Chapter 25

Elara

I ran the towel softly across Naya's body, trying to clean her up as best as I could without rubbing against her healing injuries. She watched me with a soft smile on her lips, her eyes glistening with an emotion I couldn't quite decipher yet.

"Thank you, El. You're so amazing," she said as I moved to dip the towel back into the water.

"Don't mention it. You're going to be okay," I said, pulling the quilt higher up her body once I was done arranging her clothing properly. I moved off the bed but before I could leave, Naya reached out a hand toward me.

"I really can't thank you enough for everything Elara." She squeezed my hand as she spoke, her voice filled with gratitude. "For everything. You've literally saved my life."

I squeezed back, my throat tight. "Don't mention it."

Naya studied my face for a long moment, her eyes filled with a depth of emotion I couldn't decipher. "You need to rest, El. You look like you haven't slept in a week. You've been a rock for me, and I appreciate you so much, but you need to take a break. I'll be all right by myself," Naya said. I hesitated, wanting to argue with her that I needed to be close by, but I knew that she was right.

Now that Naya was awake and all the anxiety from her ordeal was starting to ease, I could feel the exhaustion settle over me. I needed to recharge.

"I'll be back soon," I assured her.

I made my way down the stairs, smiling when a chorus of greetings came from the maids. Rose even moved closer to pull me into a hug.

"How are you doing Elara? I'm so glad you decided to rest. I've missed coming up to your room to bother you," Rose said playfully and I laughed at her words.

"I'm doing all right. Our guest is finally awake, and I wanted to take a break and rest. I was hoping to ask if you could keep an eye on her?" I asked and Rose immediately nodded.

"Of course. I'll do that," she assured me, and I offered her a grateful smile.

"Thank you, Rose," I replied.

On my way back to my room, I met Smith walking into the house with a file tucked underneath his arm.

"Oh, hi, Smith," I called, giving him a wave which he returned.

"Elara, hi. I haven't seen much of you lately," he said as we both made our way up the stairs.

I could remember meeting him only a couple of times, and although I didn't know much about him, I knew that he was one of Kai's closest friends. It wasn't unusual to see him around the house.

"Are you here to see Kai?" I asked, wondering if my mate had come back at some point after leaving the house earlier in the morning.

"No, no. I'm just dropping off some documents for him. I have to be on my way back to the office soon. We have a meeting and Kai gets pretty cranky whenever we're late…" Smith trailed off as we reached the hallway. He took a subtle sniff of the air and a puzzled expression immediately painted his face.

"W-what's that smell?" he asked, his tone changing and his voice low. I frowned at his question, taking a sniff of the air myself but smelling nothing.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, and he shook his head, giving me a smile that looked forced before waving goodbye. I stood watching as he walked away from me.

"Uh, Smith?" I called and he paused in his steps to look at me.

"The office is that way," I said, pointing in the right direction, and his face flushed at my words.

"Right," he responded, before walking past me in the other direction. I watched him walk away, before sighing and pulling open the door to my room.

I pulled my clothes off my body as I walked into the bathroom, wanting nothing more than to take a long, warm bath. As I looked in the mirror, I caught a glimpse of something different in my reflection. The emerald green of my eyes was gone and it was replaced by a piercing gold. My skin had an ethereal glow to it, and I could immediately feel a primal energy that had always been dormant, roaring to life. A shiver ran down my spine as a voice echoed in my mind.

Hello Elara.

Fear and excitement warred within me. "W-who are you?" I whispered out loud.

I am you, the voice replied. Your wolf. Since escaping Silas, I've been healing. Trying to prepare for a moment like this when I could finally talk to you.

My mind whirled at this information, and I was about to ask questions, when the voice came again.

My wolf's voice grew stronger. Something is coming, Elara. I can feel it. You must trust your instincts, trust our mates. You have to tell Kai everything. Only together, with the support, protection, and trust of all three of them, can you face what lies ahead, she said. Before I could ask any more questions, I felt her presence retreat to the back of mind and fade away.

