47: Ada's POV

Sahara had shifted me back into human form quickly, going quiet in my mind for awhile. I had redressed wordlessly, tears spilling freely onto my cheeks. My body could feel every touch, every stroke, *everything* that Darius was doing or having done to him. Nausea roiled in my stomach. Nik had held my hair while I'd vomited all over the place repeatedly. Phoenix had packed everything up. It had taken nearly an hour for Darius to stop. His brothers had tried to mindlink him, but it was no use. He'd blocked all bonds for the duration of what (or rather who) he was doing.

We'd begun our journey east, waiting for the line to him to open up again. It wasn't until almost the evening time, when I was exhausted and emotionally distraught, that Nik finally managed to reach him. Darius' voice echoed in my mind, *You shifted?*

It was down that single oceanic bond I had envisioned when Sahara had shifted. My voice was flat, *And we're mates.*

*Ada,* he whispered, *I'm so sorry. I'm coming to you tomorrow.*

*No. Don't bother. Don't ruin everything we're hoping to accomplish because of me,* I growled, kicking my foot in the dirt as Nik dropped his pack on the tilted ground, *I hope that you feel every single thing that I'm going to let them do to me over the next few weeks. I hope it drives you mad,* I whispered mentally, envisioning me caressing him gently, *I hope it makes you hate me half as much as I hate you right now.*

*Hate me?* he snapped, *Why would you--*

*Was it Elizabeth?* I sneered at him. Silence followed. I snorted, collapsing onto the ground as Phoenix worked to start a fire, *Exactly.*

I snapped the bond between us shut. There was no actual hate, but there was hurt. Even with that, and the shock from Sahara returning out of nowhere and the awe at finding that somehow I had three mates... none of that was comparable to the *real* problem we had to deal with. I'd shot ice and fire from my hands and had seeped deadly black ooze. Was that a one time thing? Was that why Sahara and I had never bonded properly before this? She had mentioned that I'd blocked her out, which I could see being absolutely true. I hadn't had a great experience with my first shift. My father could barely look me in the eye after it.

Sahara paced in my mind, snapping her jaws in annoyance, *You'll learn to control it. Give it time, Addy.*

Addy. Her nickname for me from the first time we'd introduced ourselves. From the fifteen minutes before my entire world had gone to even worse shit than it had been before. I rolled my eyes, *Three mates?*

*Destined surrogate?* she retorted.

Phoenix scratched the back of his head, approaching slowly. Sahara snored yet again and I sighed, "Phoenix, I'm not going to light you on fire or kill you with some weird black ooze."

"But the ice spike to the heart is a real possibility," Nik called out casually, setting up our small camp.

"Shut up," Phoenix grumbled to his brother before turning to me, "We'll be using this area as a base while we explore this particular mountain. it may take us a few days to gather information about the full thing, but this is one of the few you didn't have anything marked on."

I didn't respond, just started undoing my pack. He waited for a few moments to see if I would say anything, then turned on his heel and walked away. It wasn't even dark out yet, but I think the three of us needed some time to process this morning. I could smell the lavender coming off of Nik, so thick and mixed with a bourbon smoke. Phoenix's scent was earthy-- like nutmeg and dirt. Both were delicious smells, and seemed to be the stagnant ones about their beings. I had yet to smell anything different from either of them today, which either meant these really just were their everyday scents or they were anxious the entire time I was around them.

Given who Nik was, I chose to believe the former.

My mind was full, racing, but my body was more in balance than ever before. I felt in control and aware, healthy. Mentally? Not so much. The other annoying factor to having Sahara present fully now was just how *much* she wanted to jump the bones of our... mates. The word still felt unusual, and a bit like a death sentence. None of us had discussed what this meant or how it changed things. The truth was that for their father, Alpha King Everett Ashford, it most likely wouldn't change anything.

To him, I would still be nothing more than a lowly surrogate with no better purpose. Something to be discarded like yesterday's trash when he found no more use for me.

"Ada," Nik said softly and my gaze whipped in his direction. He nodded at my hands, which were smoking. I dropped the pair of pants I had pulled out of my pack with muscle memory and shrugged. Nik nodded at the firepit, eyes only glancing at the burn marks on the denim fabric, "Why don't you make yourself useful?"

I flipped him off as Sahara laughed in my mind. It was dark before one of the princes decided to light the fire.