by Macy Blake
Dakota would find his way as well. Whatever magic had brought them all together hadn’t been wrong yet. Of course, if someone had told him his fate a few years before, Andvari would have laughed in their faces. Andvari would never have dreamed of having so many mates. In fact, those years before, he’d have considered it his worst nightmare.
He’d thought he preferred his solitude. Now he couldn’t imagine a day without his mates beside him. It was funny what a difference a few months could make, not to mention a few years.
Leaving Viv to her work before she had a chance to scold him for being in the kitchen, Andvari headed into the main living room where he knew he’d find Meshaq and Drew. Cecil was a stickler for how he treated guests and having them wait in one of the nicest areas of the home was his go-to rule. Andvari wasn’t surprised to find them both sitting on the couch with mugs of coffee in their hands. He was, however, surprised that Dakota had followed him into the room.
“Good morning, Alpha,” Andvari said before nodding his head respectfully.
“Don’t you think we can let go of formalities since you’re mated to my nephew?” Meshaq grumbled.
Andvari smiled. “I believe I should show you more respect as a family member of my mate.”
Drew snickered. “He’s got you there.”
“Do you know how many times I’ve been—“
Drew reached over and covered Meshaq’s hand with his. The alpha stopped speaking. Andvari couldn’t help but widen his smile. Meshaq had certainly met his match. Drew looked up at Andvari and returned his smile.
“My mate does not like to be gushed over, unless it’s by me.” Meshaq grunted his agreement, and Drew patted his hand gently. “And our recent adventures have resulted in some over-the-top dramatics.”
“Like I needed a sacrifice of thirteen goats? What the fuck is that?”
Drew patted his hand gently. “You didn’t let them do it, honey. Settle down.”
Dakota scowled and sat down on one of the chairs across from Meshaq and Drew’s position on the couch. Neither Meshaq or Drew seemed to notice Dakota’s expression.
“Some of the realms we visited rarely receive a visit from an alpha of Meshaq’s caliber,” Drew explained. “Needless to say, they were a bit overwhelmed by his presence.”
Meshaq scoffed. “They peed themselves.”
“Yes, dear. It’s because they’ve never seen you with donut glaze stuck in your goatee.”
“I don’t—“
Drew simply arched a brow.
Meshaq paused before he self-consciously rubbed his hand over his face. “Did I get it?”
“You’re perfect as ever,” Drew cooed.
Andvari really couldn’t believe how much the hellhound had changed since he found his mate. He wondered for a moment if others from the vampire clan felt the same way about him since he’d found his. He could only hope he exuded the same peace that Meshaq did.
“How were your travels?”
Meshaq scowled again and flames appeared in his eyes. Drew patted him once again before answering. “Let’s just say things got hairy a time or two. And not in the good way.” Meshaq and Dakota both gasped. “What?” Drew asked, looking both evil and innocent at once. “You can’t tell me with this many mates things don’t get a little freaky sometimes.”
Meshaq groaned. “That’s my nephew you’re talking about.”
“And I’m oh so happy that Henry is getting—“
Meshaq covered Drew’s mouth with his hand. “Please don’t finish that sentence. I beg you.”
Drew wiggled his eyebrows, and Meshaq took his hand away.
“So how exactly did things get hairy?”
“Well, the goat thing, for starters,” Drew said. “I mean, I’m not going to lie, I pretty much freaked at the thought of the big goat sacrifice, but then there were all the gifts. And look, I like gifts a lot. My mate is really good at gift giving, in case you didn’t know that. It’s his love language.”
“His love… language?”
“Totally. You need to know your mate’s love languages, Andvari. I’ll send you the book.”
“Um, okay. So gifts and goats, what else?”
“I’d rather not talk about it. I need therapy. But Meshaq was a rock star and no baby goats were harmed in the making of this story.”
It took everything in Andvari’s power not to burst out laughing. “I’m sure your mate handled himself well.”