My eyes returned back to their emerald color. A growing sense of unease settled over me as I mulled over my wolf's words. Intrigued and alarmed, I hurried through a quick shower. As I finished freshening up, a sense of determination replaced my fear. Taking care of Naya the last couple of days had made me realize that I had to come clean to Kai sooner rather than later.

Every time that he came to check on me, I could see the questions that danced in his eyes, and although I was grateful that he didn't try to force answers out of me, I could tell that the entire situation was wearing on him. I wasn't sure what my wolf meant by something coming, but one thing I knew for sure was that I needed to come clean to Kai.

Returning to the living area, I settled on one of the chairs. I had the urge to text Kai, but I remembered Smith's words about their meeting, so instead, I turned on the TV and settled in one of the chairs to watch while I waited for him.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next time I opened my eyes, it was to find Kai running a finger across my cheek. He offered me a smile once I opened my eyes and I quickly returned it, moving to wrap my arms around his neck.

"Where's my hug?" Rowan asked and I pulled away from Kai to find that he and Rhys had come home as well.

I laughed, getting out of the chair. He pulled me into his arms once I was close enough, making me laugh even harder.

"Move. It's my turn," Rhys said, and Rowan groaned before letting go of me so Rhys could engulf me in his arms.

It felt like the best thing ever, being close to them in this way, and the way that their scents wrapped around me reminded me of how much I had missed them in this last week.

"I've missed all of you," I said when Rhys finally let go of me and the smiles that lit up their faces made my tummy sing with butterflies.

"We've missed you too, baby. We didn't think we'd see you out of Naya's room. What are you doing down here? That chair is very uncomfortable," Rhys asked, pulling me gently in the direction of the stairs.

"I was waiting for you. I didn't even realize when I fell asleep. She woke up. Rose is with her," I replied, causing them to pause.

"I know that you all want to ask her a million questions, but she has only just woken up and I'm sure she'll be asleep by now. So you have to wait until tomorrow," I pleaded, and Kai looked like he wanted to argue. He must have seen the look on my face because he nodded.

"Of course, darling," he finally said and we continued up the stairs.

We all moved in the direction of Kai's bedroom, and once there, Rhys, who was the closest to me, began stripping my clothes off me. I felt my insides tingle when he dipped his head to pepper kisses across my neck.

"You're so gorgeous, sweetheart," he whispered into my ear, and it made my head swim.

Rowan picked me from the floor, making a gasp escape my lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck, noting that he had also stripped off his clothes. He moved in the direction of the bathroom, and once we were there, he gently placed me on the floor. He twisted the shower knobs until the water was the right temperature. A naked Rhys and Kai stepped into the shower.

Kai pulled me into his arms, and in the next second, he covered my lips with his. I felt a finger trail up my spine, the feeling causing a fire to burn through my body even with the water that sprayed down from the shower overhead.

The fingers trailed a path from my spine until they got to my core, and they lingered there, causing a moan to escape my lips. This action gave Kai the perfect opportunity to slip his tongue into my mouth.

Finally, the fingers slipped into my heat, locating my clit at once and teasing the hard nub. I moaned out loud, parting my legs even wider. Kai finally broke the kiss, and I looked to see that it was Rhys who had been teasing me. A smirk painted his lips as my eyes fell on him, and I was about to say something, but he stuck two of his fingers deep into my core and the words were quickly forgotten.

"Nngghhhh," I moaned loudly, almost crying from the assault of pleasure that raked through my body.

"Hold onto that wall for me, baby," Rowan urged, his voice husky. It felt like music that reverberated through my frame before settling in between my legs, causing more slick to leak out of my core.

I did as he instructed, wrapping my fingers against the railing that had been fixed onto the wall. All of a sudden, Rhys withdrew his fingers and I whined in protest, but soon I heard them shuffling around behind me. Then, large hands were parting my ass cheeks.

I felt a rough tongue taking a large swipe of my core, and I jerked forward in reaction, losing my footing as well as the grip I had on the railing, but Kai immediately caught me.

"Woah, easy there, honey. I got you." He held on to me as best as he could from his position, swirling his tongue around my pussy lips.

