Predator

Chapter 24

“You what?” She stammered out in utter shock.

Riddick kept a firm hold on her left forearm as Alex tried to wrest herself free from his and Tyr’s grasp. “You heard me, Alexandra. We intend to reclaim you and we will not allow you to deny us.”

Her frantic eyes darted to each of her determined mates and sheer terror began to overwhelm her. “No…you…cannot. I…don’t…” She clenched her eyes and shook her head. “I am…not…well, am I?” Her brow furrowed as she searched her mind and theirs for memories. “I am…not the…way I use…to be.”

“You have been through quite an ordeal, my love.” Ian spoke in a calming tone as he tried desperately to alleviate his woman’s fears. “You are not yourself and need to let us help you.” His eyes grew wide when he sensed a change in her mood. Her fear was quickly turning into unbridled anger. “Alexandra, please calm down and let us…”

“Help me, Ian?” The tremor in her voice remained but an edge of steel had replaced the quiet insecurity it had moments before. “I don’t think that is possible.” She slowly opened her eyes and they flickered with ambient energy that was growing…with her temper. “What makes you think that any of you can help me?”

“My love…” He saw the danger mounting and tried to head it off before it got out of control.

“Shut up, Ian.” She snapped at her mate and effectively cut off his sentence. “You have no idea what he did to me!” Her eyes grew darker with her building power. “You don’t know what was taken from me!”

“I know damn well what he did to you!” Riddick growled at his mate. “He raped you repeatedly and we felt your pain and terror as he did it even while you were unconscious! I couldn’t bear the thought of that fucking butcher touching you and there was nothing I could do to stop it!”

“Alexandra, I know perfectly well what he took from you because he took it from me too.” Tyr’s temper was rapidly rising when he thought about that instant when Tristan happily stole the life of his unborn child. “He was my son too and I stood there helpless while he was murdered!”

“You think that is it?” She glared at her Nietzchean husband. “You really believe that is all he took from me?” Her eyes flared with her cosmic flame and she flexed her powerful arms that were held by Riddick and Tyr. “You couldn’t be more wrong!” She pulled her arms from their grasp, rammed her open palms into their chests, and sent them flying back into the walls.

When they got to their feet, they watched her rise to hers on the bed with her hands balled into fists. “Tristan stole my power!” She threw a fist at Ares when he started towards her and knocked him back to the floor. “He stole my will!” A backhand to Duncan’s face effectively put him down. Her fiery eyes settled on Ian. “He stole my faith in all of you!” A blast of energy to his chest sent him rocketing across the room.

“I was vulnerable when I returned from Kortoth.” She walked to the edge of the bed and dropped down to the floor. “I didn’t want to hurt Dorian if I died and allowed myself to heal. He didn’t deserve that experience on his first day of life.” She was looking at the floor as she walked around the room rambling about the day of her downfall. “Tyr healed my body and I felt my love for him run through my veins. He desired a child from my body and I secretly wished for it myself.”

She settled her blazing eyes on Tyr and for a moment her fire dimmed. “I took your seed and allowed it to remain within me after conception. I wanted to have the experience of feeling a baby grow within me and watch him age naturally. I knew it was dangerous but my loving husbands promised me everything would be fine. They would keep me and my family safe.”

The intensity of her fire returned to a full internal inferno. “You lied! You couldn’t keep me safe or even keep him away from me until my strength returned!” She turned to face Riddick. “You said I needed to trust you to take care of me for a change. I gave you that trust and you betrayed it within minutes! My sons and I were attacked! He took me from my home and forced himself on me! It…hurt!”

She spun around to pin Ian with her narrowed gaze. “He brought me back here and tried to force me to kill my own child. When I fought his influence over me, he reached into my womb and stole my son’s life. Do you know what that did to me, Ian?”

He nodded his head and tears flowed down his face. “You lost your control of your dark side.”

“I did at that. I fell right into his trap and he seized control of the Phoenix’s dark nature!” Her voice became subdued as she thought about those precious seconds that separated the Protector of Life and the Destroyer of Worlds. “I was terrified. I knew what he was turning me into and I was so scared.” Her gaze swept across the saddened faces of her mates. “Where were you when I was huddled on the ground trying to fight back my worst fears?”

“I was helpless to prevent my worst nightmares coming to pass! The very reason I wanted Riddick to kill me and it wasn’t even me who lost control. It was torn from me.” Tears ran freely down her face as she turned her attention to each of the broken men around her. “I lied there in the dirt listening to his taunts as I fought with the last of ounce of strength I possessed and I knew it wasn’t going to be enough. I knew he was going to win and I screamed for you to save me.”

She crumbled to her knees on the floor and was taken by deep wrenching sobs. “You didn’t come.” She whispered brokenly. “I held on…trying to be brave and make you proud…but you never showed.” She choked out a tiny laugh through her tears and stared down at the floor. “A mortal devised the perfect plan to make me vulnerable for the first time in existence and he got his revenge. He killed my baby…and turned me against my loved ones.”

“You were beaten and humbled for the first time in your life.” Riddick spoke in a hushed whisper as he edged towards her. “You’ve never experienced defeat or failure before now.” He crouched down, grasped her shoulders, and pulled her to her feet. “You’ve never needed anyone’s help before.”

He exerted his power over her and the fire left her eyes. “No.” She looked up into his silver eyes with a heavy sadness reflected in her black ones. “I have never known defeat or failure in any battle and I’ve never needed anyone in my life.”

“You are wrong.” Ian came up behind her and spoke with a voice tight with emotion. “You needed all of these men to become what you are today. You gained something from each of them when you bonded with them. I have been with you since the beginning of time and I’ve watched you grow into an exceptional being from every encounter with these men.”

