by Trina Bates
“She’ll love it. Don't even worry. We all saw the way she stared at the picture and the statue.” Smiling down at my gift, I wrap it back up in the thin cloth, and turn to see Rhydian, thankfully, clothed and give him a sheepish smile, trying to keep the subject on Mira, and not on what happened only moments ago.
“I hope you're right, but you fucks had to go and take my thunder and get her the rest of the pieces. Do you think she will even use it?” My shoulders slump down involuntarily and in, and I begin to hesitate again. I want everything to be perfect for her.
“That's a ‘hell yes’ from me. There will be a time, and I have a feeling it’s going to be soon, where she will have to. We all know she will be going after her father and the threat of the Conclave? She will need it then as well. Let’s just hope it's after our little one is born,” Rhydian says with a proud smile taking over his face. His eyes lighting up like it’s his birthday and he gets to unwrap Mira alone as a gift.
He hasn't said much about being a dad. We all see the joy and happiness, and heard him fucking singing about it, but he hasn't ever talked to us about anything. Rhydian’s always been more closed off with his feelings, which I think has something to do with Merrick and me. Between Merrick's anger, that he can't seem to temper down and my smart ass ways, we don’t hold back and give him a chance to be himself. Hell, he probably doesn’t even feel like he can tell us anything out of fear we might turn shit around and make it about us, rather than him. We really are selfish dicks. He’s always trying to play referee and parent us. Calming us, keeping us in check, and making sure we don't get overwhelmed, there's no time for him. That shit has to change, we need to make him feel as connected as we do. Make him feel that he can confide in us the way we do him.
“How are you handling that anyway?” He looks up and is obviously confused by my question. “You knew before we all did and said nothing. I can only imagine the surprise and maybe even a little fear that you felt.” His face drops when I say he knew before us all, but we don’t judge him for that. It has to be hard, knowing he’s going to be a father, biologically, but can’t say or do anything because he wants another man to revel in what should have been his good moment. I hate he didn’t say anything, yeah, but only because he feels like he can’t trust us or that we would go behind his back maybe and fuck him over. Wrong.
“I wasn't scared, surprisingly. Shocked, sure, but I was elated when I felt her trying to connect to me. Honestly can’t be happier, I never thought that I would be a dad. I wanted to be, of course, but I never wanted to put the burden of my race, and the shit we have to do, on anyone. She has Demon, Valkyrie, and now part of me inside her. Maybe the other pieces of her will override the need for her to even have to shift. How are you dealing with it? Are you sure this is what you want? To stay here with all of us and help raise her?” He’s fucking with his fingers, picking at nothing, like I do when I’m nervous, but he shouldn’t be.
I walk up to him, smile confidently and put my hand on his shoulder as I tell him, “Too easy man, hell yeah. I love Mira. I didn't know what the feeling was before. The pull we all felt? It pissed me off at first, feeling that way over someone we don't even know?” I shake my head at the notion. “Sounds like some fairytale. The more time we spend with her, the more I understand her. It's like everything just clicks into place, like everything's going to be alright. Merrick and I might have grown up shitty, and you took us in making us family, but until I met her?” I shake my head again, casting my eyes down to the ground. “I didn't know there was something missing until we all laid with her. All of you are my family. Doesn't matter why we all fit together so well, I'm not going to question it. I just know we all do, and right here is where I am supposed to be.”
The surprise at my words is evident on his face. I’m lost as to what else I can say, so instead I decide to do nothing, and go in search for something to eat that wasn't in the form of a nasty, tasteless bar.
Mira:
Waking to the sounds of laughter and the smell of something sweet in the air, I pull myself up, spit out the hair that has fallen into my mouth, and try to rub the sleep from my eyes. -God, I hope I wasn't snoring.-
Cynide is sprawled out beside me, purring her little heart away while she sleeps warmly at my side. Petting her soft fur, I almost lay back down and cuddle up to her but the sound of footsteps coming down the little hall have me trying to tidy myself for whoever’s behind the door.
