by Dakota Brown
I turned my head and kissed Doc gently. "Yeah, definitely love you, too."
"Good." Nikolai nodded, as if something had been settled, though I wasn't sure what.
The warm feeling in my chest remained even after Nikolai slowly slid out of me and stood.
Now that I could think about something other than two of the men who had claimed me, the raging storm outside caught my attention. The canvas shifted with the wind that howled around us.
Though plenty warm, I shivered. "Ed and Allan?"
"Not back yet," Doc said. "They'll be okay."
Doc sounded certain and I didn't feel any alarm through our pack bond, so I put my worry for the rest of my pack out of my mind. We saw to necessities and then crawled into bed, still naked, limbs tangled around each other, and I fell fast asleep.
∞ ∞ ∞
I woke after a few hours when the wolves returned and hopped up on the bed. One of them lay on top of me and rested his head between my breasts. I buried my hands in his fur, shivering for a moment as a little snow melted between my skin and the wolf's fur. The other pressed in between Nikolai and me. The mage put his arms around the wolf, though he still kept contact with me, too. Content, I drifted back to sleep until the next morning.
Waking up in a giant puppy pile of my guys was definitely my favorite way to wake up. Usually the wolves, at least, were up making breakfast before I woke up, but there was no real way to accomplish that yet, so everyone was still in bed. Someone had gotten warm and kicked the covers mostly off last night, and to be fair, with two werewolves, even in human form, practically laying on top of me, I wasn't cold. Nikolai was wrapped around Allan though he still had a leg hooked over mine. Ed still lay mostly sprawled across me and Doc was pressed up against Ed and me.
I sighed contently, though my full bladder was sort of becoming an issue. Still, I didn't want to move.
After a while, I noticed Ed staring at me, lips turned up.
"Morning," I said.
He grinned.
"How was your run?"
"Good," Allan answered for both of them. "Nice to have Ed with me for a change."
"How was your evening?" Ed asked slyly.
"Um, good." My cheeks colored and my body tightened as last nights' activities surfaced in my mind.
"Just good? You two need to work harder if her evening was just good," Ed chided.
Nikolai grunted in annoyance. Doc laughed quietly.
I could tell Nikolai wanted to say something biting in reply, but he kept his comment to himself.
"You're expecting me to be eloquent before caffeine?" I poked Ed in the shoulder. "Last night was great. Do you want details?"
Ed studied me for a minute before grinning. "Maybe later. Right now," he slid a hand up my side before cupping one of my breasts, "I want breakfast."
I shivered under his touch, before thinking he was going to abandon me for food again. Raising my eyebrows, I was about to grumble at him, when he took my other breast in his mouth.
"Oh," I gasped.
Clearly, the guys wanted to catch up with me, too. I think Nikolai had healed me last night after Doc had fed from me. At least, I didn't feel tired or sore from our activities, so he must have, and I had zero objections to Ed's attention.
Allan claimed my lips while Ed worked his way lower.
Someone's phone buzzed and Doc cursed. I lost track of him and Nikolai as Allan and Ed worked my body. I wanted to reciprocate, but with both of them touching me, my mind swam. Neither acted bothered.
Ed went to work with his tongue, while Allan focused on my breasts. My hips rocked and I moaned, encouraging Ed to continue. I finally got some semblance of control over my hands and I dug my fingers into Allan's back, my other hand gripping the sheets as I panted.
It didn't take long before I was crying out as my body responded to their ministrations.
"Hmm, good breakfast," Ed purred.
We lay there for a few more minutes before Allan and Ed both got up. I cast Nikolai's cleaning spell and buried myself back under the covers, not ready to get up after that.
"Sleepyhead," Nikolai whispered, pulling me into his arms, though he left the comforter around me. "Hungry?"
"For food?"
"Yes."
I pulled the comforter down and looked him, grinning. "What's for breakfast?"
"Not as good as usual, but managed cereal and milk."
"Works for me." I finally climbed out of bed, ignored all the eyes on me as I dressed, and went outside into the snowstorm to find a tree. Magic kept me warm and dry, but this wasn't going to be a great solution for very long. I hoped the guys thought of something better soon. The yurt itself was fantastic.
"What's the plan for today?" I asked after I had scarfed a bowl of cereal and climbed back onto the bed since I didn't want to sit on the floor.
"Well, it's still snowing. Deputy Morrison wants to talk to us at some point but said to wait until the snow stopped. I have no idea where you stand on homework, but you might want to check on that," Doc answered.
"Ugh. Yeah. Exams. Shit." I tried out a few Russian curses and earned a nod of approval from Nikolai. "At least everything is online. Though, it feels a bit weird thinking about school when Ash is still a prisoner."
The guys nodded.
"We want him back with us, too," Allan said. "We miss having him around. Even if he is grumpy."
"Can you blame him?" Resigned to focusing on school, I glanced around for my bag and found it in the corner. My phone and my tablet were in there.
"No," Doc agreed with me.
Allan, anticipating what I needed, handed it to me. I gave him a grateful smile. First, I answered a few texts, checking in with Victoria and Mom, then I turned on the tablet and hoped that, somehow, I wasn't super behind on homework.
