Chapter 117** Josie’s POV **As the sun dips behind the trees, our cosy cottage transforms, and the surrounding woods shift from enchanting to eerie in an instant. Gazing out from the cottage window feels like stepping into the opening scene of a horror movie, and I can’t get enough of it. The anticipation of what might lurk in the shadows ignites an exciting rush within me. I probably need therapy or something because I'm sure most people wouldn't get a buzz from this. Although it could be because I'm not like most people. I’m the predator, I'm the thing that lurks in the shadows that people should be scared of. “Ready to go for a run?” Deacon asks.“Yes,” I nod eagerly as my wolf surges forward with excitement, heating my skin as she prepares to take over the moment I allow it. “Good, because my wolf is very enthusiastic about this happening as soon as possible,” he runs a hand through his hair, giving it a dishevelled look. I love seeing him like this, to see the man hiding behi
Chapter 118** Josie’s POV **The next two weeks are spent searching the realm for broken portals. It's not easy because the world is so large and we can't just port openly like we can in the Greys realm. Each place we visit has to be carefully planned out to make sure we don’t port into the middle of a group of unsuspecting humans. After another morning of finding nothing I'm starting to give up hope of us being any help. “Cheer up, Baby Girl, we are making good progress here,” Theo reassures through our mental connection. “I hate this, Theo, I hate it so much. I want to see you, I want to feel you,” I cry.“I know. I want to see you too. I want to kiss you everywhere. When I finally get you in my arms I dont think I'll ever be able to let you go again,” he says. “How are things with you and Mason?” I ask.“Not great, he's not interested in any kind of intimacy with me. His sole focus is getting these portals open and teaching me, Luke and Axel to help. He keeps losing his temper
Chapter 119** Mason’s POV **Theo has obviously been telling Josie that I’m not taking care of myself. He should focus on his own issues and coping strategies rather than running to our bond to discuss mine. I’m positive he won’t have told her he’s been unable to shift for weeks, or that he spends most of his time so lost in his own thoughts that he doesn’t notice the world around him. I wait for Deacon to let me know they’re at the portal and ready to get to work. The portal we have been working on fixing is almost fully repaired and if Deacon and Josie can fix the one on their side then our chances of reuniting with them will be a whole lot better. Luke is already ready to attempt the jump with the three of us. The only thing holding him back is the grief he’d felt from Josie when we had discussed the possibility of him losing us in the void. I don’t think he could live with the guilt of causing her that kind of pain. I know he’s close to attempting to go alone. I see it in his fac
Chapter 120** Luke’s POV **Josie is incredible! She was able to fix a portal in seconds with practically no experience with a molecular gift. Mason has had a whole team working for a month to accomplish that. Our bond group is bursting with pride and excitement, which is great, but they're letting those feelings overshadow any logical thinking. If we want to bring Josie and Deacon home anytime soon then we need Josie in the void, fixing the portal from that side. I fully believe she can do it, but I doubt any of the others are willing to risk attempting it. That's why I'm going to port through to the human realm. If I can prove that I can get there safely with this portal now fixed, then I think they'll consider attempting to bring Josie through. I cant tell any of the others my plan. Mason, Theo and Axel will either try to stop me or they'll insist I bring them with me, which makes it more difficult. There's a soft knock on my door before it slowly opens, Axel pokes his head in.“He
Chapter 121** Josie’s POV **Deacon picks me up and spins me in his arms before lowering me to my feet and leaning down to kiss me.“Whenever I think I couldn’t be any more proud to be yours you do something that blows me away!” He laughs, unzipping my coat and kissing his way down my body until he’s on his knees in the grass in front of me. He tugs at the waistband of my joggers and I gasp.“What are you doing?” I laugh nervously, glancing around us, “we are outside,”“Do you see anyone around?” He asks.“No, but…” I start but my words are cut off as he places a hot kiss between my legs. The contrast between the cold air and Deacon’s hot breath is an interesting sensation that I want more of. I grip the back of his head, holding him to me.“Take your coat off and lay on it,” his hot breath fans over my sensitive flesh. I let the coat slip from my shoulders and slump in a heap on the floor. Deacon reaches around, spreading it out for me to sit on before guiding me down onto it gently.
