"Being with you never felt
wrong. It's the one thing I
did right. You're the one
thing I did right."

~~Becca Fitzpatrick

****************

~Robbie~

I woke up the second my head hit the window, the impact jarring through my skull and I jerked my head up. Looking around wildly, pain shooting up and down my neck like razor blades, it took me a few seconds to register that I was in a vehicle.

The interior was dark, lit only by the dash lights and the buttons on the radio, the soft glow illuminating Nova's face as he drove through the night. Music played quietly, just loud enough to break the silence as we flew down the road. There were no street lights to light the way, only the headlights to cut through darkness showing us where to go. I didn't recognize where we were, trees lining the road on either side of the two lane road we were on.

I clutched my head between my hands, the bones in my neck throbbing and pulsing into my skull like needles. Groaning quietly, I crushed my eyes closed, forcing myself to get my thoughts in order to remember what happened and how I got here. The last thing I remembered was being at my gran's talking about going to a party.

Within a split second, it came back to me. Torch had been there, standing on the sidewalk like he belonged there and protective instincts had consumed me causing me to see red. He wanted Nova and I would die before I let him go. Torch had used my impulsive actions against me, holding me bound by magick in mid-air by my throat like some unwanted marionette.

Nova had spoken up along with my gran, demanding my release and then everything had gone black. Judging by the pounding in my head and the protesting of my neck, the bones creaking and tendons tight as wire, Torch had snapped my neck. Frustration and guilt twisted like a knife in my gut from the failure I had been.

Glancing at Nova, he seemed physically unharmed but in the dim glow cast by the dash lights, I could see the thin sheen on his skin left behind by the use of magick and I could smell it on his scent. It was like sunshine and electricity, the smell of ozone in the air after a lightning storm. Exotic and seductive, even under such circumstances.

"I'm fine, babe," Nova said quietly, keeping his eyes on the road. "You're gran is fine, too."

"I'm sorry," I admitted, grimacing in the dark as I looked out the passenger window.

I should have thought it through, made sure I didn't underestimate Torch or let him get the upper hand. But I didn't, letting my temper get the best of me once again, which ended up with my neck broke and Nova to deal with it alone. I failed him and was lucky nothing had gone wrong. Just the idea that I could have lost him today while I was down left me feeling cold and worthless. Nova deserves so much better than I could obviously give him. I kept fucking up, no matter what I did, and he would eventually pay the price.

"Don't do that," Nova scolded, his voice still quiet and his eyes on the road as his hand found mine in the dark. "Don't beat yourself up like that."

"I'm not -," I started to deny but closed my mouth when his hand squeezed mine.

"Lying won't do anything but piss me off," he said, twining our fingers together. "Not only do I know you, Robbie, but you forget I can feel you, too. I'm not stupid and your self hate is going to cause me to have a wreck so just stop it already. I'm not mad at you and you have nothing to apologize for."

"Yes I do," I argued miserably. "You could have been hurt and so could have my gran. I didn't do anything but escalate the situation instantly because I can't keep my shit together. I didn't think I just did and you could have been... "

I couldn't bring myself to say the word out loud, the letters catching on the lump in my throat. I swallowed it down, absently stroking my thumb over his knuckles.

"What happened after... you know," I asked cautiously, not sure I wanted to hear it but knowing I needed to. "And where are we going? Or at least, where are we?"

"Well, it got a bit tense for a moment after Torch...," Nova paused, an odd look on his face before he shook his head and continued, "after he put you down. I had my moment of power demonstrating -"

"You fought him?!" I interrupted, conflicted emotions flashing through my head as I tried to process that information.

"Yes... well sort of...," Nova's frown deepened. "He didn't fight back, just put up a shield while I wailed orbs at him. It was weird, like he didn't actually give a shit about me."

"Hhmm...," I hummed, "or maybe he didn't know who you were?"

It didn't seem likely since Torch wanted his magick or his life, whichever one he could get his hands on. The siblings' identities had been discovered months ago, so surely Torch was aware of them as well. But maybe it was a moment when luck was on our side for once.

"No, he called me a Prince more than once," Nova countered. "He knew exactly who I was but he seemed reluctant to do anything. He was adamant about only wanting to talk to Rosie and not fight anyone, and then once she let him say his piece, he left. I don't know, it was... weird."

I was drawing a blank, and I knew I was staring at Nova slack jawed and confused.

