18. Apryle

Chapter 18

Apryle

T wo days after Savannah conjured the female, Callum orders the compound to get ready for war.

Kye's mood, which was already sour, becomes positively hostile to everyone apart from me and Savannah. Nothing I say improves his mood, and I'm not sure I should try. His feelings about this are valid.

It sucks.

I don't want to be preparing for war any more than he does, but here we either fight or we die—there is no in between.

I keep close to his side as we enter the main hall. Every training mat is occupied, and the smell of magic is thick in the air as tau practice using their powers over and over.

Cold fills my stomach as I glance around the space. This is really happening. We're going to fight for our kind, we're going to reclaim our lives, and I don't know how we do that without huge casualties.

I tighten my grip on Savannah's hand as Kye wraps his fingers around my nape, kneading the tight muscles. I don't want to scare Savannah, but he can feel my apprehension through the bond.

"I'll take care of you," he whispers softly, the cloud of anger that has followed him the past few days lifting for a moment.

"I know," I assure him, because I do.

Kye is never going to let anything happen to me. Against all the odds and all the dangers, my mate will protect me, just as I will protect him. I'm not losing anyone.

"Let's find the others," I say.

It takes some searching, but my coven and pack are tucked away at the top end of the hall. Halle slides off the picnic table where she's sitting to come to us.

"Hey, kid." She ruffles Savannah's hair before giving me her attention. "Callum's moving the female tomorrow."

"Where?" Kye growls.

"Easy," Halle says, and I don't miss Cade coming off the mat where he's sparring with his brother. "I'm not the enemy."

"Yeah, easy, Kye. Don't get into a fight with the pack," I chastise.

He rolls his eyes, but he does calm his anger. "Where are they taking her?"

"I don't know. He wouldn't say—probably because he knew you'd react like this."

"I want her dead," Kye growls.

"Hey, Savannah, why don't you go and see your aunt Tessa?" I give her a gentle nudge in the direction of Tessa and the others.

She glances up at me, as if saying she knows I'm getting her out of the way so we can talk, but she still wanders over to Tessa, climbing onto the bench next to her. She's taken a real shine to the moon-touched wolf, and when Tessa meets my gaze, I give her a look that she understands immediately.

I watch as she stands so she and Abel can lead Savannah over to the food counter.

"You can't say stuff like that in front of Savannah," I say, turning to look at him.

"She was tortured by that woman."

"I know, but she's still a little girl, Kye. Let her be that."

He stares at me. "I only need five minutes with her. Less if you require it."

I pat his chest. "Put the claws away and leave Callum to deal with it, Kye. We're already going to have enough blood on our hands with all of this."

"We're just running through some training exercises," Halle ventures. "You want to join?"

"What I want to do is spar with my mate."

Kye needs to get some of this rage out of him, and I'm worried that if he trains with one of the other males, he won't be able to control his anger. I don't want anyone to get hurt—or worse, die.

His heavy brows come together as he peers down at me, and through our bond, his confusion is clear. I shrug out of my jacket, handing it to Halle, who is eyeing us both.

"Come on, big guy. Show me how it's done."

I slip my sneakers off while he takes off his boots and jacket, though his movements tell me he doesn't want to do this.

What are you up to, Apryle?

I smirk inwardly as his voice rings in my head. Not a thing. I want to train, and you get all growly when I ask Beck.

His lips tug into a snarl as he tosses his jacket on the floor and stalks toward the mat Wyatt and Jackson were sparring on. The two males glance between us, Jackson shaking his head.

"Don't mention his name," Kye mutters as he stands at the edge of the mat.

"You don't have any reason to hate him, Kye."

"I have a hundred," he counters as I roll my hips from side to side, warming up.

"He's not my mate. You are."

I raise my fists, ready to fight, and his expression softens. He thinks I'm adorable, and that mistake is about to cost him. I give him a shit-eating grin, and then I attack.

I'm a lot smaller than him, but the element of surprise allows me to land a hit. He responds fast, grabbing my wrists, but I drop to my knees and slip free.

His eyes shine with excitement as he grabs for me, and I sidle back out of his reach. I'm feeling confident, and that's my downfall.

Kye moves fast and drops me onto the mat in a move I have no defense against. His huge body pins me, as my brain struggles to understand how I went from standing to being on my back. I can't say I'm not enjoying the view or the weight of him on my hips, though.

My mate looks down at me, his brows drawing together in consternation. "You allowed me to do this."

"I didn't allow you to do anything, Kye. You're three times my size and strength. It's not a fair fight."

His mouth flattens into a line. "Do you think our enemies will consider your size or your strength, or care that you are female?"

I lift my hips, pressing his cock against my core, and he sucks in a breath through his teeth. "Apryle," he warns, but I ignore it. He needs this.

