Laurel

2:15 Brydel

Cole was brutal to the dark elf. Once Laurel had been snatched and flown away by the dragon, all the fight had left the master fighting elf as he watched his mate fly farther and farther away. He dropped his scimitars and stood, hands towards the sky, signaling his surrender.

Cole had immediately gone over and struck him in the head enough to knock him down, crumpling to the ground. He continued to kick at the down elf like he was going to stomp him to death, I grit my teeth and against my own call towards self preservation, I implored the unstable demon to keep the elf alive, and use him to find Laurel. I breathed a sigh of relief when Cole agreed saying, "Brydel, tie this... thing up and strap him to the back of one of the hellhounds, we're hunting that dragon." I had to bite back the sigh I wanted to expel from my chest. I didn't want to do this, I didn't want to do Cole's bidding. Until I was free from this cursed collar I was trapped. I had learned to accept the fate I had given myself, but now that the unicorn and Gotha had dangled freedom in my face, it was all I could think about.

I was skilled with ropes, and did my best to bind the elf securely without the ropes cutting off circulation or chaffing him anywhere. This was the only kindness I could offer for now. Cole must have really struck him hard as he remained unconscious the whole time I was binding him, even when I hefted him on my shoulder to drape him over the back of one of the unnatural hounds as gently as I could. Which wasn't as gentle as I would have liked, the elf was simply too large for me to easily maneuver.

I could smell the faint traces of my mates scent on him and twisted with his own, she had claimed him as hers. Even tangled with the scent of the elf, my mouth watered. I had never seen a dark elf on the surface before, The Sunless never left the underground and I didn't care to go deep under the earth to find one unless explicitly forced. His skin was intriguing, the swirling patterns of black marbled with white. I caught myself daydreaming about tracing the swirling pattern with a finger and had to shake my head to remove the fantasy. I had never been interested in a man before. Though this was the mate of my mate, we were going to be bound together, tied to Laurel. He didn't give my wolf the same feeling of mate, yet. I had a feeling that things could change one day. Either way, he and I would hopefully be tied together through Laurel soon.

Even after waiting several lifetimes for my true mate, I wasn't upset at sharing her. In fact I couldn't help but daydream about how it would be, the three of us together. A sweaty pile of tangled limbs giving and taking pleasure from everyone. I both wanted and needed that connection. Gotha had explained the ritual I needed to break the collar, it required sex magic, the more bodies joined together the more powerful the ritual would be. I had been collared for so long, bound to an original demon in service That Gotha hadn't even been sure Laurel, her mate and myself would be strong enough. I just had to hope we would be.

The elf remained limp over the back of the hellhound for almost an hour as our motley group marched back the way we had come, following the trajectory we had watched the Dragon fly. The Hellhounds were anxious, unable to scent their target, unable to fulfill their mission. Agitated Hellhounds were not something I enjoyed spending time around.

Cole and Valentina were leading the group, her trying to cast locator spells, but none of the ones she tried seemed to be working as she expected. Which of course upset Cole who was acting more and more unstable as time went on. Finally, after far too long I heard a groan from beside me, as the elf joined the waking world again. I kept my voice as quiet as I thought I could be and have him still hear me. Cole and Valentina had supernatural hearing, which normally would have left me unable to speak to our hostage. But Cole was ranting like a lunatic and looking like he might strike Valentina, and Valentina had her hands full trying to control the off balanced demon. The hound could hear me, but hellhounds aren't capable of independent thought. So I took the risk, "shhh My name is Brydel, I plan to help you. Stay quiet so the others can't hear us ok?"