Haven 5: Invincible

by Gabrielle Evans

  Whatever was between him and Torren wasn’t some silly love-at-first-sight crap like they told in fairy tales. It was much deeper than that. He didn’t understand it, didn’t know where this certain knowledge came from that they were destined for one another. And though it was true that he’d spent only hours in Torren’s presence, it was as though he’d known the man for a lifetime.

  “He loves me. He just won’t admit it.” The men exchanged those annoying looks again. “Why were you screaming?” Demos asked cautiously.

  Aslan paused, unsure how much he should share. They’d probably just think him insane like everyone else did. However, if it got them to stop talking about Torren like he was the bad guy, then he’d deal with their skepticism. “The voices in my head were hurting me.”

  Everyone just nodded as though that sort of thing happened every day. “Torren told us about the…voices.” Raven shook his head and frowned. “You were hurting yourself, Aslan. You were beating your damn head, and he was just sitting there.” He didn’t remember much about what had happened before he’d passed out, but he distinctly remembered Torren standing from the bed. “He was about to help me when you ran in here. I saw him standing up to come to me. You stopped him.” He spat the last part in accusation. Aslan appreciated that they all cared about him and wanted to protect him, but he didn’t need saving from Torren. “Where is he?”

  Raith was looking at him all funny, and Aslan didn’t like it. It made him feel weird, like a specimen under a microscope. “Aslan, I want you to do something for me.”

  Aslan eyed him suspiciously. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Just trust me.” When Aslan only arched an eyebrow at him, Raith sighed and bobbed his head. “Do this, and then I’ll bring Torren to you.”

  “Okay.” Why hadn’t the guy just said so in the first place? “What do I do?”

  “I want you to close your eyes and think about Torren.” Well, that was easy. He always thought about Torren.

  “I want to ask you a couple of questions. First, how do you feel when Torren isn’t with you? Do you feel tired or weak? Do you feel depressed? Maybe your stomach feels kind of jittery.” Aslan nodded, his eyes still closed. “Yes. I feel all of that.” He didn’t know where this was going, but he hoped that Raith got on with it. He really wanted to find his mate. Torren was sad. He wouldn’t tell anyone, but Aslan could feel it.

  “Torren hasn’t claimed you, right?”

  “No, he said we needed to talk first, and that he can’t love me.” Which was a lie. Torren already loved him. He was just a stubborn asshole and wouldn’t admit it. Aslan could feel that, too.

  “Tell me what Torren is feeling right now.” Aslan heard the vampires gasp, but he ignored them, focusing his full attention on Torren. “He’s sad because he doesn’t know what he did wrong and why you won’t let him see me. He’s confused because he doesn’t understand why he feels so drawn to me.” He tilted his head to the side and concentrated harder. “And he’s nervous because Kieran and his brothers have him pinned in one of the rooms downstairs.”

  “Ah, crap,” Raven spat. Footsteps thundered across the floor, and when Aslan opened his eyes, he found only Raith and Demos.

  “Where did he go?”

  Raith just shrugged. “I imagine to find Torren.” He stood from the bed and linked his fingers behind his back. “When Torren comes here, and he…he looks different…” Raith trailed off, and he seemed to be having trouble finding the right words.

  “You mean when he’s all glowy?”

  “Yes, when he’s all glowy. Can you touch him?” Aslan wrinkled his nose as he thought about it. “Not really. I mean, I can feel something, but it’s not really solid.”

  “More like a cold pressure?” his interrogator prodded.

  “Yeah, I guess it’s like that. Why are you asking me all of these questions?”

  “One more.” Raith held up a finger and started pacing. “This is going to sound really weird, but have you ever died before?” Demos snorted. “Well, obviously not.” He waved a hand up and down from Aslan’s head to his toes. “He looks pretty healthy to me.” Aslan winced. “Yeah,” he mumbled, “when I was with this other vampire coven a few years ago. They drained me.” He tilted his head to the side so they could see the scars on his neck from three different sets of ruthless fangs. “I’m pretty sure I died because I was in this place that was really dark and cold for three days.” He shrugged, but a chill worked its way up his spine from the memory.

