Filed To Story: Secret with Betas Daughter: Skylar Story Series
“Are you kidding? Every time you say something smart, which is all the fucking time, this one lights up.”
He points to Cam. “But, I was, at best, able to ignore it. Now there’s no hope. And then you go and fight someone, anyone, even the pups, he gets excited and starts fidgeting around so no one notices the tent he’s pitching. And to top it all off, you get a rise out of me every time you just say my damn name!” “Dakota, seriously?!” He’s just being dramatic.
“See!” He basically yells and points down at himself and I laugh. That’s all I can do.
“I thought you said you liked it when I say your whole name.”
I feel bad if it makes him uncomfortable. I’ll have to watch it. I actually like calling him by his full first name when everyone else uses the nickname. It feels special, but I won’t if he was kidding.
“Oh, he does like it, Bitty. The problem is, he likes it too much.”
Oliver laughs in my ear, then kisses me on the neck. My whole body shivers at the contact and he laughs again.
“Well, I don’t regret marking all of you and I can’t take it back, so deal.”
I stick my tongue out at him.
“I’ll give you something to do with that tongue once we figure out how to get out of here.”
The comment came from Cam this time and now I know we are getting into dangerous territory if his will is starting to crack and he’s making innuendos.
I shake out my head and step back. “Can you all feel your element? My guess is we have to use them independently to get rid of this thing. We will probably have to figure out how to combine them too to deal with Adrielle and the Rogue King. Then we need to decide what to do with Mike and the rest of his goons. I feel like our to-do list doesn’t get any shorter, even with all of the things we keep checking off.”
We try for what seems like forever to get our elements to work. The positive side is that the twins now no longer need help to manipulate theirs. The downside is we have no idea what to do with them or what else we are missing, and the tornado still isn’t coming down. We have all tried firing at it individually and in every combination that there could possibly be. We can’t link anyone outside of it still and I am getting more and more anxious that something bad is happening and Gentry and Elena are keeping us in here on purpose.
“What if it isn’t the magic? What if it’s something else we need to do?” Cam muses. “I mean we have tried everything that any of us can think of as far as combinations and blasting our way out does not seem to be the answer. And I am not walking toward that thing after it flung Kota on his ass. Although that memory will live rent free in my memory forever.”
I sit on the ground looking up at the tornado. I can see the opening above us. The sky looks exactly as it did when we were first surrounded. So time has either stood still or it’s an illusion.
“Oh sh*t!” I jumped up. “It’s not real!” I squeal.
“What do you mean not real? How is this tornado, that I can feel, not real?” Dakota laughs half heartedly.
“Part of learning about magic is being able to see it in action. Especially with Glamours. You have to be able to see past the magic, the glamour, the illusion, to see what’s really there or not there. If that’s the deal, we have to all be able to see past this tunnel.”
“Okay, let’s say I believe you, because I really do, but I also don’t have any idea what that means. I don’t think expected to be a part of your magic, just that you would be a badass and better than all of us and I would live happily in your shadow.”
Dakota sits down and leans his back against my legs, which is probably a funny sight since his head still reaches my waist like this.
I absently run my fingers through his hair while I’m still thinking. I can still feel the hum of the wind when I make contact with him. It’s trying to tell me something, but the message is garbled. Then a wave of envy washes over me and is gone almost as quickly as Cam sits on my other side, mirroring Dakota. I giggle as I start to run my fingers through his hair too. The short stubble feels good under my nails. I look down in front of me, a space clearly left, but not occupied yet. I look for Oliver and he’s watching us with a curious expression.
“I still don’t know how this works. You have two hands and two Alphas, and…”
“Stop talking and get over here.
There is clearly a space that needs to be filled, I clearly need you. Cameron and Dakota clearly need you. You are the missing piece. You were the first to connect to me. You were the go-between when everything was going down with 4 Kaley you managed to get them to pull their heads out of their asses.”
I pat the twins on the head. “You connected with the magic long before I did. And I think your doubt right now is what is keeping us in this f*cking hole” I say as sternly as I can, but I can’t hold it looking at him and his concerned puppy dog eyes. That is a look Dakota usually gives, and I can’t help but ease his mind with a smile on my face. “I need all my Alphas, are you going to leave me hanging here, missing one?” I try for my own pouty face as I tilt my head to the side.
“We are so f*cked aren’t we?” He grumbles walking over to me and sitting in between my feet, leaning back on my thighs.
“If she does this she could ask me to sit naked shaking a hornets nest and I would do it without question.”
Dakota purrs. And I giggle at his ridiculousness.
I stand there alternating playing with all of their hair as they all relax into me. It’s funny, even with all of their weight, I don’t feel unstable, my muscles aren’t fatiguing at all and their dead weight is not light at all. How do I help them see through this illusion? Oliver won’t be a problem, he just doubts his place. Hell, I denied mine for a long time, even when people flat out told me what was going to happen, or at least their version of it. I don’t think anyone thought that we would have four Alphas, that I would be equal to the twins, that it was even possible for Oliver to ascend his rank.
Then I see the ripple. It’s small and short lived but it’s there. We are getting somewhere.
“Hey, Smalls. I like the hair pulling, but can you tell me what you are excited about?” I can hear Dakota’s laugh in his words.
“I saw the illusion ripple. We are getting somewhere, I just don’t know what we did to make that happen.”
I am talking fast now, but I can’t move or do anything with all of them leaning on me like this. Oliver laughs and I can tell he’s holding something back.
“What?! What have you figured out now? I’m actually kind of jealous that you see things so much faster than me.”
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.