LEA POV
I rush into the woods as I feel the anger pulsing inside of me. He's just...just so pushy. Limbs smack at my face as I continue to run. I'm giving up and being a coward? What does he know about anything? My breath hitches but I fight back the tears as I come into a clearing. I take a step closer as I look at the view before me. Wind brushes at my hair as I look at the sky streaked with gold and orange. The sun sets into the back drop as I stand on the over look watching it dip down into the horizon. I settle on the ground and lean back on my hands thinking about what Lore had said. Now that the initial rush of anger has worn off.
"That was very abrasive back there." I start and look up to see Lore towering over me, his eyes glinting in the twilight. I tilt my head to the side as I regard him. He's still angry. I can feel the anger pouring off him in waves.
"I thought you were going to reject me back there." He smirks as he sits down beside me and pulls me into his lap.
"And I thought you were going to rip my arm off." I chuckle and give in to the urge to lean my head against his chest. He stiffens then wraps his arm around me.
"Talk to me baby." Keeping my face in his chest I talk.
"You may know what I'm feeling but I don't know what's going through your head half the time. I'm not really trying to die I just don't know how to fix what's wrong. I feel like there's this huge hole in my chest and I can't make it stop hurting." I start to cry as I bury my face in his chest. I inhale his scent as sobs rack my body. He clutches me tighter and speaks as he rubs his hand up and down my back.
"Mark me. It won't fix you but it's a start. We'll get through this together because I'm not going anywhere." I jerk back and my fear envelopes me.
"No...no...I...don't want to hurt you." He raises a hand and places it on my cheek.
"I know but do it anyway. Trust me to be your sword and shield." Then he leans closer to me bearing his neck. I hesitate then lean forward and bite into his neck. The pleasure of it makes me moan as I pull back and lick at the mark. He shudders and I'm overwhelmed with his lust and...
"Love baby. Love." Surprised I look up at him meeting his eyes.
"But I'm..." I start to say nothing but he presses his mouth to mine and I forget myself as his lips slide over mine. He pulls back and leans his for head to mine. I blush when I feel his shaft pressing against my ass.
"Mine. Your mine and no more death wishes." I start to speak but he shakes me slightly and I feel the terror of me leaving him flood my mind.
"Okay but it's not going to be easy. I might rip your arm off or something else." He shudders as I chuckle.
"Should we go find my brothers now?" He snorts and looks into the woods as my brothers walk out. I roll my eyes at them but direct my gaze to Mal.
"He's not going to hurt me guys." The boys laugh as Lore leans into me, his lips caressing my ear as he speaks.
"It's not you they're worried about." I look to Mal and he just shrugs as Maddox speaks up.
"Sorry Alpha but he's right. There's no way he'd hurt you." Lore stands carrying me with him as I look over at Maddox and I realize how tired they look. I look closer at Mal and see dark circles under his eyes. His normally dark complexion is pale and he's lost weight, they all have. Lore must have sensed my feelings because he sets me on my feet. I rush forward and I'm immediately enveloped in my brothers arms. I inhale their scents as I look up at Mal.
"I'm sorry. So sorry." He smiles and brushes hair from my face and it isn't til that moment that I realize he hasn't smiled since I came back. None of them have in fact.
"It's all good Alpha. You just needed a little push is all." He looks up, over my head and two of them step back so Lore can walk into the group hug. Then we're all hugging again and I feel the chasm inside of me fill in, just a little.
............
"No, no way Mantra, I totally did that prank." Maddox snorts and glances to his twin Mantra as we continue to argue.
"Bull, I'm the one that put worms in Mal's shoes." Mal rolls his eyes as he walks over to the campfire and sits across from me as Lore walks up behind me and hands me a bowl of stew. I roll my eyes as he picks me up and sets me in his lap. He leans into my ear and licks my lobe as he whispers.
"You gonna share that stew with me baby?" I laugh at his outrageous behavior and scooping up a spoonful of stew I feed it to him. He moans as he chews and I feel his shaft press into my butt. I wiggle slightly teasing him and he pulls me back by my hair...
LEA FLASH BACK
....his hand digs into my scalp as his eyes flash with anger.
"I said watch me Lea not him. ME." Duke roars in anger as he rams into his cage. The bars shudder as Lucius pulls harder on my hair but I don't look at him. I can't. Here is the only place I can defy him. He won't hit me while he's raping me, just yank at my hair. This is all I have to keep me sane. This tiny bit of time as his body presses into me. Duke roars again as Lucius touches my face then slides his hand lower. I bite back a cry as he nips gently at my skin like I'm his lover, like I have a choice. Duke growls as Lucius moves lower and I draw back my hand to slap him across the face. He looks up his face eager.
"Go ahead if you want to Lealah then we'll go visit Cara after we're done." Tears slide down my cheeks as he continues to run his lips down my body. I turn to Duke wishing his cage would break so he could save me. I want somebody to save me.
LEA PRESENT
"Baby, stop. Stop baby." I realize hands are holding me down and I immediately relax. Lucius never held me down. I'm safe. I open my eyes to see that Lore is laying on top of me and my brothers are holding down my arms and legs. I blink at them as I nod jerkily.