  “What happened after that?” Demos asked, a trace of horror entwined with his words.

  “I woke up still chained to the wall. I guess they were just going to leave my carcass to rot.”

  Raith stepped forward, his eyes shining with pity. “Can I see your hand, little one?”

  “Sure.” He held his hand out, and it was immediately surrounded by Raith’s much bigger one. The man closed his eyes and mumbled something under his breath for a minute before releasing him and stepping away. “What was that about?” Dropping his head and groaning, Raith didn’t answer him immediately. When he did look up, his eyes went straight to Demos.

  “He’s not just a witch. He’s Torren’s Infinity.”

  * * * *

  “Don’t you have jobs to do?” Torren sat on the loveseat inside the suite that Kieran had brought him to and crossed his arms over his chest. Wasn’t there any damn security around this place? He didn’t like his mate staying here if these werewolves were going to be so lax in their duties.

  “It’s night,” Kieran answered calmly. “The vamps take turns on the night patrol.”

  “Why did you bring me here?”

  “We’re tired of our sister being such a basket case because she thinks you’re going to take her pups away from her.” One of Kieran’s brothers, Torren wasn’t sure which, leaned against the wall with a hard look on his face.

  “Easy, Parker.” Kieran raised his hand and waved his brother off before turning back to Torren. “We all love those pups. They’re our family now. Since you’ve known about them for weeks and haven’t expressed any interest in seeing them, I’m assuming you don’t give a shit.”

  Why did everyone always jump to conclusions about his actions and immediately think of him as a coldhearted bastard? “Did it ever occur to you that I’ve kept my distance because I care? The twins were already kidnapped once because of me.”

  “That’s nice,” another of the Delany brothers sneered. “You’ve said you don’t want them back, which I’m grateful for, but what kind of man are you that you won’t take responsibility for your own children?”

  “Eli!” Kieran barked. “Knock it off, asshole.”

  “Enough!” a feminine voice declared as a petite, raven-haired beauty stepped through one of the doors that likely connected to a bedroom. “You attacking him isn’t getting us anywhere.” She straightened her spine and plastered a smile on her face as she approached Torren, but he could see through her brave façade. “Hello, Mr. Braddock. I’m Raina Delaney.”

  Torren rose from his seat and took her hand in both of his own, bending down to brush his lips across the delicate knuckles. “Please, call me Torren. It’s very nice to finally meet you.” Her smile wobbled a bit, but she nodded and motioned for him to sit again. “I’m sorry that I can’t say the same for you, and I’m sure you understand why.” She eased down to the edge of the cushion and clasped her hands together in her lap. “I love my children very much, Torren. I hope we can come to some sort of agreement because I won’t lose them.”

  The trembling in her voice crushed him. “I am not such a bastard as your brothers would have you believe. I will provide anything you need for the twins. I would like to be a part of their lives, perhaps as an extended uncle. I have no illusions that I am in any way fit to raise a child, let alone two of them, though.” The she-wolf didn’t look totally convinced, but the tense set of her shoulders relaxed marginally. It seemed to take her a minute to gather the courage to ask her next
question. Torren waited patiently.

  “Do you have questions?”

  Well, that wasn’t what he’d expected. “Your mate is another she-wolf named Teegan, correct?” She nodded slowly, a hint of defensiveness in her eyes. Torren bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. She was a fierce one, and he liked that. “And your brothers play a large role in their lives?”

  “We would die to protect them,” Parker said levelly. “Want to try it?”

  A caustic reply was on the tip of his tongue, but Torren choked it back. They were only protecting their family. He could respect that.

  Nodding at the wolf, he started to turn back to Raina, but Raven chose that moment to come bursting through the door.

  “Don’t kill him!”

  Everyone’s eyes went wide, and Raina actually giggled. “You big gorilla, no one is going to kill him.” Raven stumbled to a stop and pushed his blond locks back from his face. “Uh, right. Sorry about that. Aslan said that you were…umm…well, it doesn’t matter I guess. I’ll just…” He looked around the room, and back toward the door. “Yeah, I’ll just go.” And that’s exactly what he did, leaving everyone chuckling in his wake.

