Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

Lake

Walking hand in hand with Tucker, I do my best not to feel the fear threatening to overwhelm me with terror. I hated leaving the woods. I felt connected to the one spot as I've never felt connected to anything ever before.

I take that back. I feel connected to that area, but I'm more connected to the man at my side. I glance at his bare chest with his cut over it and find myself grinning. He'd given me his shirt yet again. In his hand, he carried my clothes. I didn't want to put them back on. They smelled like sulfur, and I didn't want that on me, not after spending so much time in the woods with Tucker inside me.

I'll dress after we got to his room and take a shower. I didn't want to think about what would come after that.

Tucker's explanation of why my dad acted when we first found him and the others makes sense, but it doesn't make the hurt go away. Or any less.

Neither of us speaks a word, they aren't needed right now. I'm able to feel Tucker's emotions and thoughts in a way I didn't think possible. They're far more intense than what they'd been when he'd first claimed me. I didn't know speaking those words I did would make things so . . . so complete. Somehow, I'm able to see through Tucker what he sees in me, feels when touching me, moving inside me.

In a way, it makes everything we've done that much more special.

I wouldn't take anything back, though I'm scared of what's to come. I now know, without any doubt, he's going to be there for me, and I hope he knows I'll do the same for him.

Tucker gives my hand a squeeze, not saying anything aloud. With a tug, he leads me into the clubhouse straight to his room, then to the bathroom, where he kisses me thoroughly beneath the spray of the shower. Once again, he takes me, but this time with my back to the tile, my legs around his waist as he works quickly inside me.

By the time we finish, the water is running cold. But even that doesn't bother me, Tucker's warmth is all I need.

"Time to get dressed, little Fae," he whispers and presses a kiss to my forehead as he slides out of me.

"I know," I murmur, sliding down to stand.

"I'm gonna be right there with you, Lake."

Nodding, I wait for Tucker to shut the water off. Together, we get out. Tucker takes time to dry me off first with one of the towels. When he's done with me, he runs the towel over his body swiftly and follows me back into his room. I dress in a pair of leggings and a cropped tank, not bothering with putting on a bra or panties. It seems any time I wear them he rips them.

I turn in Tucker's direction, hearing him chuckle.

"It's not funny," I tell him and snatch up my brush. "I'm going to run out of undergarments because of you."

"You do, and I'll buy you more." He grins and shoves his feet into his boots.

Looking at the scuffed-up boots, a thought crosses my mind, and I find myself voicing it. "Later, do you think we can go out on your bike again?"

I loved being on the back of his bike. Granted, the one time I had been, my mind wasn't in the right state to completely enjoy it. Still, I'd felt the freedom it could be.

Tucker catches my gaze. "I'll take you anytime you want, little Fae." He steps closer and strokes my cheek. "First, let's see about getting rid of the threat against you. Then we'll worry about getting you on the back of my bike. Alright?"

"Okay," I agree, seeing the reasoning.

"Good, now, let's get this next part out of the way. I still gotta meet with my brothers and figure out the next step since we've already got your dad and uncles."

Yeah, I guess I messed up their plan. "Are you still mad at me?"

Now, why did I have to go and ask him that?

Tucker takes my brush from me and grips my chin, keeping me from being able to look away. "You did what you did for good reason. The outcome came out good. We got those we needed to save. Yeah, I was pissed with you. You took things into your own hands, and you can't do that. I know what you're trying to hide about going through the strands of time. You aren't shielding that as much as you thought you were. And since you aren't gonna be doing that again, we've got nothing to worry about."

"That doesn't really answer my question," I tell him.

"It's a hard question to answer without hurting your feelings, Lake," he states, leaning in and pressing a kiss to my lips. "You're a hard woman to stay pissed with, but yeah, I'm still slightly pissed. I'd be more so if I hadn't just come inside you as many times I have. That sort of thing seems to help in putting me in a mellow mood."

I stare up at him and silently nod. What else could I say to that? Nothing really. He has a right to his feelings, and I can understand it.

"Time to face your dad, little Fae," Tucker announces, dropping his hand from my chin to take my hand.

I suck in a breath, giving him a look of reluctance. As much as I want to see my dad, I'm scared that he'll hate me. It's because of me that he ended up where he did for so long.

Tucker moves down the hall, walking in front of me, shielding me, protecting me in his way. Keeping me from the sight of the others until I'm ready to see them. They'd be able to catch my scent, but I wouldn't have to see them until I knew I could handle the look of anger in their eyes.

The moment we step from the hall into the main room, silence descends on the room. The noise I'd heard echoing in the hall was now complete silence.

"I see she completed the mating with you," my dad says, ending the silence.

"What's going on here?" Tucker demands, ignoring my dad's statement.

