The Chosen One Universe Volume Three: An MM Paranormal Fantasy Shifters Series

by Macy Blake

Nick shrugged like it was no big deal and let out a yawn. “Think it’s nap time.” He grinned and gave Sawyer a hug, then started stripping out of his clothes.

  “What the—”

  “Just watch,” Jedrek said. He was grinning, too.

  Nick shifted a moment later, and Sawyer saw his brother in lion form for the first time. It stole his breath. “Holy lion, Batman.”

  Nick chuffed and sauntered forward until he butted his head into Sawyer’s chest.

  “Nick, you’re awesome. A fricking lion. And you’re ginormous. I didn’t know how big lions were. Are you normal lion size?”

  Nick leaned back and stared at him. It was his patented “little brother you’re an idiot” look. Good to know he could perfect it even in his shifted form.

  “He is the size of a normal lion,” Jedrek added.

  Nick gave him another look, then lifted his head and roared. It echoed for a moment and everything around them silenced. But only for a few seconds. Then chaos erupted.

  “What just happened?” Sawyer asked.

  “He rang the nap bell,” Jedrek said.

  “Sawyer,” Eduard said. “We need to go back to the house. You have a visitor.”

  “Okay, in a minute.”

  “Sawyer—”

  “I really want to see this.”

  “You really do,” Jedrek added.

  They followed Nick as he wandered into one of the new buildings. Kids were coming from everywhere, some of them young enough to be carried, others teenagers who looked bored but excited at the same time. Nick went through the open door and into a big, dimly lit room. In the middle was a giant nest of pillows.

  Nick yawned again, then plopped down right in the middle of them. Within moments, the youngest of the kids had him surrounded, plopping down beside him and curling up.

  Sawyer looked on, stunned and touched to the core of his being. His brother had always made him feel safe, like he knew nothing would get through Nick to him. And now he was doing the same for these kids who had no one else in the world. They didn’t need anyone else, though. Not with Nick as their alpha.

  They moved out of the way as a few of the older kids came in. Most of them had some sort of tablet or handheld game. They joined the fray, however, all circling around the snoring lion in the middle of the room.

  Jedrek touched Sawyer’s arm and leaned his head toward the door. They all trailed behind him as he led them back outside. “He does that every day,” Jedrek explained. “I’ve never seen anything like it. But the kids all bond to him really quickly. It’s important for shifter cubs especially, and honestly, none of these kids ever had a lot of attention. Still, they trust your brother implicitly.”

  “He’s really happy here,” Sawyer said. He’d known it, deep down, but hadn’t acknowledged it. His brother had never been content, not really. He’d carried the baggage of his past, even when he’d not remembered it.

  “Yeah,” Jedrek said with a smile. “He really is.”

  “Sawyer,” Eduard said. “We really need to go now.”

  “I’ll open a portal,” Jedrek said.

  He led them outside the wards to the same circle of rocks where they’d arrived. Once his mates were all gathered, the portal opened and Sawyer shared one last look with his brother’s mate before he walked through.

  Eduard definitely had a sense of urgency as he grabbed Sawyer’s hand and dragged him up the hill. “What’s on fire?” Sawyer asked.

  “Funny you should ask,” Eduard quipped, one eyebrow raised in challenge.

  “What?”

  “Your sister is here. The fire goddess.”

  Sawyer tripped over his feet but Eduard managed to keep him from falling. “What?”

  “Yeah. And you were more interested in watching Nick nap. Although, I must confess, that was very sweet to see. I did wonder why he asked for one room to be kept empty. It seemed strange, at the time, but we simply built it as he asked.”

  “Beep beep. Back the bus up. My sister is here.”

  “Yes, dear. And you kept her waiting.”

  Sawyer pulled his hand out of Eduard’s and stopped. “We don’t have to run. She’ll understand.”

  Eduard didn’t seem inclined to agree. But somehow, Sawyer knew. And it was weird.

