Shackled (The Lord Series) by Carlos

My eyes fill with tears.

Mother and daughter finally reunited.

The two horses almost look alike. If not for the white spots all over Speckles' back, she would be identical to her filly, who is all black.

"Can I?" I ask, wanting to get close to the stall.

"Just a few more steps. The filly arrived today and Speckles might be a bit overprotective with her."

I nod. "I understand. I would be the same if... I was... in her position." Looking at Ansel, I ask, "How did you find her?"

"Through the family of her old owner. But the fucking bastards didn't want to let her go without a substantial amount of money, so I had Rin help me convince them to give her to us without much fuss."

Ansel means that he and Rin tortured that poor family. Typical of the Lords. But on the other hand, it made Speckles happy. "I hope you did pay them something."

"They are lucky we let them conserve their lives after they took pleasure in abusing animals. Speckles wasn't the only one," Ansel lets me know.

I press my lips to Ansel's cheek. "Then you did the right thing." While I would love to spend hours in here watching the horses, I'm starving. "We should return to the house."

"Another thing," Ansel says. "The filly is yours."

The air leaves my lungs. My gaze goes to the stall before it goes to Mose, then to Jasper, and lastly, it stops on Ansel's face. "Mine?" I surely heard him wrong. Who in their right mind would give me something so... so... so... precious. What if he is lying? Or testing me to see how I will react. "Are you sure?"

I would never accept such an expensive gift, but when it comes to horses, I can't say no. Ever.

"If it weren't for you, we would not have known about the filly. I still don't understand how you knew. But, the filly is yours," Ansel assures me.

I stare at him, mouth parted as I try to form words to thank him. My chin trembles slightly as it usually does when I'm about to cry and I throw myself into Ansel's arms. I still can't find the right words to express how... I feel right now. But Ansel seems to understand me. His arms lock around me.

"It makes me happy to know I brought some joy to your life," Ansel says.

He is not wrong. I do feel joy.

Rueben is going to end me soon. So what if I want to enjoy simple things before I die? Not that a filly is a simple thing, but I want her.

I'll make sure to spend time with her as much as possible.

I brace myself for the pain that usually follows when I have any positive feelings, yet seconds pass, and nothing happens. Could the bond with Ansel protect me? But when he made love to me, we were already bonded, and the pain was so intense I fainted. Could it be that the bond was too fresh? So many questions swarm inside my head, but I have no one to ask for answers. I bet Wasp would know, but without a phone, I have no way of contacting her. Tyson took away the phone Alma gave me. So, I'm left to wonder.

I tilt my head up and kiss Ansel before hugging Jasper. "You will have to show me how to take care of the filly," I tell him.

Jasper is so tall compared to me that when he embraces me, he always ends up lifting me up from the ground. "We start tomorrow. I'll make you, my little assistant," he coos in my ear.

"I'm not little," I huff.

"Compared to me, you are," Jasper points out the obvious.

When Jasper puts me down, I turn to Mose. "I'm sure you'll find a new goat soon to keep to Juniper company." Mose laughs, and I wrap my arms around him. "I thought the perfect surprise didn't exist. Until now." Mose grabs my face between his palms, his brown eyes staring into mine. "Jasper was right. You do have stars in your eyes." What a strange thing to say. "Let's have dinner."

I glance at the horse. Speckles and her filly seem to embrace each other. While I wish to stay right here and watch them until I no longer can keep my eyes open I want to give Jasper and Mose what they want a bond. It might not be something that I want, but them doing such a nice gesture to me deserves to be rewarded. It's more than a nice gesture. It's probably the nicest thing someone has done for me.

I put my arms around Mose's neck and pull him down for a kiss. "After dinner I'll become your bonded. Yours and Jasper's."

Ansel and Jasper surround me.

"I knew it was only a matter of time until you would come to accept us. Now, we only have to get Tyson and Rueben to be on board," Ansel says.

Jasper speaks next. "You're going to love the Lair. And I can't wait to see how you will transform it into our forever place."

The Lair. My head starts to spin. I didn't think about the implications of being bonded. Luckily, I don't have to worry about it since Rueben made it clear that he'll kill me on the spot if I ever set foot in the Lair.

Jasper keeps talking. "Wait until you see the nursery. Rueben is the one who mostly decorated the Lair, but Tyson is the one who prepared the nursery. Believe it or not, he is dying to become a father. I think all of us are." My stomach turns to knots. "Are you forgetting I can't get pregnant?"

Mose puts back the blindfold around my eyes. "I already contacted a friend of mine from the University. His father is an IVF specialist. If everything goes well, we might welcome our first child in less than a year." *If* everything goes well, Rueben will end me soon so I won't have to worry about babies.