Page 14 of Renegade Queen

“So, what does it feel like for you to be here?” I asked.

“It feels like I’m cut off from the one thing I need in the world to be able to breathe. Like I’m slowly suffocating as the world screams at me for not being a part of it. Oh, and the smell also took a lot of getting used to.”

I didn’t know how she could talk about something that sounded so painful, like it was a walk in the park. Like it didn’t matter that just being in our world was slowly torturing her.

I reached for her then, my fingertips brushing through the ends of her long blonde hair as she drifted through the plants. This was clearly her happy place, her calm amongst the storm.

“Being in here helps,” I observed aloud.

“Yeah. Do you know why you have shifters in this world?” she asked, and I just shook my head. I didn’t even know they existed until mere hours ago. “The moon is like a bridge between this realm and the next, and through it, Nymeria shines through. And don’t ask me how, I have no idea… anyway, where was I? Right! Shifters. People believe that Nymeria reached through into this world and found those who worshipped the moon. She gave them the gift of magic because she recognised in them a longing for something more, for some missing piece of themselves, and she granted it to them.”

“Soooo Nymeria is like a god?”

“No. Nymeria is the land, the magic, and the creatures who live there. It was me. It was my family.” The sadness that slipped into her voice at that point spoke of a story, but I’d pushed her enough for one day.

“This place is amazing,” I said, quickly changing the subject and then wincing at the complete lack of tact that it showed. “Why do you call it the cathedral?”

She laughed and spun on the spot. “Tank. Inside joke,” she admitted.

It made my teeth grind, but it reminded me that she wasn’t mine; I shouldn’t be trying to catch the smell of her hair or wondering how that creamy skin seemed to sparkle in the moonlight. She already had her person, and I had my brothers. And one of them needed me right now.

“You should get to bed,” Alyssa finally said, moving toward the door. “Tomorrow is going to be… I don’t even know.”

For a moment, I wanted to stop her. I wanted to reassure her that there was no way I’d let her do this alone, not for us. We weren’t worth her life, not even a slight risk to it. But my selfishness stopped me. The hand reaching for her fell back to my side as I watched her walk away. Damon needed us to do this; if there was no other way, I needed to be prepared to make the sacrifice. He’d done it for me; he’d sold his soul to help me escape the shit I’d brought down on myself as a kid. Now it was my turn. And yet, I didn’t know how I’d live with myself afterwards.

Chapter 7

Alyssa

I hesitated at the door to the guest room. My hand was raised, ready to knock, yet it hung in the air as if waiting for something. Before I could flee in confusion, the door swung open, and there stood Tank. I’d seen him shift before, so I’d seen his bare ass wandering around. But for some reason, seeing him in loose pyjama bottoms and nothing else was making my heart skip a beat. The way they hung from his hips had me trying to swallow and failing, mainly because my mouth refused to close.

And, of course, he noticed.

Leaning against the doorframe, his hand slowly stroked down his abs as he put himself on display for me.

Damn, I was here for it!

“Are you waiting for me to lick them or something?”

“I wouldn’t say no if that was what you wanted to do.”

His crooked smile made my heart leap, and even though I’d been joking before, I was actually considering it now.

“Come on.” He held out his hand, and I didn’t hesitate to take it.

Why would I? This was Tank. We’d been dancing around each other for years. There were very few people in the world that I trusted, and he was at the top of that list.

The door closed behind me as Tank guided me to the bed. He gently pushed me down to sit on the edge and then dropped to his knees, pulling off my shoes and socks before pushing me back to lie down.

Then disappointment struck as I stared at the ceiling without a big sexy bear shifter leaning over me.

“I feel like there was a step that followed that one, and you somehow got lost between the floor and where you’re supposed to be right now. Did you shift and forget about me or something?”

“If I’d shifted right now, you’d definitely be aware of it,” he answered wryly before I felt the bed dip behind me.

Tipping my head back, I watched as Tank got back into bed and patted the mattress beside him. I wanted to sulk, but he was probably right that we needed to discuss this whole thing before jumping into bed together.

“Fine,” I sighed, crawling up the bed on my knees as he flipped back the covers for me.