"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"Suddenly she didn't want anything to do with me and our passion, our work. We were cleansing the world of lesser beings, of weak-minded shifters. She lost her vision. All of a sudden she wanted to be a mother." He began to pace, growing agitated. When his back was to me, I motioned to April that she should try to scoot forward. Maybe she could hand Hannah out the barrier, or sort of scoot her to me. When Mar would turn away from her as he ranted, she'd scoot forward a few more feet.
"Eventually, I realized I couldn't get near her. She'd warded herself and her family against me. Oh, you can't imagine my pain, my hurt. She was my fated mate, the other half of my soul," he crooned the last word. However batshit crazy he was, she really had hurt him.
After the images he projected into my mind, I couldn't deny that she'd been seriously messed up. She had needed an insane amount of help, and probably an electric chair.
And she was my mom.
That was something I'd have to deal with later. Probably in therapy.
I kept glancing at April as she tried to move away from Mar.
"I couldn't get to her, but I could use others. I may have lost my attempt to take over as alpha of the mountain shifters, but that didn't mean I lost my innate alpha qualities. You know the hierarchies. Just because I wasn’t the alpha didn't mean I'm not an alpha. I found a woman who really should've been killed years ago. The pitiful creature had one of the weakest minds I'd ever encountered. If your mother and I had happened upon her during our heyday, we would've cleansed the world and removed her from its crust. But, alas, we didn't. So, instead, I used her. I molded her. And when the time was right, I removed your mother from my playing field. Her mind had weakened, I presumed the hormones of childbirth had altered her brain chemistry."
April was moving closer and closer to me.
"My mistake was you. I watched as sweet, stupid Mary shot all three of you, and I watched as your mother died, facing me. As soon as Mary left, I stepped out of the trees, far enough that the protection spell wasn't triggered, but close enough that she would know it had been me. I may not have physically pulled the trigger, but her blood spilled onto the ground by my hand."
"Then, when all three of you lay still on the ground, I left and took my favorite hobby to the humans, carefully cultivating my alpha powers to convince weak-minded humans that they were the ones doing the killing. I never stopped, I simply adapted."
He stopped then, talking himself out of being agitated about my mother. He turned toward us and realized April was nearly to me.
My unicorn pressed at me as he moved. I couldn't hold her back. It happened so fast I couldn't think, only react. My shift surprised Mar, and he stumbled, momentarily crossing the barrier that apparently wasn't made to hold him in, just me out.
My horn sliced into his side, and I jerked my head up, driving it deep between his ribs. When he gasped, and I felt my head meet the skin of his side, I yanked my head back, pulling him into the clearing with me.
As he moved off of my horn and onto the ground, his shift started. I bleated, shouting as loud as I could for my mates to find a way into the clearing. Roars and growls met my ears as Mar shifted into a grizzled old cat. He was huge, almost as big as Cas when shifted.
Damn. I must not have hit anything vital. His shift would've healed him fast.
I didn't give him time to get his bearings or his body time to heal his wound. Barreling straight at his side, head down, I felt my horn sink into his side, but this time I kept going, pushing him toward the barrier, hoping to push him out so that Cas could deal with him.
Before we made it to the treeline, he got his wits about him and reached around, swiping at me with his enormous claws.
Screaming through the pain of his claws repeatedly digging into my shoulder, I kept pushing, but I was slowing down. My left front leg was pouring blood and I limped forward, still pressing him toward the barrier. Finally, I couldn't go any farther. My front legs collapsed, and Mar slipped off of my horn, getting to his feet and facing me. Instead of attacking me, though, he slowly padded toward April and Hannah. April jumped to her feet, backing away until she hit the barrier like a brick wall. She screamed. "Help," she called. "Someone!"
Mar snarled at her, and something in me clicked. I understood, with perfect clarity, that I could do what I needed to do. My pain disappeared, and a golden glow surrounded me. April stopped screaming as she gaped at me.
The sudden shift in April's demeanor was enough to get Mar to turn around and face me again. His intelligent brown eyes narrowed and he stalked forward. Lowering my head, I grabbed the part of me that I hadn't known existed. Until he'd physically threatened my child, I'd felt it there, but never understood what it was. I was a unicorn, mother fucker. I was magic.
Golden energy shot from my horn as I ran forward, head down. It hit Mar directly in his face, throwing his body back and lifting him up. This time when my horn entered him, it felt like a hot knife slicing into soft butter.
It was so easy. So satisfying. I pushed the energy into his body and he screamed, the sound of a mountain cat filling the air, deafening and painful.
And just like that, it was over. He fell off of me, defeated. I heard snarls in the distance, the wolves had found something. A scream split the mountain air, then all was silent.
April pushed forward, the barrier gone, and fell to her knees at my side. Funny, I hadn't realized I wasn't on my feet.
"Shhh, Leola, it's okay. I'll take care of you." Tears fell from her eyes rapidly, and the last thing I remembered was all three of my mates walking toward me as my sweet infant daughter sobbed in my friend's arms.
Where had Kerry come from?