"I'm okay." Lore's eyes are uncertain as he looks down at me.
"What triggered it?" I try to turn my head away but Lore grasps my chin and forces me to look at him.
"Pulling me hair. He wouldn't hit me while we were...while he had sex with me so he would pull my hair and if I fought him he'd hurt somebody else later, usually Cara." Lore's body shook with anger but his eyes didn't leave mine.
"How did I get you out of it so fast without getting someone hurt? You usually fight more."
"You held me down. He didn't hold me down. Duke didn't tell you to tie me up just because of what he did. He knew I'd know it wasn't Lucius if I was held down." Lore nods and lets me up as my brothers resume there places around the fire. Lore sits back down but doesn't pull me into his lap. I feel the pain my hurting causes him so I know it's not me. I lean over the fire and pick up a bowl scooping stew into it then walk over and sit down in Lore's lap. He stiffens then relaxes when I hold out the spoon.
"My turn." He smiles and scoops up stew before feeding it to me. I lick my lips and his eyes darken as I lean forward to press my lips to his. I moan as he pulls me closer, licking by bottom lip. My hands clench into his shirt as I slide my tongue along his.
"Jeez dude that's our SISTER. Could you not do that here?" I pull back and glare at Mantra, who's grinning at me. I stick my tongue out at him as Devil clears his throat.
"As to our previous argument, I'm the one who put worms in Mal's shoes." My jaw drops and I glance at Mantra, who looks incredulous and starts to sputter as Mal leaps to his feet and points a finger to Devil.
"Ha...I knew it. I knew you did that." His eyes narrow as he lowers his hand. "You did that because of Sugar, didn't you?" Lore presses closer to me and whispers in my ear as Mal and Devil start to argue.
"Who's Sugar?" I laugh as Devil takes a swing at Mal, who easily sidesteps it.
"Sugar is their neighbor. Shy, geeky girl, who's afraid of her own shadow. She's also human." I say the words knowing I'll get a rise from Mal and Devil for it but not because I don't like Sugar.
"Don't talk bad about Sugar like that." Both Mal and Devil speak at the same time as I giggle.
"So what happened with Sugar?" I laugh loudly now as Devil glares at me and Mal speaks.
"She said brothers shouldn't fight and since we couldn't stop fighting over her neither one of us deserved her." I chuckle as Lea's shoulders shake with laughter.
"And she meant it. She totally owned it with that performance." Both of them narrow their eyes at me and I immediately stop laughing. "I...I mean not performance...per se..." Lore whispers at me as Mal and Devil stalk over to us.
"You let that one slip right out baby." I shrug as they stop in front of me.
"What do you mean performance?" I roll my eyes and look back at Lore.
"You know for being my Betas these two sure are dense." Mal and Devil are so focused on my answer that they don't realize what I've said but everyone else does.
"She loves both of you idiots so she took her self out of the picture because she doesn't think she can be with you." Devil stumbles as Mal falls to the ground.
"Why are you telling this to us now?" I sigh and shift in Lore's lap.
"I was going to tell you when I got back but I didn't remember til now. She's...um..leaving after this semester of college gets out. She's turning twenty-one and she said she couldn't take watching you two anymore, knowing she couldn't have you because she's human." Mal's eyes narrow as he stares at me.
"How does she know what we are?" I groan and lay my head back on Lore's chest.
"I told her when I figured out she was your mate. This was after the goddess decreed we could mate with humans. When I saw her sitting in her back yard crying over you I thought she should understand since she thinks you two hate her. Plus you two were being complete idiots. Fighting over her at her college when she already felt guilty for loving both of you. So I shifted, told her what we were, and told her why you two idiots were too dense to realize they had the same mate." Devil looks up, now.
"And why didn't we realize we were her mate?"
"Because you've been avoiding her since before the goddess said we could mate with humans and I haven't. She smells like you too. Haven't you noticed how pale and weak she's looked lately?" When both of them continue to stare at me I lean forward and enunciate as I speak.
"She's wasting away because of your bond. She has a bond with you because she lives next door and neither of you are putting effort into it. So she's been maintaining it by herself. She's going to go away after this semester and severe the bond. She said she couldn't hold on by herself anymore. Well?" Both of them stare at me with open mouths as I lean closer. "The semester ends is in two days." Both of them leap to their feet.
"We have to head home now. You can drop us off." They both turn to glare at the others and they leap up to start packing up as Lore chuckles and rubs his hands up and down my arms.
"Definitely Betas. So what am I now?" I laugh and kiss him softly on the lips.
"If there's two Betas why can't their be two Alphas?" He twists his hips and I feel his shaft press against me again and I moan as I lean further into him.
"Maybe we should try to mate when we get back?" His eyes flash as he growls softly.
"I thought you wanted to take it slow?" I laugh and throw my arms around his neck.
"This is slow. I'm not jumping you right now am I?" Lore mutters under his breath and standing up sits me down on the log.
"Where are you going?" He looks over at me with a 'duh' expression.
"To help them pack. We don't have all day." I laugh and watch as they hurry to pack up just as the sun starts to rise into the sky. We had talked all night and I should be exhausted but I had never felt more alive.