Jumping when the door is swung open, and my hands are still in my hair trying to detangle the mess I’d made of it while I was asleep, a strange looking Ebbin stands there, in the weirdest clothes I have ever seen.
It looks like he’s wearing a skirt! His chest is bare for the most part, there’s a strange piece of cloth coming over his shoulder and is tucked into his bottoms. He looks like he’s wearing a kilt, but the material is wrong, not thick. And it's much longer than what I remember kilts being.
With his black combat boots laced up and ending at the bottom of his calf, he looks utterly ridiculous and, oddly enough, sexy as hell. His bare, tattooed arms make my mouth water and I really want to find out if he’s wearing anything underneath his little skirt.
“You were snoring, but you needed it. Not like it’s the first time you reminded us what a freight train sounded like all those years ago.” The playful smirk he gives is a nice change to his worry from earlier, but I need more. I need to see him smiling brightly at me and taking the weight I should be carrying off his shoulders. I know he wants nothing more than to help, but this is on me. I don’t want him, or the others, feeling like they had to carry all of this shit for me.
“Fuck you,” I say lifting my middle finger in the air at him, to make my point further, “and just what the hell are you wearing?” I can’t help but snort at his clothing and roll my eyes at him.
“Hey, I lost my pack somewhere. I think we left it at your mother's. I bought this at the market so I wouldn't start to stink. Plus, it's hot as hell here. My clothes are too warm. Besides, it's what all the men here wear.” He picks up the bottom and shimmies around like a complete dork, doing a strange little dance and shaking his ass. I start to laugh uncontrollably, snorting and crying at the same time. The corners of my mouth are turned up so high, my cheeks are hurting and I’m holding my stomach from laughing so hard. “How did you sleep?” he asks me through his laughs.
Remembering the last few hours in only a few seconds, my skin starts heating up at the harsh memories and the worry of what people would think of me, but the one thing that grates is him calling Siv my mother. I let it go when he started to dance, but I can’t hold back my words anymore, happy moment gone, and resentment rising again, I have to get something straight with him, all of them really.
“She is NOT my fucking mother. She’s some woman that left her child behind. She’s nothing to me,” I say, trying to keep the anger out of my voice for his sake. He didn’t do anything wrong, but that, woman did. He takes a few steps in my direction and is at my side, sitting down and pulling me into his strong arms.
“I'm sorry Bugs, you want to tell me about it now? I know she’s not your mother, but it’s a little strange to think I should call her anything else, knowing who she is now.” He makes sense, he does. I just can’t think of her like that, not yet.
“Not really, at this point I don't even know what to say. Do I understand why she did what she did? To an extent. It doesn't mean I agree with it or believe her. I sure as hell don't think she fucking looked hard enough. You know what the Conclave does before keeping and tagging someone as an Unwanted. There’s no excuse in my opinion. Though there was one thing she said that I will want to go over with everyone. Are all the guys here?” He looks at me like I’m a broken animal. I don’t want his pity, I’m not mad at him, I’m venting to him. I just need him to be here, in this moment with me, really hearing me.
“Don't do that,” I whisper, trying to let him know I’m okay but his pity isn’t needed. “It’ll be fine. We a
lways wanted to know what happened to our families, well I know what happened on my end. Now we just have to find out what happened with yours.” The frown on his face is adorable, I lean over and kiss the side of his neck trying to rouse him a bit, and get him to smile back.
“Everyone's out in the front room. I'm just disappointed, you finally do have some answers, but they aren't what you wanted. Though I think you should give her another chance.” I look at him like he just grew another head, I was about to go off. He didn't get it.
“Wait, wait. The only reason I’m even suggesting it is because, she might have more answers she wasn't able to get out. She should have searched harder, I agree. Shit isn't always so black and white though, you know that better than anyone. Even if nothing comes of it, I think you should hear her out. Don't think I'm taking her side. I will always be on yours. I just want you to have every possible answer before making any decisions, okay?” He looks at me with hope filled eyes and raised eyebrows. How could I ever say ‘no’ to that face?! I might not agree with him fully, but he’s right. I am being stubborn. Everything is too raw right now, but I will think it over... later.
