Hers From The Start: A Collection of First In Series Reverse Harem

by Laura Greenwood

  "What is the facility?"

  Charlie rested a hand on my shoulder, offering me the moral support I definitely needed.

  "You don't know?" Demi gasped.

  Eurgh, what a stupid question. I just about managed to refrain myself from pointing out that of course we didn't know, or else we wouldn't be asking.

  "No," Charlie answered for me.

  "C.R.C." Her hands flew to her stomach and tried to scoop the blood back in. I made a note never to try that if I got stabbed, it didn't look very effective.

  "Right. And that means..." I tried to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. I really did. But it was difficult when faced with random letters for no reason other than being infuriating.

  "Centre for the Restoration of Civilisation."

  I scoffed loudly. "And the way to do that is to kill people?"

  "It was for the greater good." Demi's breathing was becoming more and more laboured by the minute. She didn't have long left and I couldn't bring myself to feel bad about that. She'd brought it on herself by being a part of this shit.

  "Is the anyone else here?" I asked her.

  "Yes."

  "Are they members of C.R.C. or prisoners?" Charlie's question came before I could form the words.

  "Both," she replied. "Help me?"

  I looked at the wound again. Even if I wanted to, I didn't think there was anything I could do to stop the blood. Especially as I didn't have any healing ability whatsoever. Even putting basic bandages on was beyond me.

  Instead of telling her that, I took her hand in mine and smoothed my thumb over the back of it. "It'll be okay," I whispered. "All you need to do is close your eyes and sleep. Then it'll all be okay." Guilt twinged within me at the lie, but there wasn't anything else I could think of to do. I didn't want anyone to suffer really. It was just the need for information spurring me on.

  Demi didn't look convinced, but her eyes fluttered closed. Her breathing turned shallow and I knew this was it. After a few more moments, her hand grew limp in mine and the muscles in her face relaxed, the pain fading away.

  Without me intending it to, a tear rolled down my cheek and splashed onto the floor. I sniffled and wiped it away with my sleeve. Feeling a little unsteady, I got to my feet.

  "We can only do so much," Charlie reassured me.

  "I know, and for the damage she's done..." I didn't finish. With no way of policing ourselves, it was safest for all of us if people like Demi were dead. Same with Ruairidh, yet that didn't really give me much comfort. Any loss of life went against everything I'd been brought up to live by.

  "Rhianna..."

  "I'm fine," I lied.

  Charlie was having none of it, and pulled me into his arms, pulling me tightly against him. The wall around the bond wavered a little more. He was coming closer and closer to accepting what we were together. He dropped a quick kiss on the top of my head, almost fleeting enough for me to wonder if I'd imagined it.

  Feeling a little better, I pulled away from him. "We should check the rest of the room and go find the others."

  He nodded and went off to the left. I turned to the right and towards the contraptions used to drain the witches. Despite us trying to check, we both knew we wouldn't find anything in here. It hadn't been long enough for them to have started to rebuild their stock of witches. Even if they had live ones somewhere still, the necromancer had apparently been a little too busy to set them up again.

  "I can't find anything," Charlie called after we'd bad our rounds.

  "Me neither."

  We exchanged a look of disbelief. There was no way they hadn't planned for losing their power sources, which meant there must be a backup somewhere. Or at the very least, more trapped witches...

  Chapter Eight

  I wasn't sure what had happened, but the whole place looked as if it had been abandoned in a hurry. Though there was a good chance that mess was made by the previous owners of the building and not C.R.C. I imagined the end of the world wasn't a great time for witch hunters. Not with the paranormal world coming out into the open. The witches could have started openly fighting back rather than having to keep themselves as secret as possible.

  "Do you think the others are okay?" Charlie asked.

  "Can't you speak to them telepathically?"

  "That's not a real thing." He shot me a confused look as we walked down the corridor.

  "Damn, how disappointing."

  "You've been reading too many books."

