Stronger Together

Chapter 5

Joslyn’s POV

Everything around me is black again. Was I dreaming? Did I dream Cornelius, Mum, Dad, Nicky and Aunty Helen saved me? Did I dream I had my first real kiss? I let out a long breath; at least Uncle Nathan wasn’t really hexed multiple times by the dark witch, but I am a bit disappointed the enchantment they put on us wasn’t being reversed by Mum.

“It was real” Chloe says, walking up beside me, nudging my leg. How are you doing that? "You are in our sanctuary, and you can speak here.”

“What do you mean we are in your sanctuary” Indyleigh asks, as I start feeling around the floor, expecting to be in the tiny dark room at the facility.

It feels like I am on grass or soft carpet… “Open your eyes, Gemma”. Addison barks beside us and I quickly open mine as well. I didn’t even realize I had them shut. It was nighttime and the moon was beaming down through the trees. Although it was dark outside, I could still see, and I was sitting on a patch of grass. “This is our sanctuary. We brought you here because it was better than the alternative.”

“What was the alternative?” Indy questioned and Addison tilted her head to the side.

“You know what you said when the enchantment was put on you, you were in agony for days?” Paige asks, although it was more of a statement. I don’t think it was something we would forget. It felt like my whole body was on fire. It subsided days later. “If memory serves, you said your body felt like it was burning for 4 days. Dark magic was used to create the enchantment, and they were searing it into your body. Unfortunately, the same is happening for it to be removed.”

“Meaning?” Gemma questioned.

“You were going to be in the same amount of pain. We pulled you here to stop you and your mates from feeling the effects of the enchantment leaving your body”, Addison explained, and I ran my fingers through Chloe’s grey fur. I know I’ve seen her in my mind, she is a bit bigger than I thought she would be. In fact, all three of them are larger than I thought and quite pretty. “Thank you. Your hair is longer than I’ve seen.”

I moved my hand from Chloe’s fur, running it through my hair. “This isn’t my hair” I mumbled under my breath as Chloe nudged my hand with her snout. My hair had been mattered and felt disgusting. Indy would get soap and brushes for us in the first year. We deemed it pointless. The rogues would steel them from us. We couldn’t even keep the lock of hair they gave us. That was lost with some with the amount of time we moved over the years. Indy even sent her teddy bear back on the tray we got for food, and we had to hide any food that came by changing the time of day we got it.

The only thing they didn’t stop us getting, was a toothbrush and toothpaste. We would get it and send it back on the tray with the food; but I am getting side tracked. I haven’t washed my hair or myself in 4 years. None of us have, not properly, anyway. We have been able to wade in a stream or river. We would never remove our clothes. My clothes? They didn’t fit me. When we outgrew our old clothes, we started taking new ones from a dead rogue. “s**t” I stood up quickly, startling the wolves. “Cornelius saw me like that.”

Indyleigh and Gemma gasped, realizing the same thing I just did, while the wolves wheezed at me. “Are they laughing at us?” I asked.

“I believe they are” Gemma says, flicking her wrist.

“Nice try, your witchcraft doesn’t work here. Haven’t you noticed you can’t read Indy’s or Jossy’s mind?” Addison said, and the wolves started wheezing again. I didn’t notice I couldn’t read theirs either. “Zeik didn’t care what you looked like. He was happy to have you back”, she adds, and I sit back on the grass again. I was happy to be back. I sat there thinking about what had transpired when they rescued us. I put my hand to my neck; “you won’t feel the bruising here.”

I was bruised from the collar because it was being pulled in different directions. “Cor, Scott and Zeik knew to grab the collar. Did Dad tell them we had the collar on right before they grabbed it? It seemed planned out precisely for it to be a spur of the moment decision?”

“They may have known about the collar. Uncle Kyle did ask what it was for” Indyleigh states and I nodded my head in her direction.

“Grandpa also said he told them he added the mate bond to the enchantment, like they had been discussing it without us. Did they know about that too?” Indy asks, pulling a blade of grass and letting it drop through her fingers. “Maybe our idea to think about what has happened actually worked, and Uncle Kyle did hear our thoughts prior to today.”

“Maybe” Gemma says, shrugging her shoulders. “How are we here? You said it was your sanctuary.”

“We aren't exactly sure. It may be the enchantment that was placed on you. It may not be. The three of you are joined together. I’m not sure if your parents' wolves can do this, since they were enchanted together. We found out by accident” Paige said, laying her head on Indyleigh’s lap. “I came here when I was asleep and one day Chloe bustled in on my dream place.”

“We waited one night until Addison came, and we figured out if any of you needed it, we could bring you here”. Chloe continued the explanation of what this place was.

“Let me get this straight. We are sleeping and are having a joint dream?” Indyleigh says, and all three wolves bob their heads up and down.

“Why now?” I asked, and the wolves looked at me as though I had grown a second head. “I mean, there were plenty of times before we could have used a time-out. Why, only now are you telling us about this place.”

“Because we didn’t want to leave you defenseless when you were with the vampire and dark witch”, Chloe says. That makes sense.

“What do we do now?” Indyleigh asks, glancing between Gemma and I. We missed a lot of things when we were kidnapped. The one thing we missed I was disappointed about, was experiencing what it was like to sit down at the café and have a girl's chat with my cousins. We all knew we had a mate; we didn’t get to experience what it was like to have our first kiss until today. It’s not a café, but we can still have our girl talk.

“What was it like having your first kiss?” I asked the pair as they both turned red with embarrassment. “For me, it was heavenly. I could feel the tingles of the mate bond. Cor was so attentive, knowing we hadn’t been able to do anything like that before.”

Indy traces her fingers around her lips; “Scott was so gentle, but masculine at the same time. I felt like my knees were going to buckle underneath me. I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it.”

We both turned our gaze to Gemma. “I kept thinking to myself; am I doing this right? Ziek is more experienced than I am. What if I do something wrong?”

“He’s your mate. He wouldn’t care and if all else fails, ask him to teach you” I said with a shrug of my shoulders as Gemma’s face went pink again. “That’s what I am going to do with Cornelius.”

“From what mum told me, Scott knew I was his mate the moment he turned 18. He is just as inexperienced as we are. We can learn together” Indyleigh laughs, and I give her a side nudge. “I was telling him before we were taken, Mum and Dad started having s*x when they were 15, and I wanted to start when I turned 15. We were forced to wait.”

“It’s probably for the best we did, now we know what it really means” Gemma says. “Can you mark Cornelius before you turn 18?”

“I don’t know. Even if I can’t, I’m not waiting until I turn 18 to have s*x” I answered her as we all started to giggle, and I stifled a yawn behind my hand. I didn’t realize how tired I was, and I may have started something because Indyleigh and Gemma both stifled a yawn too.

“You should sleep” Addison says, and I nod my head, curling into a ball. “You deserve it.”

“Will we be able to speak when we leave here?” Gemma asks, curling herself on the ground too. Mum did reverse the charm, that’s why we are here in the first place.

“I can’t see why not. Aunty Elizabeth removed the enchantment from us. We wouldn’t be here if she didn’t” Indyleigh voiced my thoughts, lying on the ground herself. “I hope we can. I don’t want to go through another day not being able to speak to Scott.”

Before I could say anything else, my mind went blank, and I fell into a blissful sleep.