“Oh, he handles things just fine.” Drew leered over at Meshaq before turning back to Andvari. “However, we’ve had limited time to handle things and things need to be handled a lot and soon.”
Viv, of course, chose that moment to bring a tray into the room with more coffee and a few of Meshaq’s favorite snacks to tide him over before breakfast. She let out a snorting laugh as she sat the tray down. “Rumor has it, things got handled around here last night multiple times.” She waggled her eyebrows at Drew, and they shared a very conspiring look. “I’ll tell you later.”
“Hey,” Andvari protested.
Viv turned to him with an innocent smile. “Breakfast will be ready in about fifteen minutes. Is there anything else you need?”
Andvari scowled at her. “No.”
His other mates came in the room, and Viv made a hasty retreat, but not before he heard her cackling laugh.
Henry made a beeline for his uncle. Meshaq let go of his mate and pushed to his feet before pulling Henry into a tight hug. “You’re well?”
Henry nodded against his chest. “You?”
Meshaq grinned. “Drew takes good care of me.”
Henry beamed over at Drew and released his uncle to pull Drew into a hug. “Thank you.”
“It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it,” Drew said with a laugh.
“Whoa,” Pip said from the doorway. “Is that… is that really who I think it is?”
Sawyer tugged Pip into the room and pushed him into the chair with Dakota. Dakota didn’t seem to mind when Pip wiggled his way around and got comfortable, even if he never tore his eyes away from the hellhound alpha for a second.
“This is my Uncle Meshaq,” Henry said proudly. “And his mate, Drew.”
“Whoa,” Pip said again. “I’ve never met a real live hellhound before. And hey, why didn’t you come rescue me from the bad guy, huh? Isn’t that what you do?”
Meshaq groaned and dropped back onto the couch. He covered his eyes very dramatically.
“It’s a god thing,” Drew said sagely, not at all hiding his smile at his mate’s reaction to the question. “It’s hard to explain. But anyway, now that we’re all here—“ Drew paused and looked around for a moment before turning to Sawyer— “This is all of them, isn’t it?”
Andvari couldn’t help but grin. Cecil stepped into the room before Sawyer could answer, though. “Breakfast is ready in the formal dining room, Master Sawyer.”
Viv’s breakfast waited for no man. Meshaq stood so fast he was almost a blur and pulled Drew up beside him. They were halfway to the door before he paused and gave a sheepish grin to the rest of them. “We just spent a few days in the troll’s realm.”
“Say no more,” Andvari said with a shiver. He’d heard many stories about the vile things the trolls considered delicacies. He could only imagine what they tried to feed to the equivalent of hellhound royalty.
“No, say more,” Pip said. “Where exactly do trolls live, and why did Andvari make his gross face?”
“Gross face?” Andvari asked.
“Yeah,” Pip said. “You know. Like this.” He wrinkled up his face and twisted his mouth around.
“I did not do that.”
“Did so,” Pip said.
“Troll food is revolting,” Drew explained. “And the smells. I can’t begin to describe how bad those were. I saved my hero over here, though. Claimed it was all too much for my delicate human sensibilities.”
“You should have seen the pitying looks I got,” Meshaq said with a laugh as he lead
the way into the dining room. “They felt so sorry for me.”
“It was annoying but awesome, because we totally didn’t have to eat stinky troll food because they were kind of afraid it would kill me. Actually, it probably would have. Needless to say, the love of my life here might be a little hungry.”
They went into the dining room and Andvari wasn’t surprised when Meshaq let out a little whimper of happiness when he saw the spread Viv had managed to put together for them.
Sawyer stopped beside Andvari and leaned into him. Andvari met his gaze and read the concern there. He felt it as well. As light as the mood currently was, Meshaq wouldn’t have come unless something was up. He could have called, but he showed up at their home first thing in the morning with no advanced warning. Something was definitely wrong, and the alpha was avoiding talking to them about it for as long as he could.
