part0026

Sierra couldn't help but marvel at her own body the next morning. It had been so long since she felt this well. Since she had no bruises to mar her skin, no cuts that needed plasters or bandages, no soreness or aches that stopped her from moving. She was...fine.

She had showered and dressed quickly, still in awe that she was able to move so easily despite the events that had occurred so recently, and she smiled to herself. She was lucky the guys had found her, that they had been so persistent despite how often she had pushed them away. They had a never ending patience and, with it, they had saved her life. She stretched her arms above her head and smiled again, relishing the feeling. Josh had worked literal magic on her and she would need to find a away to thank him.

It was now early November, and they had only been in her life since mid-September. Yet it felt as though they had been with her for much longer, like they knew her better than they should. She felt safe with them, protected, and she knew that they would not treat her as her Father had. Maybe they could even keep her away from him, or rather keep him away from her.

She slowly left the bedroom, peering out into a bright hallway which was lined with doors. At the far end was the bathroom that she had used that morning, with more doors either side of her. The twins shared one room, whilst Logan had his in the second living area down stairs. The other two bedrooms were, of course, Josh and Nik's. She paused outside her doorway, debating if she should knock one of the doors before heading downstairs or if it would be okay for her to just head on down.

Whilst they did not restrict her like her Father had, some habits were hard to break and walking easily into the kitchen was one of them.

The deep, soft voice caused Sierra to jump and she span around, hand on heart as she took in the sight of Theo emerging from his and Leo's room. He raised a hand in a small wave and gave her a soft, crooked smile as she shyly smiled back.

His smile widened at her reply and he gestured towards the stairs in front of him.

“Would you like to come to breakfast?”

She nodded her reply and walked slowly away from her doorway, allowing Theo to lead her down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, Theo half-turned to her and took her hand in his, squeezing it softly as he offered her an encouraging smile and led her towards the kitchen. Anxiety ramped up in Sierra's chest, and she had no doubt that Theo could feel it all.

Sierra could hear the low murmur of voices as they neared the kitchen door and was not surprised to see all of the others sat at the table with cups of tea and coffee, their empty plates before them. They looked up as the pair entered, their conversation halting as they took in the joined hands with surprised eyes. Theo ignored them all as he walked Sierra in, not even muttering a greeting to his brothers as he passed them .

“Here, take a seat and I'll get you a tea.”

He led her around the large wooden table that sat the other brothers, placing her in a vacant chair before he turned away and began to pull out cups and milk for their tea. She watched for a moment as he busied himself before turning back to the others, each of whom were still watching her with soft smiles on their lips. All except for Logan, who held a barely concealed scowl. She squirmed slightly in her seat. In minutes, but what felt like hours in the heavy silence, a tea was placed before Sierra with a small cup of sugar and a spoon. Theo squeezed her shoulder once before vanishing again as he began to prepare breakfast. Sierra spooned half a sugar into her cup before stirring it as quietly as possible whilst the weight of the silence pushed down on her from above. Her heart beat picked up slightly as an ounce of fear crept its way into her heart; had she jumped from the frying pan and into the fryer?

A bark of laughter had her looking up in surprise, and her eyes landed on an amused Leo.

“I haven't heard that saying in a while.” He smirked, causing her to blush deeply as she realised he had heard her thoughts.

“I'm sorry.” She whispered, keeping her eyes down cast as she clutched at her cup before her.

“No, we're sorry.”

She looked to her right to see Josh leaning forwards, his earnest gaze on hers as he beseeched her.

“We cannot express how happy we are that you are awake and moving around again, Sierra. It was a tough week, waiting for you to wake up, god knows we barely slept or ate, and the fact that you're okay...well, we can't take our eyes off you in case its a dream.”

He smiled softly at her and she returned the gesture, forcing her shoulders to relax and for the tension to leave her body.

She was okay, being here was a good thing.

“A very good thing, Sierra.”

