The cat was out of the bag, so Adrian dragged in a quick breath and nodded. “You already know we’re the alpha and omega of the Gemini, and that our mate has eluded us our whole lives.”
She nodded.
Zale continued, “Until now.” He picked up her hand and kissed it. “You complete us, Valerie, if you accept.”
She looked from one to another. She barely believed they were real, and now this? “This was great fun and all…amazing, actually, but we just met. Not to mention the fact there are two of you and only one of me.”
Zale shrugged. “You are our mate. It’s written for us.” He rolled up his shirt sleeve and showed her the curved tattoo mark on his forearm.
She ran a finger over the raised symbol. It felt swollen, embossed. “It looks like trident,” she said, lifting her eyes to his.
He nodded. “That’s because it is a trident. It’s the mark an alpha and an omega receive when they find their true mate.”
Adrian rolled up his sleeve as well. His mark was the mirror image of Zale’s. A Gemini image.
“If you were a Gemini by birth, you’d have one, too,” Zale added. “If you choose to be complete our triad and be our mate, there’s a ritual that binds us to you and you to us. After that, you will carry the mark.”
She blinked but didn’t say a word. Instead, she reached for her pants and shoved her feet through each leg, wiggling them over her hips and up to her waist as she thought.
This was way too much, way too fast. Their mate? Were they nuts? It figured. As crazy as they were gorgeous. She found two absolute sex-on-a-stick hotties who want her, but only if she what? Joined their cult? Got matching tattoos or marks or whatever? Can we say Kool-Aid time? She was just on the cusp of believing their supernatural story. Now this?
From the look on both their faces, Adrian and Zale didn’t see the absurdity. In fact, they looked confident. As if their coming together was written on the stars or in the sand…whatever. And then there was Aggie, and Sam. They knew as well. Or at least, guessed. A collective endeavor aligned with the tides and ancient mythology.
Don’t forget Hannah’s part in this.
I haven’t, but...
But nothing.
The nutty idea is ludicrous.
Except, Hannah didn’t sound nuts when you spoke with her. She sounded happy. Very happy with her dragon shifter hottie.
So?
So maybe…
Valerie dragged two hands through her hair, fisting the roots at her temples. It was hard enough wrapping her head around Aggie and Hannah’s fairy tale come reality, but to find she was part of a blind date times two with a dash of arranged marriage thrown in just for fun?
Two sets of very green eyes weighed heavy on her in the confined space. Questions raced, as she pulled her camisole over her head and straightened it into place. With an exhale, she leaned against the elevator’s mirrored wall, thinking.
Was their surreal request worth the benefit of the doubt?
Were they?
She sucked in a ragged breath, half from this new realization, and half from her body humming from an unbelievable climax.
Open mind, right? That’s what Hannah and Aggie asked, and with the way the guys looked at her, how could she not?
“Okay. Suppose I buy this whole mate/triad thing. What then?” Zale started to answer, but she shut him down. “Don’t expect an answer from me, yet. I have a lot to think about, and I have to talk to Hannah. I have a lot of questions.”
She paused, eyeing them both. “First off, who and what are you, what are my choices in this deal, and why do you hate the Draakki so much?”
Chapter Six
Zale’s face tightened. “Who told you about the Draakki?”
Valerie looked at him, a little taken aback. “That’s the question that got your attention? Not how you and your world disrupted my world beyond reckoning, or how you invited me down an Alice in Wonderland level rabbit hole?”
“Valerie—” Adrian tried, but she shook her head, not wanting to hear it.
Zale raked his fingers through his hair, conflicted. “You shouldn’t have been told. Not until we prepared you properly.”
“Prepared me. For what?”
“Woman, there is much to consider!”
Heat flushed her cheeks again, only now it is was angry heat. “Much to consider. How about considering me and the tailspin your tailfins have caused in my life!”
“Again, who told you about the Draakki?”
“Enough! It was me, okay? I was the one who told Valerie about the Draakki.” Adrian got between them, offering Zale a half shrug.
Zale threw up his hand with an annoyed grunt.
