Irish Mist

by Caitlin Ricci

  Caelum felt Ippy nod against his chest and he lifted his left hand from Ippy’s back to rest it against Hannah’s side. They’d figure this out together, they had to. There was no way he’d let someone he cared so much about be unhappy being so far away from home.

  “I could leave here and go back with you,” Caelum whispered. As soon as the words were out he had no idea where they’d come from, but he knew that they were true. He’d do that, give up his life here and go to the states to live with them. If that was what Ippy needed, he’d do that in a heartbeat.

  Hannah gasped and Ippy froze in his arms. “Let’s not jump to that, alright?” Hannah said, her voice tight.

  You just got this place, too, Ippy reminded him. They’d talked about it in their dreams last night and yeah, Ippy was right, but Caelum was still glad that he’d offered that up as a solution, because when they broke away and slowly moved to the table Ippy was looking slightly better. He didn’t look perfect, and Caelum could still see the ghost of worry in his blue gaze, but there was relief there as well. He tried not to let it bother him that Ippy’s relief came from the idea of leaving his own home.

  They sat down to eat. Though there was a little conversation, they largely ate in silence, which none of them looked exactly happy about, but neither did they do anything to change it. As soon as the last of the food was eaten and the dishes were cleared Hannah went to get her laptop from her bag and Caelum found himself on the couch with them, Hannah on his right and Ippy on her other side as she opened the computer and she called her dads.

  “Hey,” she said as soon as the call connected and the video popped up. It was late evening in Ireland, but her dad had bright sunlight streaming in behind him.

  “There you are,” Travis said. He looked off the screen to someone and waved them over. “Hang on, let me get your dad. Liam, Hannah is on the call. Come over here. No, I don’t think she cares that you have peanut butter on your face. Really, you don’t have to—” He turned back to the camera and gave the three of them a tight smile. “Honey, your dad is going to be just a second. He’s washing his face.”

  Hannah giggled and Caelum was glad to hear her sound so happy. He put his arm across the back of the couch behind her and saw Travis follow the movement with his gaze. They shared a look, but Caelum didn’t look away. He’d had plenty of talks with both Travis and Liam, most of them archaic and about his intentions toward Hannah. Caelum had answered them honestly and without hesitation. He intended to spend the rest of his life with both Ippy and Hannah. End of story. The first time he’d said that, it didn’t seem to have gone over all that well. Maybe now it was getting a bit better, because her dads hadn’t asked him that recently.

  Caelum was surprised to see Ippy lift his arm as well and his fingers brush over Caelum’s arm as he put it behind Hannah’s back as well. Caelum looked at him and offered him a small smile and though Ippy didn’t return it right away, he did return it and Caelum was glad of that.

  “Alright, I’m here,” Liam said, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to Travis.

  “Hey, Dads,” Hannah said brightly, sounding like she was happy to see them both again. Caelum felt his heart constrict. He knew she was close to them, yet he’d insisted that they both come to him because he’s spent so much time away from his family as a child. But this wasn’t exactly fair to them either, was it? That was her family and Ippy’s pack. And his family was off vacationing somewhere warmer and hadn’t even had a destination in mind when they’d shifted and taken off into the sea this morning.

  Liam leaned forward and smiled at her. “Hi. I see you made it.”

  “Yeah, no thanks to Samson. Would have been nicer with the pack plane. All those people in coach. The snoring, the coughing, the crying children…” Hannah groaned loudly.

  Travis looked sympathetic and Caelum cringed as he looked over at Ippy. If things had been bad for Hannah, he couldn’t imagine how much worse they must have been for Ippy, who didn’t do well with crowds or strangers in general, and especially not with people touching him.

  “Were you against the window at least?” Caelum asked him.

  Ippy looked surprised, as if he didn’t think that he would be included in this conversation, before slowly nodding.

  “That’s good.”

  Hannah shot him a quick smile and Caelum returned it, though he had no idea what he’d done to get such a reward from her. She turned her attention back to her dads without missing a beat. “We’ve got a mini issue.”

  “What?”

  “Already?”