“Deal. Just not right now. So, before we get out of here, we haven't had barely any time to ourselves. How are Rigar, Caius, and Enbarr doing? And please explain to me just what a Ternary is? I know it’s something pretty fucking special, but that just goes hand in hand with you.” I scrunch up my nose and stick my tongue out at him, which makes him roll his eyes and squeeze my sides giving me a little tickle making me squeal in delight.
Laughing at what I said, he runs a hand through his soft hair and leans back against the stone wall pulling me with him. Laying my head on his chest, I wait for his answer, enjoying the sound of his heartbeat beneath my ear.
“So what the others told me is, we are rare beyond belief, like you said. Most likely my parents were both Alphas of different species. Not sure how that worked, from what I know, it’s hard for Alphas of any pack to be around other Alphas for too long. The dominance would start to come out and a fight usually occurred.”
He stops, and gets a far away look on his face, seeming to either relive something he has already seen, or trying to make his own version of events up, in his mind.
“The magic that runs through all Alpha’s blood is something I can't really explain, but you know how they protect entire packs, bring others into that pack, all that with magic of some kind? So when my parents, if that’s even what they were, somehow managed to get pregnant, I have a lot of that magic running through me. I should have only gotten two companions. Since they were Alphas, most likely, not only did I get the magic, I got three companions from it as well. They also told me that my animals most likely wouldn't be the same as what my parents have.”
He rubs at the back of his neck and takes a few deep breaths, I feel so confused and worried for him. I hope my questions, and all the answers he’s having to say aloud to me aren't causing him pain.
“When you get two animals together like that, they don't produce the same animals that they have, they are usually super different. No idea why though. So, in a nutshell, I'm rare because matings between other Alphas are rare. Maybe I should’ve just said that. Sorry, I'm still getting used to this too and trying to get it all out is really weird. As for the little fuckers in my head?” He pauses and starts to laugh. At a loss, I look up to him and quirk an eyebrow at him hoping he‘ll explain more.
“They’re great and really helping me through it. They banter like brothers and insult better than Rhett. They all want to change to spend time with you, though everyone agrees, doing that here might have an adverse effect to what they would want. People here seem to be set in their ways. The way they were when you were running? They just stood there and some glared, one man started talking a slew of shit and Torunn dropped his ass to the ground like a sack of potatoes. They don’t like change or things they don't understand. Torunn is different though, I like her and I think we can trust her.” His explanation excites me, I look up into his eyes and smile brightly at him and giggle when he leans down and kisses the tip of my nose.
“You’re still the same weirdo I fell for, at least that hasn't changed. I'm glad all of you are good in there and treating him like you would the others. Soon enough I would really like to see you all too. Maybe we can get some time away tomorrow to explore? Let them stretch a bit?” He squeezes my shoulder, drops a kiss to the top of my head and nods his head in agreeance.
“I think your explanation of everything was perfect. If you do want to find them maybe that will make it easier in finding them, two Alphas mated? Gotta be easier to find than just some people that boned once.” He gets a disgusted look on his face at the last part, making me suck in my lips trying not to laugh. This is what I was hoping for, and it worked. I have to get him out of his comfort zone every once in awhile. “Though it does suck that they probably aren't any of the guys species, that would have made everything a little easier in the scheme of things.”
“They aren't the same, but most likely one was some kind of bird and the other some kind of cat,” he stopped for a moment and then scared the crap out of me when he yelled, “Oh, shut up, you know what I mean, just let me explain it to her.” He’s staring out into space as he goes on his tirade. Finally he looks back down at me and winces, “Sorry, they’re pretty testy today. They don’t like it when I call them by their species. They want me to be specific to what they are. Anyway, the Naga is too rare for my parents to be one of. A snake shifter of some sort maybe, but from what I was told and can find, the snake shifters that are left that we know about are all over seas in the desert lands. I’m thinking, sorry guys, bird and cat shifters for my parents.” He held onto me tighter and laid his cheek on my head. The smile that took over is one he can't see but I know he would have returned the gesture if he could.