Draco rested his hand against Andvari’s shoulder while his other arm went around Sawyer. “Don’t start worrying yet. If it was urgent, he’d have told us immediately.”
Sawyer blew out a breath and leaned back to kiss Draco under his chin. He gave one to Andvari as well, a soft pass across his lips, before he pasted on a smile and joined the others around the table.
Draco nuzzled Andvari’s neck for a moment before whispering in his ear. “Set a meeting with the guards?”
“I will.”
“Thank you. I know I didn’t have to ask.”
He didn’t, but Andvari understood. The threats against them grew stronger by the day, as easy as it was to pretend otherwise. They’d pissed off a god. There would be consequences.
“What does Viv do to these scrambled eggs?” Meshaq mumbled around a mouthful of them. “They’re so… good.”
Andvari sent a quick text as the others at the table praised the magic of Viv’s cooking abilities. His team of guards would be ready to meet with him after they found out what information Meshaq had come to deliver. He noticed Draco sending a text as well and had no doubt that they would be receiving a visit from a few extra dragons as well.
Loch seemed deep in thought, too, and sent a glance toward Andvari. Andvari took the empty seat beside him and placed his hand on Loch’s thigh. The low thrum of tension beat its way through the room, and no one escaped its notice. Even Meshaq, who’d piled a mountain of food on his plate, paused a few bites in and looked around the long table at them.
“So much for a nice, peaceful breakfast.”
“Sadly, the time for peace has passed,” Sawyer said softly.
Drew looked up at them before leaning against his mate. “The news is troubling, but not imminent. At least, we don’t think it is. It’s hard to tell what’s going on, to be honest, which is why we came here first. We’d rather let you decide what to make of what we learned.”
Meshaq pushed his plate back, even though it was still full. “The Goddess had us visiting other realms, readying them for the upcoming fight. We were to gauge their readiness as well as seek out any sense of your brother’s influence.”
“And we found more of his influence than we expected,” Drew explained. “It’s strange, but I could feel when he’d beaten us there and where his followers were present.”
“You felt threatened,” Meshaq growled.
“Yes,” Drew said quietly. “Because I am a threat to them. What I represent is a threat.”
“I don’t understand,” Pip said quietly.
“You’re an omega,” Dakota gasped. “That’s why I feel this way.”
Meshaq’s eyes sparked with flames. “Yes.”
“But I thought…omegas are legends. Not real.”
Drew waved. “I beg to differ.”
“I’m still lost,” Pip said. “I really should have listened to my mother when she wanted me to study more and read fewer romance novels.”
“Rumor has it that omegas used to be an integral part of pack magic,” Drew explained. “Apparently, I’m the first omega in known memory. Although, I would like to point out that memories can be altered.”
His significant look toward Sawyer wasn’t lost on any of them.
“You think I did something to omegas?” Sawyer asked.
“Not to us individually. To the memory of us. It makes sense, right? There isn’t a lot of writing left about omegas, just like there isn’t really a record of you existing. And yet, here we both are, at the same time. Coincidence?”
“Doubtful,” Sawyer acknowledged. “It’s another piece of the puzzle I don’t understand.”
“I don’t know,” Dakota said. “If omegas represent a successful pack and powerful alpha, I think that’s definitely the work of a god of mating. Only the most powerful of alphas find their omega mates, at least the way I’ve always heard the legends. Omegas were rare then, so if the magic is messed up, it makes sense they would become even more rare.”
“Besides, who better to be the first to find his mate after the rift than the alpha of alphas?” Pip said. “I mean, if this were a romance novel, that would be exactly what would happen. No one else would be worthy.”
Henry grinned. “I think it sounds like the perfect love story. And I can guarantee that there’s lots of steamy sex in it. I mean, look at the way they’re looking at each other. And I don’t know if you guys have noticed, but Drew only has one hand on the table. Where’s the other one, huh?”
