20. Soren

The late morning sun shone in the room as I leisurely ran my hands up and down Oria's back. She had her head on my chest, one arm thrown over my abdomen and one leg over one of my own. I hated cuddling, it was always something that felt like a chore, but with her, it felt like I had won the lottery.

Why was I fighting this? I was just holding her, but it had felt better than anything in the last ninety years. Her brows furrowed a little in her sleep as I kissed her forehead, hoping it wasn't a bad dream.

Shit.

I had it bad if I was trying to kiss her bad dreams away.

After I made her come last night—and almost decided to have a taste of her—, Gray and I cooked her dinner. We fed her, made sure she was nice and full before we took her upstairs to bathe and tucked her into bed. Once she fell asleep, Gray and I surveyed the area, talking about how we would go about protecting her. We weighed the pros and cons of leaving or staying, but the bigger question was if she would leave with us.

Gray and I decided it would be safe for now, if one of us kept watch just in case. He had drawn the short straw, and he was out keeping watch, while I enjoyed our mate. It didn't stop him from popping in every so often to look at her. I knew he was worried for her mother to return. If that happened before we could convince her to come with us, I don't know if she would still come or if her mother would let her.

This entire situation made me angry. Blondie couldn't see it, but I knew her mother was making millions from her daughter and enjoying the fruits of her labor, while Oria was kept from truly living. Just thinking about her mother made me think of Tay and it sounded like he was trying to be the good guy while he also was aiding her mother.

That fucker took advantage of her and if what Demitri had said was true, that meant her mother had orchestrated the entire thing. How many things had her mother done to make it seem like Oria had a choice in anything?

"Sor?"

Blondie's soft voice brought me out of my hate spiral.

"Yes?"

She rubbed her face against my chest breathing deeply before humming. Her eyes fluttered open, looking up at me. She wasn't mine yet, but seeing her sleep-rumbled and content had me wanting to go up against anyone who threatened her, even her own mother.

"Do you need anything?" I pushed back her beautiful blonde hair out of her face.

"No, I was making sure I knew it was you." She smiled. "You guys are too similar, but I've noticed your scents are slightly different. I think your voice is also slightly deeper."

"Is that so?" I questioned.

"Yeah, I'll probably notice more differences the longer I'm with you, but right now that's all I got," she said shyly.

She was talking about the future, and I hoped that meant something positive.

"Gray's eyes are a touch more green than mine are," I said, craving a kiss from her.

"I think I need a better look." She grinned, sitting up and nestling into my lap, so close to my dick, that I could almost feel her heat.

Fuck, she was trying to kill me by giving me the worst blue balls in history. I leaned up on my forearms so she had a better view. I had to stop myself from rolling my hips up to meet hers when she leaned over me, inspecting my eyes.

She studied me as I studied her beauty. I was always a fan of brunettes, but Oria could have been bald, and she still would have been the most beautiful woman in the world.

"I think I need him here to make the comparison," she whispered close to me.

"That can be arranged," I said, sitting up, wrapping my arms around her.

Her playful expression disappeared as if she realized something.

"I better get back to work, I have chores to do," she said, sliding off my lap.

"Did I say something wrong?" I asked, watching her open up the wardrobe.

"No," she said, putting some sweats on. "I just have things?—"

She stopped looking confused for a moment. Nerves made my chest tight, waiting for her to tell me she was staying, and she regretted what had happened.

"Soren," she said, her lip trembling.

The thought of her crying made me panic, immediately walking over to her to bring her into my arms. Dammit, where was Gray?

"What is it, Blondie?"

"What happens now?" she trembled.

"I meant what I said. I would never force you into anything," I said, nervous I was doing the wrong thing. "I want you to choose me. I want you to choose us, but if that isn't what you want, we will walk away, and let you live your life here."

My chest felt tight, waiting for her answer.

"If you stay here, Mother will hurt you both," she whimpered, holding onto me tighter.

My throat felt like it was closing. This was it, this was her rejection. I shouldn't have said I would obey her wish, I should have told her I wanted her with every fiber of my being.

"I can't let that happen."

All I wanted was to live the rest of our days together, but I couldn't live my life without her. Dammit, why did I take the good guy route?

"I think we need to leave before she returns."

I was not the good guy. I stole from people, took what I needed and walked away. I didn't care about moral code, except for women and children, but I didn't care about anyone except Ryder and Gray.

"Soren?"

Shit. Did I fuck everything up for Gray? Did I mess up everything by giving her a choice. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

"Soren!"

I snapped my eyes down to her.

"Where did you go?" She had her hand on my face and I realized I must have missed something.

"I was just thinking about… wait what did you say?"

She smirked at me.

"You didn't hear anything I said, did you?" She looked amused.

"No, after you said your mother would hurt us, my mind went into crisis mode, thinking about any way to make you see we shouldn't be apart," I said, kissing her forehead.

"You thought I was going to make you leave?" She frowned.

"I didn't know what to think," I said, feeling like I was fucking this up.