"You're far too tense." I grind my pussy against him, hoping Tessa has taken Savannah somewhere where little eyes can't see this.

"And you're just the thing to lighten my mood, are you?"

"Always. Kiss me, Kye."

He dips his head low, his body plastered against mine, as he devours my mouth. It is a hard, heated kiss that makes my toes curl. I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him closer as my mouth devours his.

I never wanted a mate, never wanted to let that part of myself be open ever again, but Kye and I have been through so much together in the short time since we were forced into this union. It surprises me how fast I have come to rely on him, to need him, and to crave him.

And I want to make him feel better right now.

His tongue slides inside my mouth, tasting every inch of me that he can, and I meet him caress for caress, wanting to taste him just as much.

When I'm with him, I feel invincible, as if I can take on the world. And it is that kind of confidence we will both need if we are going to defeat our enemies.

My fingers tangle in his hair, pulling him closer, needing every inch of him.

"Get a fucking room," someone shouts—probably Sawyer.

I flip him the bird, even as I keep my lips locked to Kye's. He does eventually pull back once he's had his fill, his forehead resting against mine. I know he is scared, not of fighting, not even of dying, but of something happening to me. I know it because I feel it through the bond, but even if I didn't, I understand it because I have the same fear for him.

Tomorrow is not promised, and whatever time we have on this earth, we have to make the most of it. There was a time when I didn't feel like anything could get better, but now I have hope. And that is a powerful motivator.

"Tell me to stop or I'm going to fuck you right here," Kye says in a low growl.

Heat pools in my belly, my pussy throbbing with need, and I have to resist the urge to grind against him. "I don't want to scar Savannah."

His lips twitch. "Can't have that, can we?"

I ghost my fingers over his cheek. "Do you feel better?"

"I'm getting there."

"Do you want to go again?" I wiggle my eyebrows, realizing how much he's changed me. I would never have joked around like this before.

He lifts off, careful not to squash me, and then reaches down, offering me his hand. I take it, grinning as he hoists me to my feet as if I weigh nothing.

Hand in hand, we walk over to the table where the others are sitting.

"What kind of training are we calling that?" Sawyer asks with that lazy smile he always has on his face.

"The type that you should keep your fucking nose out of," Kye replies before I can.

Roux nudges her mate in the ribs, firing him a warning look, which, of course, Sawyer ignores. "Maybe we need to do more of that," he says to his mate. "I particularly liked the part where there was grinding?—"

She clamps a hand over his mouth, shooting an apologetic look in my direction. "Sorry, sometimes he doesn't know when to stop talking."

I reach for an unopened water bottle on the table. "It's not your fault you're mated to a wolf with the humor of a teenage boy."

"He was worse than this when he was a teenager," Wyatt says, holding both ends of the towel wrapped around his neck.

"It's true," Cade adds. "He was always a pain in the ass."

Sawyer places a hand over his heart, as if wounded. "The betrayal cuts deep. How quick you all are to turn on me!"

Wyatt rolls his eyes. "Who says we were on your side to begin with?"

"We're family."

"And?"

His brows raise. "Well, I assumed that meant something."

Everyone stops talking as Callum approaches with Beck, and the happy banter is immediately lost under the seriousness of their expressions.

"What's wrong?" I demand.

"I've had word of an attack on another compound three days from here," Callum says. "Most of the occupants were tau or vargr. Some wolves and a couple of humans."

My gaze snaps to Kye. His shoulders square, and his jaw flexes, twitching. I can't even blame him for his anger. I feel the same. The Order is just picking us off one by one.

"What happened?" Cade asks.

"Hunters, of course." Callum sighs, looking as tired as I feel.

"Can we help them?" This question comes from Wyatt.

"They don't want help. They only called to warn us. Two juveniles were taken—young tau just coming into their powers."

My stomach churns. I can only imagine how scared they must be. Another Savannah, another little girl or boy, terrified out of their mind, wondering what is going to happen to them.

"We need to go after them," I murmur.

"We can't," Callum says. "Even if we had the manpower, which we don't, we can't. They're too far away. Even if we left now, they'd already be long gone."

"And we're already thin on the ground numbers-wise here." Beck gives me an apologetic look as he says this.

"I don't like it any more than you do, Apryle," Callum adds, "but we can't save everyone. The only way to stop this is to stay the course and hit the Order hard. We'll save far more that way."

He's right, but it doesn't help the way I feel in this moment.

I thread my fingers through my hair, resisting the urge to tear it out at the roots. I can't keep doing this. I can't keep losing people, children, to these animals.

I hate being helpless.

Kye's hand wraps around the back of my neck, kneading my nape in an attempt to comfort me, and I lean into his touch. I want them to suffer the same fear and anguish those children have.

"They'll have taken them wherever they keep the rest of the children," Dove says quietly.