  “Sawyer…”

  “I know. You’re freaking out, and we can definitely walk quickly. But you don’t have to drag me along. I promise, she’ll understand.”

  Eduard reached out his hand again, and Sawyer took it. They moved into the final ward and Sawyer felt a weight lift off his chest. The wards hadn’t meant much before. His… the other guy was able to break through them. But he felt safer inside them nonetheless.

  As they reached the house, several vampire guards stood by nervously. “She’s in back. By the pool.”

  “Excellent,” Sawyer said. He hurried around the house and found his sister standing at the edge of the yard, staring out into the woods. “Mitra!”

  She turned and smiled. The human form she’d taken cloaked her true form, and it was drawing a lot of energy from her. He ran forward and flung himself against her.

  She patted him on the back and stepped away to look him over. “Sawyer…”

  “I know. I look like shit. Let’s go into the woods a bit and you can stop wasting energy on this form. You can, uh, keep me safe from, you know, him, right?”

  She arched a brow.

  “I know, I know. Just, you know. Almost died. Still a little freaked out.”

  “I will keep you safe.”

  Sawyer grinned and turned to wave at the myriad of guards and mates standing and staring slack-jawed at them. “We’ll be back in a few.”

  Sawyer led her into the woods, until he found the little clearing where he’d sat with Draco earlier in the day talking to Yellow Eyes. The blanket and basket had disappeared, but there was still something peaceful and tranquil about the setting.

  “Hold on a sec before you do your thing,” Sawyer said. “Um, Yellow Eyes? I kinda need for you to go away for a bit. Seriously, don’t look, okay? This is my sister, and if you know as much as I think you do, you know what that means. So you’re probably going to want to—”

  He heard a chuffing cough and then the merest hint of a tree branch rustling.

  “To whom are you speaking?” His sister looked around briefly before revealing her true form.

  “My new guardian, I guess. I mean, I know he’s my new guardian, but we haven’t met. But he saved me from... you know who.”

  “I demand that you speak his name, Sawyer. You have never cowered before, and I will not see you do it now.”

  Sawyer drew in a shaky breath. “Palinouros.”

  “Yes. Our brother.”

  “He’s not my brother,” Sawyer said stubbornly. “I refuse to even think of him that way. After everything he’s done—”

  “Sawyer, enough. You continue down the same foolish path you did before. You were supposed to grow wiser through this crazy choice of yours, but you have not.”

  Sawyer huffed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means figure it out, baby brother. Use that incredible mind of yours.”

  “How? I don’t know anything. And nothing is written down. Cecil said I had all the records stripped of my existence before I—” Sawyer waved his hand around his body and then threw his hands up in frustration. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing.”

  She grinned at him, and it was one of those annoying big sister knows all grins.

  Sawyer groaned.

  “You need to figure it out, Sawyer. Having the answers defeats the purpose. You then travel down the same path as before.”

  “Ugh!”

  Mitra grinned again. “There are so many things you have yet to uncover.”

  She held out her arm.

  Power built. He looked around but nothing happened. She kept looking at him. A significant look.

  “I must see to my hellhounds now. Much like you sh
ould see to your ravens. Of course, there are other tools I have at my fingertips.”

  Before Sawyer could think to complain at her continued vagueness there was a popping sound and a giant flaming bird appeared on her outstretched arm.

  “Holy fucking shit,” Sawyer gasped.

  “Language, baby brother.”

  “Is that a phoenix?”

  She grinned. “You don’t think our realm is open to just anyone, do you? There is only one way to pass between realms for us. We must have a guide, who only serves us. No one else can use them. Without my guide, I would be trapped in a realm, unable to return to our home. I would be forced to expend all of my energy and power to maintain a form that would keep me from damaging the realm where I was trapped. That would be… catastrophic.”

  Sawyer stared at the phoenix and back to his sister. Had she really just given him so much information? “That would be bad.”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “But luckily, you have your guide, so you can travel freely.” He tried to fill in the blanks between what she told him and what she didn’t.

  “Precisely.”

