33. Aurelia

Chapter 33

Aurelia

A fter I watch Scythe leave with a little bit of sadness and a whole heap of longing, we prepare to leave. Lyle covers me with his jacket, and he and Savage fuss over me as we hurry back to our hotel. They're worried my Boneweaver heat-scent will attract more unmated males, especially at this time of night, and so I'm not allowed to see Sabrina and have to stay in the penthouse. Lyle has already arranged for Sabrina to have private rooms with Minnie and her mates.

I'm annoyed on multiple levels. Firstly, I'm so violently horny that I could actually die, and Savage and I fuck like rabbits while he showers and then feeds me. Secondly, I'm not allowed out—and therefore, to see Sabrina—until my ovulation period is over, which is typically three entire days.

Thirdly, Lyle is in deputy headmaster mode and has to leave me to check on Sabrina. I love my friend and want her to be safe and I love that Savage gets alone time with me, but my regina hormones are telling me that Lyle should never leave me, ever. I spend a ridiculous amount of time whining in my throat about it.

Fourthly, in between fucking Savage's brains out, I worry about what's happened to Scythe.

"Will he be okay?" I pant, bouncing my ass on Savage's big, rock-hard dick as he clutches my hips. "I mean, do you think he regrets it?"

My feral wolf is covered in a fine sheen of sweat as he meets me thrust for thrust, his substantial six-pack flexing in the most mesmerising way each time. "No, baby. He and Xan have gone to the sea for R and R. They're fine."

My thighs get tired, so I roll off him and present my ass up in the air, resting my cheek on the carpeted floor. "That sounds like a nice way of saying he regrets it. Or he's not happy about it. Did I do something wrong?"

He gets a surprised moan from me when I feel his tongue instead of his cock inside my pussy. "You're a bit red here, regina," he says worriedly, giving my asshole a long lick. "I think we should rest."

I let out a sad, whiny sort of sound that would not be acceptable in any other condition. "Once more," I beg. "Please. We're making up for lost time, remember? It only hurts in a good way."

"You know I can't say no to you," he groans, slowly easing himself into my ass. I'm making enough natural lube that I'm dripping all over the place, so my first ass-fuck went a lot easier than I imagined. "Anyway, Scythe wouldn't have let his shark take over unless it was what he wanted."

"His shark isn't like Lyle's beast then?" I pant. "Harder!"

Savage, who had been easing himself slowly back out for a gentle fucking, growls and slams back into me.

"No," his breath is ragged. "He's like me. He has full control. Well, except for the…"

I push off the floor onto my hands and knees. "Except for what?" I demand.

Savage pauses, making me rock back to start him back up again. "Fuck, baby, your ass is so perfect when you do that."

"Except for what?" I press.

"For the land psychosis."

I go still and look back at him because I've seen Scythe's memories through his own eyes. I think I know part of what he sees. "He hallucinates."

"Yeah. But he won't talk about it, so I don't know all that much."

Lyle and Savage tag-team me the rest of the three days, sometimes both at the same time, other times with the resting mate ‘supervising'. I stop to eat, sleep, and maintain hygiene, but spend the entire time naked and sweaty. It would have been entirely unpleasant if I didn't have the two of them, but if I'm entirely honest, it felt like three pieces were missing. My wolf and lion have excellent stamina, but I manage to wear them out, and even think about texting Ghoul to see if he's available.

Lyle forbids it and confiscates my phone immediately, and I'm so insatiable at the time that I don't really notice.

Slowly, my heat comes down, and with that, my executive functions and common sense fully return. On the morning of the fourth day, I'm freshly showered and Lyle is feeding me bacon and eggs when I feel a bit teary. "Oh Goddess," I sniff. "Was it too much? Was I too much? I was too much, wasn't I?" Lyle's lips twitch and I know he's trying not to laugh. I swat at his arm. "I'm being serious, here."

He leans over and brushes his lips over mine. I cup his cheek and lean into him. "I'm sorry if I was too demanding."

Lyle replaces his lips with the fork and I have no choice but to open my mouth and accept the scrambled eggs. "This is why we do a lockdown at the academy. The reginas with mating groups are quite the same. And, well, the bigger the mating group, the more your body will demand."

