Chapter 12

"Too much at once?" Austin asked as soon as he closed the door to his bedroom behind him.

Bryony turned around and literally threw herself into his arms. He caught her and nearly crushed her to him. He didn't care that his skin was still prickling with the energy that had been used around him. She needed him more than he needed to cool down.

As they stood there, Austin noticed that she wasn't shaking or crying. She was instead absorbing all the heat from his body. Something about her was taking his energy. It only meant one thing. The spark between them hadn't been from his overly electrified body.

She was his mate.

He had known a long time ago there had been an unnaturally draw to her. When they'd been in high school, he had wanted to be around her. But she'd been dating James Lawe at the time and he had been a right bastard. He hadn't let anyone near her that was male.

So Austin had let it go. He had given her the space her boyfriend had asked for and hadn't really looked back. There hadn't been a need to. She was a year older than him and he'd had the reputation as a playboy when he really hadn't been. He was just a social butterfly.

But here they were now. In this little room on the run from people who wanted to use her to pay a debt. Now that he had her, he wasn't sure he could let her go again. Not since he now knew what the feelings were.

Instinct kicked in. Lowering his head to her neck, he gently pressed a kiss to her skin before biting hard. She gasped and struggled to get away but his grip on her was tight.

He could taste her blood in his mouth then his power shifting into her from his saliva. It meant what he was feeling was true. She was his mate, the one destined to complete him and help him control his power, and this was something he needed to do to keep her safe. Aiden would see the coloring around her immediately and issue a decree about her. No one would be able to hurt her without severe repercussions.

"Austin, please," he heard her beg.

His mind shifted, suddenly barging into hers. 'I'm sorry, Bry. Please bear with it for a few seconds longer.'

Bryony clutched at him as the pain suddenly changed into pure heat. It wasn't a sexual kind of heat but it was intimate. It mainly resided in her chest. She felt as if she belonged with Austin. This was his way of telling her she was his and she didn't have a choice. Not like she'd say no anyway, she just wished he would have warned her first.

Finally Austin lifted his head and braced his forehead against hers. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you."

Bryony shook her head slightly but not enough to move his. She panted in his face, noting briefly that she hadn't brushed her teeth. "It's okay. What was that?"

He looked at her shoulder and smiled. "Go look in the mirror."

She looked at him for a moment then turned to go into his bathroom. Flipping on the light, she looked into the mirror. Her shoulder was red but as she looked at it, she noticed the redness was shifting and changing colors. When the sudden burning passed, there was a silver lightning bolt emblazoned on the curve of her shoulder.

"What is that?" she asked.

Austin didn't say anything as he walked in and turned around so his back faced the mirror. Bryony looked at herself for a moment longer then turned so she could run her hand over the lightning bolts arcing up from his waist to his hairline.

"What does it mean?" she asked.

"They're my Marks. They show what my power is," he replied.

"The power over lightning."

"Close. More like the power over electricity in general."

She turned back to the mirror and ran her fingers over hers. "So this means…?"

Austin laughed. "It means you belong to me." She turned on him and had him boxed in between the shower and the wall so fast he thought she was going to hit him. "Wait! That's not what I meant. In my world it means you are mine and no one can mess with you."

She frowned at him and took a step closer. "Do what?"

He groaned, running a hand through his buzz cut. "I'm not explaining this very well."

"Try again."

He sighed. "Our people find the one that completes them. Some are able to help control our powers, like Clint does for Aiden. Others are just our other halves. From what I've noticed, you absorb my energy. My skin doesn't crackle as it usually does. It's very beneficial for everyone around me."

Bryony crossed her arms over her chest, but one knee was pressed between his legs in case she needed to teach him a lesson. "What am I then?"

"You're a bondmate, or mate. That's it. The term means I won't ever have another. The Mark also binds you to me. If I didn't do it, there was a possibility I would have gone mad in the future and end up like Tallyn."

She unfolded her arms and leaned against the vanity. "What happened to Tallyn?"

Austin lifted his eyes to hers. Stark pain laced the blue orbs. "Tallyn went nuts and killed Keldin's lover then tried to kill Tyler and me. We chalked it up to him being in love with Aiden but as we look back on it, we know his power came in all at once and it was too for him to deal with it. When something like that happens, most of time the person goes mad because we're telepaths. We can hear other people's thoughts and if it goes unchecked it can be very dangerous."

"So Tallyn's power went unchecked?"