  Torren idly wondered what Aslan had to do with the Enforcer’s appearance in the room, but he could only deal with one quandary at a time. Right now, he needed to focus on Raina and the issue of the twins. There could possibly be one very simple way to put all of her fears to rest. “Could I see the pups?” There was a collective growl that went around the room, and Raina tensed again. Then, very slowly, she relaxed and offered him a tentative smile. “Just sit tight.” She popped up from the loveseat and hurried back through the same door she’d come through minutes before.

  No one spoke while they waited, the Delaney brothers choosing to stare daggers at him in exchange for civilized conversation. When the silence became oppressive, Torren cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter. “How old did you say the twins are?”

  “The doctor isn’t exactly sure, but he estimates between six and eight months.” Kieran lifted his shoulders jerkily in what was probably supposed to be a shrug. “It’s a little harder to tell with hybrid babies, I guess.”

  Torren mentally calculated the time frame. If the doctor was correct, and a wolf-shifter gestational period was approximately three months, then that was only nine to eleven months. Why had he thought the pups were older? He hadn’t been in Utah in more than a year.

  While he was still trying to puzzle it out, the bedroom door opened once more, and Raina stepped out with a bouncing baby boy squirming against her chest. Another woman—Torren assumed it was Teegan—followed behind her, carrying an identical bundle in a similar manner.

  “This is Randall,” Raina said with a soft smile on her lips as she sat beside Torren once more and turned the baby to face him. She looked up at her mate and nodded, indicating that it was okay for Teegan to sit on the other side of him.

  “And this is Thomas,” Teegan added quietly.

  Raina and Randall, Teegan and Thomas—cute.

  A mass of curly, blond hair adorned the tops of their heads, and they each had eyes as blue as a summer sky. They giggled and gurgled, the sweetest little dimples appearing in their cheeks when they smiled.

  “They’re beautiful,” Torren said quietly. So nervous he could spit, he reached out hesitantly and took Thomas’s tiny hand, stroking the top of it with his thumb. Those pudgy little fingers curled around his hand as the pup squealed in delight.

  After a moment, Torren released his hand and turned to take Randall’s, going through the same motions, though there really wasn’t any need. If he was being honest, he’d known from the moment their mothers carried them into the room. Though adorable and precious, the twins looked nothing like him or their biological mother.

  Part of him was relieved, but a big part, a part he wasn’t expecting, felt like he was drowning as his chest constricted so tightly he could barely pull air into his lungs. The thought of having children had scared him to death, but somewhere deep inside, it had also warmed him. He’d been a father.

  “They’re beautiful,” he repeated, forcing the words through the tightening in his throat. “And they’re very lucky to have such wonderful mothers. You don’t have to worry anymore.” With one last caress to the infant’s soft skin, Torren released him and stood from his seat. “Those are not my children, though.”

  “How do you know that?” Kieran questioned him.

  “They have no magic.” It was as simple as that. “They’re definitely hybrids, but their father was not a witch.”

  “Maybe they’ll have magic later,” Eli tossed out. “How can you know for sure?”

  Torren sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he stood in the circle of defensive weres. “Each Magik family has their own unique magic. It gives off a kind of pulse, I suppose.” His heart was breaking as he tried to explain, but he just didn’t know why. This is what he’d wanted. Wasn’t it? “While the twins are happy, healthy, and adorable, they have no magical pulse, and certainly not the magic of a Braddock.”

  “Whatever,” Parker growled.

  He couldn’t stay there any longer. He didn’t know what was happening to him or why he was feeling so heartbroken, but he had to get out. Just steps from the door, he paused when it swung open and Aslan stood in the doorway. His eyes were red and his bottom lip trembled slightly. Just then, he was the most amazing sight that Torren had ever seen. “Hey,” he said lamely.

  “We’re not finished,” Parker barked at him. “You think you’re so damn superior. They’re hybrids, so you just cast them aside because they aren’t up to Braddock standards.”