“That would make a little more sense, I mean, you don't have any traits that scream you're from somewhere over seas. Well, when you want to find out, I'm here, okay. I love you, Ebbin.” I tilt my head up and wait for the kiss I know he’ll give me. He doesn’t disappoint, though it’s shorter than I would have liked.
“I love you, too. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you're so accepting and willing to do that with me.” I can’t see his face when I hug him since my face is squished into his chest, so I hold on to him tighter and snuggle deeper into his arms.
“Well, you're stupid then. You won't leave my side and I won't leave yours,” I say kissing his bare chest. “Come on, I need to talk to y’all.”
We have things to talk about with the others. He taps my side, and I look up to him. I can tell he wants to get up, so I let him.
Mira:
Finding the others sitting in the small living room, around the coffee table with vibrant colored fruits cut up and ready to eat. I smile at everyone before I go into the kitchen. Pumping the water is a strange ordeal. The lever is long and has to be pulled upward, high enough I actually have to stand on my tip toes to be able to get it to work. It takes a few times, but I finally get a good amount of water to flow, and am able to wash up. I take a few drinks of the sweet crisp water before I head back in to the guys to tell them everything.
Sitting beside Rhydian and Ebbin, I look from the fruit, to the guys with a quirked eyebrow in question as to what the hell this weird shit is. “Which one am I going to like and I swear if you say any of them taste like chicken, I will start throwing the fruit at your heads,” I say, cringing at the food.
Laughs from each of them ring through the air lightening the mood and it sounds so good, I pick up a piece of fruit that’s a deep orange on the outside and a light blue on the inside. I cock my arm back in a mock throw, and I aim it at Merrick's head. Seeing him throw his arms in front of his face in surrender, I set it back down and wait for someone to start explaining. I sit there with a devilish smile and turn my nose up when Merrick raises an eyebrow at me.
“That one tastes sweet at first but ha
s a bit of tang after. It’s almost like a sweet apple with a grapefruit taste when you swallow,” Merrick says, making me pucker my face in disgust. I hate grapefruit.
Picking up a fruit that has bumps on the outside with a green skin, he cuts it open and shows me the inside, it’s black. It looks utterly disgusting, like something that’s rotten and has sat for too long and started to wither.
“You’re fucking high if you think I’m eating that! It looks rotten!” I protest shaking my head, sucking in my lips like there is no way I would ever let that crap touch my tongue.
“It’s not I promise, this one is my favorite, it tastes like milk chocolate with coconut. Try it, I promise it's amazing.” Giving him a side glare while taking the fruit he offers, I look to Ebbin with a questioning glance at the fruit and then back to him.
He shakes his head at first and says, “He’s right, I think it’s gross, but you know me, I hate anything coconut.” Looking back to Merrick once more, the taunting smirk on his face has me actually throwing a piece of the blue fruit at him. He didn't have a chance to defend himself this time. It hits him square in the forehead with a dull splattering noise. We all laugh at his expense while he flips us off groaning when he tries to wipe the juices from his head.
Tentatively, I take a bite. Surprised that I wasn’t fooled, a moan slips from my lips. It really does taste like coconut, and milk chocolate! I can’t help myself, as I, very unladylike, take another giant bite and let the juice from the delicious fruit run down my chin. The guys just smirk at my behavior and I shrug it off, savoring the succulent taste of the strange fruit.
Hungry for more, my fingers hover above the other fruits, skimming across one that is the shape of a banana, yet its a light pink color with long ridges on its skin. Breaking it in half, since there isn’t a stem to break open and pull it apart, without warning a bunch of little round, brown balls fall from the middle. Trying to catch them before they hit the ground, I end up dropping more out when the other end tilts and spill its contents on the floor.