  "Not recently," I muttered, kicking aside a stone.

  We lapsed into silence as we made the rest of our way through the facility.

  A shout came from up ahead and I jumped. Despite the situation, I really hadn't been expecting it. More fool me, really. That was a bit of an idiotic reaction to have.

  The voice called out again and my eyes widened as I recognised the voice. Without saying a word to one another, Charlie and I set off into a run, in the direction the voice had come from.

  On instinct, magic rose within me and prickled at my fingertips, longing to be free. I held it back, but only because I knew I might need it in a moment. Especially if one of my wolves was in danger. I wouldn't have any qualms about blasting someone hurting my mates.

  I skidded to a halt to see a snarling wolf surrounded by men with what looked like sharp sticks. How annoyingly primitive.

  One of the men lurched forward, something jumping from his staff and crackling towards the wolf.

  Oh no. That was not on.

  "Step away from him," I demanded, my voice taking on a scary edge that even I didn't want to deal with.

  The man paused in his tracks and five pairs of eyes swivelled around to look at me. Oops, maybe that wasn't my best idea. Surprise might have been the better option.

  "Charlie...fancy a little shift?" I suggested.

  The shuffling to my side and the thud of fabric hitting the floor told me he was already going ahead with that. "Good luck," he said quietly.

  "You too," I replied, despite the fact he'd still be able to understand me while he was in wolf form anyway.

  In seconds, a large reddish-brown wolf standing beside me, his powerful muscles rippling as he flexed his shoulders.

  "Ready?" I asked him.

  He nodded his big wolfish head.

  "Then let's go."

  I pulled more magic into my hands and fashioned myself a blade of autumn, which sounded a lot cooler than it was. Well, maybe not. A big bronze glowing blade was pretty cool. I spun it around in my hand, grateful for the knowledge that it couldn't hurt me even if I wanted it too. There was also a little bit of appreciation for the blade work lessons my mother had made me take as a child. It meant I knew how to act now, even if I tried to avoid it more often than not.

  The men split up, three coming towards Charlie and I, and two staying on the other wolf. I inched closer, wanting to work out which of my mates they had stuck. I didn't see any markings that reminded me of Mika and Jacob's wolf forms, but I'd only seen them once, and it had been over quickly. In all likelihood, this was Zeke. I was a little surprised he'd got himself into this situation in the first place, he was the alpha, but everyone had off days. Though I'd be teasing him about this for years to come if we got out of this alright.

  One of the men swung his stick towards me and I blocked easily, letting it glance off my blade. I could have snapped it in half completely, but I wanted to lull them into a false sense of security first. It sounded underhand, but I'd found that was often the easiest way for me to win a fight. Mother's guards had lamented that many a time.

  The man rushed at me again, this time I spun out of his path and he stumbled past, not having slowed down properly. I brought my weapon up just in time to stop the blow from another of the men, while the third went after Charlie. Panic slashed through me at the thought of him in danger, but a snarl and vicious bark reassured me. He'd be okay. I didn't need to worry about him. Charlie, and the rest of the wolves for that matter, could take care of themselves with
no help from me. I just had to remember that.

  The two men attacking me regrouped, one coming in from each side. I let out a dramatic sigh and shrunk the size of my blade so I could create another one in my other hand. I wasn't as good with two, but it was better than taking my chances with just the one blade. Though I didn't like my chances at all.

  Still, I had something to fight for, and if we could just hold off until the other two arrived, then we could stand at least some kind of chance.

  It was a long shot and I knew it.

  I slashed out before the man on the left reached me, before spinning around and clashing with the man on the right. My blood was pumping like crazy as the adrenaline surged through me. I had to admit it felt kind of good to let off some of the tension I'd been carrying around for five years. I'd spent so long hiding and lying low, trying not to draw any attention to myself, that I'd forgotten how it felt to actually let go.

