Flames of Fury

Varian

As our group is filing into the War Room I grab Mags by the wrist, pulling her back and spinning her around into my arms. Automatically she lifts her chin up to look at me and a sweet, content smile diffuses gracefully across her face.

“What?” She laughs when she speaks.

I drop my lips down to the juncture where her neck meets her shoulder, right where my mark is. “What am I going to have to do to get Xander to keep his hands off of you, hmm?”

“Perhaps you should consider putting your hands on me more then, to ward him off.” She gives me a self-satisfied, shit-eating grin.

I begin to glide my hands all over her body, gripping her heavy breasts and fleshy hips. I’m all too happy to mark every inch of her body with my touch. She giggles furiously and swats my hands away as she wiggles out of my hold. Goddess I’ve missed that sound, it’s one that’s reserved only for Ro and me, a side to her that she exposes only to us.

She schools her expression, seamlessly going from my playful mate to Alpha female in the blink of an eye. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to how naturally she commands attention, she’s a queen to her core.

A hush befalls the room as she and I enter at last. The guards lean forward by a fraction, preparing to stand to greet her but she catches them lightening fast. “Don’t stand up, we’ve got too much to do. First off,” Mags grimaces slightly like what she’s about to say causes her physical pain, “I’m sorry for the stress I caused by attempting a mission on my own. I understand I put more than my own life at stake by not taking counsel before I made my decision. It’s not a mistake I’ll make again.” She rubs her hand over her belly when she says this, her lips pressed into a heavy frown. “With that said, catch me up, what’s been happening here?”

No one rushes to speak, I’m not sure if they’re just processing her words or if they’re afraid to be the one to answer her question.

“The night we lost you was the night we found dad and Dex. That’s when we learned that Illian barricaded the entrances into the Hollow. The Alphas and I searched every entrance we could find before it got dark but they were sealed shut.” Incandis explains.

“A few days later we submitted a petition to declare war against Drow Hollow.”

“Ah,” Mags says from beside me like what Incandis just said explains everything. “It’s a little hard to deliver terms and intent when the entrances are sealed.” She says with a small chuckle like there’s anything amusing about her captivity.

“Right, so that triggered the three in thirty rule. But —“ Incandis begins but Ro interjects.

“What’s the three in thirty rule exactly?”

“The laws stipulate that any colony with a grievance against another must provide their grievances in writing to the heads of the offending colony. It used to be that you had to make three good faith attempts to provide this documentation within thirty days of the first attempt.” Xander’s tone is all business.

“Used to be? Did it change?” Mags’ confusion is as evident in her tone as it is on her face.

“Apparently, you still have to make three attempts but you can’t attempt more than once a month.” Incandis provides.

Mags puts two hands on the table and shifts her weight on her feet. “That makes no sense.” She mutters to herself.

“Why do you even need permission?” Ro asks angrily and for good reason. If someone were to attack our pack we wouldn’t hesitate to mobilize against them. No permission needed, no hoops to jump through. “They held three of you captive, how is that not grounds for immediate attack?”

“After the great war several centuries ago, the laws were changed. It was meant to protect colonies from being dragged into wars they didn’t want to be in. But even so, the way this was handled was very unusual.” Bastian speaks from the far end of the table. “In fact, the Elder handling our case insisted that they would investigate on their own after the three months and three attempts were made. We were preparing to break protocol, to mutiny if you will, and attack anyway but then you came home.”

Mags finally sits down, releasing a long, shaky breath as she adjusts herself comfortably. “And the colony?” She winces, and keeps shifting to find a comfortable spot. All I can think about is how she’s nothing short of a goddess for carrying not one but two babies. “How did they handle my unplanned absence?”

“We reminded them of the truth, that you’ve been trained well and could survive anything thrown at you. The Empaths helped with the rest.” Her father says, but I’ve noticed that when he addresses her it’s as if there’s no one else in the room — just a dad and his daughter. Two people who share more than blood, because now they share the same trauma — whether they see it that way or not — of being tortured and held hostage by the same psychopath.

Mags gives her dad a shy smile, she hates being the center of attention, being praised and complimented in a group like this makes her uncomfortable and I can see that discomfort written along her tight smile and the subtle shifts in her seat.

“I’ll be visiting the colony today after our meeting here. Xander will accompany me. Malin, I’d like you and the rest of the guards to work with Ember,” Mags gestures towards Ember whose eyes have blown wide in surprise but Mags just gives her an encouraging nod. “She knows the ins and outs of Drow Hollow better than anyone. Let’s get a map drawn up, see where we can get with blowing them to hell.”

When Mags stands, the rest of the men at the table stand up after her.

“I don’t give a shit about the Elder Council and their protocols. Ian is inhumane at best, raiding colonies, wiping them out in their entirety just to further his own agenda. We are going to put an end to that piece of shit and then we’ll turn our sights on the Elders who dragged their tails and turned their backs on us and everyone else Ian hurt.”

The table erupts in cheers and applause, the guards are very much on board with Mags’ plan.

***

Mags is a machine. I already knew this about her but it constantly surprises me how true it really is. We’ve been visiting the colony sector by sector for hours. She only stopped to eat lunch because we threatened to prolong her punishment.

With each sector we visit, Mags’ steps get a little slower, her breathing becomes a little harsher.