I didn't know how to do this, the romance, the sweeping her off her feet and making her fall for us so she never wanted to leave. The only people I tolerated for long periods of time were my brother and Ryder. Romance wasn't something I went looking for.

"The thought of you leaving makes me sick. I don't…" She bit her lip. "It feels like it would be the biggest mistake if I were to let you go, but I suspect Mother won't let me go that easily."

"If we go before she returns, we might have a chance," I said. "Just how powerful is she?"

"I've seen her level a whole street of houses," she whispered, shivering. "She's had two hundred years to hone her magic and it feels like I've seen her do new things all the time. Her magic is constantly evolving."

"Does your magic keep her young?"

"Yes, we have monthly sessions, sometimes every two weeks," she said, pursing her lips together. "It's been more lately because I think time is catching up to her."

I was about to ask another question when I heard Gray coming up the steps. He slowly peeked in; his face lit up the moment he spotted us.

"Sunshine." He smiled, walking over to us.

I let her go and she immediately went over to him. Gray looked content, and while I knew he was mostly happy, there was always a part of himself that craved a mate and wanted to be loved no matter what.

"Good morning," she said, removing herself from me to give Gray a hug.

I expected to feel jealousy immediately, but seeing my brother with our mate, only made the small bond I had with Oria grow and my bond with Gray feel more complete. I thought our relationship was perfect, but now I realized we were both missing something.

"Hungry?" he asked, kissing her forehead.

"Starved," she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. "But I need to do something first."

She pulled away from Gray, slipped on some leggings and a sweatshirt that had three names on it that all started with W's.

"What are you doing?" I followed her down the stairs.

"I've been working on something, and I want to see if it works," she said, passing the living area and going down the stairs again.

She walked into the workroom, pulling out a few things and a necklace. I sat at the table watching how graceful she was, even with an adorable look of concentration on her face. She dropped the necklace in a jar and poured water over it before adding a few ingredients. Then she whispered something in Latin and the jar glowed, as did her hand.

Gray was just as mesmerized as I was, and I wondered what her power looked like. She smiled, taking the necklace out of the jar and placing it on a towel, then looking up at us.

"Come on, let's see if I'm a genius," she said, walking out of the room.

Gray and I followed her, no questions asked, but I had a feeling since seeing the necklace, it had something to do with the barrier. Once outside, she grabbed my hand, startling me with the simple gesture that made me jerk my hand back.

"I'm sorry," she said immediately, with big eyes.

I felt like an asshole.

"I've never held someone's hand," I said, feeling like an idiot. "So, I wasn't expecting it."

Gray walked ahead of us.

"Oh, I just…" She smiled nervously. "Never mind."

She walked away from me, making me feel even worse. I followed, grabbing her small hand in my own, stopping her from walking away from me.

"I've always wanted to hold hands with someone," she confessed.

"I don't have many firsts, Blondie, but I'm excited for all of them as long as it is with you," I said, praying to the gods I was doing this right.

She gave me a blinding smile. "I'm glad I can still have some of your firsts, Soren."

My chest tightened with happiness.

"Come on, if this works, it's going to change everything," she said, dragging me to the barrier.

Gray followed us, walking by her with his hands in his pockets, looking at me with a small smirk.

Shut up.

He chuckled. We could always read each other with a simple look. We stopped at the part of the mountain we had entered through. Gray and I exchanged a look that said we hadn't thought of something. Our mate might be stuck here, but it would be smart that this barrier would keep her inside as well as keep people out.

"Does this mean you want to come with us, Sunshine?" Gray asked.

She nodded. "I'm scared, but yes. I can't imagine a world where I lived here, and you lived somewhere else. I… You're my mates and we are going to live this life together."

"That sounds pretty fucking good to me." He smiled before grabbing her for a kiss.

Happiness like I had never felt before rained over me and it wasn't just mine; I think it was theirs too.

"Sunshine, I need to make you mine," he growled, in between kisses.

"Not now, we need to do this first and then you can have me," she said breathlessly, and I wanted to say ‘fuck it' to the fucking barrier and make her ours now. She pulled away from Gray quickly, taking a step away from him.

The sexual tension was thick in the air as we all came down from it.

"Barrier first," she said, handing the necklace to me before she touched the mountain. The barrier didn't allow her to leave.

Blondie grabbed the necklace, putting it on, before touching the mountain again and she didn't go through. Her shoulders sagged as she exhaled harshly.

"Dammit, I was hoping it would work," she said, turning around to look at us.

"What about this one?" Gray held out the necklace he used to get in.

Her eyes widened.

"Where the hell did you get one of these?" She grabbed it out of his hand, inspecting it.

"We grabbed it from Katarina," I said. "She's the one we needed the Oria for. Someone who tried to kidnap her, used this to get into the barrier that surrounded the castle she's stuck in."

"Mother made this," she said, putting it on and hesitantly putting her hand out.

When her hand hit the mountain, I could feel our collective disappointment.

How the fuck were we supposed to get her out?

"Dammit," her voice cracked.

"It's ok, we will figure something out," Gray said, pulling her into a hug.

We shared a look that said, What if we never find a solution?