Rowan came to the front of me, trapping me in between him and Kai behind me. He dipped his head to take a nipple into his warm mouth and my body felt like it was going to explode from the onslaught of pleasure. Their ministrations on my body continued for several minutes, and just as I felt like I was on the edge of spilling over, Kai pulled away.

He held me up properly, urging me to wrap my arms tightly around Rowan. Once he was sure that I was properly balanced, he began pushing his huge shaft into my waiting pussy, giving me a second to adjust around him. Once he was satisfied that I was okay, he began pistoning in and out of my wet cavern, causing me to let out a squeak of pleasure. His movements felt brutal, but it surprised me how much I liked it. I wrapped my fingers around Rowan's dick, moving them at the same pace that Kai was fucking into me.

In the corner of my eye, I could see Rhys watching us with a raging hunger in his eyes as he jerked off to the rhythm of our movements, and it made me whine, wanting to feel him around or inside me too, but our position did not allow for it.

The shower stall was heady with the scent of all our arousals creating a mix that intoxicated me. The only sounds that could be heard in the bathroom were the slapping of skin against skin, and the grunts, groans, and high-pitched moans and whines that escaped our lips.

In between Kai's thrusting inside of me and Rowan's hands on my heated body, I knew I didn't stand a chance, and soon I was screaming out my release, shivering from the intensity of pleasure that wracked my body. The Alphas followed soon after with loud growls, groans, and grunts, and my entire body felt like jelly in their arms in the aftermath. I let them take over cleaning me, as my arms didn't feel like they could move even if I tried.

Once we were all cleaned and dressed up, we huddled onto the bed, and even though I didn't think we would fit, we made it work. I remembered the words of my wolf and I wanted to bring this up immediately, but I felt too warm, comfortable, and safe in the moment with their arms wrapped around me. I didn't want to break the peace that had settled into the room. I sighed and closed my eyes, and soon I could feel myself drift off to sleep.

***

A scream ripped from my throat, a desperate cry that shattered the stillness of the night. The night suddenly felt like it was a living, breathing entity, its dark tendrils reaching into the room, wrapping around me in a suffocating embrace. The remnants of my nightmare danced behind my eyes, and it caused my body to shake with tremors as I shut my eyes tight, hoping to chase them away.

The lights suddenly came on, and I felt a large hand cupping my face. "It's okay, baby. It's just me," I heard Kai say and I opened my eyes. His eyes held a depth of concern that mirrored Rhys' and Rowan's and I immediately broke down into tears.

I felt Rhys and Rowan move even closer to me, their forms looming protectively over me. Their combined efforts to calm me were gentle but persistent, and their presence was a warm, comforting cocoon against the storm raging within me. It took a while, but eventually, I settled, my breathing gradually slowing and the tremors in my body subsiding.

Tell him, Elara. Before it's too late. The voice in my head came again, clear and unmistakable, and I pulled away from Kai's embrace.

"I need to tell you something, Kai," I finally whispered, looking away from Kai and in the direction of Rowan and Rhys.

They seemed to immediately realize what this was going to be about, because they each reached out to take a hand and squeeze softly.

"What is it, sweetheart?" Kai asked, leaning forward.

"I am a Siren," I said finally, my voice barely above a whisper.

The words hung heavy in the air and Kai's face was a mask of shock and disbelief that caused a knot to form in my throat and made me second-guess myself. Rhys rubbed my hands softly in encouragement.

"I didn't choose that life…" I continued, and I went on to tell him everything. I told him about my life with Silas, the horrors I had endured, and the moments leading up to my escape.

When I was finished, there was a long silence, and Kai's eyes were filled with different complex emotions.

Finally, he spoke. "How can it be?" he asked in disbelief, pulling away to watch me and causing my heart to drop to my stomach.

"She's telling the truth," Rhys added, and Kai turned to him, his brows furrowing with anger.

"And how did you know?" Kai asked. Before I could respond, Rhys beat me to it.

"Because I was also once a prisoner of Silas'. And you must believe me when I say that if she wanted to trick you, you wouldn't even have the ability to question it."

The silence that followed after Rhys' confession was deafening and with the look of horror that painted both Rowan and Kai's face, I knew that the night was going to be a long one for all four of us.