Leo rolled his eyes at what must be an exhausted conversation before he gave a small, two finger salute in acknowledgement. He smiled apologetically at Sierra before Logan spoke to her gruffly.

“You have the rest of this week off school.” He told her, his tone abrupt and short whilst he avoided her eyes. “I have spoken with the school and they understand the situation-”

“I told them,” he spoke slowly. “That you had been experiencing difficulties at home, that your care had been transferred to myself due to already having adopting the others, and that you required time off school to recover.”

Sierra stared at him for a moment. She knew a reason would be needed, that the school would ask a world of questions around her absence, but she hated thinking that anyone could know what had been going on, that anyone could find out that she was being beaten and, worse, that it was because she was a freak. What if they sent her away? What if she got shut up in some government facility and experimented on? What if-

She jumped at Theo's sharp tone and turned to see him staring at her, his hand at his chest where he rubbed in small circles whilst breathing deeply. He kept his eyes on her as she stared at him.

“I can feel your panic, Sierra.” He explained. “But you have to know that we won't be letting anything happen to you ever again.” He leaned over to emphasise his words, his eyes piercing her straight down to her very soul. “You are safe with us, and no one will ever get to you again.”

She stared back at him in silence, his words eating away at her as she settled her own breathing. After a few tense moments she nodded slowly. She had to believe them, at least for now .

“Well, no one really knows how the bond truly forms-only that it can take intimacy of a special level, one that surpasses physical interaction alone, and a level of trust that is only found in bonded Hex's. Who knows how that manifests?” He spread his fingers, encompassing them all with the gesture. “Who knows how it would begin with each of us? It can be simple, or it can be complicated. ”

His eyes flicked so briefly to a stoic Logan that Sierra half-thought she had imagined it. Only Logan's increased scowl told her she hadn't. Josh raised his hand and pointed a finger at Theo who stared at it in confusion.

Understanding dawned on Theo's face, quickly followed by a flood of guilt as he looked over at a stunned Sierra, whose mind was running ten to the dozen as panic unfolded in her chest.

He shook his head quickly, but the guilt on his face was enough to tell her he was simply in denial. They were bonded, and a bond could not be broken for fear of pain. They had trapped her, damn them they had trapped her and she didn't even know it.

She spoke faintly, the room swimming before her eyes as she pushed her chair back from the table. A familiar sensation began in her depths, curling around her as it licked her insides and spread its way out and she gasped at the sheer intensity of it. She needed air, she needed to get out.

Jesus, they were bonded.

She glared at Leo, anger filling her body as she realized that he had, again, read her mind. The arrogant, selfish, rude, intrusive asshole!

Leo flinched back, proving that she was right even as she slammed her chair back and jumped to her feet. How dare they?! They think that saving her meant they owned her? Well, they had another damn thing coming. She was tired of hiding, of squashing herself down. Not any more. Fire had ignited inside of her and she would not let it burn out, not this time.

He dropped his hands helplessly, his eyes dancing over her with worry etched into every inch of them. But she didn't care, she couldn't care, not when she was so damn angry. She hated that they were doing this, that they thought they could control her like her Father had, like she had always been. She thought she was safe, she thought she was free.

“You cannot trap me here!” She cried. “You can't just start bonding to me because you feel like it, you can't expect me to just fall in line and do as I'm told.” She raked her hands through her hair, her own wide eyes fixed on the clock on the opposing wall. “You can't do what he did! I won't let you, I'm not that girl any more. I won't be that girl any more.”

Her scream bounced off the walls and into the silence, and that was when she heard it; the deep, rolling round of thunder and the sharp, electric crack of lightening. Her storm was here, and this time she would not let it go.

“You need to know exactly what I am capable of.” She warned them in a shaking voice. “And then maybe you won't be so keen to screw me over.”