Thankfully for me, he had. He'd come with Cas and stayed hidden. He was to be a last resort, the ace in the hole. Their strategy was that nobody could know he was there, and worst-case scenario, he'd be there to save us after the battle.
"That was a close call, Leola," Kerry said as my eyes fluttered open. I looked around the room but didn't recognize it.
"Where are we?" I asked softly. Cas and Levon were asleep in chairs in the corner.
"The Academy's hospital suite. You've been asleep for three days. We had to put Hannah on your breast while you slept." He smiled at me, relief and exhaustion written all over his face.
"Have you slept at all?" I asked.
"Not much."
"What happened?"
"Well, that old bat, Sheila, was working with Mar," Cas said. I turned my head and smiled at him. "When the wolves found her, they ripped her to shreds, but by the time they did that, you'd already gone all magical unicorn badass and killed him. You saved us."
Smiling at him, I reached out my hand toward him, realizing how weak I was. "What happened to fast healing?" I asked with a chuckle.
"You were that hurt. His claws went down to your bone and even reached your side, ripping you deeply. I could see some of your organs. It takes a while for that to heal. You're back to normal now, but it might be a while before you're strong again." Kerry smoothed my hair back as he spoke.
"Did you hear his story about my mom?" I whispered, the images of her cutting into shifters hot in my brain.
"That doesn't mean anything," Levon said, rising to walk over to me. He pressed a kiss to my forehead. "We'll help you work through it, I promise."
"Hannah?" I asked. Kerry jumped up and returned in minutes with my happy, kicking baby in his arms. He settled her against me, and I immediately began to nurse her. She settled in as if we'd never been separated.
Now that the big threat on our lives was gone, we never had to be separated again.
Epilogue
"She's finally down for the night," I said as I walked back into Cas's room.
"How is she?" Kerry asked. "Do you want me to go check on her?"
I shook my head. "She's fine, I think. Just still stressed about the past few days." And I didn't blame her. My poor baby had been through such a hor
rible time. She’d been fussy since we’d been home.
I set the baby monitor down on the bedside table and turned back to my mates, dropping my nighty from one shoulder.
"Are you sure?" Kerry asked.
I nodded. "I need to remind myself that we're all safe. This is the easiest way."
"Are you still sore?" Levon shuffled from side to side, no doubt trying to fix the hard cock between his legs. I knew it wouldn't have taken much to turn him on.
”Not really, but I know you'll be careful anyway," I whispered as I pushed my night dress the rest of the way off. It fell to the floor and puddled around my feet.
All three of them stared at me, desire the predominant emotion on their faces. No matter what they tried to tell me, they wanted me just as much as I wanted them. Which was a good thing as far as I was concerned. It meant I'd get what I needed right now.
I closed the small distance to the bed and kneeled down, the springs giving way under me. Going onto all fours, I felt even more vulnerable and exposed than I had before. It didn't matter, hands touched me almost instantly, smoothing over my skin and sending jolts of desire through me.
A moan slipped from my lips.
"Do you trust us?" Cas whispered in my ear.
"Of course," I got out through a whimper.
"Good. Tell us if you want us to stop." He placed a blindfold over my eyes, tightening it at the back of my head with a simple knot. "You can pull it off if you want to," he assured me.
"I don't." Somehow, not being able to see what was going on made the situation feel more intimate. If I hadn't known better, I'd have thought my other senses were going into overdrive, but I knew that was unlikely.
Fingers brushed against my naked calf, leaving tingles in its wake. I groaned and dipped my head, unsure how I was going to be able to cope with what was to come.
Someone placed a finger under my chin and lifted my face. Seconds later, lips touched mine, taking me in a searing kiss that I returned instantly. That was Cas in front of me, then. Not that it would matter. In a moment he'd move, and then I wouldn't know which of them was which any more. I was almost certain that was part of their plan.
Hands creeped up my legs, brushing against the sensitive skin there. Hot breath followed, tickling as the man between my legs worked his way closer to my center. It was then that I realised what they were doing with the blindfold. They were trying to make this all about me. If I couldn't see what was happening, then I couldn't spend my time pleasing them.
"Enough," Cas growled, still in front of me. "Lie on your back, Leola," he requested softly.
I nodded, a little sad that I hadn't reaped the benefits of having a man between my legs yet. Though that would probably change.
One of them leaned in to kiss me, lingering ever so slightly. Kerry. He was always the softest with his kisses.
Hands and lips touched my legs again, moving up my body swiftly, this time settling where I wanted them to. A tongue darted out, languishing attention on the place I wanted it the most. My mate slipped two fingers inside me, curling them upwards at the same time as he flicked his tongue against my clit.
A loud groan escaped from me, which the other two men seemed to take as an invitation.
One of them ran his fingers over my left breast, finding the nipple and pinching it between a thumb and a finger before rolling it around.
It was a good thing I was wearing a blindfold or they'd have seen my eyes rolling back into my head.
Teeth grazed against my other nipple. The man there sucked it into his mouth and used his tongue to flick it back and forth. That, along with the thrust of fingers in my pussy, and the attention on my clit, was too much for me to handle.
Pleasure built within me faster than I'd ever experienced before. Only my mates had ever been able to get this reaction out of me.
