Chapter 6

“Mate!”

Ethan relaxed his hold on Sophia's wrist in his hand, turning towards Ayla. His eyes looked quite mixed up and in disbelief, not until a whirl of emotions swirled inside him, through which one could literally feel his feelings. The air seemed to crackle with some invisible force between them in a way that felt altogether familiar and very foreign.

It barely raised Ethan's voice above a whisper before it contained a thousand unasked questions. His breath caught as his gaze stayed locked on Ayla. More forcefully than the first time, their mate bond erupted back into life. "We're still mates?"

Ayla's heart was racing in her chest, right to the beat of the shock flashing across Ethan's eyes. Her gaze could not budge from his. It was close to overwhelming. Her whirling mind kept her thoughts racing a mile a minute to keep up.

"I don't understand. You pushed me away. This isn't possible." The words came out weak with uncertainty, barely clearing the lump in her throat.

Sophia had been standing to the side anyway, looking on in something like disbelief at all that was happening within a few short moments. She tried to step back from the scenario. Her eyes opened wide in incredulity, narrowing into a thin slit of anger. Raw, naked anger crossed her face.

"What kinda game is this, Ethan?" she demanded, her pitch rising since she tried to hold everything together. "You rejected her! We're supposed to be!"

But Ethan's thoughts were already much too busy with the realization that was just beginning to dawn upon him. A connection that he'd believed severed, had been sure was severed, was as solid as it had ever been. He could feel it deep inside his soul, a tug, which he never thought he would ever feel again.

"That just doesn't make any sense," he muttered under his breath, probably trying to convince himself, though incredulity was practically stapled across his face.

Ayla shook her head, trying to rid it of the sudden fogginess that seemed to settle over her thoughts. Relief mixed with confusion and fear swirled into one storm in her mind.

"I think there is something we need to find out. This might have something to do with the triplets, Ethan." Her voice now only shook a little with some of the anxiety that had been eating her alive since they had found out the children were missing.

Sophia's lips curled into a sneer as she took one step forward, her eyes narrowing at Ayla. There was poison running along her veins.

"You're using the kids as an excuse to claw your way right back into his life, aren't you?" Sophia spat, her words like knives. "You couldn't handle the rejection, so now you're playing the victim, dragging your bastard whelps into this entire mess!

That was like a stinging slap on the face. Ayla held her breath at Sophia's raw malevolence behind the words and muttered nothing but stared at her.

However, Ethan snapped back right away, his head jerking towards Sophia, his eyes flickering as he got angry. "Enough, Sophia!"

He held that anger at bay most times, but now it finally broke loose as he took an authoritative stance by stepping forward.

“She's right, we have to find out, because it's our children's safety after all.

Sophia flinched at his tone, although her stride faltered in her confidence for a fraction of a second before she masked it with another sneer. Just about to let her lips part for a retort, a wash of Ethan's piercing gaze said better of it. This, she thought best, and turning away from them with stiff movements, huffed off as her barely contained anger flared.

Ayla took a deep breath, pulling herself back to center. Already, things were falling apart around them, but they had to keep it together. What was happening with the bond could be dealt with after they got out of there.

The very first thing that they had to do was find the children. "My only business here is to find my children," she said. "We need to find our kids. That is what is more important at the moment."

Sophia turned full around to face Ayla, and her face contorted with barely restrained fury, with the fire already flashing in her eyes. "That's not the end, Ayla," She hissed, and these four words hung in the air like a dark promise before she whirled about, the strides echoing through the corridor.

The silence that followed was oppressive; the weight of everything unsaid seemed to settle on Ayla's chest. She felt his eyes on her, and finally, when she looked up at him again, the anger seemed to have dissipated into something so much softer, so much more vulnerable.

"We are going to get through this, together," spoke Ethan feebly, in a tone of legless determination that cut right through Ayla. Not much had been spoken now, but so much hurt and confusion bore down upon them. Yet here he was, offering her at least a life preserver, meaning they wouldn't have to face it alone. "We will find our children."

Ayla nodded back. She could feel her tummy roll into a knot she could not straighten out. She knew she wanted to believe they would somehow know, find their children, maybe even realize what could come out of them. The road ahead looked very scary as it unraveled, yet he remained ignorant of the big feeling unfolding in her mind, that what it was they were going to face was going to be much, much bigger than anything she could imagine.

There was almost a palatably felt tension in the silence that packed the air as they headed off and through to that meeting room. His hand brushed hers, and for just a moment, Ayla was sure she was going to reach out, hold on to him. Uncertainty, fear of what they might find. She kept her hands by her sides and walked beside him.

Not that either of them paid any heed to the shadow lurking in the corridor, which attentively observed all of their actions. The figure melted back into the hallway's shadows as Ethan and Ayla disappeared down the hallway, a wicked smile playing at the corners of their lips.