My heart breaks for her. She and Jackson still have no idea if they left behind a child when they ran from the Order. They may never find out, which seems cruel.

Kye pulls me into his side, his hand still on my neck as he speaks into my ear. "They'll all pay."

It is a promise, one given in earnest and one I know he will keep if he can.

"When are we hitting them?" Halle's voice is tight.

"As soon as everything's in place. I've pulled together at least six other groups like ours and I'm reaching more each day. We need to act before the Order finishes picking us off, or there will be no one left."

"We also don't know where the Order is based, so we're having to work out a good position to draw them out."

"And the followers of Revna?" Kye asks the question that sits on the tip of my tongue.

"One homicidal faction at a time, buddy," Sawyer says.

After we're finished talking, we find Savannah demolishing a bowl of fries, and I can't stop myself from smiling at her enjoying food.

I pull Tessa aside, asking her to take care of the little girl for the afternoon so I can be alone with Kye. We have a lot of things to work through ourselves and he needs me. Our little dirty sparring session did help work out some of his frustrations, but not enough.

Our hands locked in each other's, we walk back to our house, and as soon as we're inside, Kye wraps me in his arms, holding me tight as if he is afraid to let go.

"It seems like things will happen soon."

"Yeah, it does." A tendril of apprehension works through me.

"We have to stay strong," he tells me. "Things are going to get worse before they get better."

I press my cheek against his chest, listening to the steady thud of his heart. "I don't know if I have the strength to see this through."

"You do. You're the strongest female I have ever met—the most stubborn, too." He adds the last part with a quirk of his lips.

"Did you… Did you just banter with me?"

He brushes my hair off my face so tenderly, I can't help but melt a bit. "Didn't think I had it in me?" he teases.

"I like it," I assure him.

"What else do you like?"

I grind my pussy against his cock, which is already solid in his sweatpants.

He makes a low growl in the back of his throat, and it urges me to keep teasing. I rub against him again, this time circling as I add friction.

"I need my mate."

"I will always give you whatever you need, Apryle. You know this."

His hand slips between our bodies, rubbing between my legs, causing delicious sensations. I grind on his hand, urging more tension, more pressure.

Everything is throbbing and pulsing, every synapse in my body feeling alive. I can sense his pleasure through the bond, and I feel so connected to him.

He turns me around, positioning me so I'm leaning against the counter, my ass his for the taking. Tingles spread through me as he pushes my pants down and trails his fingers over my skin, making a shiver run up my spine.

Fuck me.

I need him to fuck me.

The anticipation of what is going to come fills me with needy excitement, and I rub my thighs together, trying to create friction. I can't see what he's doing, not without turning around, but I wait patiently, listening to the sounds of his clothes rustling before I feel the bulbous head of his cock against my slit.

"Do you want me to fill you up, my little mate?"

"Yes," I gasp as he slides it through my slick wetness.

"Be a good girl and I'll give you exactly what you need."

He pushes inside me with no warning, filling me completely. My head tips back, and I swallow the scream of joy that wants to tear out of my mouth as he stretches my pussy. My fingers curl into the edge of the counter, trying to ground myself as his thick shaft pins me in place.

"My beautiful mate. You take me so well."

He pulls back to the tip, and my insides contract, trying to hold him inside before he starts to pump his hips. Every delicious stroke reminds me of how perfectly we fit together, despite our size difference.

My body was built to take him, just as his was made to give me what I need. We are two sides of the same coin, and whether or not it is magic that binds us together as mates, I don't care. He and I are meant to be, no matter what. I never thought the day would come when I would think that, but I love Kye with every inch of my body.

My insides flutter as heat spreads through me.

I feel him everywhere, not just physically but also in my mind. His pleasure is mine, and mine is his as we become one soul joined together.

I drop my head onto my arms, spread on the counter as he slams into me over and over, his strokes fast, then slower, his hips circling to drive deeper into me.

My breath is tearing out of me, the sounds I'm making feral and wild. Every inch of my body feels alive and on fire.

He spills his seed inside me at the same time I go over the edge, my climax temporarily blinding me. My thighs quiver, my vision rolling as I sag against the counter, boneless.

Kye skims his hands over my ass before grabbing some paper towels to clean up our combined fluids. I wait while he takes care of me, and when he's satisfied, he pulls my panties and pants back up and peels me off the counter.

Turning and going into his arms, I hold him like I'm scared to let go.

"You're so beautiful to me," he says and my heart swells.

I try not to think about it, but there is a chance we might die in this fight, and that makes me bold.

"I love you," I blurt out. I need him to know that in case anything happens to me.

He freezes, and through the bond, I feel his shock. It is hardly surprising, considering how against this bond I was at first. I still feel the clutches of guilt for making him doubt at all.

"I love you more," he says, and I finally feel whole for the first time in my life.