“Don’t look at me like this is all my fault. You stormed out of her friend’s bedroom, snarling about the Draakki. What was I supposed to say after that display? I may have let the cat out of the bag, but you opened the bag in the first place.”
“Semantics!” Zale shouted back. “Does she know who and what the Draakki are? Did you explain everything, or just enough to cause problems?”
“Hey, Growly Gus! I’m right here,” Valerie objected, her brows knotting at his stubbornness. “How about this for a novel idea? Ask me what I know and don’t know.”
Zale exhaled, kicking his backpack.
“For someone so big, you’re being an even bigger jerk!” Val shot back in the immature outburst. “If you told me why this is such an issue, maybe I could help. You told me you and Adrian are shifters, but you also said you’re not Draakki. If you’re not dragons, then what are you?”
“It’s complicated. We’re not dragons, but we share a common ancestry.” Adrian exchanged a look with Zale, still fuming.
“Aggie joked about you two. She said you liked thrashing about. I think she was trying to make you sound sexy, but it backfired. Hooked fish, thrash.” She shook her head. “Not sexy.”
The look on Zale’s face was almost apoplectic.
“Still,” Val continued. Zale needed to lighten up, even if meant poking the leviathan. “Aggie turned it around, telling me to think more Poseidon or Aquaman. Personally, I like the idea of two sexy, trident-wielding sea gods, over a couple of hooked jellyfish.”
“Woman! There is nothing jellylike about me or any Gemini. We are warriors. So enough with the name-calling!” He threw and arm out toward Adrian. “Why don’t you ever call him names?”
“Adrian’s scales don’t ruffle over every little thing.” Val bit her cheek at his manly hissy fit. “Plus, he doesn’t annoy me. You, on the other hand, are a big baby. You’re impulsive and brash, while Ace here is calm and sensible. It’s no wonder the Gemini have both an alpha and an omega! A built-in system of checks and balances against asshole autocratic bullshit.”
“Oh, man! RIP!”
Adrian burst out laughing, even as Zale shot him a look, but a ghost of a smirk curled on his mouth. Bingo.
“Ace.” Adrian snickered, earning a dirty look from Zale. “I guess I do have a nickname.”
“Not funny, and definitely not the same,” Zale muttered. “I’m the alpha of the Gemini. It’s bad enough I have to prove myself to our people after a lifelong exile, but to have to prove myself to my own mate?”
Irked, Valerie glared at him. “Lighten up, Francis. First off, I am nobody’s mate. Haven’t you ever heard of a hook-up? This was nothing more than casual sex. I barely know you, but, if you ever hope for me to know you better, you’re going to have to trust me. I am not a sex toy.”
An awkward silence fell, yet everyone knew this conversation wasn’t over. “Uhm, maybe we should get going. I know the hotel has more than one elevator bank, but they’re bound to send someone to find out why we’ve been stopped so long.”
“Don’t worry about that. I told you we have our ways,” Adrian replied, but didn’t elaborate.
Obviously the Gemini had powers other than dual nature. Val dismissed the questions forming in her mind. She had enough to wrap her head around without add
ing things.
She reached for a package of Nutty Buddies from her carry-on, instead, and squeezed open the bag. She plopped two cookies into her mouth and chewed slowly. She held the bag out to Zale as a peace offering, but he shook his head.
“No thanks. I’m not hungry.”
Adrian took the cookie bag instead, fishing inside for a handful. “You’re not hungry for a reason, bro, and I know why. You’re being unreasonable. Not ten minutes ago we had the hottest ‘all about you’ sex with a woman we each can’t stop thinking about. The woman we just asked to be our mate. What do you do? You get your back up at a few simple questions. And you wonder why Valerie isn’t creaming in her pants over the idea of a forever threesome with us.”
Zale grumbled, but at least he stopped scowling. “Valerie knowing about the Draakki complicates matters. It’s not like either of us anticipated a past enemy on the cusp of rejoining our clan.” His gaze slipped to Valerie’s face, but he didn’t say more.
“Our battle has been academic until now. It’s go-time, bro. If we want the elders to support us after so long, we have to show a unified front and the ability to deal.” Adrian reached for another bag of Nutty Buddies and tossed them to Zale.