"Cyrus and his club have agreed to stick around and help in getting this situation taken care of," Corbin grunts.

"Yeah, Big Daddy would have my ass if I didn't help in this. Bonus, kicking dragon ass sounds like fun."

I peek around Tucker to look in the direction of the guy who was talking, and I see a man looking similar to Corbin. His brother, I'm assuming. Big Daddy, I knew, was their dad. I met him once when he came by with Corbin's daughter. She'd been staying with Big Daddy, where Corbin knew she was safe until all my troubles were dealt with. I couldn't blame the man. If I had a child, I'd do the same thing.

Cyrus's gaze shifts toward me, and he cocks a brow.

I quickly jerk back behind Tucker and clinch my fingers in the waist of his jeans.

I don't know why I did something so chicken. Maybe it's my nerves are on edge.

"Lake, come out here, sweetheart," my dad calls. I know that tone. He used to use it anytime I would hide under the bed or in a closet. "We have to talk, and we can't do that with you hiding behind your mate."

"If she wants to stay behind me, she can." Tucker grunts, sending waves of reassurance through the bond we share. "I'm not going to force her to move when she's not ready. Enough has happened, and she needs to have at least one thing she's in control of right now."

"I get that," Dad mutters. I could hear the hurt in his voice that he's doing his best to hide. "Still can't fix things with her if she's hiding from me."

"Lakey, come on, squirt, come out," Uncle Rohan calls. "None of us blame you for what happened."

"Nope," Uncle Jair remarks. "You're still our little spitfire of a niece. Now, come on and give your uncles hugs."

"Back off and give her time," Uncle Walker growls. "Can't y'all smell her trepidation. She's hurting because of all the bullshit."

Uncle Walker's right about that.

"We know that, asshat," Rohan mutters. "Why the fuck do you think we want her to come from behind her mate? Hell, if her mate was anyone else besides the damn last tiger prince, I'd already have snatched her away."

Tucker snarls at this, and I can't help but giggle. Granted, I keep my giggle quiet. I know what my uncle is trying to do.

"Little Fae, I think it's safe for you to come out, considering you're laughing," Tucker states gruffly.

"Are you sure?" I whisper.

"Yeah, baby, I'm sure. If you don't, the five of them might gang up on me to get to you." He snorts, reaching around his back. "Promise, if any of them upset you, I take my claws to them."

Now, it's my turn to snort. He knows I wouldn't want him to do that.

I take a deep breath, place my hand in Tucker's and allow him to pull me around in front of him. He lets my hand go, and his arm goes securely around my waist, holding me to him.

My gaze goes straight to my dad's, and I see him taking in this action. Slowly, his gaze comes to mine, and he gives me the smile I've dreamed of seeing for so long.

He moves, coming close, reaching out a hand to palm my cheek. "You look like your mother did in so many ways."

Tucker drops his arm, and I find myself moving without even thinking into my dad's arms, mine going around his waist and I burrow my face in his chest. Tears I thought I'd never shed again come bursting from me, and I cry as I've never done. My dad's arms clutch tighter around me, holding me close, shielding me away from the others.

I can feel my uncles moving in close, doing the same, not allowing anyone else to see me in a moment of weakness.

"I'm sorry I failed you, Lake," Dad whispers. "But know this, you're not to blame for anything that has happened. I would do it again in a heartbeat because you are and always have been my special little girl."

"Is it because of what I am the reason you call me that?" I blurt the question, not knowing the answer I'm hoping to hear.

"No, Lake, it's not because of your gifts or the power you carry that I call you my special little girl. It's because you brought your mother to me. Helped her escape the hell she was living in. You saved her before you were even born," he explains.

"But she died giving birth to me." I didn't understand.

"No, she didn't," Karsyn states. Her voice no more than a whisper as she steps through my uncles, Corbin right behind her.

"What do you mean?" Confusion mars Dad's expression. "I was there. I saw her. I placed her body in the tomb myself."

"You did, but she was not dead. Only in a deep slumber." Karsyn's gaze shifts, and she looks past them, yet at nothing that anyone else can see.

"What is she doing?" Uncle Jair asks.

"Give her a minute," Corbin commands, his arm surrounding his woman, a hand going protectively over her stomach.

Karsyn blinks and smiles. "The Earth Goddess wants you to know that though she still slumbers, she awaits you. You've sacrificed enough in the past years, and so you shall be rewarded. But so long as the evil that marks both mother and daughter as a target, you won't be able to find your way to her."

"So what? We kill a dragon, and my brother gets his mate back?" Uncle Rohan demands.

"Yes," Karsyn agrees and tilts her head to the side to look at Corbin over her shoulder. "I'm tired now and want to go lie down. You need to meet with your brothers. The next coming days are going to be a struggle."