“Princess, either we stop for the day or I carry you for the rest of it. I can only stand to watch you waddle uncomfortably for so long.” Ro says to her after we finish visiting our tenth sector. He brushes her hair back exposing her neck and shoulder, then he leans down and hovers with his lips mere millimeters above her skin. “We can go home, run you a bath, and finish what we started this morning.”

I watch as her eyes practically roll into the back of her head once he finally kisses his mark, my cock immediately springs to life beneath my jeans, straining against the seams.

“Hey Xander?” She breathes, I definitely don’t like the way she practically moans out the words but I know it’s only because of the effect Ro has on her. Her sweet arousal taunts me. “Why don’t you go back and see how Malin and them made out with mapping. I’ll call you in an hour — or two.” She corrects herself as Ro purrs against her neck.

Xander smiles at her knowingly, which only serves to piss me off. It’s bad enough to know they were together, but to watch some intimate memory crawl across his mind makes my teeth hurt. “You going over to —“

“Yeah.” She interrupts him quickly while a furious blush stains her cheeks. “So, we’ll be okay.”

Xander shakes his head and chuckles at Mags, “I read you loud and clear, my Queen. I’ll go check in with Malin. Call me when you want to go home. If I don’t hear from you by dark I’m sending your dad.” Xander says with a wink and then disappears into thin air.

“What was all that about?” I ask Mags because my curiosity is eating at me.

“That was our last sector, but before we go home there’s something I’ve been wanting to show you.” She turns and leads us down a barely worn path through the woods.

Her pace has slowed considerably, she’s been on her feet all day waddling around the entire Grove. All I want to do is get her home so I can rub her down and make her feel good, make her glow.

Maybe five minutes later we come to a clearing in the trees that expose a series of steaming pools.

Hot springs.

My girl loves hot springs.

“This is my favorite place in the world.” She says softly. “I come here when I want to think or relax, it’s where I can fully let go of my heat.” She pauses for a moment, a ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. “No one comes here anymore. It’s an unspoken, unofficial rule, like the colony gifted it to me because they know how much I love it here… the comfort it brings me.”

Memories of when we brought Mags to the lake flash through my mind. Thinking back on it now it makes perfect sense, how happy and carefree she was there.

I walk up behind her, wrapping my arms around her as tightly as I can. But despite how careful I try to be, Mags tenses in my arms with a sharp hiss.

“Careful.” Ro growls at me, coming to stand in front of Mags and me. “Princess you okay?”

Mags nods her head emphatically. “Yes, I’m fine.” She lies to us with a grimace and her breath held.

“Do not lie to us. We know you’ve been hurting today, Princess. We’ve seen every time your beautiful face tightens like you’re trying to bite back the pain. It’s been getting progressively worse as the day has gone on. It’s time for you to relax.” Ro commands and for once my fiery menace of a mate doesn’t argue.

We help her over to a soft, grassy spot where we can lay together and soothe her aching body.

I discard her shoes and press my thumbs deep into her instep. She half moans half cries out at the pressure with which I knead into the soles of her feet.

“Ahh,” she winces, this time putting her hand to her lower back, exhaling slowly through the thin line of her mouth.

“Your back hurt, Love?” Ro asks her gently. Her eyes are screwed shut and she’s still breathing through whatever pain she’s in, but she nods against his chest. I hate that she’s hurting but my heart swells at the fact that she trusts us in her most vulnerable state. She trusts us with her pain and with the ability to soothe it away.

Ro sits her in his lap so he can rub her lower back for her. With the two of us working her body, she begins to relax, the cyclic grimaces subsiding in intensity.

I begin to work my way up her legs, massaging her calves, her knees, her thighs, until it’s clear to her that there are other ways in which I’d like to make her feel good.

I drag my thumb over the seam in her leggings, pressing on her bud over her clothes. She’s fucking soaked, she’s usually always very responsive to our touches but this is extraordinary.

I’m rewarded with the sight of her arching her back, pressing her swollen breasts upwards allowing me to see her already hardened nipples tenting her shirt at the top.

Ro slips her shirt off while I work her leggings and panties down, pulling them off and discarding them to the side. I swear to the Goddess her pants are so drenched with need that there’s almost an audible wet smack as they land on the ground.

I graze her folds with my fingertips as I bend forward to plant kisses all over her glorious belly. Her arousal is trickling down her legs making it too easy for me to slip two fingers inside her heat.

She whimpers against Ro as I stroke her excruciatingly slowly. Her back arches off of him like a woman possessed when I press a firm thumb to her overly sensitive bundle of nerves.

Her fingers dig into Ro’s thighs, and although she lets out a moan, she winces, her face scrunching up in pain, not pleasure.

I remove my soaked fingers, but she doesn’t relax. She grips onto Ro so tightly her knuckles turn white, she’s not breathing, struggling to bite back the pain.

More liquid rushes from her entrance as she pants against Ro’s chest trying to regulate her breathing.

“Mags, what’s going on? You okay?” I implore her to tell me what hurts so I can make it better. I look over her shoulder and find my brother’s intent eyes focused on me.

Something isn’t right.

Water soaks my jeans where my knees are positioned between her legs. Her folds and thighs are soaked.

“Oh fuck,” Mags looks down at herself and then up to me, shaking her head in disbelief, her eyes wide with panic. “I’m not ready, Var. I can’t do this.” Her lip trembles.

Realization hits Ro and me square between the eyes and I feel like an idiot for not recognizing the signs sooner.

The babies are coming.