23. Oria

This man had to be Ryder, or he wouldn't have been upstairs with Gray and Soren. They were arguing so I went downstairs, even though they told me to go back upstairs. I had a feeling that I should stay down here. When I locked eyes with the big burly man, I was frozen, not with fear, but with curiosity. I noticed his eyes were a vibrant yellow.

Mine.

I didn't even see him move when he pushed me against the wall with his body. He was a big guy, easily towering over me, making me feel extremely small.

"Mine," he growled.

Those words lit my blood on fire.

"Get the fuck off of her," Soren yelled, running to us.

"Stop!" I whispered, still mesmerized by Ryder"s yellow eyes. "He's mine too."

Something made a loud noise, but I couldn't look away, not with my mate this close to me and looking at me like he wanted to devour me.

"Who are you?" His voice was rough, almost otherworldly.

"I'm yours," I said, running my hands up his large chest into his longish hair.

His eyes lost the yellow, quickly turning into a honey color. He snapped his head back like I had slapped him, making space in between us before he walked away from me rushing out of the room.

I instantly felt cold, the loss of his body close to me sent shivers through my body. Did he just reject me? My cheeks grew red from embarrassment and even though I felt the twins" eyes on me, I didn't dare look at them. My lips trembled from the surge of emotions that threatened to escape me. Had he rejected me? A loud howl came from outside the tower, and I rushed to a window to hopefully catch a glimpse of Ryder.

Even from up here, he was huge and all brown. It was like he knew I was at the window as he passed. He looked up at me as a loud whine escaped him. I had no idea what had happened, but I felt sadness surrounding the encounter.

"Sunshine?"

I looked over to see Gray standing next to me, but still giving me some space.

"Did I imagine it?" I asked.

"No, you didn't," Soren's voice was behind me.

"Why did he run away?" I tried making sense of what the hell I was feeling, the rejection stung, and I had no idea why. It was illogical.

"I don't know," Soren replied. "But I do know that he is your mate. I didn't remember it until now, but a seer said we had the same mate.

I saw Gray quickly look at his brother, like that was news to him. Another howl made me jump and my chest ached feeling his anguish.

"I'm going back to bed," I said, before they could respond, I rushed upstairs.

I laid down, wishing for sleep to take me, but it wasn't restful. All that haunted my dreams were yellow eyes and a growl that said, mine.

I wokeup abruptly with intense anguish. My breathing was labored like I had been running and a sense of sadness hit me tenfold. Tears welled in my eyes; the emotions were that of losing someone. I clutched my shirt, trying to make sense of this sadness.

Gray and Soren.

This had to be their sadness. It was overwhelming and it made sense if it came from both. It was almost suffocating until it eased away, leaving me emotional and raw. I took several deep breaths to gather myself, but the sadness lingered for a moment before disappearing.

Looking around the room, it was starting to lighten up, but it was still early in the morning. The whiplash from the emotions lingered with me, but hurt stood out when I realized the bed was cold and it didn't look like the twins had come to bed at all. My stomach dropped wondering if this was our turning point. They would realize that I was too much work or that they were better off without me.

Was the intense sadness because they wouldn't stay here with me?

I bit my cheek to keep my emotions at bay. If they left, I would have to accept it and realize that this was my life. Whatever memories I had made with them would have to keep me sane for the rest of my existence.

Hiding out in my bedroom all day sounded like a good idea, but I knew if I laid here, it would only make my thoughts worse and probably obsessive.

Meow.

Loki walked into the room, jumping on my bed and I felt like a bigger asshole for ignoring him so much these past few days. He walked onto my lap, breaking the small hold I had on my emotions and I cried while I held him.

"I'm so sorry, Loki," I sobbed.

He purred in my arms, pushing his head against my chin. I laid down with him in my arms, letting myself release all these emotions. Today was the only day I would allow myself to cry for them. After crying, I dozed off with Loki laying on my chest. His presence was comforting.

I woke up with the sun lighting up the entire room. Loki was still nestled against me, but I was starting to get hungry. Rolling over, I got out of bed to get ready to go downstairs. My room was a mess, laundry desperately needed to be done. Before I knew it, I had gone back to my old routine.

I did a load of laundry, cleaned up my room before going into the common area. I expected to see one of them, but it was empty. I immediately wanted to go looking for them to assure myself they hadn't left yet, but I made myself stay inside. Once I finished making breakfast, feeding Loki and cleaning the kitchen, I walked down to the workshop.