  “As much as I wish it were so, they are not mine.”

  “Maybe and maybe not,” Eli responded. “I happen to agree with Parker. I think they are, and you’re just too much of an asshole to admit it. You don’t deserve them.”

  “Enough,” Aslan said quietly, but with a trace of steel in his tone.

  Then he closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around Torren’s waist. “I’m sorry.”

  Though it made him a weak shmuck and he knew it, he needed the comfort that only his mate could give him. Lifting Aslan into his arms, he buried his face in the warm skin of his throat and breathed deeply, letting the sweet smell calm and soothe him.

  What the hell was wrong with him? He was acting like a fucking child, and it didn’t sit well with him at all.

  “This isn’t over.” That had to be Jericho. The man hadn’t spoken a word since Torren’s arrival until this point. “He’s planning something.”

  Raina rose slowly from her seat, passed Randall over to Kieran, and in the next blink had Jericho slammed up against the wall as her claws extended and her fangs punched through her gums. “It is over,” she snarled. “That man is in pain, and if you can’t see that, then you’re dumber than I thought. Let it go, Jer. Leave him in peace.” She turned and growled at the rest of her brothers. “That goes for all of you.”

  Fuck, was he that easy to read? They probably all thought he was a weak, neurotic mess. And the truth of it was that’s exactly how he felt. The more he tried to work out the reasoning behind it, however, the more his head throbbed.

  “Take me back to my room,” Aslan whispered, placing a soft kiss on his cheek. “We need to talk.”

  For the first time, Torren realized just how ominous those words sounded when on the receiving end of them.

  Chapter Six

  There was a hollow ache in Aslan’s chest that wasn’t his own. He didn’t understand how he could feel Torren’s emotions, nor did he know how he could connect thoughts to those feelings, but he didn’t begrudge the fact. If he could sense what was inside his mate, he’d be better able to give the witch what he needed.

  Neither of them spoke as Torren carried him up the stairs and down the long hallway to his bedroom. He’d almost insisted on walking, but then he realized that holding him in his arms was exactly what Torr
en needed. Being surrounded by the strength and warmth of the man wasn’t a hardship, so Aslan had bit his tongue and simply enjoyed the ride.

  Torren paused outside of the closed door, and his arms tightened around Aslan. “Raith is still here.” He didn’t sound very happy about it, either.

  “Yes.” There really wasn’t anything else he could say. Torren’s brother was on the other side of that door, and no matter what Aslan had said, Raith wasn’t intending to go anywhere until he spoke to Torren.

  With an unhappy grunt, Torren pushed the door open and stepped into the room, still refusing to relinquish his hold on Aslan. His shoulders tensed, and his eyes narrowed. “Why are you here?” The angry quality of his tone was rough, dangerous, and possibly the sexiest sound Aslan had ever heard. Shivering involuntarily, his cock twitched inside his jeans, swelling harder the longer Torren continued to make the rumbling sound in his chest.

  “We need to talk,” Raith answered simply as he rose to his feet.

  “When were you going to tell me?”

  “Tell you what?”

  There was the delicious growl again, and Aslan’s breathing sped, his pulse accelerated, and he wiggled in Torren’s arms, grinding his aching dick over the man’s midsection. Do it again.

  As if Torren had heard his silent plea, he nuzzled the side of Aslan’s neck and growled softly, his chest vibrating with the sound.

  “Is that what you want, baby?” Hoarse and raspy, he whispered into Aslan’s ear while his warm breath caressed his skin.

  Raith cleared his throat, pulling their attention back to him. “You two have been apart for a really long time.” He exhaled in a great whoosh and scrubbed both hands over his face. “This is a fucking nightmare.”

  “Oh, good, you’re back.” Raven sauntered into the room with a cocky smile on his face, Demos, Cassius, Varik, and Stavion following close behind him.

  It was starting to feel a little crowded with so many enormous men in his room. “What’s going on? Why is everyone in my room?” Aslan flopped his hand around. “Go away.”