  Caelum cringed as two angry gazes turned to him. They were thousands of miles away and only looking at him through the computer screen, but he still knew they blamed him for it without even hearing what the problem was.

  “Ippy isn’t okay here without a pack.” Hannah cut off their glares and brought their attentions back to her.

  Liam’s face pinched. “Oh. Well. Alright then. So…” Her dads shared a look and Travis shrugged before waving his hand at Liam’s chest. Caelum knew them a little, but he didn’t have to know them all that well to be able to interpret that gesture. It was simple a very simple, “you’re the wolf, you fix it.” Only Caelum was pretty sure that Liam couldn’t do it from there.

  “Is there a pack there that he could move into?” Travis asked Liam. Before Liam could answer, though, Travis looked at Caelum. “Do you know if there’s one? There has to be, right? Pine Hollow transfers people sometimes, and it seems simple. At least from what I’ve seen. Surely it can’t be that much worse over there.”

  Caelum shrugged and moved his fingers past Ippy’s arm to curl in the longest tips of his curls that hung over the collar of his shirt. “I don’t know. It’s not like selkies regularly have meet ups with them if there are. We’re a pretty solitary bunch.”

  Liam pinched his lips together. “So unlike a wolf.” There was judgement there, and though Caelum recognized it, he didn’t let it bother him. He knew from the times he’d spoken to Hannah’s dads that Liam was reserving judgement on him. As far as Caelum was concerned, that was completely understandable and he wasn’t about to give the man a reason to doubt him. Instead he nodded, agreeing with Liam. Werewolves and selkies, though both shifters, had very little in common, and he didn’t doubt that there would be times when that would become an issue between them. But it wasn’t going to be today.

  With a sigh and a shake of his head, Liam took Travis’ hand. “Ippy, I’m sorry, but I have spoken to the alpha there. He understands the situation, but he does not approve of your relationship. It isn’t that you’re bi, it’s that you’ve chosen to take two people into your life. If there was only one—”

  Not gonna happen, Ippy said, his words punctuated by a low growl that made Liam’s head snap up as he narrowed his gaze at Ippy through the computer.

  “Your point is clear, but let me remind you that I am still your superior, regardless of where you live or what pack you may or may not belong to,” Liam replied coldly.

  Hannah put a hand on each of their legs and Caelum tightened his hold on Ippy’s hair. It wasn’t to the point of pain, not even close, but he wanted there to be no doubt in Ippy’s mind that he didn’t want him leaving, either.

  “We’ll make it work,” Hannah said, her voice soft. She curled her fingers where they lay over their legs and Caelum nodded.

  “Yes, we will.”

  Liam frowned and leaned forward toward them. “I’ve tried living without a pack, and it is possible, but it will take work and commitment from all three of you. Ippy, you aren’t dominant like I am. Submissiveness isn’t weakness, but it does mean that you may not have the fortitude to do this alone. A pack is a family, a structure that has a strict rules and standards. Replicating it isn’t simple. If the three of you need help, for any reason, we are here for you. The whole pack is.”

  “Thank you,” Caelum said, surprised that he was included in that offer.

  Hannah ga
ve her dads a bright smile, though Caelum saw the shadows behind it and knew that her dads likely could, too. She wasn’t a good liar, with her words or expressions, and someone should have told her that by now. “We’re gonna watch some movies and relax for a while. Thanks, Dads. I love you both.”

  “We love you, too.”

  Hannah shut her computer, cutting off the call, before getting to her feet and taking it to the dining room table. There weren’t many surfaces in his home to put it on, so Caelum supposed that was better than nothing. Neither he nor Ippy moved until she got back and when she was between them again they were quick to put their arms around her, holding her tightly between them.

  “Not the answer I’d hoped for,” she quietly admitted.

  Ippy shook his head.

  Caelum agreed. It wasn’t ideal. Another pack would have been the simple solution, he supposed. “We’ll figure it out.”

  Hannah forced another smile, and before she could give him some false ray of hope he bent his head to kiss away the lie of her smile. She was cold against him though, and he pulled away, giving her some space. But when he did so, she wasn’t even looking at him. Instead she turned to Ippy. “You okay with this? I know you saw us kissing earlier. But I want to make sure that you aren’t jealous that I’m kissing Caelum.”

