Chapter 6

Koda urged him to wake up, while Kodak begged him to pretend like he was still asleep. He let himself float slowly to the surface while he maintained his even breathing. Featherlight touches moved over his skin, and he struggled even harder to pretend like he was asleep. Her fingers moved over his face, tracing his cheekbones, nose, eyebrows, and lips. Her fingers moved down his neck to trace his collarbone before running along his shoulders to go down his arm to trace each of his fingers. Her fingers moved back up his arm, gently squeezing his biceps before moving to rub over his chest.

His cock, which was already hard when he woke up, twitched. She uttered a small whimper before her hand started to move south. She paused at his belly button to drag her finger around the small hole a few times before moving her hand back up. Her nails slowly dragged down his chest and stomach, stopping right above his pubic hair. She exhaled before moving her fingers back up his chest. She retraced her path down his abdomen, shifting it slightly to move over his thigh, using her nails to lightly scratch his skin. He struggled even more to keep his breathing even, and his body relaxed as pleasure raced through him. Her hands left his body, and he immediately felt the loss in every fiber of his being.

Suddenly, her hand closed around his shaft, and his hand shot out to wrap around her wrist as he sat straight up. She screamed in agony, and he felt some of her tendrils detach from his skin. He cursed softly when tears filled her eyes. He let her wrist go to gently scoop up the wilted tendrils and blow his fire over them. Instead of a heated flame, a wet flame came out to douse the tendrils in a slimy substance. In seconds, the tendrils perked up, and he carefully arranged them back on his skin, moaning softly as they almost sucked on his body. When he finally turned to look at her, she was staring at him curiously.

“Who are you? And where am I? Where’s Jenna? Why am I in soil? We… why are we in soil? Why are we naked? Why-”

He chuckled as he cupped her face. He tugged her forward until she was carefully lying on top, with even more tendrils coming out to connect their bodies. He wrapped an arm around her waist as he held his hand out for the blanket that instantly flew across the room to cover them. He nuzzled into her neck.

“Let’s go slow. I apologize that I didn’t speak to you yesterday before I marked you. I lost control and took your choice away. I'm sorry that I lost control, and it won’t happen again. With that being said, my name is Merlot. My parents are the Alphas and Luna of this pack. We call our pack Locusts. We are where rogues go to feel safe and to belong somewhere. Jenna is safe with her mate and my sister, Joyce. Soil-”

“What’s a mate?”

He groaned, remembering that Jenna said they were humans. If that were the case, then they wouldn’t know or understand anything about their world. He was going to have to educate her and show her. His hands moved over her back, and her little moan made him groan. His hand stopped above her ass.

“Margo, can I touch you?”

She lifted herself up a little to look down at him before licking her lips nervously. “I guess it’s only fair since I touched you…”

He was immediately lost in her eyes and found the blush that crept up her face endearing. His hands moved down to cup her ass, massaging her cheeks for a moment before running one over the tendril coming out of her ribcage. He gently removed it from his skin before replacing it over his heart. Her eyes fluttered closed when pleasure washed over both of them.

“Do you feel that?” She nodded. “That’s what a mate bond feels like. Well, kind of. It’s what our mate bond feels like. Mates for us are what soulmates are to humans, but deeper. You’re my mate, and I’m yours. Joyce is Jenna’s mate, and Jenna is hers. We will never hurt you guys, and we will kill anybody that tries to hurt you. We will protect you until the second we die. You will never want or need anything.”

She sighed as she nuzzled into his neck. “That’s intense.”

He chuckled as his hands moved over her back again. “It is very intense.”

She kissed his neck, making him shudder. “Why are we in soil? Why did you ruin your bed? It was so soft.”

“Because you needed to root to heal. Do you feel better? I see all your bruises are gone.”

“I feel strong. I’m actually a little hungry.”

“I can get you food. What do you wan-”

Her lips met his, effectively cutting off his sentence as she kissed him. His hand came up to cup her face again as he opened his mouth to deepen their kiss. Her hands started moving over his body, and Kodak made him growl with arousal. She jumped a little, pulling back.

“I’m sorry. We want you so much. I may growl, but I promise it will never be a threat to you.”

She went back to kissing him, and his cock twitched against her thigh. She started rocking her hips, sliding her wetness along his length. His hands stilled her movements as he pulled away from their kiss.

