Chapter 114

*Ariya*


We got redressed and took the barrier down but I still wanted to be close to Ivan. Knowing what I wanted he sat on the mat and opened his arms up for me. I quickly got into his lap and snuggled into his arms. Ivan wrapped his arms around me. He rested his head on mine and breathed in deeply. I could feel the happiness he felt and realized part of why he did it was to allow himself to realize that this was real. That it was really happening.
*I’m not going anywhere, Ivan. I’m here. This is real. I’m yours.* I pushed the thought to him.
*I’m just checking. That’s all. I don’t know if I’ll ever stop.* Ivan told me and I could tell he was smirking.
I squeezed him tightly, *Check as often as you want. I’m yours, forever. However long that is.*
Ivan inhaled deeply, taking in my scent once more.
*I’m never going to get tired of this, but we should probably get to work. We need to contact Drake and the others.* Ivan sighed.
*Do you want me to pull everyone in my mind, including you?* I asked him.
*We really should have this conversation with everyone, but I’ll need to be on the lookout. If Boss gets close I’ll have to be able to let you know. Besides, we don’t even know if you can pull me in yet. We’ve never tried.*
*I have a feeling it will be really easy to pull you in. You’ll just have to relax and let me tug at your mind. Don’t worry about a lookout. In my mind we’ll be able to feel if the memories start to fade at all. Aside from that I can make it to where we can still see what’s going on while we're there.* I said, grinning.
*Really? Let’s do it then. But I do think we should be away from each other. Just in case.* Ivan said.
I could feel how much he didn’t want to let me go or sit across the room from me. But I also knew that he was right. There wasn’t enough time to get back to our bodies and get away from each other before someone walked into the room. Ivan kissed me on the head before letting me go. I got up and he moved to be seated closer by the door but still out of sight from anyone that might head towards us.
“Ready?” I asked him, outloud this time.
Ivan laughed, “Sometimes I just like talking in our heads instead of out loud. If anyone were around they’d probably just think we were staring at each other.”
I grinned, “True. It’s probably safest to do that anyway. But we have a warning system so it really doesn’t matter I don’t think.”
Ivan smiled at me, *I’m ready, princess.*
I smiled back at him as both of our eyes flashed at each other. I closed mine for a second, concentrating on what I needed to do to pull Ivan into my mind. I thought about how I pulled Keo, Drake, and Caleb last time and did the same thing. Ivan didn’t resist at all and in a matter of seconds he was in the plain room standing face to face with me.
Ivan’s eyes widened, “That was fast! I thought it would take longer.”
I grinned, “It helps that you trust me and just let me pull you to me.”
A smile spread across Ivan’s face and for a split second I saw Ivan as he was when he was a kid. He had always been grumpy and somewhat standoffish. It was understandable from what he’d been through. But there was a moment before everything happened that Ivan started to open up and we’d seen him laugh and smile for the first time. I quickly tugged at the minds of the others and they showed up in time to see Ivan’s smile before it went away.
I felt tears sting my eyes while Drake, Keo, and Caleb wore shocked expressions. Ivan cocked his head at us, confused.
“What?” Ivan asked.
“I haven’t seen that smile in a while.” I told him.
Ivan’s expression softened, “I’m sorry, Ari. But I swear we’ve laughed and smiled a lot since I remembered who I was.”
“Not like that. That one reminded me of when we were all little kids.”
Ivan came right up to me and wrapped his arms around me, “I’d kiss you, but I don’t know if you want me doing that in front of everyone. Or how they’d all react.” He whispered.
“You can kiss, you know.” Keo laughed, breaking out of the shock.
“Yeah, we already figured you 2 were together now.” Caleb added.
“Leave them be. Maybe they don’t want to be watched.” Drake chastised them.
Ivan and I laughed as Caleb and Keo looked at us apologetically.
Keo came over to Ivan and I. Ivan reluctantly let me go so that Keo could address us.
“She’s right, it’s been a bit since we've even seen you smile like that. It’s good to have you back, Ivan.” Keo said, then looked at me, “How are you holding up, Ari?”
“Hanging in there. We had to do something today which is why we called you all here. There’s a lot to discuss.” I told Keo, giving him a big hug.
Keo gave me a worried look. He didn’t start by asking questions. They knew we’d tell them everything. I looked back at Ivan who wore a pained expression. I immediately took his face in my hands.
“Don’t. It’s ok. They’re not going to be mad either.” I told him.
Ivan took a deep breath, “Boss has been having issues with the rest of the staff. They kept questioning why Ari was getting privileges and wasn’t being tortured. When I went to check in this morning Boss had planned for Ari to fight me. To prove there was a reason I was the only one outside of Boss who could handle watching her. He told me I had to break her…”
Drake’s face paled, “Ivan…”
Caleb looked like someone had ripped his heart out. Out of everyone, Caleb understood the meaning of the mate bond. He didn’t know all the details and hadn’t felt what Ivan felt but he understood it. His parents had explained some things to him before they had died.
Keo growled, “Boss is going to pay for that.”
Ivan continued, “Boss built this arena and had everyone watch. Once everyone was there he had me bring Ari to the arena. We thought about trying to run but realized it was a test and we were sure that if we had tried to escape it would have ended badly. There wasn’t any time to talk to you guys about it. It all happened too fast.”
“You’re right, it was a test. I passed by the facility briefly today and noticed barriers up. I’m sure within those barriers there were teleporters. Likely for the Enforcers to show up.” Drake said.
“That’s part of why we didn’t try. We were mostly worried about not actually getting out, especially with Boss being nearby. But we also knew there was more to Boss than we initially thought. So we went to the arena. On the way to the arena we realized that the mate bond changed me a lot more.”
Drake’s eyes narrowed, “What do you mean?”
“Justin is gone. He no longer exists. I know that I’m Ivan, all the time now.”