"What did he want with gran?" I finally managed, still baffled.

"To warn her that Valyndria was possibly coming after her and that she needed to go somewhere safe," Nova replied with a shrug.

"Wait... he actually said 'Valyndria' and that she was after gran? Why?"

"He called her 'Val' but unless he's got more than one chick on his dick with a Val-type name, I'm deducing that it's Valyndria," he clarified, chewing on his thumb briefly before grabbing the wheel again. "They all apparently knew each other a long time ago but your gran wouldn't tell me anything specific really."

"Did she tell you anything?" I asked, still trying to process everything he was saying.

"Yeah, and it's weird." Nova frowned again. "All of this is just... I don't know, Robbie. Something feels... off."

"What do you mean?" I asked, growing concerned. "What am I missing?"

"Did Torch... did he... smell different or anything?" Nova suddenly asked, scowling at the road as he thought. "Like, before he did that to you... did you notice anything... odd about him compared to a normal fae?"

"He's a pompous asshole," I retorted wryly. "But no, I don't recall anything. Why?"

A frustrated noise rumbled in the back of Nova's throat. "I'm not sure. He felt different, his energy... abnormal? I can't put my finger on it so I don't know how to explain it."

"Okay, well what did gran say? Anything that might explain why you feel like that?"

Nova laughed, a dark sound that made a chill run down my spine. I looked over at him, the dash lights distorting his features to make them sharper, harsh and almost deadly. Was it fucked up that it turned me on, especially considering the current circumstances? Probably was but I kept my thoughts to myself and shifted slightly in my seat, waiting for Nova to answer.

"She said he wasn't three thousand years old and that his name was Torch," he finally answered, not sounding as if he fully believed what he was saying. "Rosie seems to think that he isn't who everyone thinks he is."

"How did she come to that conclusion?" I replied incredulously.

Nova was quiet for a while, chewing on his bottom lip as he drove, his mind seeming deep in thought. I left him alone, looking through the window and trying to figure out where we were headed. Then, something occurred to me and I looked back over.

"Did gran stay or is she taking his warning seriously?"

"Reyne picked her up," Nova answered instantly, glancing over at me. "He wasn't exactly happy about the state you were in but I promised you were in good hands with me. Rosie didn't want to leave, unconcerned about Valyndria but she knew you would be worried and she didn't want you distracted and end up hurt."

I scowled. "I'll be fine. She's a grown woman."

"Yeah but you're stubborn and worry about everyone even when you pretend you don't," Nova retorted with a roll of his eyes, briefly squeezing my hand. "She's going to stay at the pack house with Reyne for the time being and you can call him to check if it will make you feel better."

I grumbled under my breath but didn't say anything.

"Are you going to tell me where we are going?" I repeated the question again, curious if he was going to continue to avoid the answer. "We had a rave to go to remember?"

"Reyne said he would check it out and also informed me that Cecile has apparently gone missing or into hiding," Nova answered, attempting to hide the concern in his voice for the woman he had once been close to. "We need to get back home and figure out a game plan."

"So, we're going home," I hedged, looking out of my window and seeing my disappointment reflect in the glass.

Tonight was supposed to be good. Nova and I were supposed to go to the rave, follow up a couple of leads and maybe have a little fun at the same time. But then afterwards... we were supposed to spend the night together, solidifying what was already ours. Nova was mine and I wanted him to know how much he meant to me, how much I wanted him, and I wanted to see what my mark would look like on his skin. Every matebond mark was different, never the same for anyone and it appeared in different places and in different ways, completely unique. And gods I had wanted so badly for tonight to go that way.

"You're mentally whining and I can practically feel you pouting,"Nova teased with a laugh at my expense. "Cheer up, baby."

"I'm fine," I lied, my pride automatically denying what was already obvious.

"There you go again with the lies," Nova muttered with a shake of his head.

I pressed my lips together, wondering when I turned into a disgruntled, sex starved teenage boy again. At nearly thirty years old, I should have grown away from that by now, but something about Nova just... he was mine and I wanted him in every possible way. Was that wrong or selfish? Maybe but I didn't care because I wanted to be selfish with him. My thoughts strayed to the darker side of my mind, quietly imagining all the things I could do to him and how far Nova would allow me to go.

Nova groaned, pulling his hand away from mine to switch his hands on the steering wheel, rolling his window down. Fresh night air filled the interior of the SUV, ruffling his hair and pushing the sudden aroma of his arousal up my nose. Nova took a deep breath in of the air rushing in before glaring at me, his hand tightening on the wheel as he focused back on the road.