He caught the snack with one hand, eyeing his omega. “What do we do?”
“We head to our room, and while we wait for the tides to turn, we tell the woman of our dreams whatever it is she wants to know.” Adrian gave Val a wink. “Considering she doesn’t know much about either of us, it’s only fair.”
Zale growled again, but this time it was subdued. The tight set to his jaw was gone. He reached for the stop button on the lift and released it. The elevator whirred, immediately resuming its climb.
“I never think to bring snacks,” Adrian said, watching Zale open the bag of cookies. “Good idea.”
Val shrugged. “Lots of road trips as a child teaches you to pack provisions.” She angled her head, watching Zale.
“You two need to stop scrutinizing me while I eat. I’m not sharing, so don’t ask. Nutty Buddies are an Alpha’s privilege.”
Adrian grinned. “The mighty alpha of the Gemini and his Achilles’ heel. A packet of processed peanut crunchies.”
“You don’t know what’s good.” Zale emptied the entire snack bag into his mouth, mumbling as he chewed.
“Dude!” Adrian punched his arm. “Manners!”
“Ow! What?”
Adrian shook his head. “That’s Zale’s brand of charm. Like gold, you gotta pan for what’s worth keeping.”
“Will you two get off me so we can talk about what’s important?” He swallowed, crumpling the empty bag in his hand. “Has Aggie told you anything about Oloris? Or our connection to the Draakki?”
Valerie shook her head.
“Okay, then. Good. We can work with that.”
The elevator stopped at the seventh floor, and the doors slid open. The three got out and turned for the suite at the far end of the corridor.
“She did tell me shifters had been part of the surface world for millennia. I’m not sure if that counts for anything.”
Adrian and Zale exchanged a look.
“Is that wrong?” she questioned.
“No, not exactly.”
“Not exactly?” She slapped her forehead. “Seriously. If either of you says those three words one more time.”
“Sorry, love.” Zale smirked, blowing her a kiss. “Aggie’s explanation isn’t wrong, just incomplete. The truth is your surface world served as a sort of penal colony. Oloris elders used it as a place of exile for criminals.”
“Criminals. As in break the law and get deported?” she looked from one to the other.
Adrian lifted a hand halfway. “Not exact—” He caught himself and shot her a sheepish grin. “Not for murderers and such. More like criminals of the state. Acts of treason. Aggie was exiled to the surface because she failed to save a Draakki prince from his own stupidity. Indentured servitude. She served her sentence until she found a way to free Soren.”
“Soren Draakki.” Zale grimaced. “It was his scent I thought I recognized at your friend’s townhouse.”
A lump formed in Valerie’s throat. Soren was Hannah’s mate. The man who made Hannah so happy she squeaked. He was Zale and Adrian’s enemy. Valerie’s heart sank as Aggie’s words came back in a heated rush.
If you want the Gemini, it might mean a choice you don’t want to make. It will test you.
Double fuck on toast.
Why did the fates always mess with her when something good came into her life? And why would Aggie not tell her? Did the old woman lie outright, or was it just a lie of omission?
“Valerie, are you paying attention?” Zale waved a hand in front of her face. “You’re the one who asked about this.”
She exhaled, giving him a quick nod. “Sorry. You were saying?”
“As much as I despise the Draakki,” he continued, “Soren is not the reason the Gemini are at war with his clan.”
Adrian nodded in agreement. “It’s because of Soren’s sister, Calliope.”
Valerie’s lips parted as she looked at Adrian but didn’t say a word. He was quick to read her face, and quickly shook his head.
“No, love. It’s not what you think. All this happened way before our time. Calliope completed the triad for the alpha and omega that came before us.” He looked at Zale, hesitating.
“Calliope was Zale’s mother. Our custom holds that a single triad male must be born of the completed triad that came before. The other is chosen by the elders according to the stars.”
“So Soren Draakki is your uncle?” she replied, taken aback. “What happened that caused such hatred between you?”