Chapter 122** Josie’s POV **Rain begins to fall on us as if the sky is also worried about my missing bonds. Deacon attempts to get me back into my pants but I don’t react. I feel as though I'm watching myself from the outside. I can’t function until I know Luke and Axel are safe. I don’t care if I'm wearing pants, I don’t care that it's cold and my body is shivering, or that my stomach rumbles with hunger.“We need to get you home, you're freezing,” Deacon says softly. I can’t respond. I just wait, wait for Axel and Luke to tell me they're okay. Theo and Mason are silent as they wait with me, seemingly stuck in the same state as I am. Only D has the mental capacity to function. “Josie, you need to snap out of it. It's not just you that will suffer if you make yourself unwell,” he says a little harsher this time and I blink at him. My hand moves to my abdomen where my little bean grows. He’s right. I nod and move, allowing him to help me dress and put my shoes on. He grabs the bag
Chapter 123** Josie’s POV **Luke and Axel lay on my bedroom floor side by side on their fronts. Their bodies heave as both of them wretch and suck in ragged breaths of air. Deacon is already trying to get to their wrists and I drop down beside Luke to try and help. Axel rolls onto his back with a groan and somehow pulls Luke along with him so he's laid on top of him. “Erm… I thought you said it was the other two that were fucking each other,” Freya says and I ignore her trying to work out what is happening.“They've tied themselves together. Freya, can you get me a sharp knife please?” Deacon asks. Luke’s body goes limp and a jolt of fear hits me. I manage to grab his wrist and breathe out in relief when I feel his pulse there. He's just passed out. Which makes sense, he must have depleted all his energy because he'd been drawing on ours. “Axe,” I say softly, moving closer and touching my hand to his cheek. He blinks his eyes open with a frown that softens when he finally focuse
Chapter 124** Luke’s POV **I can’t remember the last time I slept this well. I don’t want it to end, but I'm sure we are going to be late for classes. I groan and nuzzle my head into Josie’s chest. I can smell Mason, Axel and Deacon on her but she still smells amazing. My wolf enjoys being able to scent our bond group on her, they're his pack and it's right for her to carry their scents. Oddly, Theo’s scent is missing, he's usually all over her like a rash.“How do you feel?” Josie asks.“Like I want to skip classes and stay in bed all day,” I mumble.“Hmm… we can certainly skip classes, but I don’t think staying in this bed is an option,” she laughs softly. This bed? I snap my eyes open and don’t see the familiar walls of our apartment. This is Josie’s bedroom in the human realm. This is the bed I'd lost my virginity in when we first met. The last months come flooding back to me and then I remember the void. The desolate feeling I'd had as my energy had depleted. I'd thought I was
Chapter 168** Josie’s POV **“Babe, calm down, it's going to be perfect,” Theo says as I attempt to rearrange the tables by the pool again.“What if everyone hates it and never wants to go to a gender reveal party ever again?” I ask, covering my face with my hands in an attempt to calm myself. “Why would they hate it? Everyone will be here because they love us and our baby and they're excited to find out the gender. I don’t think they care if the table layout is up to standard,” Luke says.“You're right,” I nod. “I just feel this pressure to make it perfect, I need to prove to your families I'm capable of doing this, I want to prove I'm worthy of being in this bond group and that I'll be a good mother to their grandchildren,” I admit. “They already know that, and more importantly, we know that. You have nothing to prove, Babe. This is supposed to be a fun day for us all to be together with everyone we care about, so relax and enjoy it,” Theo pulls me to him and Luke steps up to my
Chapter 167** Josie’s POV **Once both my men are gloriously naked I watch them for a while as they explore each other's mouths. It’s clear Mason is letting Theo take the lead here, which confirms what I thought Mason needed from us. “Take charge of him, Theo, he needs it,” I say into the mind link. Theo breaks the kiss and looks over at me with a subtle nod.“Our girl is looking lonely on that bed, don't you think?” he asks. Mason turns his head and his eyes land on me before he nods.“Get on the bed and crawl to her, Mace,” Theo whispers.Mason steps up to the bottom of the bed and casts a glance at Theo behind him before getting on the bed and crawling up to kneel between my legs. I sit up to meet him and pull his head towards mine kissing him briefly before I lie back. Theo comes to kneel on the bed beside us and his hand moves straight to my sex. “Look how wet she is for you,” Theo hums, spreading me for Mason to see just how much I want him, before plunging two fingers insi
Chapter 166** Josie’s POV **It had taken almost a week to fully recover from the psychic attack from Cornelius. I had spent most of that time in bed with Mason. We watched movies and slept a lot for the first few days. On day three Mason felt back to normal, but due to my pregnancy and that I had depleted my energy to fuel the rest of my bonds I'd needed longer. The rest of my bonds have been navigating the aftermath and keeping me and Mason informed. We recently learned that Cornelius was confirmed as spark bonded, which adds another layer of betrayal to his entire scheme. When Cornelius died, one of the females captured by Raff’s team became distraught, screaming in anguish over her loss. Three other males tried to console her in the holding cell, revealing their identities in the process. I chose not to find out what happened to them afterwards. I can’t imagine the depth of her pain in losing one of her bonds, even if he had committed terrible acts. The thought of her dealing wit
Chapter 165** Theo’s POV **I move to intercept a wolf running towards Josie. I step in its path just in time for the little shit to launch up and latch painfully onto my arm, dragging me down with it. The wolf suddenly disappears from on top of me, seconds before it was about to chomp down on my face. I sit up and look around in confusion. Josie lets out a pained cry from behind me and I jump to my feet, turning just in time to see her drop to her knees. I rush forward with a burst of energy, catching her before she falls forward and she goes limp in my arms. I look at Mason in a panic, which only increases when I see he is on the floor, twitching and groaning. Luke is nowhere to be seen.“What the fuck is going on? I need help here!” I scream into the mind link. I lay Josie down next to Mason, ready to protect them both when Luke appears.“I’ll get them out of here. Go help Deacon and Axel,” Luke says before leaning down and touching Josie and Mason before porting out with them.
