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A few hours earlier at the Karaoke Lounge Dillon’s POV I was so wired, It felt like an electric current was coursing through my veins instead of blood. My heart had thumped nervously since the minute we walked in the door. I couldn’t wait to tell everyone the truth about Zoe and me, to finally have our bond acknowledged openly by our family and friends. But the wait was nerve-wracking. All our mated friends were so in love and openly affectionate with one another. I wanted to be able to hold Zoe that way, to put my arms around her and kiss her sweet lips no matter who was watching. But just when the perfect moment presented itself for our announcement, Kat was called on stage and we had to wait. My wolf and I were about to lose our minds. I was especially anxious to claim my mate because the next fucking asshole to leer at her like they couldn’t wait to get her underneath them, I was going to pluck out their eyeballs and shove them down their throat. Not that I blamed them for l
Zoe’s POV I blinked my eyes rapidly, hoping that my vision would clear and the creature leering at me would disappear like a bad dream. But it wasn’t a dream. The biting cold of the concrete wall at my back and the dirt floor with its jagged-edged rocks digging into my feet were terrifyingly real. My arms were strung up over my head, bound in metal chains and attached to a silver ring hanging from the ceiling. My feet were shackled in iron manacles attached to the floor. My naked body was stretched taut and the silver cuffs on my wrists singed my skin with any attempt to move. The remnants of whatever drug they’d given me still burned in my veins, no doubt responsible for my still blurred vision. I should have been thankful I couldn’t see clearly but when the creature moved toward me in a blur of black scales and streaks of green from his luminescent eyes it was all the more horrific. A scream died in my throat as the black shadow drew suffocatingly close, morphing into more o
Dillon’s POV None of us wanted to admit defeat, but after running in circles for hours with no trace of the girls, there was little else we could do. I’d never hated anything as much as I hated leaving that forest without Zoe. The anguish that clung to me like a second skin was crippling. Silence reigned as we drove back to Glass Lake. Whether we were all too lost to our own heartache to speak or just afraid talking about our failure would make it all too real, no one seemed inclined to talk about it. If someone had a brilliant idea of what to do next, they certainly weren’t sharing it. That was the most gut-wrenching part of all. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack with no idea where to start. We could take a stab in the dark, but if we guessed wrong, we’d be wasting precious time. Time that could cost our mates their lives. When we finally arrived at the packhouse, everyone filed out and headed inside but I hung back. I was breaking and didn’t need an audience
Zoe’s POV I leapt for the door as soon as we pulled up in front of the hospital, but Dillon caught me around the waist and hauled me back before I could slip out. “Dillon! Let me go!” I demanded, “I need to get to the lab.” “I understand that, baby doll, and I will make sure you get there. But there is no way in fuckin’ hell you are getting out of this car naked!” He protested I looked down at myself and was startled to find he was right. My thoughts had gone from dazed, guarding me from the trauma I had yet to process, to laser-focused on the idea formulating in my mind. There had been no room for anything else, not even my state of undress. “Damn!” I muttered under my breath. “Can I wear your shirt?” Dillon was already pulling off his t-shirt and dragging it over my head. He helped me out of the SUV and I started for the front door again. But again, he pulled me back. “Too much skin.” He grumbled, eyes trained on my bare legs. He grabbed the blanket from the car an
Dillon’s POV “We have a new rotation of Fae warriors arriving today. Are the accommodations prepared?” Ryan asked during our daily morning meeting. “Everything is ready for their arrival. Sarah oversaw the preparations with Zoe’s help.” Zayne answered then turned to me. “I hate to do this but I think my sister is going to have to manage the next group on her own. Between the pregnancy and caring for Mason, it’s taking a toll on my mate.” “No problem, man. I’m sure Zoe can handle it and you know I’ll help her if she needs it.” I told him. He fixed me with a questioning look, one that said he wasn’t sure he believed me when I said Zoe could take care of anything. It was no secret she’d been a shadow of her former self since her time in the Dark Fae prison. If she wasn’t in the lab, working away on something she refused to talk about, she was either sleeping or staring off into space. I’d lost track of the number of times I’d tried to get her to open up to me, to let me help her
Dillon’s POV Zoe coiled her arms around my neck then sucked my earlobe into her warm mouth as I carried her to our room. Between her hot kisses, her lush body melting into me and my weeks long self-imposed celibacy, my cock was harder than steel and aching with the need to be sheathed in the wet heat of her pussy. The slick dripping from her core as she grinded over my bulge didn’t help matters either. “Fuck, baby doll! Keep that up and this will be over before it starts.” I warned her. “Mmm.” Her hummed response was the only indication she’d heard me at all. When we reached the bed, Zoe refused to unlock her legs from around my waist, pressing herself even closer when I’d tried to pry her off so I could lay her down. Instead, I tumbled down with her in my arms, landing on top of her and fusing my lips to hers. I dominated our kiss, plundering her mouth with my tongue, tasting every inch of her. The kiss was a message, demanding she submit to me, lay back and let me take ca
Zoe’s POV “Fucking hell!” I cursed to myself when yet another sample yielded nothing. I’d been meticulously studying the slides from the swabs Dillon and I had collected for weeks with no luck. How could it be that those monsters had been so close to me without leaving a single piece of usable evidence behind? It just wasn’t possible. I shoved away from my workstation and stomped over to the fresh pot of coffee I’d just brewed, pouring myself a cup. I’d commandeered a spot in the back, away from the busier area where all the patient samples were processed. That meant more peace and quiet for me and less witnesses to my crazy. Pacing and talking to myself was a regular occurrence for me these days. This had to work. I knew it was a long shot from the beginning but it was all I had. “Power, love, and intellect” the Moon Goddess had said. Kat was clearly powerful. I loved my mate and family but it didn’t overflow from me the way it oozed from Sarah. This had to be where I fit i
Dillon’s POV “Mornin’ baby doll.” I pulled Zoe back tight against my chest and nibbled on her neck. “Mornin’ cowboy.” She mimicked my southern drawl, the warm breath from my laugh making her shiver as it washed over her ear.. She stretched in my arms, arching her back and pressing her delectable little ass against my morning wood. I slid my hand up under the t-shirt she wore to bed, drawing lazy circles on the soft skin of her belly. “I can’t wait to feel you round with my pup.” I whispered in her ear, nipping at the tender lobe. “Really?” She laughed. “You hold Olivia once and now you have baby fever?” “I’m pretty sure I’ve had a little baby fever since the day the Goddess gave you to me. Holding that little bundle of joy just turned it up a notch.” She turned to face me and I pulled her in for a heated kiss, sliding my hands to her ass and grabbing a handful. I trailed my tongue along her bottom lip and she opened for me, moaning into my mouth as I deepened the kiss. The want