  Ippy shrugged. I’m not bothered.

  “Or jealous?” she pressed.

  Ippy rolled his eyes. Not jealous. Not bothered.

  Before Caelum kissed her again he reached around Hannah’s lap to take Ippy’s hand in his. As Hannah turned back to him, easily sliding her arms around his shoulders and opening her mouth to him, he held Ippy’s hand. He wanted Ippy to know that he was still thinking about him, too. It was Hannah in his arms, but they were both on his mind and in his heart. Ippy gave his hand a squeeze and Caelum smiled against Hannah’s lips.

  Caelum pulled away before the kiss could go further, though it was hard for him to do so. As he sat back up, Hannah moved onto his lap, easily folding herself against his chest as she pulled her legs up and underneath her while still keeping herself turned toward Ippy, who took up her empty place. He got comfortable beside them as Caelum wrapped an arm around Hannah’s side, keeping her close and on his lap, then put his other hand into Ippy’s between them on the couch.

  Ippy leaned forward to turn on the TV and soon they were lost in an action movie that took no concentration to understand. Caelum was glad for his choice as he rested his head against Ippy’s shoulder and pretended that life could always be this easy among the three of them.

  Almost two hours later, the movie was over and Caelum lifted a sleeping Hannah into his arms as he rose from the couch. Ippy followed along with him and then moved around him, leading the way to the room Hannah had claimed for herself. The one furthest away from his, Caelum realized as a hint of a frown marred his face. Ippy pulled back the fresh blankets Caelum had laid over the bed that morning and Caelum laid Hannah into it. As one they tucked her in and took turns kissing her cheek before leaving her room as silently as possible.

  She’s cute when she sleeps, Ippy said as Caelum straightened up the living room. There wasn’t much to clean up. Mostly it was just busy work to stall the inevitable. He didn’t want to go to bed, not yet, at least. But they’d come on a long plane ride and though he couldn’t remember ever experiencing it for himself, he knew that jet lag could be debilitating. And so he knew he’d probably be going to bed early that night to keep from waking them up.

  “She’s always cute,” Caelum softly replied.

  Ippy shot him a grin and fluffed one of the pillows on the couch that had gotten crushed as they’d spread out to watch the movie. You haven’t seen her pissed off yet. She’s not quite as cute when she’s out for blood. Thankfully it’s never been mine.

  Caelum couldn’t help the smile that came over him as he pictured Hannah angry enough to no longer be attractive to him. He couldn’t do it, though, and ended up grinning because of it. “I look forward to it,” he answered Ippy honestly. He wanted to experience that with them both, all the moments he’d missed with them over the past five years because he’d been here and they’d been in the states.

  “I was lonely without you both,” he admitted, stepping back from the couch and meeting Ippy’s icy gaze.

  We had the dreams, Ippy reminded him.

  Caelum shrugged. “Yes, we did. But they weren’t enough for me. There was still so much of a disconnect. Tell me you didn’t feel it, too.”

  Shaking his head, Ippy came closer to him until they were less than a foot apart. I can’t. I looked forward to you being in my dreams. I spent my days with Hannah and my nights with you. I had the best of both worlds.

  “And now?” Caelum asked him, his breath halting in his lungs as he waited for Ippy’s answer.

  Ippy gave him a little half smile. And now you’re here and she’s here and I can’t believe it. You both say you love me and I’m scared to believe that. I’m insecure and I’m not comfortable in my own skin most of the time. Before I learned how to bond with my wolf I wouldn’t have even been able to do any of this. I could barely touch you the first time we met. I wanted to, but doing so freaked me out. I haven’t had an episode like that in over a year. It’s like my wolf calms me. He helps me put the world into a box that I can understand. Only the three of us don’t fit in that box, and sometimes I’m scared. And, also, I’m rambling right now.

  Caelum watched as Ippy’s cheeks turned a dark pink and Ippy shook his head. He could hear Ippy chuckling in his mind, though his face gave away none of it as he turned away. Caelum was quick to place a kiss on Ippy’s heated cheek. “You are beautiful and wonderful,” he whispered in Ippy’s ear before stepping away.