Chapter 5
Doc
Spending the entire weekend basically snowed in with the guys and Sofia had been a fantastic way to end the holiday week. Though he dreaded dealing with Deputy Morrison after he was done with classes for the day, at least nothing unfortunate had happened over the weekend. Doc acted almost relaxed for the first time in months.
Nikolai chose to stay up at the yurt and work on some form of kitchen, now that Sofia was more than capable of taking care of herself. The two mages had spent a fair bit of time in her grove making sure she had a good grasp on at least some of the knowledge the demon had left her, and Nikolai claimed to have learned a few things from Sofia in the process.
Though Doc wasn't sure why the demon had been so generous, he suspected it was on purpose, and probably had to do with her desire to see the Andersons nuked because of what they had done to her and Sofia, and probably Ash, too.
What to do about Ash?
Doc didn't expect the Andersons to let their pet demon out of their sight anytime soon now that they'd broken the bonds on the more powerful demon. Beyond having promised to free Ash if possible—which it now was—Doc hated to see anyone being controlled by someone else. He also missed having Ash around. Hopefully, they could do something for him soon.
They had all gotten up early enough that he could get Sofia, Ed, and Allan dropped off with time to hit the dining hall before class, so he headed to his office instead of his first classroom.
The administrative area of the history building was quiet, and he hadn't expected to run into anyone, let alone Stacy Guen, the head of the history department, and Fred Meyers, the dean of the entire college. They were both seated in the small waiting area outside the cluster of professor offices. Alarm bells went off in his mind.
He tended to keep his extra senses locked down while around lots of people, like on campus, because that much information about the world around him usually did one of two things, made it harder to pass as fully human as his body compensated for the information by getting closer to his vampire side, or got really disorientating.
Carefully, he stretched out his senses, hoping the two of them were alone. He didn't det
ect anyone else, and it was pretty hard to hide from a vampire. Even with Nikolai's impressive invisibility spell, Doc still usually had a vague sense that someone else was present, though that could have been their pack bond interfering with Nikolai's spell.
He was almost on top of them when Stacy glanced his direction. Her heart skipped a beat and her pulse raced in surprise, though she managed to look only slightly startled. Fred didn't react as strongly. Doc reined in his powers a bit, not wanting to freak Stacy out if she were unusually sensitive. Some people were.
"Roy." She and Frank stood. The administration never used his nickname and sometimes it was weird to hear his given name, he had gotten so used to everyone calling him Doc.
"Hello, Stacy. Frank." He tried to keep his voice casual, as if he had no reason to be worried about their visit.
"Do you have a few minutes?" Frank asked, though it wasn't really a question coming from the dean.
"Of course." Doc gestured to his office, which he unlocked. He dropped his bag onto his desk and leaned against the wall. "What can I do for you?"
"Um," Stacy traded a glance with Frank, her breathing elevated. Frank's eyes were dilated, too. They were both nervous. That didn't bode well.
Frank sighed. "Roy, we've had a complaint from the community."
Doc arched an eyebrow. He could guess who, he just hoped it hadn't been anything close to the truth. Of course, if the Andersons had accused him of being a vampire, the sunbeam he currently stood in from the office window might cast some doubt on that. He suspected if the Andersons had gone that far, Stacy and Frank wouldn't be here confronting him alone. He hoped.
"A complaint?" He prompted when they didn't continue.
"They said you're not human. That you're a mage," Stacy answered words coming out in a rush.
He couldn't help the relieved breath that escaped his lips. Mage he could deal with. He'd been half afraid they would have used Sofia against him. That might have been awkward, but probably survivable. This was both easier and harder to deal with. At least the Andersons hadn't tried to out him as a vampire, they probably were still afraid of him.
"A mage?" He arched an eyebrow, putting as much disbelief in his voice as he could manage.
"Yes."
"Okay?" He shrugged. "Do you want me to deny it? Do you want me to protest? What are you looking for?"
"Well, of course you deny it," Frank said, though Doc hadn't actually denied anything. "But we'll have to suspend you while we conduct an investigation."
"An investigation?" Fortunately, Doc's current identity would hold up to a pretty extensive check if an investigation only checked paper trails. If they started talking to people who might know him, things would eventually crack open. He could be long gone by that point, but that was less than ideal.
"Yes. We can't have a mage teaching at our school."
Doc laughed. "I'm pretty sure there isn't anything in the handbook that says it's illegal."
Frank and Stacy traded a glance. Doc was right, he knew it. They didn't actually have much legal ground to stand on, if Doc was willing to put up with whatever process they invented. Perhaps they'd been counting on him cutting and running? Of course, if they decided he was a mage, Doc had no legal ground to stand on at all.
"You've both known me what, five years now?" He thought it had been five years. "Does anything about the last five years make you think I'm a magic user?"
They both shook their heads.
"How are you going to investigate? Attack me with magic and see if I defend myself?" He crossed his arms and tried not to glare too hard at them.
"Well, your background..."
Doc cut Frank off. "I passed a background check when I was hired. Nothing has changed. What makes you think you'd find anything new?"