Drew choked on a bite of bacon and jerked his hand out of Meshaq’s lap and back onto the table where they all could see it. Henry cracked up and ignored his uncle’s fiery glare.
“Enough,” Meshaq griped. “But I do see how it makes sense. The Mother goddess herself helped Drew find his way to me. She wouldn’t have done that if we didn’t fit into this, right?”
Everyone turned to Sawyer, who looked deep in thought. Of them all, he understood the Mother best. Beyond that, he’d proven that when it came to unraveling the mysteries of what had happened, he was the best equipped to do it.
“I think it does make sense. It seems to me that Drew is a signal that my magic is growing stronger, that mating magic itself is growing more powerful by the day.”
“Hope,” Dakota murmured. “He’s a symbol of hope for the rest of us.”
Sawyer
Sawyer circled the edge of the yard, keeping within the boundaries of the wards. He touched them every so often, the power of Henry’s magic apparent to him now when not so long ago it wouldn’t have affected him at all. So much had changed.
He’d only given himself a day to process all of the information Meshaq had given them. There were a lot of realms to cover, and a lot of new pieces of information. His brother had been busy, making friends and promises across the realms. It seemed most of them were in a holding pattern, though. Not ready to take a side. No one wanted to end up on the losing side of this fight. Sawyer didn’t blame them.
Cecil crossed the lawn and waited a dozen or so feet ahead. “You needed me,” Cecil said softly as Sawyer closed the distance between them.
“I always need you,” Sawyer said. He pulled his friend into a hug.
“Now you’re just being sentimental,” Cecil griped. But he hugged Sawyer back.
“You know, I’m curious as to why you chose this form as yours for your time here.”
Cecil smiled and moved his hands behind his back. He looked very sophisticated and worldly in his dark suit and tie. No matter that Sawyer had told him more than once he didn’t need to dress up.
“I am what I needed to be,” Cecil said.
Sawyer groaned. “You’re as bad as she is. Vague and mysterious.”
Cecil smirked, the expression triggering a flash of memory. Sawyer couldn’t remember Cecil from before, not really. But there were moments like these when he was reminded of the history they shared.
“Magic is vague and mysterious, my friend. You know this more than the rest of us. At least, you should.”
“Not nice.”
Cecil bit back a smile. Sawyer elbowed him in the side in retaliation. “I speak t
he truth to you, Sawyer. Whether or not you like it is not part of the equation.”
“You’re a good friend, Cecil. I’m glad you believed in me enough to stick around. I hope I don’t—“
“Don’t start with that nonsense. You will do what needs to be done. Now, my gift told me that you needed something. What was it?”
“You really do have a weird power, you know? Just… knowing what someone needs? Kinda cool when you think about it.”
“Unless you’re dealing with someone whose needs aren’t always clear.” Cecil’s arched eyebrow was accusation enough.
“Are you sure you’re not her son? You’re more like the Mother than I am.”
“Clearly your memory loss has caused more brain issues than I’d realized. You are absolutely her son. Difficult and stubborn, yet full of love for your family and friends. Always looking at all the pieces on the board before making a move. She simply has the advantage of her complete memories and all of her experience.”
Sawyer huffed and elbowed Cecil again, not willing to acknowledge that Cecil’s description did make him sound more like the Mother than he cared to admit. “I need to figure out what to do about Nick and the kids,” Sawyer said as he began walking once more. “I’m not sure the coven’s wards are enough to keep them safe. What is? I can’t… they have to be kept safe, you know? I can’t let this touch them anymore.”
Cecil smiled. “And this is why I stuck with you for all this time. I believe in you because your first thought isn’t regaining your powers and restoring yourself to godhood, but to keep the children affected by this mess safe from harm.”
“That’s not abnormal, Cecil. Anyone would do the same.”
“No, Sawyer, they would not.” Cecil’s eyes hazed over for a moment and then he smiled. “I believe that Loch has what you need.”