  “Do our other sisters have guides as well?”

  “Of course.”

  “Can Palinourous move freely between realms?”

  “Not at present, no.”

  Sawyer realized he couldn’t push much further from the look on her face. They weren’t supposed to tell him anything; he must have gotten a similar promise from them as he did from Cecil. But he’d never been able to tell his sisters what to do, just like he’d never been able to boss Nick around. No, they took their role as older siblings very seriously. And they weren’t going to let him fuck this up, even if they did have to step as close to the line of breaking the promise as they could.

  “It was good to see you, sister.”

  “And you, brother. Be safe.”

  Another popping sound and both his sister and her guide vanished.

  He had no clue how long he stood there, his mind racing. A simple caw pulled his focus. He looked up, and a gleaming black raven rested above his head on a thick branch. Sawyer held out his arm and waited.

  The raven danced back and forth for a moment, testing him. Questioning his motives. But it flew down and landed on his arm.

  “My sister has her hellhounds. They do good work for her. They are her champions. I have my ravens. Are you my champions? No. I don’t think that’s the right word for you. I don’t know what it is though.”

  The raven danced along his arm, much like it had the branch above them. It leaned in and bumped its head against Sawyer’s cheek.

  “I don’t know the answer yet, but I’ll figure it out soon. I promise.”

  The raven cawed again before flying away.

  “An animal to call and a guide. I have one. Where is the other?”

  Sawyer hurried back to the yard, his mind moving at a thousand thoughts per second. Henry stood by the back door with his other mates. They’d all gathered anxiously, watching and waiting.

  “Everything’s fine. Henry, I need your help.”

  Eduard

  Eduard stared across the office at Henry and Sawyer, who’d once again buried themselves behind a pile of books. For the past three days, they’d spent hours holed up, searching for something. They didn’t even know what they were looking for, at least from what Eduard had been able to translate from their half-finished sentences to each other. They definitely had a language of their own when they were researching.

  He couldn’t resist temptation and crossed the room. Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to the top of Sawyer’s hair while he rested his hand along the nape of Henry’s neck. “You’re both beautifully distracting today,” Eduard said.

  Henry looked up and grinned. “I wouldn’t mind distracting you a little more.”

  Sawyer looked up as well, a wide grin on his face. “I like the way you think.”

  Eduard reached for Sawyer, but the blaring of his cell phone drew him up short. “Dammit.”

  “Don’t answer it.”

  Eduard made the mistake of glancing at the screen. “It’s my father.”

  “Oh! Let me answer it.”

  Eduard handed over his phone, and Sawyer accepted the call.

  “Hey Augustus!”

  Eduard leaned back into Henry, rubbing his mate’s tense shoulders. They’d spent entirely too long hunched over this table. Perhaps he should see about having Henry’s collection digitized. In fact, an entire library might be useful for searches, especially if he could have some sort of indexing created. The more texts they had, the more opportunities they had to find answers, both now and in the future. Eduard made a note to assign the project to Victor. He’d have the resources and bandwidth to make the project happen. Eduard planned to take on as few new tasks as possible in the coming months. His entire focus could be his mates.

  Sawyer poked him and drew his attention. “He wants to talk to you.”

  Eduard took the phone and moved it to his ear. “Hello, Father.”

  “Son,” Augustus said. “I’m having some difficulties on a deal I’m putting together and wondered if I could come by and get you to take a look.”

  Eduard moved the phone away from his ear and scowled at it. “Pardon?”

  He couldn’t have heard that correctly.

  “Something’s not right with the numbers, but damned if I can figure it out. And hey, I wouldn’t mind a dinner invite.”

  “That can be arranged,” Eduard said. Something was definitely going on. His father could run circles around him putting together a deal, even extremely complex ones.

  “Excellent. I’ll be there in a few hours, then.”

  “Wait. You meant tonight?”

  “No time like the present. Thanks, Son. See you soon.”

  Augustus ended the call and Sawyer looked up at him with a grin. “Is he coming to visit?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why don’t you look happy about that?”