They traded another uneasy glance. Clearly this wasn't going the way they had expected, or been led to expect.
"Let me explain something to you. I'm betting your information comes from some rather prominently rich members of our community, potentially even donors to the college?"
Frank and Stacy's uneasy glances were getting almost comical, but he could tell he'd struck the right nerve.
"I'm not going to name any names, but we all know who I'm talking about. They don't like me. They're trying to use you to get to me. I'm going to tell you why they don't like me, and you can take that information as you will. I have something they want." He stretched his arms out so his beaded cuffs were visible, hoping they would take the hint that the cuffs were what the Andersons were after. He had no doubt if they could get their hands on the magical artifact that did actually allow him to cast magic when he hadn't recently ingested mage blood, they would be ecstatic. "Family heirloom." He made it more obvious. "I've been unwilling to give in to their demands, so they're coming after me in other ways."
Stacy frowned as she studied the intricate designs on the cuffs. "Why would they want something like that so badly? They are beautiful, and probably culturally significant, but they're not Native so why would it matter?"
Doc hesitated, wondering how far he should go, then shrugged. Maybe this would help, maybe it would be the nail in the coffin. Maybe it wouldn't end up mattering. If they did free Ash the Andersons were going to completely lose their shit anyway.
He held out his hand and formed a small ball of energy over his hand. The lights danced dark blue and lavender as he was using both Sofia's and Nikolai's magic at the moment.
"They were my mother's. They store a small amount of magic, so, no, I'm not a mage, but I can do a little magic."
Both Stacy and Frank's jaws dropped. Maybe the demonstration had been too much?
"These very rich, but nameless complainers, happen to be a family of actual mages. They want my little heirloom for their collection." He pulled the magic back into the cuffs. "Unfortunately for them, I think its power is tied to my bloodlines anyway. No one else has been able to get them to work. And I'm not willing to give them up."
They were completely derailed with his little demonstration and his counter accusation.
"If they're mages..."
"They're too powerful. Don't go after them, don't even think about it. Leave them alone and eventually things will settle out." Doc knew events had moved too far for that tactic to work, but there was no point in dragging the college into their little war.
"They want you gone."
Doc nodded. "Clearly." He thought quickly. What could he offer them that might make it easier on everyone? He liked his job here, but he didn't strictly have to have it. On the other hand, he didn't want to give up anything to the Andersons that he didn't have to. They'd already taken enough. "What about this, the semester is almost over—no sense in disrupting classes—I'll take a leave of absence next semester, and if things haven't worked themselves out by then, we can reopen this conversation." Doc backed his suggestion with the barest hint of vampiric power. They didn't really want to let him go, or they would have simply fired him. A quiet nudge would be completely undetectable, even by magical means. He'd discovered that in the past.
He knew everything would be settled by the spring, probably even before the end of the year. No one was going to let this conflict drag out any longer than they had to. The longer the Andersons were on the loose, the longer they had to mess things up for Ed, Allan, and Sofia, or cause Nikolai to do something everyone would regret. Doc suspected the Russian had the potential to be very destructive if pushed far enough, and right now he probably wasn't to far from the edge of outright and very visible conflict.
"Roy, you must understand we have to do what is best for the college," Frank said.
Doc nodded.
"Frank, I think Roy's suggestion is a good one. It leaves us the most options," Stacy said.
"Very well, Roy. Enjoy your semester off. We'll get you the paperwork to sign for your leave. If you have any questions about how it affects your benefits or anything, please let us know."
Doc waved his hand dismissively. H
e didn't care. It probably would affect Ed and Allan's tuition, but that really wasn't an issue, either. There were far more immediate things for him to worry about.
Both of them shot another glance at the magical cuffs before taking their leave.
Once his office door was shut, Doc collapsed into his chair and stared at the ceiling.
"Fuck."
The Andersons really had to go.
Chapter 6
Sofia
Though I had hoped to see Ash at class, I wasn't completely surprised that he wasn't present. The depth of my disappointment surprised me, despite knowing he probably wouldn't be there. We would have nabbed him right away, and I wanted to see him. The demon was probably the only thing keeping the Andersons safe right now. While he'd come after us before, under their direction, he hadn't had any real ambition behind the attacks.
I suspected that if the Andersons unleashed him on us now, he'd have some pretty clear and lethal instructions. I sort of wondered why they hadn't gone that route yet. Maybe they still weren't sure they could defeat us, even with Ash?
I suspected, with as closely as Nikolai and I were able to meld our powers, and as much knowledge as the demon had left me, we could stand against Ash. It wouldn't be easy, but we could hold him off. That left Doc, Ed and Allan to handle however many mages they had left and whatever else they wanted to throw at us. It probably would be a pretty tough fight. A big confrontation would get a lot of attention from the authorities, too.
Attention. That thought sparked another idea...what if we could get some attention. Maybe that's what we needed. We needed people to notice the Andersons. The right people. I'd talk to Victoria next time we were alone. Maybe her contacts could help. Had things gone far enough that it was worth the risk?
I didn't know. I'd have to bring the guys in on this conversation.
Doc looked preoccupied when I came into class, though his expression lightened when he saw me.