by Maggie Walsh
“Okay. I like that better, too,” Jesse said with a smile.
“Me, too. It suits you more. Bastian, I like it,” Taylor said with a wink.
Noah smiled at them both and grabbed a piece of bacon off the tray. He popped it in his mouth and moaned as his eyes closed.
Taylor laughed. “He likes bacon.”
“Yeah, I got that with the moan,” Bastian said, his voice husky. Noah looked at him in shock at the tone of Bastian’s voice.
“Anyway,” Taylor said. “He has never had bacon before and he likes it.”
“You’ve never had bacon before, baby?” Storm asked as he, Micah, and Gabriel walked into the room. Storm walked over to his mates and kissed each of them on the head, and then he sat in the chair next to them. Micah sat next to Jesse and gave him a light kiss. Gabriel sat down next to Taylor and kissed his cheek. Taylor stood up and sat on Gabriel’s lap. He cuddled into him and kissed the underside of his chin. Gabriel’s eyes closed and he moaned.
Noah shook his head at Storm’s question and reached out and snatched up another piece and popped it in his mouth.
“May I ask a question?” Micah asked.
“You just did, big guy,” Taylor snickered. Micah threw a piece of toast at him, causing Taylor to duck away and laugh.
Storm laughed at their antics. “What’s your question, Micah?”
“Noah, why can’t you speak except for one word here and there? And I thought the fae had wings, but I don’t see any wings on you,” Micah asked him. Noah looked at Taylor. They stared at each other and Taylor nodded his head every once in a while.
Taylor turned his attention to Bastian and Storm. “He came here to this plane about six years ago. He had his mate dream. When fae have their mate dream, it’s like their calling to find their mate. He went to his king and asked permission to come here to look. His king gave his permission and his blessing. So he came here in search of his mates. His mate dream told him he would have two. When he got here, he stepped out of the time portal and said the spell that his king taught him. He told Noah that the humans weren’t used to seeing people with wings, so he taught him a spell to make them fade while he was here. He also taught him another to make them reappear. He had just chanted the spell and made them disappear when he was grabbed by a rogue. It was Christoph. He didn’t know what a rogue vampire was then. They took him to the dungeon and that’s where he was kept this whole time. He didn’t speak our language. He spoke fae. He learned our language from listening to his captors and the other slaves. But he wasn’t allowed to speak very much, so he knows what he wants to say, but it’s hard for him to actually voice it. He gets confused sometimes with which word he’s looking for, so he tries to say what’s closest to what he wishes to tell us. He has tried a few times to make his wings reappear in hopes it would help him escape, but whatever the doctor gave him, made his magic go away, so he hasn’t been able to get his wings back,” Taylor explained and then looked to Noah as if to ask if he explained that right. Noah smiled at him and nodded his head.
“So this Christoph has held you captive for six years? Right here in my own backyard?” Storm asked with pain in his eyes. Noah reached out and lightly touched his cheek as he nodded at Storm’s question. Storm blew out a frustrated sigh. “We need to kill that motherfucker,” Storm said angrily. “We have to find him and kill him.” Noah’s eyes went wide in fear at Storm’s words. He started to shake and the bacon he had eaten was threatening to come back up.
“No, no, no cutie,” Taylor said to Noah. “There is no safer place for you right now than with your mates. Christoph won’t get you. We will all do whatever it takes to protect you and my brother-in-law,” Taylor said gently.
“What?...What is he saying?” Bastian asked Taylor. He was in a panic thinking his mate was going to run, maybe back to his own plane to hide from the rogue. Noah hung his head, hiding his face and the tears that were forming in his eyes.
“He’s very afraid of Christoph. That guy is a sadistic bastard. But he’s more afraid of the doctor and Master. If Christoph gets a hold of him, he will take him back to the Master, then the doctor will start his experiments on Noah again,” Taylor explained with tears in his eyes.
“We’ll never let them get you again, baby,” Storm said with conviction and reached out and cupped Noah’s face. “I promise you.”
