Reclaiming Her Heart

Chapter 66 - Turbulent

Adam

I stared dumbstruck after her, not sure how to handle this situation yet.

And then the rage and disgust for Silas and Morgal bled into my veins, nearly overtaking my sanity. No wonder she was in shambles! He'd broken her in every possible way! It was a wonder she trusted anyone ...

No. She knew she could trust us.

She didn't know how to trust herself because of all the mind-fuckery he put her through.

That was what held her back. Her self-trust.

Outside, I heard the storm and felt her clashing with Agamemnon.

My heart felt like it was breaking all over again, realizing we had taken several steps back.

Movement to my left caught my attention. Caden huffed and ran his hand through his hair haphazardly as he started pacing agitatedly. Shocked. Upset. Infuriated.

With so many emotions coursing through us and clashing in this small room, it was only a matter of time before one of us snapped.

"God, I hate Silas!" He snapped, eyes bleeding to red. His countenance darkening. He was on the edge of losing control.

I couldn't think of a time he ever lost control.

"If I ever--"

"Get in line," I groused, pulling his attention to me. "Are you okay?"

He bared his teeth. "Am I okay?" he repeated agitatedly. "Yeah. Fine." Eyes downcast. Palms rubbing thighs. He started to turn for the door when I gripped his shoulder, forcing him to stop and look at me. I leveled him with an expectant look, knowing he wasn't.

Caden shrugged out of my hold, slamming a wall into place. He faced me and the air thickened as if defensively. I readied myself for an attack. He was feeling raw. Aggravated. "You're blaming yourself for something," I snapped. It was a shot in the dark. I couldn't quite read him like Jadea.

The slight tense of his jaw was my only indication I was on the right track.

"Did you know he was looking for her?" I continued on.

He shook his head, his pained gaze giving him away. Swallowing hard, he said, "Cory told me he'd heard rumors ... He didn't say what they were about and I didn't press him. I was so lost in my own sorrows. If I had asked, maybe she could have been rescued sooner. I failed her. And Cory."

Nodding, I whispered, "I understand how you feel." I related how Jadea and I kept reconnecting in the dream world, and how I'd felt the same. "It's so easy to fall into that 'what if' trap. Knowing where she was may not have changed anything. Or, it could have made them respond differently. What is real and known is that she is back. She is safe. And with our help, she will rise up stronger."

Caden digested my words and nodded slowly. "You know, it's really cool watching you step into your full power and potential. Lucien wasn't mistaken when he said you would become an even stronger alpha than her."

"Thanks." I wasn't sure how to take the compliment.

"Let's go see what trouble she's getting into," he ribbed, moseying for the front door.

And there we found her facing off with Agamemnon. I would have forced her to stop this rash fight had I not recognized Agamemnon's intentions to help her. She was desperate to reconnect with her wolf, and he seemed to know a thing or two about such ailments.

So, Caden and I watched as the two clashed. Both of us immersed in her mind, praying this exercise worked. Because, if it didn't... We were afraid it would send her into a tailspin of depression and recklessness we wouldn't be able to stop.

And then, as she fell into herself, everyone in the clearing waited with bated breath.

Several long moments later, I felt her wolf fusing to her soul. My wolf surged forward, joyously embracing hers, as her pack also responded in turn.

This wonderful, beautiful woman never ceased to amaze me.

***

Jadea

Leaning my forehead into Garret's wolf's head, a peace I hadn't felt for a long time settled over my body and mind.

"Thank you," I murmured to my pack, as they surrounded me.

"For what?" Blade chided.

"We couldn't let you enjoy this storm all on your own," Garret's snarky response filled my mind.

I snorted. Leave it to those two.

"Reminds me of our early days, when we trained for every type of weather," Briar murmured in fond remembrance. "I always loved the stormy days. The smell of the rain..."

I couldn't help it, I took a full, deep breath of the cleansing air into my lungs as different emotions crashed through my chest...

"The soothing sounds..."

The rhythmic patter of the heavy drizzle filling my ears, calming the storm within my turbulent mind...

"Feeling the water as it soaked us to the bone. Cleansing. Freeing."

They instantly surrounded me, rubbing up against me, faces brushing against mine, noses pressing into me. Their essences seeping into my very bones, easing the guilt, pain and torment from the memories I'd had earlier. Reassuring me my sins had not skewed their trust or beliefs about my character.

They still loved me, despite everything.

"Nothing will ever come between us," Garret soothed, his head caressing down my neck and back.

"We love you," Briar stated fiercely.

"Always and forever," Blade added, forcefully tucking himself under my arm. Instinctively, my fingers dug into his black fur.

"You're never going to be able to get rid of us," Derrick teased, licking at my ear playfully, making me squirm away from him, a smile curling my lips as I pushed his snout away.

"No matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise," Chance chided.

"We would just come back like bad pennies," Blade smirked.

Their soft banter was healing. Their words reassuring. Soothing.

"Come back with us?" Garret asked. "Let us help you, heal you." In the ways I'd helped them heal.

"Snuggle puddle?" Briar's enthusiastic suggestion made me chuckle.

"That sounds amazing."

"But?" Garret groused.

"I need to talk with Caden." I went rushing out of the scene and needed to check in with him. This news had to be hitting him hard—

"Why not include him in the snuggle puddle? We already know what happened," Briar suggested gently.

That wasn't a bad idea. He was missing this type of connection with his Draconian pack. Maybe... If we introduced it to him here, he could somehow implement it later within his own pack dynamic? He was so used to being the one in charge and holding everyone else at arms length... He had a hard time allowing others to help him when it mattered most: when it came to his heart and the overbearing emotional weight he carried on his shoulders.

"Okay," I agreed, standing up just to look down at my muddy self and laughed. We were all covered in mud. It was going to take a minute for us to get hosed off enough to go inside without creating a huge mess.

I couldn't say why, or what changed, but as I walked to the front porch, my pack surrounding me—and my eyes clashing with Adam's stormy loving gaze—I knew everything would turn out okay. With my pack, my mate and my wolf restored, I was invincible.