Her mate. Josh was her mate.
A scent like a smoked cigar and burning amber wafted toward her, and Leah inhaled it sharply, trying to fill her lungs with it. The beast within her snapped her head up. She sniffed the air around them just like Leah, and the second she sensed her mate, she released a pitiful whimper.
Her blood started to pound in her ears, and every cell in her body started to stand to attention as she raised her gaze, fixed on the space between the trees. The sunlight pierced through the canopy of the trees, shimmering like broken shards of glass, and it illuminated the entire space with an otherworldly glow, or maybe it was all in her head.
The second she saw them, Leah could feel her body going pliant. As if they were all she needed and they were the answers to her questions, but she knew better; these men were the three kings of hell, and if she allowed them to charm her up, they would drag her right down to hell with them.
Leah closed her eyes to ease the tension in her body, but even when she did that, the breath that she took was too primal. Too raw. As if filled with every bit of desire that coursed in her body when she saw her mates.
Believe it or not, this was just the second time she was seeing them, and their first meeting was nothing less than a catastrophe. She had pelted them with eggs, rotten apple peels, and anything that she could get her hands on. But in her defence, it was their fault that they had tried to corner her when she was naked and taking a bath. It had happened right after she escaped from the auction house.
They had come with flashy smiles and promises. They told her that she needed to follow them to a 'place' where they would help her. Of course, in response, she had pelted them first with her shower water before jumping out of the building and pelting them with trash when they chased after her. Who chased after a naked woman? Apparently, they did.
Josh was in the lead. And as her serpent slithered toward her hiding place, Leah couldn't help but stiffen her body, and at the same time, she felt blood pounding in her ears.
Maybe when she was missing from the action, Josh had let his hair become longer. His long hair had been tied in a ponytail with a few strands let loose on his forehead. However, the fade on both of the sides seemed fresh, as if it had been made a few days ago. His phoenix eyes were filled with mirth, as if he was not here to hunt her down but to take her on a date.
And he also seemed to have kidnapped a goose from somewhere. She knew that he had kidnapped that thing because even as a teacher, there was something wild about Josh. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he had stayed with feral beasts all his life.
They were the strongest alphas she had ever known, and strictly speaking, they should be leading packs of their own, and yet they were destined to bow down to her, as she was their reina.
Her eyes deftly turned to Jeremy, and to her surprise, the stoic, silent and aggressive man was carrying her pink Hello Kitty bag that she had stolen from a store. It looked ridiculous in those hands that were supposed to be playing piano.
As if her beast had gone out of control, she let out a traitorous cry, and all of a sudden the three men turned to look at her.
Before she could even understand what was happening, Jeremy was right behind her. He circled over her as if he could see her even though she had camouflaged herself. A second later, she was tackled on the floor, and Leah groaned in pain. The bastard had nearly snapped two of her ribs in half.
Dear moon goddess, she was about to die, was she not?
And yet some primal, desperate part of her relished the feeling of Jeremy's large body pressed against her. But Leah shoved it down. And replacing it was a dumb, sheer rage that tore through her heart and soul. She had been running for ages, hungry, tired and without sleep. All because she wanted to get away from these beasts. Maybe she was overestimating herself too much, but she thought that she could get away from them.
That she could finally be free.
Jeremy's arms tightened around her bare body, and a second later, she heard him breathe against her ears. "You need to stop fighting and come along with us like a good little girl. You know that you do not have to make this hard for yourself."
Leah closed her eyes; she knew that she was making things difficult for herself by choosing freedom, but she had been itching to have it since she was a child. Ever since she lost her stepfather, she had lost everything. The loss of her nominal father had hit her harder than she could have imagined.
And the thought of letting someone else control her life, like that again. Like how she had lived under Florin, Leah could not accept it.
Get yourself together, Leah. think. We haven't lost yet.
She told herself, but then a nasty voice echoed in her head, 'Are you sure about that? because I can see that you have lost the bid, you weak, silly child.'
Maybe it was because she was in the presence of her mates; the adrenaline in her body started to get pumped. So, when Jeremy pulled her up from the floor, Leah realised that her mind was suddenly sharper, and so were her instincts.
She was stark naked. With her back pressed against Jeremy, while her front was exposed to her other two mates, she needed to think and yet the one thing that came in her mind