Chapter 73: MAKE THAT DECISION

IRIS' POV

The moment the noise hit me, I heard footsteps, and I immediately turned to the door. Garrett was there, and I wanted to run over to him immediately. The thing was that the creature didn't want me doing any of that.

He wanted me there with him. He wanted me to stand there with him like my life depended on it. The one thing I wanted to feel at that point, was Garrett's arms around me. I should have known that he was going to find me all along. And now that the creature wasn't even allowing me to move, I knew that I was cooked.

I could feel tears pricking the back of my eyes.

“Please,” I begged, but I wasn't still allowed to move.

“What's going on here?” Garrett asked, looking around like he was waiting for one of us to provide an answer ASAP.

“Took you long enough to realize that she's missing.”

Garrett didn't even waste a second more as he walked over to me, placing a kiss on my forehead.

“You're fine,” he said, and I couldn't help but feel like he was trying to calm me down the whole time. “I'm here now.”

I was shocked that the creature didn't push him away or something. He allowed Garrett close to me and him. Since I could feel him right there.

“What's happening upstairs?” Derek finally asked, and Garrett licked his lips.

“Hunters. I just don't know where they are from.”

The sound of clinking shields got to me again, and the creature moved through me.

Protect.

“No,” I said, gasping.

“What happened?” Derek immediately asked, going back to his protective side.

“It wants me to protect the pack.” I whispered, and Garrett grabbed my hand, before looking towards the creature, and its dark presence that was still flickering.

“Fuck this. If Derek couldn't take you out of here, then I'm doing that.”

With that, he grabbed my arm and attempted taking me out. The creature immediately stuck my foot to the floor, and it was hurting that Garrett was still trying to pull me along.

“It's hurting,” I begged, and he finally relaxed.

“What does it want you to do?” He asked, and I licked my lips together, as I tried to listen again.

The air was starting to shift, and Derek took a step back. He had been in the room long enough to know that something was up.

“You feel it, don't you?” I asked him, and he gave me a nod of his head.

The feeling grew in my chest. The need to protect. It was almost like the creature wasn't reacting to the battle. It was reacting to the fact that it was so fucking close to my territory.

“Feel what?” Garrett asked, looking between the both of us.

Derek gave me a small smile. Like he was proud of me. “She isn't just the anchor for the creature. And she isn't just a queen to Ragner. She's the center.”

The realization hit deep. Ragner right above me, and the creature right beside me. If I was being honest, it was quite a lot for me to handle.

Even the gate. It was all fucking responding to me.

Suddenly, my mother gripped my leg. “You have to control it,” she said, making me jump. I looked over at the creature, and he looked helpless. But in a good way. Like he was willing to stand by me, but I had to figure myself out as well.

Tears were pricking the back of my eyes, and I was panicking. “But I don't know how to.”

“Then learn. And try to do it fast,” my mom said. I didn't even know when she regained consciousness, or how long she had been listening. I looked over at her ankle again, and that was the assurance that I had gained something.

She was finally free.

The battle noises became louder, and Garrett didn't hesitate.

“We're going for backup.”

I stayed back to breathe. The creature was humming underneath my skin, and the gate was rattling.

Two daggers, two directions.

It was getting hard, and I found myself pulling against my hair.

“I can't do this,” I said, and Derek made me look at him. The both of us knew exactly what we had been through. His eyes said it all. The pain, the agony, the support.

“We have to pull through,” he said. “And I want you with me. Do you understand?”

I gave him a small shake of my head. “I don't even know if I'll be making it out of here.”

“You will. I'm so fucking sure you will. Because I'd want to fuck you again. Over and over and over. So you have to make it alive.”

That was definitely the wrong thing to say at that moment, but it suddenly gave me the drive that I needed.

Lara was suddenly at alert.

If we weren't in danger, I would have called her a naughty girl. But at that point, that was the last thing I could even think about.

The creature hummed even louder, and its presence seemed to darken again.

“What's happening to it?” Derek quickly asked.

“It wants urgency. It wants me to make a decision as quickly as possible.

Derek held my hand. “Then make one.”

I looked over at the creature again, and his figure darkened again. “Choose where we stand.”

“Then we go and protect our people,” I said calmly, and Derek held me by the waist, making me face him as he kissed me so deeply, my knees buckled.

I wanted to tug against his hair so bad, but I was scared I was just going to hurt him. Not with all the power humming underneath my arms.

I turned around, and only my mom was there watching the both of us. Marcus, and Garrett had already gone up.

Derek leaned in for another kiss, much slower and more passionate than the last one. Then he pulled away, running his hand through my lip. I tried as much as I could not to feel like it was a goodbye kiss.

“You go, girl. You'll do just fine.” He said, and I believed him.