  Kicking out, I hit one of the men in the stomach, sending him flying backwards. Oops. That had been a little harder than I'd intended. The man was still conscious, but out of commission for the moment, which was good enough for me right at that moment. Without him to worry about, I could focus on the other guy.

  He came at me again and I slashed both of my blades at him. He missed my right one, but the left slipped into his soft flesh and hissed as it travelled through him. I shuddered, revulsed by the events so far. Killing should never be a pleasurable act, not even when it was someone that earned their fate.

  The man grunted and fell to the floor, which was when I realised he hadn't even tried to use magic against me. He'd just attacked me head on. What was with that? I looked around at the other four men, the three attacking my wolves and the other one readying himself to take me on again.

  None of them were using magic, shifting or any other kind of paranormal trait. Nor could I sense anything coming from them. That was odd. They clearly had more strength than an average human, but then, that didn't add up. I'd have to ask the wolves about it in a bit, maybe they'd have picked up on something that I hadn't. It wouldn't be completely unexpected for that to be the case.

  I pushed the thought aside. Now wasn't the time to think too deeply on what they were. Not when I should be focusing on freeing us all from their attacks.

  Charlie took his man down with a quick snap of the neck, distracting me completely as blood gushed out of him and over the floor. Hopefully it wouldn't cause any kind of hazard for us.

  I stumbled as my attacker hit me but managed to right myself just in time. Damn, I really should have been paying more attention than that. My magic bubbled up, ready to explode at a moment's notice. It wanted to wreak havoc on the men. Well and truly.

  Maybe I should let it?

  Summoning up all my strength, I directed my magic outwards, urging it to ignore the wolves and just focus on the others. Bronze magic flowed out of me in waves, encompassing the whole space and filling it with a warmth that couldn't be ignored.

  The men all flew backwards against the walls, hitting them so hard, there was no chance they'd be able to survive. At least, if the way their heads looked when they fell to the floor was anything to go by then they wouldn't be able to.

  "Why didn't you just do that in the first place?" Charlie demanded. He was back in human form then. And criticising me. Brilliant. Just what I needed.

  "My magic doesn't work like that. It's not meant to be an offensive weapon," I pointed out.

  "But you can use it that way?"

  "Only when I'm physically threatened." I hoped he wasn't going to carry on being this ridiculous, we didn't have time for it.

  "Right," he muttered.

  Shit. he was going to end up putting the barrier around the bond again at this rate. I wasn't okay with that, not after saving his damn life. Well, all of our lives.

  "Where are Mika and Jacob?" I asked, changing the subject.

  "How should..."

  "Will the two of you stop it?" Zeke demanded.

  I looked at him and all rational thinking fled from me. He was ripped. Not just in a showy way either. His muscles were all from hard work. Exploring more was something I'd be looking forward to.

  "Sorry." I managed to get the word out despite the dryness now coating my mouth.

  "Jacob and Mika are down where we think the cells are," he answered my earlier question.

  I nodded in acknowledgement. "Did either of you see the men using magic?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me almost instantly.

  Charlie shook his head, but Zeke paused for a moment. "No, but they definitely weren't human."

  "I didn't think so. But then, why the lack of magic?"

  "I don't know," he replied. "Maybe we should hope the other two have discovered something else."

  "Did you recognise any of the men?" Charlie asked.

  I shook my head. "I don't think so, but I wasn't looking too closely." I frowned, trying to recall the faces of the men I'd seen while trapped here. Other than Ruairidh, no one had really had anything to do with me, which complicated matters. He'd brought his henchmen with him, but they'd been different every time and never actually done anything. More just standing outside the door while Ruairidh poked me to try and get my magic to come out to play. For all I knew, those five men were the only ones who were supposed to be here. But I had no way of knowing for sure.

  "We need to go find the others," Charlie said, stealing away any chance of me expressing my thoughts. I couldn't say I was particularly sad about that. I didn't want to think too much about the variety of implements Ruairidh had used. None of them had been bad enough to leave scars, but that didn't mean they'd been pleasant to experience.