“I turned against you…”

“I don’t think so.” Tyr stood to Riddick’s right and stared straight into her soul. “He might have forced you to fight us but he couldn’t force you to attack your children. You couldn’t hurt them. It wasn’t even a possibility and I knew it. Your primary function in life is to protect your sons and you did. Do you really think that the Destroyer of Worlds would spare their lives?”

“Alexandra.” Ares walked up to his wife and rested his chin on her shoulder. “You suffered no defeat in this battle. Not only did you rebel against his orders to kill your children but you subconsciously drained the power he stole from you and allowed us to defeat him. You did not fail.”

“I guess there is just one last thing to do.” Duncan said as he stared at the floor. “We already proved that we could work together to protect you and our sons during the battle. I am sorry that our petty jealousies kept us from saving you when you needed us most.” He slipped by Tyr and grabbed her arm. Riddick relinquished his hold on her to Duncan. “I swear to you that we will never let anyone hurt you again and that includes us.”

He lifted her quivering chin and stared at her with the same love and admiration that he has for centuries. “I let you down before all of this happened and I cannot stop myself from feeling like this is my fault. So I’m going to do the only thing that I can other than beg for your forgiveness.” He placed his hand between her breasts over her heart. “I can heal what I broke with the power you have given me over it.”

A glow of power-encased Duncan’s hand and his energy shot through her. Her tear-filled eyes fell shut and her head went back to rest on Ares’ chest. The God of War felt her shake in his arms and moved his hand to rest on her forehead. His hand sent the energy bestowed him into her body as well to heal her troubled mind.

Her 2 mates kept their healing hands on her body for several minutes until Ian stopped them both with a mental command. ‘She’s had enough.’ When they removed their touch, Alexandra pitched forward into Duncan and he swept her up in his arms. She lay limp against his chest as he carried her back to the bed and settled her prone form in the center.

All of her men sat on the bed on both sides of her and held their breath. Ian stared at his mate’s body for a moment and examined her for any sign that she once again was whole. “Something is missing.” His eyes focused on her all too familiar energy signature. “We’re not done yet.”

He turned to Riddick and grabbed his wrist. “Before you came into her life, she told me once that Duncan was her heart and Ares was her mind but she didn’t possess a soul.” His grip tightened on Riddick’s wrist and he spoke in a frantic tone. “That was until you bonded with her. Earlier she called you her everything. You have total dominion over her! Heal her soul!”

Riddick narrowed his steely gaze on Ian and glanced at their joined hands. He released his energy and brought Ian’s to the surface through sheer will power. “You need to help me!” He brought both of their hands down to her chest and the combined might of her 2 mates’ power arced through her system.

Her body arched off the bed and a cry tore from deep in her lungs as they continued their work on her new but tattered soul. It was not a quick process. Tyr, Ares, and Duncan had already healed the areas of Alexandra’s persona that they had control over but were forced to sit and helplessly watch Riddick and Ian labor relentlessly to heal the one thing they were a part of but couldn’t touch.

One hour passed. Two. Her body still thrashed about on the bed and her inhuman scream turned hoarse but still carried throughout the palace halls. Athena had called him and Ian the 2 most sacred beings in her life but Riddick was beginning to have some doubts. ‘How could someone like me be of any importance to a person like her? She is a supreme being and I’m a fucking killer.’

Ian picked up Riddick’s stray thoughts and pulled his hand away from Alex’s flesh. “If you begin to doubt your place in her life now then she is already lost and there is no point in continuing.”

Riddick’s panicked eyes flashed to Ian’s and he gasped out in confusion and shock. “What are you doing? I need your help!”

“No you don’t and you never did. You were deemed her savior, remember?” Ian sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. “She found everything she needed in life within you. Now save her or we all lose her.”

A look of determination spread across Riddick’s features and he straddled his mate’s waist. He held her face between his palms and bent forward to touch her forehead with his. His eyes looked at her clenched ones and tears welled until they fell from his face to her skin. His power emerged from his body and enveloped them both.

The others watched as her movements stilled and heard her cries taper off until she went silent. Riddick’s power receded into his body but he still gently held her head between his shaking hands. His forehead remained pressed against hers, his breathing was labored from exhaustion, and his eyes searched her face for a miracle.

A few minutes later his prayer was answered when her eyes fluttered open and looked into his.

“Hi.” She whispered with a croaked voice.

“Hey. How are you feeling?”

“I feel tired.” She blinked her eyes and focused on him. “I’m back to normal now, aren’t I?”

“I hope so because I’ve missed you.” He kissed her softly on her parted lips and felt a sense of security when she didn’t pull away. “I have to ask you this, baby, because not knowing is tearing me apart.”

“What is it, Richard?”

“Will you be able to trust us again?”

She held his silver eyes for a few minutes without responding and looked at his desperate need for an answer. “Duncan was correct when he said you all proved that you could protect the family when Tristan and I attacked. You all performed admirably but…I will never let my guard down again. I am responsible for this family and ultimately all blame falls on me if any one of you is injured.”

“Baby, you can’t let it go back to the way it was…”

“Richard…”

“NO!” His deep voice startled her and she closed her mouth immediately. “We are your mates! You took Tamerlane as your own and he will need your undivided attention for a while and I still want another child from you! You will have to rely on us to overlook things while you carry my son within your body and I won’t take any more of your bullshit! Am I understood?”

With eyes wide and mouth open, she nodded her head and abided by her husband’s demands. “Whatever you say, Richard.”

“Good.” He was surprised yet again by her submission to his will but regained his wits and held her hands down to the bed. “Now I believe we said that we intend to reclaim you and I think it is time we got down to it.”