"More," I moaned.
One of them chuckled, potentially Levon, but it was hard to focus my mind on anything but the need to explode. I was seconds away, but I wanted to hold off as long as possible. The longer I did, the bigger the ogasm would be. And that was something I always wanted, a big, fat O.
The man between my legs curled his fingers up more as twin bolts of pleasure and pain emanated from my nipples.
It was too much. My whole body began to shake as the pleasure coursed through my veins. There was no stopping it now. I screamed out, jerking slightly as the three of them held me steady. My thoughts disappeared, and I lost all control.
After a few more moments, the intensity faded away, leaving me exhausted and on a huge high.
I reached up and pulled the blindfold off, but just stared at the ceiling instead of searching them out.
They shuffled around so all four of us were lying on the bed, comfortable in each other's arms.
"Are you alright?" Kerry asked.
"Mmhmm."
"You sure?" It was Cas this time, his alpha voice full of concern.
"Just give me a moment," I murmured as I basked in the afterglow of the pleasure they'd caused me.
He chuckled. "Take as many as you need."
A sense of peace came over me in that moment. I had my mates, I had my daughter, and I had the future with them all. And with any other children we had. Something I would cherish every moment of. My life had changed completely the day I came for a hike up the mountain, and I would thank my lucky stars for that every day for the rest of my life.
With nothing more than my family on my mind, I drifted into a deep sleep. We'd have to continue our fun later.
The End
Thank you for reading Leola’s story, this is the final book in her trilogy. If you want to know more about the Magic and Metaphysics Academy, you can in our new trilogy, starting with Magical Mischief: http://books2read.com/magicalmischief - you can read on for an excerpt!
Excerpt: Magical Mischief
Read on for an excerpt from Magical Mischief, book one in the Magic and Metaphysics Academy Trilogy. You can grab a copy here: http://books2read.com/magicalmischief
Passing through the magical barrier went off without an issue. Which was surprising. I'd have thought that there'd be a crackle or a bang or something. I hoped the rest of my time at the academy wouldn't be as disappointing. Surely the teachers would have lots to teach me.
Dad pulled the car to a stop right outside the actual front door. It was so close to the drive that I’d only have to walk a few feet. "Have you got everything you need?"
I rolled my eyes. "You know I do."
"This is hard for us, your mom and I..." He was pitiful, sitting in the driver’s seat, watching his baby go off to college. Not pitiful enough for me to stay, however.
"Had a hard time letting me come here, I know." But it was better than going into my adult life having been home-schooled. Mom and Dad just didn't have time to keep up with my learning anymore, which is how I'd managed to convince them to let me come to Magic and Metaphysics Academy once I'd turned eighteen. I had high hopes for the next three years.
"Your mom says good luck." He beamed at me in his absent-minded way.
"I know." She’d told me that before she went to bed this morning. I did find the fact she worked the nightshift at the zoo amusing. It meant she ended up being stereotypically vampire and sleeping during the day.
"Tallulah..."
"Lou, please, Dad." I really didn't want anyone at the academy to overhear him calling me by my full name. This was my chance to actually make friends, not scare them off with Tallulah.
He shook his head. "Tallulah," he repeated. "We're really proud of you. Please don't forget to keep up with your schoolwork."
Man alive. Why couldn't he just let me out of the car? I didn't want this awkward talk. No one my age did. Dump and run was the preferred way for parents to drop their teenagers off at school, wasn’t it?
"I will, Dad. But I have to go, or else I'll be late for orientation." I was already nervous enough about starting a term later than everyone else, but there'd been no
avoiding it. My parents had been on an expedition to find a species of magical monkey that everyone thought was extinct. It had been fascinating, even more so because they'd actually found information that would help people track the creature down.
"Alright. Your clothes should already be in your room; we sent them ahead."
I smiled fondly at him rather than pointing out that I already knew that. They'd involved me in all their planning, they always did. It was something I appreciated about them. They didn't treat me like I was an incompetent burden, even if they were a bit overprotective sometimes.
"Thanks, Dad." Leaning over, I kissed his cheek, knowing the gesture would go a good way to making him feel less frustrated with me.
"You're welcome, Lou. Call us on Friday." My smile turned into a full beam when he used my preferred nickname.
"I will," I promised, finally seeing my escape on the horizon. I grabbed my bag and unclicked the door handle. "Love you."
"We love you, too." He waved frantically as I exited his car. "Make us proud."
"I'll try."
I swung my backpack over my shoulder and gave him a half-wave before turning around to face the enormous gothic building in front of me. Some people might find it imposing, but not me. I thought it was beautiful. There was a real elegance in the way the stone had been carved so delicately, and yet...wasn't something you'd want to get impaled on.
Huh, slightly macabre thought there. I should try and keep those in check when I’m around other people or they'll think I’m crazy. Of course, my experience had been people thought that anyway when they found out my parents were a vampire and a witch and that I was a hybrid. My kind were rare. Normally children took after one parent or the other, not both like me. Which also made me powerful. It was one of the reasons my parents had kept me home. They’d been scared of losing me, or me being injured, or any number of scary things that ultimately made them home-school me.
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