“Raffy was telling us about some of the experiments they did to you all. I’m sorry you had to go through that, Noah. But your mate is right. We will all do everything in our power to protect you and Raffy and stop Master from coming anywhere near either of you again,” Micah said to Noah. “We don’t know how Christoph got out of that dungeon, but we plan on finding him and killing him.”
“We need him to tell us who this pig Master is first. Then we rip him apart.” Storm growled.
Both Bastian and Noah reached out to Storm and wrapped their arms around him. He wrapped one arm around each of them and hugged them tight. He could smell both of his mates, and the combination of both their scents mixing together had Storm hard as a rock in seconds. Bastian pulled back slightly and looked at Storm, his eyebrows furrowed. “The heat is starting isn’t it?” Bastian questioned Storm.
“No, Bastian, it’s just the conversation making my blood pressure rise. That’s all,” Storm said, then cleared his throat and pulled away from them.
“Don’t,” Bastian said angrily. His face was tight with anger as his eyes bore right into Storm’s soul.
“Don’t what, Bastian? I’m fine,” Storm said tightly, without looking at his mates, then reached out and grabbed his glass of orange juice and took a sip.
“Don’t you dare fucking lie to me again. I thought we already had this conversation. You promised you would never lie to me again, no matter how big or small the situation was. So spill it now, or find another mate,” Bastian spit out with so much anger, that Noah slid off his lap and moved over to Jesse, without Bastian even realizing he moved.
“You’re scaring Noah, Bastian. Just take it easy. We’ll discuss this later,” Storm said calmly and looked at Bastian pointedly.
But Bastian was too far gone. He was mad beyond words and beyond all reasoning. He stood up slowly, without taking his angry gaze off Storm. “I’ll see you around sometime, Leader Winthrope. I hope you and your mate live happily ever after,” Bastian said icily. He stepped away from the table but Storm grabbed his arm, stopping him.
“Beauty, stop. I just wanted us to discuss it later, that’s all. I didn’t want to frighten, Noah,” Storm explained calmly.
“Noah, deserves the truth, too. How are we to keep him safe if we keep him in the dark? This is a tri-mating, Storm. Not Storm and then Bastian and Noah. I told you if you ever lied to me again, I would leave you. I was serious, Storm,” Bastian bit out.
“As a heart attack,” Taylor mumbled. Bastian and Storm looked to him. “I didn’t mean it as a joke. I just meant that Bastian is that serious, Storm. He’s not kidding. He has already made plans to leave and go off to another pack. He’s already contacted them. They’re looking for enforcers. Especially ones that know about the rogues,” Taylor said to Storm icily.
Storm quickly turned his head back to Bastian. “Beauty, no,” he pleaded.
“I told you already, Storm, I won’t be in a relationship where someone lies to me, or hides things from me. It’s the truth always or nothing.” Bastian yanked his arm out of Storm’s grasp and started to head out of the room. He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard an anguished cry. He turned to see his Noah, wrapped in Jesse’s arms, crying.
“Are you happy now, Sebastian?” Storm bit out, his voice getting louder as he jumped up from his seat. “You’ve upset Noah. You’ve scared him. Which is what I was trying to avoid!” Storm was yelling now.
Bastian looked at Noah with tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just…” He stopped speaking as his emotions overtook him. He dropped to his knees and covered his face wit
h his hands. Storm walked over to him and gently placed a hand on Bastian’s shoulder. But Bastian pulled away. Storm sighed heavily and knelt down next to him.
“Beauty…” He stopped when Bastian growled at him.
“Screw you, Storm. Screw you,” Bastian said on a sob and looked at Storm. “Don’t you dare make this my fault. Don’t you dare blame me for this. This is all you. I was the one who kept looking for Noah. I was the one who knew he was out there on that fucking vineyard. You wanted to look everywhere else. You wouldn’t listen to me. You wouldn’t believe me. No, instead you lied to me. You said you were sorry. You said you would never lie to me again, no matter what, and here you are lying to me again. But we both know who breaks their promises in this relationship don’t we? You. You’ve broken quite a few promises to me already, and you’ve already broken promises to Noah, too. But instead of placing the blame where it should be and suffering the consequences of your actions, you put the blame on me. Nice job, mate.” Bastian spit out that last word.