I chew thoughtfully, fully, and completely judging myself. "I'm going to need a T-shirt that says, ‘Forgive me for what I did when I was ovulating'."

Lyle tilts his head back and laughs. It's food for my soul every time he does it, and I have no choice but to laugh back.

Savage bounds over, fresh from his own shower, and nips me on the neck. "I told them we'll be down in twenty."

Sabrina.

With Xander gone, we're going to have to drive back to the academy, and it's going to take two days to do it.

"There is something I have to tell you two first," Lyle says, putting the finished plate to the side. "Sabrina's rescue did not go exactly as planned."

My insides turn to ice. "Tell me everything!"

Lyle shows no sign of irritation at me commanding him, and he just takes my hand. "Sabrina met her mates at Clawson House. Two leopard brothers."

I gasp, a tumult of emotions spinning through me. Joy that she finally found her mates, but sharp fear at the outcome of this. "They were working for the Clawsons? Did they help in her rescue? Is that how they got her out?"

Lyle takes a deep breath and smiles sadly. "They tried to help her escape, but they didn't make it. They gave their lives to help Yeti, Marduk and Minnie get her out."

An involuntary sob escapes my mouth. "Oh my God!"

From behind, Savage rubs my back and says soothing things that I cannot hear. But whatever my anguish, it will be nothing compared to Sabrina's. My poor, poor, friend.

"Minnie's been helping her," Lyle says, stroking my hair as I cry silently into his neck. "She's the best person for the job."

"Fuck the Clawsons," Savage says viciously, getting up and pacing the room. He strides up to kiss me on the hair before returning to his pacing. "Lucky you broke Titus' jaws, Lia. The bastards deserve to be tortured. Scythe gave the other one a quick death he didn't deserve."

I agree, except there are likely to be big repercussions for what Scythe did that night. The Clawson patriarch was no doubt furious.

Once we all calm down, Lyle hands me my things so I can pack my bag, and he gives Savage and me a briefing on Sabrina's condition.

"Try not to overwhelm her with your own emotions," he says softly to the both of us. "You may be upset when you see her, and it won't be good for her to see you respond like that. She had three days to decompress but is still fragile. She's been asking for you and the only reason she's happy to endure the trip is because both you and Minnie will be there."

Since her father used to lock her in a cupboard as punishment when she was a child, Sabrina has a phobia of small places. And since being locked up and seeing her mates murdered…her ability to withstand that is probably even worse. We're not sure how she'll go with a car ride, but Minnie has purchased headphones, and we're going to watch movies and sleep the entire way.

We arrive in the downstairs lobby and I see Minnie first. Yeti and Marduk stand a respectful distance away from the figure in an oversized black hoodie and leggings.

When I see her, my heart all but stops in my chest. Sabrina is thinner than before, her naturally light brown skin is ashen, and her face so gaunt that her eyes look huge. Had they even fed her there? Rage spikes through me, fiery and wild, but I'm careful to make sure my face is smooth. Something ribbon-like shimmers at the edge of Sabrina. Two ribbons, in fact, that once shone, but are now muted and grey. I rub my eyes as I make my way to her, but the appearance of the ribbons aren't my eyes malfunctioning. With a little shock, I realise what they are. What they must be.

I had wondered if and when any phoenix-powers would show up. And there they are, two celestial bonds that now lay silent. Not dead, though. Not severed. Her connection to her mates will always be there, I realise. Just…waiting until the next life to sing once again.

My heart breaks for a second time.

"Lia." Sabrina's voice is a whispered rasp and my immediate reaction is to pull her into my arms and make sure no one hurts her ever again. Instead, I contain myself.

"Sabrina," I say, smiling softly. "I'm so fucking happy to see you."

She doesn't smile back, and I get the feeling she can't.

"Can I hug you?" I ask.

My friend nods and reaches for me, and I close my arms gently around her form. Into her ear, I whisper, "I'm going to kill them all."

A broken sob erupts from her throat before full, body-wracking sobs shake both our bodies.

Minnie rushes over to put arms around us, and we stand like that for a long, long time.