Stranded with my mates: Rejected & Claimed

Chapter 78: Chapter 78

I waded into the water, the purple silk of my wrappings turning dark with wetness. They had been created by something mystical but they were very real. They clung to me perfectly, as if glued down unless I requested their absence.

Marek stood under the waterfall, unmoving as the shower fell over him in cascades of weighted droplets. A gumpiness sat on his face as streams trailed through his spotted beard and I knew why. My efforts should be more focused on him and his curse. The uncontrollable changing wasn’t just forced, but painful.

Julien sat at the edge of the pool, his feet buried under the muddy sand that made up the bank. I dunked under the water, scrubbing at my hair. Once I resurfaced, I swam my way to him. Turning on my back, I kicked at the water and enjoyed the waves as they bent around my body with the force of each stride.

I sat next to Julien, carefully not to get too close. Grayson darkened my mind as though his presence was behind every tree, watching and waiting for an opportunity to attack the threat to his mate. By the looks of Julien, he was cautious of the same thing.

His eyes stayed averted, though a small smile surfaced, and he tensed to the closeness of my dripping skin. Unsure how to sit to make him more comfortable, I opted for wrapping my hands around my shin with my legs pulled up to my chest.

Resting my head on my knees, I turned to look at him and gauge his emotions. There were so many things I had wanted to say but now, sitting next to him, no words came to my mind. We sat in silence as I watched him and he watched Marek.

Things had become so complicated between us, it wasn’t that long ago that my heart would race for him. With Grayson, it wasn’t the same light-hearted crush that I felt with Julien. It was deeper, more steady.

The feelings I had for Julien had been so welcoming in a time of such uncertainty and now I had turned him into an injured bird on my doorstep. It felt like my collection of problems were growing harsher the further I tried to fix them.

With my enchanted shorts and Grayson issue, I had help fixing it. But here, with Julien, only I could help him and I wasn’t sure how. I couldn’t force Grayson to accept the man and I couldn’t ease Julien’s discomfort in his new home.

I felt powerless once again and yet another pack member was paying the price.

"I don’t think I can stay," Julien said as though he were speaking on my own thoughts.

I lifted my head off where it rested, "you have to."

A battle seemed to be raging in his thoughts. He looked so lost that all I wanted was to reach out and comfort him.

"Grayson will come around, I can make sure of it."

It was an empty promise but the only one I had.

"You belong with us. With me."

He looked over at me then, an obvious hurt stinging his eyes and I understood. How could I claim he belonged with me after everything that happened and with Grayson by my side. My eyes fluttered away.

It was as though he wasn’t just asking if he belonged with me but if he belonged with anyone in this world. He had been exiled from his home, made a new one here, and again felt abandoned. His actions here were a result of his situation, not his personality. But how could I get Grayson to see that?

"We’ll figure it out, I promise. I want you here," I told him and reached my hand to place over top of his for only a second.

We would be walking on eggshells but it would be worth it to have my pack grow, to feel a little safer and a little more complete.

"Plus, we need your help with Dominic."

That caught his attention stronger than my want for his company. Strategy started to take over his poetic mind. It was love that pushed me towards him but protection would hold him still.

"He’s in my mind still. Everyday he watches me. I don’t know where he is on the island, I think our old camp but I can’t be sure. He’s been plotting something, though. I feel his dark thoughts deepen every day."

The corners of Julien’s eyes scrunched as he listened to me. It was difficult being around Grayson but Dominic was dangerous in a way that felt deadly.

"It’s only a matter of time before he tries something. I know it’s hard but you have to choose a side, you can’t just be a lone wolf on this island."

He gave an almost sarcastic chuckle like he already knew what battles he had won or lost.

"Will you stand with us against him?" I asked in a serious tone.

His brow raised as he looked at me like I should know the answer and I did. He would always choose me, they all would. It was each other that they fought against. Still, I needed him to say it and I waited.

"I will," he declared as though I had asked him something simple and obvious.

"But Grayson," he started and hesitated to finish.

"I can handle Grayson," I told him.

"He’ll never accept me as part of your pack."

He had to, he needed to. Dominic’s heart beat a little faster every day I wasn’t by his side. Julien didn’t just add to our pack side but added to my confidence in my own powers.

"Let me worry about that?" I asked confidently, like I had a plan even though I knew I didn’t.

Seduction may have brought Julien on board but it couldn’t change how Grayson felt. It was yet another thing I needed to add to my to do list of problems to fix.

"Just be with us and be yourself, stop acting like a wounded pup. Everything else will fall into place, I can feel it." I told him.

He seemed to accept that slightly, or at the least some tension had eased. I looked back at Marek, wondering if I could enlist him and Jax to make Julien feel more at home.

He still stood in the water, hands by his side and below the surface. The water still showered over his ape-like brow as he glowered in the distance. He had been there for an awfully long time and I wondered if he was in a meditative state or simply lost in thought.

I waved to him, catching his attention and he dove into the water. Within seconds he was by our side, shaking the water from pruny skin. I tried not to giggle at his odd behaviour as I asked in a serious tone, "you ok?"

He nodded, and I could feel a warmth coming from him. He took a seat on the other side of me, hands draped over his hairy knees.

"I was just telling Julien about Dominic, I can feel him watching me and I think he’s planning something."

I assumed they knew about how bonds worked, that Dominic and Grayson were always locked in my minds. Yet it still felt like a secret I was sharing with them and hiding from Grayson. Marek looked unsurprised, like ghosts were dancing in his mind.

"Are you sure you’re ok?" I asked again, feeling something was off within him.

He turned to me and took a deep breathe before answering, "I can hear your thoughts, little bird."

"You...What?" I asked confused, his words not connecting in my mind.

"I have been able to since that night on the beach, during the full moon. Whatever you did to connect us made me a part of you in some way."

I blinked rapidly, trying to comprehend. "You can hear my thoughts?"

"Yes, very loudly."

I now wondered if he had been standing in the waterfall to drown out what I was thinking. I also thought back over everything that happened since the full moon. Embarrassment seized my chest. Thoughts of my naked body with Grayson and oh my, with Jax too.

I mentally slapped myself. Could he hear me right now?

"Yes," he answered.

Why didn’t he tell me? How could he have kept such a secret for so long?

"It felt...wrong to tell you. I had hoped you could break the curse before I would need to."

Julien was staring back and forth between us with concern over what he didn’t understand.

"But why tell me now?" I questioned out loud, not wanting him to answer my thoughts anymore.

"It’s Dominic," he told me with determination. "He’s in my mind too."

I didn’t understand it, but I knew it was time to tell Grayson.

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