“Stop...please...stop,” Noah cried out from Jesse’s arms. Bastian and Storm looked to him and they both deflated when they saw the tears rolling down his face.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Bastian said and held out his hand for Noah. Noah slowly pulled away from Jesse and went to Bastian. He knelt down on the floor in front of him and they wrapped their arms around each other. Bastian held Noah tight. Noah looked at Storm and found the man fighting the tears that were threatening to fall from his moist eyes. Noah held out his hand to Storm. Storm drew in a quick breath of surprise, but then he took Noah’s hand and moved closer beside both his mates. Noah wrapped an arm around Storm’s neck and Storm wrapped his arms around both of his mates. Bastian tensed up at the touch, and Storm dropped his arm from around him.
“Okay, I’ve seen and heard enough,” Taylor said and stood up. He placed his hands on his hips and glared at Storm. “All three of you, get your sorry asses off that floor and into Storm’s office. Now. This all ends now. All the misunderstandings and miscommunications, and the all-out pig-headedness.” Taylor looked to Storm.
Storm looked at Taylor in surprise. “I don’t know if you realize this or not, Taylor, but this is my pride. I give the orders here. I am the leader. The equivalent of your Alpha. You will speak to me with respect,” Storm bit out.
Taylor looked at him in boredom. “Are you done? Or is this lecture going to go on some more? I can wait, but can you?” Taylor lifted his hand and started to inspect his nails. “Your heat is rising. You’re starting to lose control and your thinking is getting fuzzy,” Taylor looked at him again. “So do you want to put your big girl panties on and fix this, or do you want to be right? The blue pill or the red pill, which will he choose?” Taylor said and headed out of the room.
Gabriel, Micah, and Jesse all snickered and stood up to follow Taylor. “You gotta love him.” Micah laughed, whispering to Jesse as they left the room.
Storm just knelt there in shock watching them all leave. Bastian stood up, helping Noah to his feet. He wrapped his arm around Noah’s waist and headed for the door. “What the hell happened?” Storm said to the empty room and stood. He followed them out of the room.
* * * *
Storm walked into his office to find Micah and Jesse sitting on one sofa, Bastian sitting in a chair, with Noah in his lap, again. Gabriel was standing behind his chair, which Taylor was lounging in. His chair, behind his desk, with his feet up on his desk, ankles crossed and hands behind his head, and he was wearing a shit-eating grin on his face. Storm wanted to smack that smirk right off his face.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Taylor said with amusement in his tone.
Storm stopped walking for a moment and then continued in. He walked over to his desk and circled around it. He looked down at Taylor. “By all means, make yourself at home. In my chair, in my office, in my house, on my lands.”
“Oh wa-wa, ya big baby,” Taylor said with a smirk and then dropped his legs from Storm’s desk and sat up. “I was only trying to get your goat.” Taylor stood up and grabbed Gabriel’s hand. They walked over to the other sofa and Taylor sat on Gabriel’s lap.
Storm huffed and sat in his chair behind his desk. “Why we couldn’t do this where we were is beyond me. It’s all the same people in here as there was in there,” Storm huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked at Taylor as if he wanted to kill him.
Gabriel started to growl, but Taylor rubbed his back against Gabriel’s front and Gabriel stopped. But he kept a sharp gaze on Storm. “I could kill you right now, in a heartbeat if I wanted to,” Taylor said coldly, but then he smiled. “But I don’t want to. I wouldn’t want to cause Bastian and Noah that kind of grief.”
“Can we get this over with?” Storm asked tightly.
