Those thoughts, the first ones for me to hear at this moment, in this place, where he’d been unable to hear me, suddenly resonated.

This was the gift.

This was what all mates had, not just what we’d experienced.

I couldn’t hear him on that regular channel, I felt his thoughts like they were my own.

I’d never have thought it possible, but there he was.

In my soul.

With a few dull throbs, his knot began to lessen. No longer so hard, it softened, but I felt it still, like it was hooked in me.

He rolled us over so I was on top of him again, and he grabbed me by the knee, lifting both of them so I knelt atop him. His hand came to the back of my head, and he stroked my hair as I settled on him like a living blanket.

From his gestures, his movements, I knew this was going to be a while.

I could never have anticipated that, the next morning, when I woke up in this strange new place, he was still inside me until he woke also, and the knot disappeared.

Seven

Austin

“Won’t they be worried?”

I stared at her, my lips twitching at her concern as she raked her fingers through her hair in an attempt to get the tangles out.

We were in a pond that was near where we’d been tossed out into the other dimension.

I’d heard the rushing water and knew what that meant, so I’d brought us here because I knew she had to be as dehydrated as me.

The pair of us, laughing like kids, had rushed over to the pond, and I’d had to monitor my pace because, quite naturally, she was stiff.

Was it weird to feel proud of that knot?

That living, physical, metaphysical proof that we belonged together?

I mean, this entire situation was proof of that. I wouldn’t be here with her if we weren’t mates, and yet, that knot would be all that remained of these moments, aside from our memories.

I’d knot with her until both of us passed over, and while it wouldn’t last the night as it had the previous evening—if a night had even passed since it was constantly twilight here—it would be there.

My brand.

Her claim.

I sighed with delight at the thought, then I stopped floating in the water and gave her an answer that was both confusing and reassuring. “This is our time out. From everything. They won’t even know.”

“They won’t?” Her brow puckered. “How odd. But I feel certain you’re right too.”

My lips twitched. “Odd’s the word.”

She giggled, and the sound filled me with happiness, even as she muttered, “I need a comb.”

Of course, the second she asked for it, it was there. In her hand.

Of course.

I stared at it, she gaped down at it. Then, I mumbled, “I need a burger.”

It appeared. Soaking wet from the fact I was in the goddamn water, and I snickered at the soggy bread as it floated drunkenly in the pond.

“Kali Sara, this is so cool!”

She quickly twisted her hair up into a bun and used the comb as some kind of clip which was magic in itself, and the shit that did to her tits as she raised her arms? Porn worthy. Christ.

She held out her hands because she was smarter than me, and stated, “I really need a pierogi.”

I laughed at her request, then laughed again when a dumpling appeared on her palm. She moaned as she took a bite, then her eyes widened with bliss.

“Damn, that’s good.”

I requested another burger, this time holding my hands out like she had, and when I took a bite, I had to confirm that this food was the best I’d ever tasted.

Geez.

I was almost disappointed that this place was only a one and done kind of visit, because I’d return for the food alone.

“Charming,” she retorted, and I laughed, well aware she could even hear thoughts I wasn’t used to sharing with Ethan.

I’d developed a barrier, as had he, that gave us some privacy, and while it was unnerving to have zero, I figured that, along the way, we’d be able to tune each other out.

As much as I wanted her, as much as I knew she wanted me—I could fucking feel that need now, and I understood why she’d been so despondent when we hadn’t rushed to claim her, her she-wolf had been pining for us—we all needed a break from time to time.

As I bit into my burger, drooling at how good it was, I asked, “Who’s Kali Sara?”

She blinked at me, already on her fourth pierogi. “She’s a saint.”

“She is?” My brow puckered. “I’ve never heard of her.”

I waded closer to her, over by the shore where she was sitting.

The place was beautiful, like nothing on this Earth, which was kind of fitting, considering we were on a different plane.

The pond was perfection, a bright cerulean blue that was tinted with a silver sheen that caught the light—which had no discernible source—and made it glitter like it was metal.

It was cut into the ground like an imperfect circle, and the water itself was deep, warm, cleansing, and fresh. Rocks littered the shore here and there, and a large collection of them made up the back ‘wall’ where a waterfall tumbled fresher water into the mix.

It had no discernible source either.

It was like something from a strange fairy tale, but I wasn’t about to complain because it rocked.

Totally rocked.

“She’s a saint who we pray to, and she’s like a conduit to God. We pray to her, and she passes the message along.” Her lips twitched. “I stopped believing in her a long time ago, but it’s habit now, you know? I just call on her like I used to do when I was younger.”

“You totally rejected your old life?”

She hummed. “I had no choice.”

“We always have choices.”

“Yeah, we do, and mine was to be free.” Her lips twisted into a smile, one that morphed into a gleeful one as she requested some fries which filled the cup her palms made.

I laughed when she pouted, figuring out she couldn’t hold them and eat them at the same time, and I snatched one before popping it into her mouth for her.

She grinned at me, then opened her mouth wide for me to carry on feeding her.

The gesture was innocent, but the trust inherent in it? Mind-blowing. I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that not a living soul had ever been this trusting of me.

I trusted Ethan with my life, but with my happiness? No.

Sabina, I did.

I trusted her implicitly. The mate bond wouldn’t steer me wrong, I knew that like I knew my own name, like before yesterday, I’d thought I was only a twin.

The thought had my hand hovering in midair, and when she ducked her head and dove around to grab the fry, I snorted and gave it to her, amused when she chomped down on it with a hum.

Fuck, I loved a woman with an appetite.

“Glad to hear it,” she said dryly. “I have an appetite for all things.”

Her wink had me chuckling. “You got your wish.”

Her nose crinkled. “Guess I did, huh? Three of you.” She whistled under her breath. “My God, I’m not sure if I’m lucky or just going to be tired all the time.”

“Probably both?” I teased, and when she had only two fries left in her palm, I didn’t stop until they were all gone, settling the crunchy treat between her lips.