He nodded. "Yeah, and he went berserk. Aiden finally killed him. I think it hurt her more to do it than it hurt us. Essentially she was tearing an integral part of Tyler's mind from him. But it had to be done. She still holds that deep within her. That's why she's calm and fast when it comes to matters of our law. Tallyn broke the law and had to deal with the consequences. We all did."

"Was Tallyn in love with her?"

This time when Austin sighed he rubbed his head roughly. "Yeah, and we all knew it. Aiden just couldn't deal with it and she told him to back off. He did but once she got pregnant, something flipped in his head."

The news was a shock to Bryony. She had known all about the attack on Aiden when they were in high school and felt bad about not doing anything to help her. But now Austin was telling her things she had never dreamed of hearing from him. From Aiden maybe, but not from him.

"You mean she has another child?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah. The guy she was dating at the time didn't use protection and she ended up hurting from it. Then she met Clint and he took care of her and Dylan. He officially adopted him when they got married two years ago. Now they're expecting their first child together." He tilted his head. "You're curious about my family."

He was right. Aiden and the others were essentially his family. Although they weren't related by blood, she guessed they didn't need to be. Their bond was so strong not even a natural disaster could sever it. It was probably why Aiden took the job as Queen. She wanted to give her family the best advantage.

"Will you always confer with Aiden about things?" she asked.

He tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. "Always. I have to. She rules over me but she can't tell me how to run my family. That I won't stand for and she knows that."

"So if we wanted to have children, she couldn't stop us?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Not that she'd want to. She wants us all to be happy." His head snapped up then. "You're saying you'll stay with me?"

She nodded. "I might as well. I'd feel bad if I was the reason you went crazy and had to be euthanized like the poor puppy you are."

Austin would have frowned had he not been so happy she had said yes. He grabbed her in a bone-crushing hug then lifted his head to kiss her.

It was gentle at first, just a press of the lips. But Austin lifted his head and turned it every so slightly. Bryony met him, and it deepened until everything fell away. The room, their problems, the fact that people were trying to kill them. It was all gone except the two in the room. Even the low grumble of the air conditioner didn't faze them.

He would have gone further but at that moment the alarms in the house started blaring obnoxiously. He looked at the console on his wall but it was just a black screen. Petey had turned off the inter-room comm units.

Bryony jerked back then covered her ears with her hands. "What the hell is that?"

He cursed. "We've been hacked."

He jerked her into the bedroom and thrust her bag in her arms before grabbing his discarded t-shirt and stuffing his feet in his tennis shoes. She watched him briefly before shimmying into a pair of basketball shorts hanging over the drawer then shoving her feet in her shoes. She allowed him to pull her into the living room.

"Carter, get her to New Orleans. Paycen, warn the Court that we're coming. Emery, find out where the hell we've been hacked then get Tyler on it. Petey, I want you doing everything you can to keep them out of this house." He issued orders like he'd been doing it all his life.

"Boss, we can't send her to New Orleans," Paycen said. "Aiden's gone into labor and the palace is on lockdown."

"Damn it." He bit his thumbnail. "I don't know what to do. We have to assume our safe houses have been compromised."

"If I may," Paycen requested.

Austin motioned with his hands. "Go ahead. I need a good idea right about now."

"She can defend herself. How do you think we survived the ambush last night?"

"What are you talking about, Payce?" Petey asked.

"Last night we were ambushed coming out of the office. While Austin and Emery were fighting, I was left to protect Bryony. I left my flank open and someone would have killed me had she not grabbed my knife from my belt. She can defend herself."

Austin wasn't sold on the idea so Paycen took another route. "Would you rather have her here with us where she can help or have her in New Orleans where you wouldn't be able to hear anything about her until the baby's born?"

Bryony dropped her bag by the couch and grabbed his arm. "Austin, let me help. I wouldn't be able to sit still knowing you all were here fighting for your lives."

With her staring at him like that, he had to give it to her. She had nerve. He liked that. But part of him was still nervous to have her in the middle of everything.

"Stay in the room with Petey and only fight if you have to," he relented.

"All right." She turned and followed the youngest member into his bedroom. He locked the door then sat on the far side of his bed

Austin would have felt odd about sending his mate into the room of another man but at that time, the front door was being kicked in. The wood splintered and a tad bit of dust was kicked up. Unfortunately for their attackers, it didn't deter the onslaught that ensued.