Taylor stared at him for a moment and then huffed and sat up straight. “Fine. Note to self, can’t mess with the tiger. He doesn’t like it when you pull his tail.” Taylor stared at him again. “ Okay, first of all, Bastian is right. You can’t have lies and secrets in a mating. It really fucks up the works. Second, Noah does have every right to know what’s going on, no matter what it is. Especially if it has to do with him, his mates, or now his pride,” Taylor said to Storm and then looked at Bastian. “Bastian, I love you, you’re my brother, and that will never change. But what the hell, man? You are going waaaaay overboard here. I know Storm has lied to you before and that sucks, and he said he wouldn’t do it again, but can you blame him for wanting to protect Noah?” Taylor looked at Bastian in question. When all Bastian did was look at him, Taylor continued. “He’s in heat already. It’s making him a little cray cray. He knows Noah is scared of being with the both of you intimately, so he wanted to discuss it with you in private, so Noah wouldn’t get upset, or stressed about it. You went overboard, brother. You could have waited until you were alone and then questioned him, found out his reason for keeping his situation from you. And you, Storm, could have made yourself more clear.” He looked between the two of them and they both were looking down. Guilt was written all over both their faces. “You all need to work on your communication skills. Trust me, I know. Gabriel and I had the same problem once. You of all people should know that, Bastian. You were there. And if I remember correctly, you were the one sitting here making us see clearly.” Taylor stared at Bastian intently, then shifted his gaze to Noah and then Storm. His eyes softened and he sighed. “Bastian, you know that place fucked with your gift. But I’m starting to think it did more than that, because you are not the aggressive type. You are always the Zen one, calm, cool, collected. You see things clearly, even without your gift.” He turned his attention to Storm. “Storm, you have mates now, they are the ones you should be turning to, to help you make the tough decisions. You don’t have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders anymore. Your mates will help you bear the load.” Taylor turned and looked at Noah, and smiled. “And Noah, you don’t have to worry. Your mates are both good men. Honorable men. That would never hurt you. They may both be going through some shit right now, but once you all come together, work together, the three of you will have such a strong bond, that it will be unbreakable. Now, Bastian, apologize to your mate for jumping down his throat,” Taylor said.
Bastian looked between Taylor and Storm, then looked down. “Fine, then I will help your gift,” Taylor said and stood up. He walked over to Bastian and placed a hand on his shoulder as he stared in his eyes. Suddenly Bastian drew in a breath and looked to Storm. He stared at Storm, studying him, then tears formed in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Storm. I didn’t think. I’m not going anywhere,” Bastian said softly.
“Storm, could you come here for a moment please?” Taylor asked softly, and Storm looked at him in surprise. Taylor snickered. “Yes, I do know how to be respectful, but sometimes you need a kick in the ass. Now come here please.”
Storm stood up slowly, he cautiously walked around his desk and over to h
is mates and Taylor. He stopped in front of them. “Good, now each of you put out a hand, one on top of the other,” All three of them held out a hand and placed them together. Taylor laid his hand over theirs and closed his eyes. Suddenly they each flinched and gasped. They looked between each other. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but this isn’t me. Taylor’s right. This person isn’t me,” Bastian whispered in horror. Then suddenly Storm jumped and looked to Bastian. “Oh Beauty, no, that’s not true. I love you, I want you just as much as I want Noah. I want you to take me, to claim me. It’s been driving me crazy that we haven’t done that yet. I told you, I like to switch. I can’t wait to feel you inside me.” Bastian’s eyes started to get misty as he saw and felt the truth to Storm’s words. Then Taylor looked at Noah and Noah gasped. His eyes opened wide, pleading with Taylor to help him. “I got this sweetie. Just think about what you want to say to your mates. They’ll hear you, they will understand you.” Taylor nodded at him and Noah looked at Bastian.
I’m so grateful to Fate for giving me two such strong wonderful mates. Who are also both sexy as hell. Bastian and Storm both smiled at Noah’s thoughts entering their heads. You both make me feel so safe and wanted. I will never pick one of you over the other, Bastian. You have to stop threatening to leave. We are all in this together. You make me feel scared when you say you’re leaving. And Storm, I don’t like Bastian more than you. I like you both the same. Bastian has just been around me more than you this morning. I feel safer when you both are around, but you were busy doing your pride stuff and I wanted to feel the safety of my mates. I’m the one who has been clinging onto Bastian. Not only do I feel safe with you both, but I like to feel you both touching me. It makes me happy to have contact with you. What they did to me was horrible, but I know that’s not you. I know you would never hurt me like that. I want to be with you both, but I don’t know how this works. What to do. Yes, sex makes me nervous because of them, but I so want to feel you both. You just need to be patient with me and show me the way. Show me what love is.