Chapter 164** Josie’s POV **Cornelius stands in the centre, dressed in black and wearing a bulletproof vest. He looks as arrogant as hell whilst he laps up the attention of his worshipers. People cheer and clap, drowning out the booing from outside the park fence. I look around at all the people, there are a full range from babies to elderly and I hate that they have no idea who this guy is and that they are just unwitting pawns in a game they never chose. We have to free them, we are their last line of defence. We swore we would save this realm and we are about to prove it, no matter the cost.I spot Mason and Theo moving into position and I glance over to where I know Axel and Luke should be. Once we see them we begin to move too, weaving our way through the crowd. I recognise a few of the faces along the way and feel a little more at ease when I see them shadowing the more vulnerable members of the audience, ready to protect them. When I am happy with my position I stop, letting m
Chapter 163** Josie’s POV **Deacon and I port into an empty apartment in a building that overlooks the park, whilst Luke, Axe, Mason and Theo port to a disused train line in the underground station across the street. Some of Raff’s team are already here and some have even managed to compel themselves onto the security team. We know Cornelius will have informed his team to be on the lookout for bonded groups so it’s important that as a female I am only seen with one male, otherwise we may draw suspicion. This theory is confirmed when a single female with a group of three males is stopped at the gate and pulled to one side. We can't see what is done to them from here as they are led into a large white tent. I hold my breath as we wait, only releasing it when they exit the tent unharmed.“Probably using compulsion to question them. If we get pulled in, remember to draw on Axel’s blocking gift and make your gaze look vacant. Imagine you are in a daydream and answer their questions quic
Chapter 161** Josie’s POV **By the time we port into the human realm, I have already been made to make what feels like a thousand promises to get out if I'm in danger. The guys are on edge, which is almost crippling me through the bond. Mason is pacing my small childhood living room as we wait for Freya to arrive and I fear the cheap carpet is not going to survive much longer. I sit down on the couch with a sigh as Luke makes me some tea. Deacon, Theo and Axel have gone on a little scouting mission, checking security near the park where the meet-and-greet is. The location had been released less than an hour ago and people are already gathering in the area. Theo told me people are holding up makeshift signs calling for us to save them, which gives me hope that we will face little resistance from the humans. A sudden flutter in my abdomen has my breath catching in my throat and Mason is kneeling in front of me in a flash.“What’s wrong?” he asks, gripping my knees. The mind link be
Chapter 160** Luke’s POV **We arrive back at the training ground with a few minutes to spare. Josie sits on a dusty old tyre whilst eating a banana that Theo’s mum insists will help with the swelling in her feet and ankles. We also all agreed that will will take her to the infirmary for a check-up once we are done here. Not just because of the swelling but to give us all a little peace of mind that she is fit to come with us tomorrow. My family was overjoyed when I told them about the Little Bean. My mum had even cried with joy and told me how proud she was, which I find an odd thing to be proud of. I didn't actually do anything. “Does anyone think it’s odd that my mum is proud of me for Josie being pregnant?” I ask the others, unable to get the thought from my head. “I think she probably means she is proud you are growing up maybe?” Josie shrugs. “But I'm not, I'm no different than I would be if you weren't pregnant,” I shrug. “And even if it was me that biologically fathered t
Chapter 160** Axel’s POV **My biological father seems to be making a little more effort with me than usual, although it’s still minimal. My mother and two other fathers are still as disinterested as ever. They're all only here to be a part of something. They don’t care about saving the human realm, they just want to be able to say they were there. They think it will bring them some respect. I could put them out of their misery and tell them I am a part of the Spark bond, that their son they thought was such a disappointment for having strength-based gifts is who they are now here to see, who they are excited to meet, but it feels like a little revenge to have them sitting at the table with the Spark bonded group and have no idea for a while. I hope they feel stupid when they realise. “I heard a rumour that your headmaster is a part of the Spark bonded group, is that true?” my mum asks, her eyes searching out Deacon in the crowd.“Yes, he is,” I nod. “He’s a fine man, his bond is