Changed by Fire (Phoenix Rising #6) - Harper Wylde Page 0,25
was Ciarán’s turn to freeze now, his eyes watching mine warily, searching to see behind the mask. But I was too good at it now. “Rini—”
“I want you to go. I have plans to finish.”
“Plans?” His voice chilled, the muscles in arms flexing as his hands balled into fists.
“You have your duty. I told you, I understand. But I have a duty of my own. My duty to my mates. They’ve waited for me long enough. With the war brewing, I won’t make them wait any longer and risk never getting the chance to be fully together.”
A muscle ticked in Ciarán’s jaw, and I could see him swallow. “You’re going through with it?”
My mind screamed no, and my bear raked me with her claws as she roared inside me, horrified at the idea of losing one of her mates. But I wouldn’t beg. I wouldn’t put Ciarán’s plans above all of our needs. He was one of my mates, but not the only one. I couldn’t deny the others a future for a potential one with him—one with all of us together. Not when I knew he didn’t have an end date on this, just the possibility of maybe. That wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough for the others to agree to wait, and it wasn’t enough for me. A mate mark didn’t force a mating, we still had a choice, and clearly Ciarán had made his. His duty—God, how that word infuriated me—to the rebellion, to every other shifter, came before his feelings for us. “Yes.” My voice didn’t quaver, revealing no hint of the pain gnawing at me. “They’ve waited long enough. I won’t put them off indefinitely. They deserve more than that.” I deserve more than that, I wanted to say.
“You’re right.” Another ache stabbed through me, the betrayal burning like an acid dipped knife in my chest, as Ciarán didn’t even make a move to fight for me, for us. “Yogi, Boo Boo, and Little John will take care of you.” He smiled, bright and blinding, shooting me a wink before heading for the door. He paused only briefly to glance over his shoulder. “Maybe I’ll see you in my dreams, teddy bear.” For the briefest of moments, I thought I saw regret and pain on his face and despair in those eyes, but as the door closed, I realized it was my own reflection.
My knees gave out and I collapsed to the floor, my mate mark throbbing like a toothache while I sobbed out the broken pieces of my heart. I’d let my bears patch me back up later, but for right now, I needed the tears.
Six
Ryder
The air was frigid as I stepped outside in my search for Nix. She wasn’t in our room, not that I blamed her. It was a pretty cramped space when we were all in there. To make things easier, most of us had found little nooks around the hotel we often hung out in to have a little breathing room—Damien in the kitchen, Killian in the gym, and Theo in the small office he’d been able to set up for himself. If I wasn’t with Nix or one of my brothers, I was often in the clinic assisting Rune with the medical needs of fellow rebellion members and any hybrids we happened across. We’d found three more hybrid children in the last two months, and they were doing well under our care. Between shifting lessons, three solid meals a day, and the constant affections of Li Min and Angela, they were finally flourishing. It did my heart good to help these children, especially when I couldn’t help my own niece.
Yet, I reminded myself, trying to pick my heart up off the floor. Even with so many skilled shifters on the case—Theo, Joshua, and even Gaspard—we hadn’t been able to locate her whereabouts. The Council’s impeccable job at covering their trail, whether it be their sick breeding program or their private adoptions of the children born from it, thwarted our best efforts. But I’d never give up searching for my niece, Emersyn, and once she was safely in my arms, I’d make the Council pay for all the pain they’d caused me and my family.
Trying to push back the thoughts that made my stomach churn, I sucked down a deep, calming breath. My Ceraptor whinnied in my head, disliking the cold as much as I did. Cupping my hands in front of my face, I blew into my palms to warm