the bunkers.
The nursery was equipped with a private staircase that leads directly to a one-room bunker with a seal that only the Gods can open and enter.
For that, I am thankful that they have their dedicated guards whose one job is to get them down there and locked up.
I race around the corner when I run into something rock hard, falling backwards.
I feel a hand grip my hair, yanking me up when I am looking straight into Asmodeus’ eyes. He smirks, baring his canines, and I instantly tremble.
I feel him grab my face, hard, turning me to see Jonah who has Jack kneeling in front of him.
I struggle to break free from his grip on my hair to get to Jack when Jonah takes a knife out, slicing his throat wide open.
I just watch because I feel no pain at all. I can feel the warm splatter of blood on me when Jonah comes over, grabbing me away from Asmodeus and dragging me into a room.
I try to fight back when he wraps a hand around my throat.
I quickly stiffen up, trembling when he leans in, licking over his mark. I moan out loud, which causes him to snicker at me.
I watch him look into my eyes when he quickly grabs my clothes, tearing them from my body. I struggle to try and cover myself, which gets a loud growl erupting from him.
I close my eyes when I feel tears slowly fall down my face. I can hear him struggling to get his pants undone when he quickly grabs me around the waist, blinding me with sheer pain.
I quickly open my eyes and look straight at Jack’s face. The sheer pain that is wreaking havoc through my body is beyond anything I have ever felt.
I yank myself away from his grip, fumbling to get away when he grabs my arm again, making me wince and scream out in pain.
He quickly lets go of my arm when I crawl over to the corner, huddling into it and just cry.
I see him move to come near me when I start to tense up, screaming at him. He is stopped by Michael, who just shakes his head no.
I can see them exchanging words through a mind link and just bury my face.
I see Jack lean down to crawl over to Riley when she stiffens up, looking at him. She looks between us, and you can tell she is still trying to process what is going on.
He just sits there when I see her reach out to touch him. The moment she makes contact, she yanks her hand back, wincing in pain.
That’s when her eyes cloud over, and I know she is talking to Ana because I see the tears start falling down her face.
She covers her mouth, sobbing when her eyes clear, and she looks straight at Jack.
“You fucking bastard! How could you! After everything I sacrificed and put up with, you cut our bond? Then you have the audacity to come in here and pretend like you fucking care?”
“Riley, I do care! You’re my mate!”
“If you fucking cared, you wouldn’t have broken the bond! I am no longer your mate! You gave me up, not me. Now get the fuck out of my room, you asshole!”
“Riley, please!”
“Get out!”
I watch while Jack hangs his head, slowly standing up, and walks out of the room.
I can see she is still in pain, so I slowly walk over, sitting next to her and pull her into my lap. She snuggles in next to me, sobbing against my chest.
I wish I could tell her the reason, but it isn’t time yet. I keep checking on the potion, which is almost ready. It seems like it might need a few more weeks, but who knows.
Then we will be ready for them to come.
“Why, Michael?”
“Why what, Riley?”
“Why is it when my mate touches me, I feel pain, but when you touch me, I feel calm, and little sparks? You aren’t my mate, though!”
“I don’t know, Riley!”
She sits up, looking straight at me, and I can see her mind is trying to understand and comprehend what is going on.
“You’re lying! There is a reason this is happening, isn't there!”
“Riley, yes, but I can’t say why yet. Please believe me, if I could, I would. Just remember when it comes time, and I tell you to do something, you need to listen to me and trust me, please.”
“Why won’t you tell me?”
She repositions herself so she is straddling my lap, looking directly at me. I am trying to have a serious conversation, and my cock feels like there should be another agenda at hand.
I struggle to keep it under control when she places her hand on my cheek. I look down at her when she looks up, with tears slowly making their way down her face.
I reach my hand up slowly, wiping it away with my thumb when I take it and run it across her lower lip. I take a deep breath and say fuck it.
I crash my lips to hers when she throws her arms around my neck. The sparks and bonds that are being created are like little static shocks.
I deepen the kiss, running my tongue across her bottom lip, begging for entrance. She parts her lips just slightly and takes full advantage by invading my mouth.
We fight each other for dominance and decide to call a truce when we both pull back to catch our breath.
“Riley, we cannot do this right now. You are still mated.”
“Michael, I don’t care. Do you know how long it’s been since Jack even came near me, let alone touched me!”
“Riley, I promise I will work through this, but for right now I just can’t.”
I feel my tears start to fall when she cups both sides of my face. I watch her intently as she places a soft kiss on my lips and snuggles back down against my chest.
Soon she is sound asleep when I pick her up and head back to the bed. I snuggle in next to her and know that it will be soon that everything will come to light.
Then, and only then, I hope she will understand and forgive me.
I am sitting here with Morax and Argon, sipping on beers, when Jack comes rolling in. To say he looks like shit would be a compliment.
He looks like something the pups dug up.
He walks in, sitting down, holding up two fingers for Aaron. He sets down two shots and he downs them both, then asks for a beer. We all look at each other, waiting for him to tell us what is going on.
Before long, he starts telling us what happened and we are in shock.
“Riley had a nightmare and I went in to comfort her, but all I did was cause her shooting pain anytime I touched her.”
“You’re her mate! How can you cause her pain?” Argon asked.
“He cut the bond with her, so anything they had for each other is now the opposite. He is only linked now by the mark, and that’s it.”
“There is no bond left, and the moment Jonah can get in, all he has to do is bite her neck and her fate is sealed.”
“Well then, have Michael mark her and have the transfer be complete!”
“If it was that easy, it would already be done. Everything has to happen in sequence.”
“The moment has to be timed just right, so that they mark each other at the same time that Jack rejects her, and the potion is ready.”
“The moment they attack, they will show up to grab Riley first, so we will have to be ready.”
“Jack will have to be ready, so that the moment they show up, he can get rid of Asmodeus, and the transfer from Michael to Jack will take place at the moment they mark each other.”
“It’s very tricky, and if anything goes wrong, there is no do-over.”
“How long do we have until the potion is ready?”
“It could be days or it could be weeks. It will start to glow when the countdown happens, then we will need to have everyone in place.”
“What I suggest doing is getting the bunker set up for the kids. The fight is coming earlier than what was anticipated.”
“We will need to have the whole town be ready to evacuate to the bunkers. The moment the sirens sound, the shield will drop then they can make it onto the territory.”
“Since Jonah has a link to Riley they can get directly to her.”