  “Because it’s weird. Something’s going on.”

  “Maybe he’s doing that thing you guys did before,” Henry muttered. His focus was back on a book, and he marked his place with his finger before looking up. “Remember? When we were on the boat and trying to keep things on the down-low and you guys were talking in code, sort of?”

  “Yes,” Eduard said. “He clearly has something he wants to talk to me about.”

  “And he probably doesn’t want to do it over the phone,” Sawyer concluded. “Either way, I’m glad to see him.”

  “Me, too,” Eduard said. “I need to go—”

  Andvari opened the door and sent a panicked look their direction. Eduard immediately braced for the worst.

  “Eduard.” His voice was a little breathy. Shaky, even.

  “What is it?”

  Both Henry and Sawyer tensed as well. Nothing ever flustered their vampire.

  “My clan leader. He’s on his way here. He wants to meet Sawyer.”

  “Whoa,” Sawyer said. “The head of the vampires? Cool. I wanted to meet him.”

  Andvari’s eyes practically bugged out of his head. “Sawyer, you don’t understand. He doesn’t leave our homeland. He just… doesn’t.”

  “Well, that’s strange, but I mean, I can’t go to him right now. Did you tell him that?”

  “Of course. After the attack.”

  “So if he wanted to meet me, this was the way?”

  Andvari visibly gulped. “Sawyer, this is… significant.”

  “Yeah,” Sawyer said. “But you guys said I needed to meet the heads of the different clans and convince them I was the chosen one. We’ve kinda gotten away from all that because of all the near death experiences, but it’s still valid. And maybe we can find some clues as to who the final guardian could be.”

  As usual, Sawyer had a point. Eduard ran his hand over Sawyer’s head and down to his neck. “We should prepare a special meal. I can speak to Cecil and—”

  “Sawyer!” Draco b
urst into the room. He glanced frantically at the others before turning his attention back to Sawyer. “My mother…. My dads…”

  “They’re coming by? Maybe want to have dinner tonight?” Sawyer suggested.

  Draco frowned. “How’d you guess that?”

  Sawyer grinned. “Augustus is coming, too. So is the head of the vampire clan. Oh! We should have a cookout! Henry, call your dads and see if they want to come. This’ll be fun.”

  Eduard cleared his throat. “Sawyer, love, a visit from the vampire leader is—”

  “I know. But look, we don’t want this to be a big formal affair when we have family here as well. I don’t want everyone sitting at a stuffy table wondering what the others are doing. We keep it casual.”

  As far as strategies went, it wasn’t bad. They hadn’t officially issued invitations, so a casual atmosphere wouldn’t be considered insulting, even if it did raise a few eyebrows. A family dinner which happened to include the patriarch of the griffins, the matriarch of the dragons, the leader of the vampires. And his mate.

  “We will make it happen,” Eduard said.

  Sawyer smiled up at him. “I’m going to go talk to Viv about the menu. This is exciting. Meet the parents night!”

  Eduard blanched. Yes. It was meet the parents night. He turned wide eyes to Andvari and Draco, who still looked stunned.

  Sawyer stood before pecking a kiss on Eduard’s cheek and grabbing Henry’s hand. “Come on, Henry. We can talk to Viv and then go for a swim. We need to make sure Saeward’s going to be okay with all of these strangers.”

  Henry nodded and followed behind as Sawyer left the room.

  Eduard heard a snicker and turned to find his cousin smirking with his hand over his mouth. Eduard glared Victor’s way.

  “Sorry. If you could see the faces the three of you are making, you’d be—”

  Draco growled.

  Victor bit his lip. “I’ll take my laptop to my room and finish these reports.”

  Once Victor left, Draco leaned into Andvari. “I tried to stop her. I told her it wasn’t a great time. But she’s my mother. I just can’t say no to her. Especially when she’s upset with me.”

  “It does make you wonder what’s going on, though,” Andvari said. “It can’t be a coincidence.”