Undiscovered Connections

Chapter 6

I steeled my senses and tried to ignore the curling heat unfolding inside me. I didn’t want this, I didn’t ask for this and most importantly I needed to get rid of it. Even if these boys were becoming more and more attractive the longer I stayed with them. 

Clenching my teeth in determination, I straightened my back and feigned confidence I didn’t have. 

“If you would excuse me” I said firmly, pushing past the load of boys and heading towards my wardrobe. “I don’t know what is going on here, how this happened or why, but right now all I want to do is figure out how to remove it.” 

“Remove it?!” I turned around slowly to look at the faces of the boys around me. They were all looking slightly stricken by my statement. Shock ran through me as I realised that I had actually hurt their feelings by saying I didn’t want this connection. 

“You can’t mean getting rid of our imprint, surely not?” Benny said, his voice breaking slightly. He looked confused and sad and it tugged on my gut to see him look so lost. 

“Cass, really, we don’t want to hurt you or anything, but you can’t seriously consider removing our imprint? I mean, how could I… I mean we, live without you?” Dylan said next, looking equally sad and quickly correcting himself when the other boys gave him a quick glare at his sole claim to me. 

“I don’t want to hurt your guy’s feelings or anything, but I don’t know any of you. And if you knew me better, you would know that I never wanted a single imprint let alone 4.” I said, gaining confidence the more I spoke. “So, this is really nothing to do with you personally, it’s everything to do with me not wanting to be permanently tied to anyone, especially 4 people.” 

“Well good luck with that” scoffed Dante, who also looked hurt but more astounded at my announcement than anything else. “There isn’t a way to remove an imprint. Literally no one in all these years has ever found one.” 

Logan cut in at this point, his ice blue eyes piercing through me, “He’s right you know, there is nothing anyone can do about this now. It is unavoidable, Cassandra, you are ours.” 

With those words I felt a sinking feeling pass through my body as all my hope for escaping this town disappeared. All that hard work, all the scraping by, all the long nights endured to make it to the next payday and get out of here… all of it gone to waste in one moment of hormonal induced stupidity. I was now attached to these boys for the rest of my life. 

I sunk to the floor, tears beginning to well in my eyes and stream down my face. I squeezed them shut and tried to pull in deep breaths. Usually I didn’t fall apart this easily, but after all you have built towards is ripped away from you by the one thing you wanted to avoid the most in the world…. I just couldn’t hold it together any longer. 

I heard a scramble happen around me and suddenly I was being lifted into the air by a strong pair of arms and crushed into a warm body. I could feel warmth enveloping me and a type of tranquillity settling over me. As I opened my eyes and stemmed my sniffling, I could hear the cooing noises coming from all around me as I realised the boys were literally encapsulating me in a tight embrace. 

It seemed as though they were slightly jostling each other to get a better grip on me, but struggling to also not disrupt me too much. Honestly, the whole situation was quite funny and a small giggle escaped my lips. 

“There we go, there’s that beautiful smile we love” Dylan whispered into my ear. As my emotions calmed, I realised that it was Logan who held me crushed against his chest, whilst the others circled around us, creating a tight nest in which I was at the centre. 

The contact was instantly soothing in a completely unexpected way. I wasn’t prepared for how calming their presence would be and I felt the tears stop flowing and even the small headache that had begun behind my eyes to ebb away just from their contact. 

I took in one long, deep breath and with it I inhaled the scents of all my imprinted mates. Combined they were fresh and pleasing. Without realising it, I was taking in even sharper breaths, trying to fill my body with their presence. 

I felt the increasingly familiar warmth unfurl inside me and reach up from my stomach, flushing my face to a slightly pink tinge and reach lower, into my abdomen and turning my legs to jelly. 

“Guys, I think we are overwhelming her” said one of the deep voices around me. I ignored it, sucking in more deep breaths of their intoxicating scent. 

“Oh no, we aren’t overwhelming her. Her body is beginning to prepare for us! It means our bond is starting to work on her too!” another voice claimed excitedly. 

“This may be too much for her to handle though, I mean all four of us at once, surrounding her, when she hasn’t had any physical contact with us already” a third voice chimed in, worry lacing his thoughts, “maybe the imprint is too strong right now? Like our bodies changing so quickly, we don’t want to over do it.” 

“You’re right, everybody back up. Cass, I’m going to release you now. You need to stop breathing us in so deeply.” Came Logan’s authoritative tone. I whimpered slightly as I felt the boys begin to back away from me, pulling away their circle of warmth and comfort as well as their heady scents. “Seriously, Cassandra, stop this, you’re getting to wrapped up in the hormones, it may be too much to begin with.” 

With that, he unfurled his arms from around me and stepped away. Instantly I lost the overwhelming comfort of their scents and took in a breath of fresh air. 

What the hell just happened?! I look around at the boys who have all backed up into the edges of my room. I look down at myself and see that I had been attempting to loosen my towel, the only thing between me and complete nakedness, from my body. 

I blushed a deep red and spun around so I was no longer facing them but was again heading in the direction of my wardrobe. 

“I need some privacy” I squeaked out, my throat gone tight with embarrassment. “Please” I added in hastily. 

“Okay… but we are gonna be just outside. Take your time.” Dante said before they all filed out of my small room. 

Shit, what the hell had just come over me?! I was nearly ready to jump them, all of them. 

I needed to get clothes on so my traitorous body would calm itself, and then I needed to figure out what the hell was going on!