My Secret, My Bully, My Mates.
Chapter 0569

***'Whoa! Elena. You can mindlink now?"

****Apparently so, being your father's mate and accepted by the leadership of this pack has allowed my magic to connect to the magic of your wolves. That is also a subject that we will have to navigate at some point in the future Little One. I have heard many different versions of your upbringing. I would like to hear your point of view, but for now you have more pressing matters. Like mates who are at their wits end from sharing you all day."***

****All day?! What do you mean 'all day?”****

***"It took a significant amount of energy and time for you to undo each spell that was attached to your flame. But it is 'your' flame now. I think you could even touch it if you still feel so inclined.”***

I blink a few times and feel the haze around my vision clear. I didn't realize how hard I was staring at the flames while my wolf and I were releasing it from its own shackles. The sun has just started to set behind the forest. I have been here all day, breaking spell after spell. I'm sure I've had help. There's no way I did any of this on my own. I was glad my wolf was able to tell me what the colors and the spells meant. She has clearly tapped into our connection with Elena more than I thought. Maybe she was doing that while we were stuck in the tornado figuring out our feelings. Who knows. I have so many questions for so many people that will probably not get answered any time soon. But after today I feel more sure of my magic now than I ever have. I'm not drained and exhausted like I usually am either, which is a strange feeling. I actually feel light and energized. Maybe I was what the fire was tied to after Lucas passed, since I set him free, and it was burning away at my energy stores maintaining all of those spells. Just another question for the list.

I am just about to open my mouth to ask when I am lifted off the ground by my armpits, tossed in a half turn and caught around the hips by Dakota.

"Don't even think about it Smalls. You are done working for the day. I thought it was tough getting Cam to clock out, but I think you are going to be worse." He leans in to give me a kiss and I smile wrapping my arms and legs around him and he groans when I pull away to look for my two other mates.

"Right here." Reading my mind, Oliver grabs me in the same way and kisses me then passes me to Cam, who kisses me while walking into the house. He doesn't take me upstairs though, he takes me into the dining room where a whole bunch of food has been laid out on the massive table.

"You all have been working so hard today, well for many days if we're being honest. We are going to get back to a few normal things since the world seems to be conspiring against our pack at the moment. I want to try to get everyone together at least once a week like we used to. I know you are all adults now, but I miss having you kids all here all together." Ava is on the verge of tears.

I slide down off of Cam and walk

over to her, wrapping her in a hug. So many things have happened to all of us in just the last couple months and we all have our different ways of processing. She is in 'mom mode' right now. It's her way of doing a head count like we are all her little ducks. She can see us and

Know that we are at the and

least

alive and accounted for. Since that is about as good as any of us can give right now. None of us are okay, not really. And it's going to take some time after the dust settles for us all to process our different traumas from this.

We all move to sit with her. None of us want to sit at the head of the table, it still feels wrong somehow. Cam and Kota sit on one side of the head of the table and Oliver and ksit across from them. Mateo and dena sit next to the twins, while Sam and Sierra sit on our side. Lil sits next to Jena and Wyatt and Nathaniel divy up the middle of the table. The adults start to file in, filling up the second half of the table.

"Umm, I know we aren't supposed to be 'working,' I air quote, "But, I am not tired at all and I really want to train a little before it gets too late. Are there people in all the training arenas?" I look down to Kyle and Nickolas who have been handling all of the people we have taken in, but can't really trust to help us in the fight yet.

"The small arena is still open, Sky. If you want it, it's yours." Kyle says without any hesitation.

"Seriously?! You're going to give her permission to go out and train? Tonight?!" Dakota asks incredulously.

Kyle smiles, and I see where Sam got his mischievous look. I bet he was just as big of a handful at our age. "Are you telling me, that you are going to look at your mate, who can, not only beat you physically with her eyes closed, but can also now light your ass on fire, literally, that she can't do the thing she wants to do? After she has been siphoning and filtering magic in ways you and I will never comprehend in order to save the whole pack. And since when has anyone, ever, given her permission to do anything? The minute someone says 'no' she replaces the workaround. I dare you to tell her 'no'

and see what happens."