It had been too long since I had been here and if I was staying, I needed to get back on track with my work. My two weeks were almost up. I picked up my iPod, put on my earbuds, and pressed play. I didn't care what I listened to as I organized the workspace, testing the water I had in a bowl feeling my magic in it. It had yet to be bottled up, but I infused a little more power in it just in case. This time I wasn't as exhausted, feeling grateful that maybe my power was ok and I had just been stressed lately.

‘Say My Name' by Destiny's Child started playing as I bottled up the water before I set out everything I needed to make more vials. I hummed to the song as I worked. Each song eased the tension in my shoulders. The familiarity of working put me at ease and I realized I had missed having a purpose, but the possibility of leaving also made me desperately want a life outside of these walls.

Could I leave and still make these vials?

My mind raced with the possibilities. If they could help me leave, maybe I could show Mother that I was safe on my own. I could take care of myself and still maintain a roof over my head by selling Oria.

Tay could help me?—

Then I remembered what Demitri said. Mother and Tay played me. They fed me their lies and all for what? Was it to keep me here so they could make money off of me? Anger burned through me. I needed to get away, but I knew Mother would come looking for me.

My earlier excitement and anger were snuffed out. It wouldn't be any different than being here except here, I knew she would protect me and who knows what lengths she would go to get me back.

Dammit.

I grabbed a vial and threw it at the wall. I screamed, throwing another vial and another until tears fell down my face. My body shook with too many emotions until I heard another howl outside. I stilled instantly, wondering if all the anger and heartache I was feeling was being fueled by the guys.

Getting up, I walked to the nearest window and peered out, hoping to get a glimpse of them. They were sitting under a tree by the waterfall, all of their heads were down with Ryder's wolf sitting in the middle.

I watched them for a few moments, wondering what had happened, when one of the twins looked up at me. He looked like he was in agony, but the longer we looked at each other, the more my anxiety and my emotions quieted. The other twin looked up at me, easing the last of my turbulent emotions. But when the wolf looked up at me, I was hit with the need to go to all of them.

My body flushed from desire. They were all mine. They belonged to me.

Ryder snarled at me before walking away from the twins and I turned away before they also walked away from me. I cleaned my mess before I went back to working on making more vials. I set out my water, putting my hands in the bowl and letting my power ease out of me.

Before I knew it, I had made two batches and put everything into vials. It looked like I had almost caught up with my work and maybe a double batch would bring me back to speed. I finished putting a few boxes away when I felt a familiar prickle of awareness.

One of the twins was close by, I felt a tug in my chest that hadn't been there before. I looked over my shoulder to see Ryder taking up the entire space of the doorway. My heart stopped, seeing this man in nothing but black pants that had those pockets on the side, riding low on his hips.

Goddess, this man was sex personified, making me flush with desire. He was rugged, fulfilling all those mountain men book fantasies I had read. His honey-colored eyes were full of heat and desire as he licked his lips. My thighs clenched involuntarily from the simple gesture. I was ten seconds from embarrassing myself and crossing the room to make him take me right here and now.

He took a step inside the room taking a lungful of air when his eyes flashed yellow. Ryder rushed towards me towering over me, looking angry, sad and lost. I ran a hand up his chest, going up his neck to cup his face. He leaned into my hand, taking another deep breath, leaning closer to me as he wrapped an arm around my waist.

Just being close to him eased my worries and fears. We took a deep breath together, exhaling slowly, breathing together like we were each other"s oxygen. I needed him just as much as he needed me. I wanted to be the reason he breathed, the air that filled his lungs, the love that kept his heart warm and sunshine that eased those dark days.

"You will never be her and I'll never be yours," he said calmly, as he pulled away from me. "This will never happen."

His eyes flashed yellow, and he jerked away like he had been shocked, staring at me with disdain. His body shook like he was at war with himself.

"Never," he said, shaking before he turned around and walked away from me.

What the hell had just happened? I clutched my chest trying to make sense of it, but I was lost.

Loki meowed, pulling me out of my thoughts and my mind went on autopilot. I walked up to the kitchen, feeding Loki, giving him a few pets before I walked up to my room, stripping out of my clothes. They smelled like him, and I wanted nothing to do with him. I looked through my drawer of shirts. I picked up one that Tay had given me. It was big and comfy and even though they didn't know this was my small act of rebellion, I missed him, wishing whatever Demitri had said was false.

My head hurt from using my magic. I knew I needed water and food, but there was no way I was going downstairs for it. As I climbed into my bed, I glanced at my calendar. My jaw clenched in anger as I realized it was my birthday.

Well happy fucking birthday to me.