Zale glanced at the floor before looking up again. “Calliope was in love. Happy to be the chosen of a Gemini triad. Or so we were taught.”
“But?”
He shrugged. “Her father wasn’t. Ores was a prideful man who ruled the Draakki with an iron fist. He refused to let his daughter join their triad. He said the Gemini custom of a sacred threesome was immoral. Her father dug in his heels, and in essence, doomed an entire generation because of his pride.”
“You remember what we said about how a triad works?” Adrian asked. “What the consequences are if things go south for an existing triad?”
Valerie nodded.
“The Gemini elders arranged for Calliope to be kidnapped. Of course, she knew about the plan ahead of time. It was a ruse. She wanted to be part of our clan, to join her lovers in their triad, but when her father learned she was gone,” Zale crooked his fingers, “he declared war.”
“Oh, God. Your poor mother.”
Zale nodded, his expression softening at her compassion. “For a solid year both clans sacrificed so much blood, but when Calliope gave birth to me, that was the end. Her father arranged to have her poisoned.”
“Zale, too.” Adrian scowled. “It wasn’t enough he ordered his own daughter murdered. He signed his grandson’s death warrant as well.”
Valerie’s shock was palpable.
“I lived.” Zale’s face hardened again. “My mother didn’t.”
“The triad was broken,” Adrian continued. “The elders performed the rites as soon as they were able, and I was chosen as the omega. The elders concealed us from the Draakki until we were old enough to travel.
“By then Soren had been cursed into some book by the sirens in the Theradian Woods. Aggie was the Draakki seer then. Their Dracosarra. From what we know, she warned Soren not to stick his dick in dark places, but he didn’t listen.” Adrian shrugged. “Because Aggie didn’t prevent what happened to him, she was exiled to the surface, bound to poverty and pain until she found the one who could break the curse.”
Zale’s face softened a bit. “My grandmother, Ariadne, didn’t want me harmed. I was all she had left of Calliope, so she made a pact with the Gemini elders. She knew she could never have me with her. Not only was I the son of her husband’s sworn enemy, but I was also the
alpha of the next Gemini triad. She agreed to allow Aggie to take me and Adrian to the surface, where she would watch over us until we could safely return to Oloris.”
“So why is it safe now? Because of me?” Valerie asked.
Adrian nodded. “Partly. I also think Aggie has found a way for this feud to end.” He frowned at Zale. “If someone could learn to keep his tailfin steady, instead of thrashing at the slightest fire.”
Valerie dropped her gaze.
“Aggie asked us to come to the townhouse that day, but it wasn’t just to meet you,” Adrian paused. “Your friend. The one recently mated to an Oloris shifter. She wouldn’t happen to be the reason Zale sensed a Draakki in the house?”
Valerie wasn’t going to lie. “You might as well know. Hannah is mated to Soren Draakki. I already knew the story about his curse, but I didn’t know about you, or your feud.”
Zale’s face was conflicted, even as he unlocked the door to their room. He walked in, not bothering with the light, and paced back and forth in front of the bed.
“Sit down, Zale. Stressing isn’t going to fix this,” Adrian pointed to the edge of the bed. “Valerie doesn’t know enough about the feud to be in any real danger. Soren has been gone from Aelantedes too long to be in a position to cause trouble. Valerie has a bond with his mate, and that might prove an unexpected blessing.”
Zale was relatively quiet, considering. He hadn’t reacted the way she expected. He didn’t explode or go all scary shifter. Not a growl or flare, and none of that weird shadow shimmer that made his skin and eyes glow. Adrian was calm, as usual, though his eyes were troubled. They weren’t unreasonable cavemen. Both men were concerned for her well-being. Her life and her happiness. Even so, she wasn’t about to put herself between a rock and a hard place.
“Listen,” Valerie began. “Aggie and Sam expect us at the docks at the ass crack of dawn, so we need to settle this matter. If we can’t, then I’m heading back to the airport—”
Her words fell short in her mouth and tasted like vinegar. Despite her doubts and the clash of personalities, she couldn’t deny the swirl of emotion that choked her at the thought of leaving.
Taming their Tailfins: Howls Romance Page 5