  "How do we do that?" Genuine curiosity urged me to speak.

  "We follow our noses, Rhianna," Charlie teased.

  "Right. Of course," I muttered. Apparently, he'd forgotten that I wasn't a wolf yet. Or even part of a wolf. He was stopping that from happening. "Well, lead the way." I waved a hand out in front of me and caught the smug smile on Zeke's face. Maybe my plan to soften Charlie was working after all and he just wouldn't respond the same way the others would.

  Zeke rested a firm hand on the small of my back and steered me away from where we were standing and down yet another corridor. I really wished the witch hunters had thought to make their building a little less imposing. It being so gloomy all the time wasn't making life easy. Then again, nothing about this situation was easy. Almost everything had been against us from the start. So long as we found the others, made sure there were no more people here, and got out alive, we'd be fine.

  Sounded like a piece of cake to me.

  Chapter Nine

  Walking along the outside of the cells was giving me a weird sense of déjà vu. I hadn't thought this was where I'd been kept, but apparently, I'd been wrong.

  "I can't look inside them," I whispered, hating to admit my weakness, even if it was an understandable one.

  "That's okay, we can check," Zeke responded.

  "Thanks." This place really was getting to me. I wondered whether it had been the actual prodding, or just the threat of what they might suddenly decide to do with me. Whatever it was, I wasn't in any rush to relive it properly. In all likelihood, I'd be filing this away with all the other things I didn't want to deal with about the end of the world. Though if we made it to a sanctuary like the wolves said we would, then I might end up with the luxury of dealing with my demons. Oh, the joy.

  "Zeke!" Jacob's hushed voice called as he poked his head around one of the big metal doors.

  His eyes latched on to mine and he stopped to give me a soft smile. Warmth flowed through me. If he was there, then Mika was too, and their safety reassured me in a way I hadn't quite expected. But I'd get used to it. From Jacob's face, they felt the same way about me. Now all we needed to do was get rid of Charlie's reluctance.

  "Everything alright?" Zeke asked, slipping properly back into alpha mode.

  "With us, yes," Jacob answered
carefully.

  Panic spread through me at his answer. If things in general were okay, then why did he feel the need to specify?

  "Alright, let's see what you've found." Zeke strode forward, still as naked as before. Still as distracting too.

  He slipped through the door next to Jacob, with Charlie following straight after.

  I eyed it warily. "I can't, I'm sorry," I whispered.

  Zeke turned back to me. "Will you be okay here while we look?"

  "Yes," I replied, hoping I was right.

  He strode back towards me, before hooking his arm around my waist and pulling me to him. "We'll be right back," he promised, then lowered his lips to mine and kissed me gently.

  I relaxed at his closeness, some of the tension within me slipping away. I wished it was always this easy to unwind.

  "You sure you're going to be okay?" he murmured against my lips.

  "Yes, I'll watch the door," I replied. I'd summon one of my magic blades once the three of them were through the door. They might not be far away from me, but I wasn't taking any chances with their safety.

  Zeke let me go and moved back towards Jacob, who was looking at me with a longing expression. He never had gotten to kiss me after we escaped the first time.

  The two of them turned away, just leaving Charlie gazing at me with a look I could only describe as jealous. That didn't make any sense though. He could have me, all he had to do was come up to me. Well, and accept the bond, which he still didn't seem to have done. If I went through all this and still ended up with an incomplete bond, I was going to cry. Or throw things. Probably the latter.

  He opened his mouth to speak but shut it again promptly.

  Alright then, not words for me.

  I smiled at him anyway, only causing a confused look in his eyes. Charlie turned away and ducked through the door. He was becoming infuriating. I'd have a serious talk with him once we were at the sanctuary.

  Summoning my blade of magic, I spun it around in my hand and made it vanish again. It was definitely an advantage of having a weapon made of magic was not needing to waste time drawing it. I could just make it appear the moment I needed it.