"I'm an empath, Robbie," Nova reminded me, taking another deep breath and I could heart the hard beat of his heart over the wind coming in and the radio still playing in the background. "I may not be able to read your mind but I don't have when you're feeling like that. I think you're trying to kill us."

I smirked, feeling smug about the obvious effect I had on him even if it had been unintentional.

"I was just thinking about the plans we were supposed to have had tonight."

"Have you changed your mind then?" Nova asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Hell no, but you said we were going home so..." I shrugged helplessly, looking out my window again.

Nova made a strange noise but didn't refute my statement, confirming what I assume was true. Sulking silently, I crossed my arms over my chest and watched the trees mindlessly as my thoughts drifted to other things. If my grandmother knew Torch from years ago, it had to be from before I was born. I had grown up hearing stories about the murder sprees the man had supposedly been a part of, but now that I thought back, I didn't remember gran ever saying such things. But then again, she hadn't denied them either, so what was the real story?

I knew that my gran had been forced into a marriage with my grandfather but they had never claimed each other as anything more than husband and wife, brought together by pack politics to protect the members of her childhood pack. It had been an alliance, the Blood Moon pack absorbing what had been known at the time as the Black Moon pack. It had happened decades before I had been born which meant I knew only the basic details of how things had gone down, if those were even true facts. It irked me that I found myself questioning everything I had once known, something I found myself doing more and more lately.

I didn't know anything about my great grandparents, or what my gran's life had been like before she had married and become Luna of the Blood Onyx pack. She had always been so gentle and kind unless the moment called for it and she would become hard as steel. Rosalyn Hatman was a force to be reckoned with during her time as Luna and I had no doubt that she still contained the ability.

I sat up straighter in my seat as something tugged at the edge of my memory. Furrowing my brow, I forced myself to follow the wayward thought until it was front in center in my head. When I finally found what had been bugging me, I frowned even more. My gran had been the youngest of the three children her parents had had, all of them girls. Generally, shifters left the eldest child responsible for carrying out tasks important to the pack, but gran had been the youngest and yet they had forced her to marry instead. Why?

"What am I missing?" I mumbled, trying to connect the dots although I knew there was still more to the story, pieces I didn't have.

Who was Torch and why did he care about my grandmother and why would one of his fucktoys want to go after Rosalyn? None of this made any sense. The only possibility that came to mind was just too far fetched to fathom and I quickly dismissed it as absurd. I was jolted out of my thoughts as Nova turned off the SUV and pulled out the key, the dome lights blooming to life in my face.

"Woah, what?" I asked, blinking away the spots in my vision.

"Sucks doesn't it," Nova laughed as he unfolded his long legs from the driver seat and stepped out.

"Warn a motherfucker, would ya?" I shot back as I followed him from the vehicle, earning another laugh from Nova.

After closing the door, I looked around and realized we were at my gran's cabin, the same one we had left this morning. The windows had been replaced and the glass cleaned up from the porch and the surrounding yard as if nothing had ever happened. I quirked a brow at Nova.

"You didn't actually think I was going to go home to a house with my sister and father under the same roof without fucking your brains out first did you?" he asked rhetorically, walking up to me and grabbing my hips. He pulled me close, his chest pressed to mine and I bit my lip to keep the groan trapped inside as the heat of his body and the intoxicating scent that was uniquely Nova surrounded me. "I've been witness to the awkward moments between Nevada and August, their struggles to lay claim to each other, and I have no desire to be like them. You're mine, Robbie, and I'm going to make you mine without the possibility of interruptions."

My fangs pressed into my lip from my growing arousal, my jeans too tight for my liking and only getting tighter as I crashed my mouth to his. Gods, this man never ceased to amaze me and I couldn't seem to get enough of him. Nova's fingers dug into my hips, pulling me with him as he walked backwards without breaking the kiss. His hand slid into my front pocket and I pulled away with a hiss when Nova's hand grazed my shaft through the lining in my pocket before yanking out the key ring that had been trapped.

"Hold that thought babe," Nova panted, turning quickly around to unlock the door.

I don't know if we'll make it back home at this rate, I thought to myself as I licked my lips in anticipation.

********************

A/N: Getting closer and closer to the end of the book. Just a few more chapters left in this one!

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~SM~