I grip him so tightly and hug him half to death, burying my face against that familiar feel and his strong chest and hold on to the last ounces of sanity.
“Lorey?… hey?…” Colton nudges me on top of my head with his chin and it draws me out of my dark cavern of safety, pulling back so I can gaze up at him. My eyes wet with dampness even though I didn’t think I was crying, and he smiles at me. So sweetly, full dimples and white teeth, charm and sexiness personified, and it makes me smile too.
“What?” I sniff out, so close to properly sobbing and melt a little at how gooey my mate makes me with one perfectly pulled cute boy gesture.
“I believe in you.” He says it with authority, and I realize he has been absorbing my fear, my doubts, and read me like a book. Knowing what was going on in my brain even while I was trying to hold it in. I sigh and sink against him once more.
“I wish I did too.”
“Hey. Have a little faith in the fates, right? Isn’t that what you told me. That they put us on these paths because they have a plan.” He pulls me back again and slides his hand between us and cups my abdomen softly. Gently moving it in a soft rub that sends goosebumps across my skin. “They most definitely have a plan. They wouldn’t have let this happen otherwise, not now, unless they know this is going to be okay.” His words soothe me, knowing it makes sense, and I exhale with heaviness.
“I guess.” I move my hand to cover his as he lasso’s my fingers between his and pulls them under to fully entangle them without leaving my stomach.
“Leave the fighting to us. Your only job is to talk to Jasper and Varro, from a safe distance, behind the shield of your mate and your pack. Nothing else. I don’t want to see you lift one finger to do anything except that. Swear to me Lorey!” He bumps his head against mine and locks his beautiful coffee brown eyes on mine, both sighing in sync. Making me powerless to disobey or reject the cotton wool padding he is already wrapping around me now he knows about the babies.
“I swear.” What else can I do? I know myself that I’m vulnerable now and that fighting isn’t going to keep these children safe. My powers drain quickly, the forest showed me that and healing is something I have to rely on Colton and his mother for if I get hurt. I saw how easily we got separated and I can’t be too confident that the same won’t happen at the mountain. Even though I know Colton will do anything in his power to make sure he stays with me. It’s why he has brought the Luna’s guard back into play. In case anything goes wrong, and he can’t shadow me like he wants. Always thinking of the details and covering his angles.
He knows like I do that this is going to change everything and there’s a chance that some of our pack won’t see tomorrow.
The battle
I steady my hands on my lap and screw my eyes shut forcing myself to calm my racing heart and breathe as slowly as I can, nerves eating me inside out and I am trying not to show it. Sat in the dark interior of one of our trucks in the rear, listening and waiting patiently as the sun goes down. Colton and the twins are out running the perimeter of where we wait to get as close to the mountain as possible.
We have a convoy of a dozen trucks all nestled together in a deep dark forest on the far eastern side of the valley below the mountain. A place that took us half the day to get to because of our long detour to go all the way around in a wide berth to a part that Juan can’t see from his position. We needed to be close before sunset and yet we needed to be hidden in case Juan got any ideas about starting a battle before the real threat arrived.
We know from some of our pack that the mountain too has been released from the fog spell at the same time as we were, and their confusion and exhaustion has hindered them enough to make it easier for us to get within mere miles of the manor. I am guessing Juan and his people have no memory of the week of their lives they lost, because everyone here was affected and no one had the memories left behind like we did in our protected shell. As far as they know, they woke up after a second of seeing the fog and it was gone. Some know more has happened due to linking to family in our pack but none of those people would dare report to Juan. He would know then that they were contacting us and be seen as traitors. I guess in a way, it’s an advantage for us that most of them are dazed and confused and have no clue about the danger heading their way.
The only upside to Varro’s army is that halflings can only walk in the dark. Leyanne told us the pure bloods don’t need darkness or to hide from sunlight. Varro’s army are all halflings, so we don’t even have to worry about the possibility.
We had time to be ready and sit here waiting for the inevitable, watching the mountain for signs as the light fades and tension rises around us. We’ve seen nothing so far and I jump when the door is yanked open suddenly and Domi hops inside with a mischievous grin.
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