  I don’t believe you, Ippy was quick to say.

  “Because you think I’m lying?” Caelum asked him softly.

  Ippy shook his head. Because I’m not worthy of such a thing. You’re a selkie and gorgeous. Hannah is smart and spirited, and the most powerful child in the pack. She can put a full grown wolf in his or her place with just a look and no one messes with her. And I’m—

  Caelum didn’t want to hear any more of Ippy’s self-depreciating talk. He shook his head and put his fingers over Ippy’s mouth. Even though the words didn’t come out of Ippy’s lips, Caelum figured that he’d get the message anyway. “If I wasn’t a selkie and you weren’t a werewolf and Hannah was just a girl that we both loved, would you still feel this way? That you are somehow unequal to us? Somehow less than us?” Caelum asked him, his words coming out in a frustrated hiss.

  Ippy frowned at him and Caelum dropped his hand. The what ifs don’t matter. I am what I am. You are what you are. And Hannah can’t change who she is, either.

  Caelum pressed his lips together and shook his head before replying. “I will not do this with you, Ippy. You’ve always been the same to me. You’ve always been mine. My werewolf. The boy I wanted to kiss when I was so lonely and you two fell into my life. You are my equal. I’m not a wolf, and your social structure means nothing to me. I only know you as the boy that I love and I only know Hannah as the girl that I love. I don’t know how to make you see that, and I won’t fight you if you refuse to believe me.”

  Ippy’s eyes filled with tears and Caelum felt like shit for making him cry, but then Ippy threw himself into his arms and Caelum had to brace himself before Ippy knocked him over. Caelum hugged him as tight as he could, refusing to let go as Ippy’s shoulders shook and his tears soaked Caelum’s shoulder.

  Do you mean it? Really? Ippy whispered into his mind.

  Caelum kissed his temple, then the side of his head, before dropping his lips to the side of Ippy’s neck and kissing him there, too. “Yes. I wouldn’t have said it otherwise. You both mean everything to me. You are my everything.”

  Thank you.

  The bedroom door across from them opened and Caelum didn’t release Ippy as he looked up at Hannah. She gave him a soft smile and
a little wave. He lifted a few of his fingers off Ippy’s back to wave at her as well.

  “Caelum, how big is your bed?” she asked him as she walked toward them.

  He knew the answer without question, but also didn’t think she was ready for what she was offering. “You don’t want that.”

  Hannah shook her head and added her hand to Ippy’s back. “Not for everything. But I don’t want to sleep alone, either. So, is your bed big enough for the three of us to share?”

  “Ippy, is that what you want, too?” Caelum asked him.

  Without saying a thing, Ippy nodded against his chest. Caelum released him and took each of their hands as he led them into his room. It was messier than the other two because he hadn’t thought he’d be sharing it so soon, but after he kicked a few dirty clothes aside and straightened up some of his books, it looked better, at least. Not fantastic, but passable for tonight. Besides, he doubted either of them would be judging him on how clean his room was.

  “I can see the sea from here,” Hannah said, sounding excited as she went to the sole window in his room.

  Ippy went with her and together they looked out into the night. Caelum looked, too, and smiled at the sight of the sea with its waves crashing along the beach and the moon shining down on them.

  “Like it?” Caelum asked her.

  Hannah nodded. “Absolutely. Too bad it’s not warmer. We could have the window open and get some of that salty breeze.”

  “We could add blankets and cuddle,” Caelum offered.

  Hannah rolled her eyes and moved forward to smack his shoulder. Too bad he’d been serious about that. He went to the bed first, choosing to be in the middle and also to keep his pants on. They were comfortable and plenty warm to sleep in. Ippy came next, not removing any of his layers as he stiffly lay next to Caelum on his right. Hannah came last, looking a bit indecisive before taking off her bra through her sleeves without removing her shirt. Caelum was surprised, but Ippy seemed hardly interested as she laid it neatly over the chair to his desk. She hesitated again and Ippy yawned and turned onto his side, facing Caelum.