“Margo, stop. I’m losing control,” he admitted softly.

“So, lose control,” she whispered before kissing him again.

He growled again, and her kiss got more fervent. She moved herself up higher on his chest as she reached between them to stroke him. When he started pushing up against her, she slowly began to lower herself onto him. Her eyes closed before snapping open when the bedroom door was flung open, and Jenna hurried in with Joyce hot on her heels, trying to grab her. Margo immediately sat on his stomach, clutching the blankets to her chest as she stared at her sister.

“Don’t you ever knock?”

Jenna froze with her eyes widening as she took in their positions. “Oh my God, Margo. Are you fucking him? You don’t even know him!”

Margo paled. “No, we were just talking.”

Jenna rolled her eyes as she approached the bed. “It stinks like sex in here.”

Joyce finally managed to grab her around the waist and began to hoist her out of the room.

“I’m sorry, Merlot. I tried to stop her,” she mumbled.

Merlot sighed, knowing that the moment was ruined. All the tendrils connecting them disappeared back into Margo’s body, making him even more frustrated that they were interrupted. He carefully shifted Margo off of him as he recited the spell for clothes in his head. He got up, adjusting his sweats.

“I assume since you’re awake, you are ready to go to Slimmer?”

Jenna and Margo’s eyes both widened.

“Are you taking us back to them?” Margo asked fearfully.

Merlot tugged her into his arms. “We are not taking you back to anybody. We had a meeting yesterday where my parents named me as the new Alpha of Slimmer. I am supposed to fix them.” He put his forehead against hers, looking deep into her eyes. “Please, trust me. I promise you, I will protect you.”

She searched his face for a moment before nodding. “I will kill you if you try anything.”

He couldn’t help the proud grin that lifted his lips. “Good.”

He pushed her gently toward the bathroom. “Koda told me that Rose brought you clothes while we were sleeping. Why don’t you go shower and get dressed so we can leave?”

“Don’t you have to shower?”

“I’ll shower in another room. Go on.”

He watched her go into the bathroom before grabbing some clothes and leading Joyce and Jenna out of the room. He shut his bedroom door before walking down the hallway to a guest room to shower. He took the fastest shower of his life, getting ready in under 10 minutes so he could race back to his room. Margo was kneeling beside the bed with her hands buried in the soil, and he stood in the doorway, watching her as she sifted through it. Rose stepped up beside him.

“She’s a gift, you know?”

Merlot nodded. “I know.”

Margo jumped up, blushing. “Are you ready?”

“We are,” Jenna said as she pushed past Merlot to go to her sister.

Margo took her hand, and nobody missed the looks of fear that passed between them. Merlot held his hand out to her after opening a portal to Slimmer.

“Trust me?”

She hesitated almost for a full minute before taking his hand. “Okay.”

Joyce took Jenna’s hand as Aiden kissed Rose, and Keith rolled his eyes. They walked through the portal, and Margo almost leaped into his arms. He steadied her as they walked out the other side. She pulled away from him to rush into the treeline to vomit. As Merlot neared, Koda and Kodak both went on alert. He grabbed her around the waist as he scanned the area, looking for any threat that could be hiding in the trees. Finding none, he led her toward the gates.

“HALT!”

He spun around, pushing Margo behind him, while Joyce did the same to Jenna. Keith immediately stepped in front of Merlot to protect him. A masked figure stood behind Rose with a sharp dagger pressed against her neck. Rose stood calmly, almost amused.

“Let the girls go, or I will kill her.”

“No.”

The tip of the blade pierced Rose’s throat, drawing a drop of blood. Merlot took a deep breath.

“What do you want with our mates?” he asked calmly, stepping around his brother.

“Mates?” The woman pulled her mask off, revealing stormy bluish hazel eyes and chocolate brown hair with a white streak in it as she looked at Margo and Jenna. “Mates?”

Margo moved forward toward the woman. Merlot let her go, following close behind her. Margo tilted her head, showing the woman Merlot’s mark on her throat.

“He healed me.”

The woman let Rose go as she reached for Margo’s hands. Merlot tensed as he waited for the woman’s next move. Moments later she dropped Margo’s hands before looking at Merlot.

“We need to talk.”