man dug his fangs into him, blood running in a thin stream from the bite site, Nero’s groans muffled and desperate as he unloaded inside his lover. Kazimir’s eyes went wide, beautiful and filled with something so intense, tears pricked at my eyes. I could feel it, the bond locking down between them, the tremendous swell of joy. I felt like a great big hand had grabbed me and shaken me to the core.
I stood there, wavering on my feet, the massive deluge of shame and sadness a surprise. Did I feel like this with Jai? It was all an overheated mess. How did he feel, me leaving him after…?
Whatever it was that powered me, it was empathic, and now that I’d given it attention, I felt Jai’s emotions rushing in. The loss of what we were, what we were on the path to becoming, of me now. I was walking out of the cage as each emotion hit me, then running towards my mate.
“Shannon.”
I paused when Caleb stepped out of his cage towards me, his voice full of dark promise. I was surprised to feel the waves of desire pouring off him, even more so when my eyes trailed down that muscular body to see he had retained his knot.
“You’re still my mate. I…I don’t know how this could’ve happened, but…”
Hope smashed into me along with need and fear. I wasn’t turning towards him, I wasn’t leaping into his arms, soft and ready, letting him do what he’d been lying awake at night, dreaming of. Then my head whipped around at a rush of anger, fuelled by fear and betrayal and hurt, heralding Jai’s arrival. Sardonic amusement threaded through that, as well as hot, hot physical desire as Zane padded over. And then there was Gaden.
Fear, pure and unadulterated, poured off him, his steps towards me dragging and reluctant. His beast was riding him hard to get him to come closer, one step at a time. I couldn’t move, my eyes closing as the tumultuous displays of emotion slammed into me, pushing me higher and higher.
In my mind’s eye, I twined them all together into some kind of rope, a live wire of emotion that kept me fuelled, even as it began to destroy me. Hollingsworth was a little kid pulling the wings off flies, not realising what he was doing with this. He was maxing out delicate systems that kept a body going, and there would be a price to pay for this. Inside I could feel it—the strain, the cracks beginning to appear.
“Please don’t.”
My eyes flicked open to see Gaden kneeling at my feet. His eyes closed when I stroked his face, and a single tear rolled free. “You don’t need me, you’re singing with power. If I… If I give myself to you, I lose her. I hold her in my heart, because that’s all I’ve got left. This place has taken every fucking thing from me. Don’t take her.”
What was in me felt harsh and pitiless, looking down at him and seeing all the wild power coiled inside him, ready to be brought forth. I stilled my body, focussing on my hand on his face, trying to make that enough.
“Please…” he said finally, letting his arms fall limp, his surrender complete. He was a man waiting for his execution, and I held the blade.
“Shan, don’t!” Jai cried, his concern and his love lancing into me.
“Give me your pain then,” I said. “Keep her and give me every fucking thing they’ve done to you in this place.”
There was silence for a moment, then the sound of feet running down the steps towards us.
“She’s going nova! All of her systems are going into overdrive! You’ll fucking lose the pivotal asset for this whole project.”
“Nonsense, my boy. This little bitch has been holding out for days on her supposed mate, and she professes to love him! She’s taken the jaguar as a mate, the wolf is ready to seal the deal, and with a little push, she’ll weld them all to her side. This is a proof of concept in the making! With the manipulation chips amplifying their base desires, we’ll revolutionise shifter control! Push her further, she’s dilly dallying.”
“But sir…”
“Now, Wilson, or go back to cow midwifery!”
Stuart was right, he shouldn’t have done this.
What I’d been doing, building from instinct alone was a power base of seething emotions. Primarily sexual at first, then just emotional. As Stuart pushed whatever it was inside me further, I realised I