She backed up from them, heading to the small door that led from the kitchen and into the back garden. She didn't need to touch it as it was ripped open by the winds behind her which felt her intent, knew her purpose as it was settled in her veins, running through her as it became a part of her as it always had been. She ignored the terrified looks on their faces, the way they shouted words that she could not hear over the whip of the wind and the roll of the thunder. The only thing she paid any attention to was the power thrumming through her veins, coming forth to protect her which, she now realised, it always had every time she had felt in danger. It was there for her, it shrouded her, its darkness was hers and the power was all her.

And this time, she was the one in control.

Apologies for the slight cliff hanger, but I promise that I am hard at work on the second book and hope to have it out very soon. Please do let me know what you thought of the book and leave a review!

She finished cleaning the table and two others whilst Lulu took their orders, then collected their drinks and headed over. As she placed them on the table with a forced cheeriness of “here you go guys, enjoy!”, she felt their eyes roaming over her and she straightened her spine. She had learnt a long time ago that you had to show strength early on, because once they got their claws in no amount of strength you had would be enough to deter them.

She resisted the urge to cringe at the slime coming from the man's mouth, but forced herself to meet his dark, bloodshot eyes all the same. With a tight smile she shook her head, watching as his eyebrows pinched together.

His companion reached behind her, his large greasy hand gripping onto her ass as he pulled her to the table and her thighs hit it, causing her to fall forwards with her hands splayed on the table top for balance.

The other guy-Geoff-curled his lip as he looked at her, his eyes dipping to her top which was now hanging down thanks to the way she was bent over the table and exposing her to his leer .

Isla felt her hands shaking where she held them on the table, her body screaming for her to run away as fast as she could. She wouldn't be that girl again, she wouldn't be another victim.

She straightened up forcefully before turning and gripping the man's wrist tightly. She threw it away from her and glared down at them both, earning nothing more than a blank look back.

She turned to walk away, hoping her simple words were enough when Geoff grabbed a hold of her arm and yanked her back, pulling her into his lap. His free hand instantly began to run its way up her thigh as she struggled to get back up, her breath coming in gasps as the strong smell of alcohol wafted over her from his panting breath. She cringed at the feel of something hard under her ass and she squirmed to get away .

She froze where she sat, her mind blanking in panic and praying for someone to see and help when a hand shot out in front of her. Before she could react she found herself being yanked to her feet and pushed behind a tall body. The soft smell of cinnamon and spice filled her nose and her skin prickled in delight.

The men started to rise from their seats, their expressions twisted in anger at having their play thing removed, when something in the air shifted and changed. Isla glanced around in confusion, unsure of what could have caused the odd feeling passing over her skin. When she looked back at the scene before her, the two greasy men were leaving their booth, their hands raised as they backed towards the door.

The tall man before her released what sounded like a growl and stepped forwards menacingly, his fists curled at his sides. A hand reached past Isla and gripped his shoulder and a soft voice spoke.

The voice was soothing, exerting a control that made Isla's whole body relax even as the greasy men stalked out of the diner and the tall man before her relaxed his stance. She turned to see the owner of the arm, and her eyes widened in surprise to see a pair of chocolate brown eyes and mess of brown hair stood before her. He was a head taller than she, causing her to tilt her head slightly to squint up at him as his eyes gazed down at her. He dropped his arm as he surveyed her quickly and opened his mouth to speak.

The gruff voice behind her caused Isla to jump and turn. The tall stranger who had saved her was none other than the auburn-haired scowler from the table she had tried to avoid earlier, making the other guy the one who sat beside him and had avoided her gaze. She swallowed hard at his words, her brain struggling to form a coherent sentence that would argue that she had not been in trouble, that she did have things under control, and he couldn't be mad at her when she hadn't asked for his help .

She didn't say a word of this, however, and he quickly turned and stalked across the diner back to his booth. She startled to see the other three guys stood before her, each looking between their friend and her before blue eyes and green eyes gave her a smile and headed back, whilst brown eyes simply stared before turning and walking away. She stayed put, wiping her clammy shaking hands on her apron before turning to clear the table that had just been vacated, keeping her back firmly turned to the perplexing guys behind her.