by Morgan Fox
Gavin’s intense gaze whipped in her direction, and his dark brow shot up, disappearing under his tousled brown hair. “I regret nothing,” he said adamantly, twisting to rest on his shoulder once again. “You’re mine. You always have been and you always will be.” He brushed his thumb over her cheek. “No matter how much I might dislike that you wish to be with Julian too, I’ll never be able to breathe unless you’re with me.” He shook his head, his jaw clenching under the pressure of unspoken frustration. “It’s my fault. I should’ve made you love me sooner.”
Shadow’s heart squeezed tight in her chest, her mother’s words echoing in her mind. “Things happen for a reason.” She told her that time and again. And since the day her parents had died, Shadow hated that phrase. She’d never been able to comprehend the reason for her parent’s death.
But now, lying in bed between her two lovers, she was glad that Gavin hadn’t forced their mating sooner. She was glad that things had happened as they had. Maybe her parent’s death was what led her to Gavin and Julian. Maybe they were the pieces that had been missing from her heart.
Nibbling the inside of her mouth, she knew if Gavin had pursued her with the true aggression of his wolf, she never would’ve known Julian’s devotion. Neither would she have experienced the power of fae magic that was now flowing through her veins, and leaving her breathless, anchored to a world that had once been spiraling into chaos.
“You have my love now,” she whispered, catching his hand and kissing his fingers.
Gavin lowered his lips to hers and tenderly kissed her. His warm mouth lingered a moment before he pulled away. Cupping her face, he brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. Sadness filled his gaze, but he blinked it away and smiled softly.
The emptiness she witnessed in Gavin’s eyes seemed to be a reflection of what was transpiring in her own heart. “Will we always feel like this?” she asked, wondering if he felt the same heavy weight of emotions residing between them.
“Like what?”
She dug her teeth into her lip. The heat of his touch was still present on her skin. “Will we ever be rid of the uncomfortable tension that has come between us?” Her gaze held his. “I feel like a heavy weight is sitting on my chest.”
“Do you feel guilty for what’s happened?”
“You know I do. I never meant to hurt you.”
Gavin arched a brow. “But you are unwilling to be without him.” His gaze shifted over her shoulder toward Julian and back again.
She swallowed the lump in her throat. “You know I can’t,” she whispered, glancing down to the smooth skin of his bare chest.
He forced out a breath. “I’ll be honest with you, Shadow, sharing you is killing me. I never thought that something like this would happen to us.” He lay flat on his back. “When I pictured my life with you, Julian was never a part of it.”
The bed shifted beneath them. “But I am now,” Julian said, rising up to rest on his elbow, his breath at her ear. “And you should know that even as I lay here, pretending to be asleep, I had no intentions of interrupting you two. I’m not about to think that this will be easy, but I do believe that it can work. Once we establish some ground rules, I think we will be better off.” His fingers gently clasped over her arm, holding her tightly. “Stop thinking about yourself and push that damn jealousy aside.”
Gavin scoffed. “Might I remind you that I’ve done pretty well with all of this since you’re still breathing, fae prince?”
Julian pressed himself against her back, leaning toward Gavin. “If this threesome of ours doesn’t work…you only have yourself to blame.”
With a growl, Gavin raised himself up on his elbow, facing Julian, and placed Shadow on her back. She stared up at the two men who were so very different but shared a commonality. Her.
“Guys,” she muttered, reaching out her hands and touching their chests. The caress was electric. She gasped, her pulse pounding at her temples. “I hate to interrupt, but could I use the bathroom? I have to pee.”
Gavin and Julian both glanced down at her and slowly smiled.
“You certainly know how to defuse a situation,” Gavin said with a snicker.
The bedroom door flew open, supercharging the air in the room. “What the hell is going on in here?”
Julian’s mother’s voice cut through Shadow like a knife. Dread sank to the pit of her stomach. Shadow gripped the sheet that covered their bodies and held it tightly against her as she shot up to meet Queen Miranda’s shocked expression.
“Mother, what are you doing here?” Julian asked angrily, sitting up.
The queen scoffed. “I should be asking you that question. Is this what you are doing when you come to Earth? Is this how you secure your future bride”—the queen lifted her hand and waved it in the air over the length of Gavin—“by allowing her to be pleasured by a lycan?”
Shadow’s mouth went dry. “Your majesty, it’s not what you think. Gavin is my mate and Julian—”
The queen brought her hand up to silence her. “I don’t want to hear it.” Her tone was sharp and almost cruel. “I’m here to bring you and my son back with me.” Her gaze snapped to Julian. “Eblis and his demon army are attacking our city.”
Gavin and Julian both sprung up from the bed as if it were suddenly covered with ants. Neither Gavin nor Julian seemed affected by their nudity as they quickly dressed. Shadow was not as brave.
She eyed the queen. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to get dressed in privacy before I venture off into your dimension.”
The queen frowned, but turned and exited the room, slamming the door with a magical wave of her hand.
Shadow quickly dressed, throwing on a pair of jeans, a plain white T-shirt, and sneakers. The queen shot her a vile glance as Shadow entered the living room where Gavin, Julian, Walker, Silence, and Lance waited. The queen paced the length of the room. Her heels clanked loudly against the hardwood floors.
“Glad you could join us,” the queen snapped.
“Mother!” Julian said sharply, closing in on her. “I won’t have you treating Shadow this way. You have no reason to be angry with her.” His gaze softened as he shifted his eyes to Shadow.
Shadow broke out in a cold sweat. Her restless heart hammered away with emotions she couldn’t decipher fully. Her body trembled, pulsing with an energy that left her breathless and scared. She clasped her hand to her chest and leaned against the wall beside her for support. Her legs felt weak, her vision blurry. She wobbled, catching herself before she fell.
“Shadow?” Silence called out to her sister, rushing to her side. “Are you all right?”
“Julian?” the queen said clicking her fingers.
Julian’s eyes locked on Gavin’s. “We need to get back and soon. The power of my people…Shadow’s power…Eblis is draining it. He’s found a way into the city.” He moved to collect Shadow into his arms. “She’ll die if we don’t get her back.”
“What have you done to my sister?” Silence bit out, slamming a fierce glare to the queen.
“There’s no time to explain. We need to get—”
Before the queen could finish her words, they had teleported to Julian’s world. Shadow somehow felt better. Her body was no longer consumed by fatigue and her vision had returned to normal. She didn’t understand what was happening to her.
Her fingers gripped Julian’s forearm. “What’s happening to me?”
“Eblis has found a way to the Pool of Magic. It’s the source of our power. It’s what’s feeding you the energy that’s flowing through your body.”
Shadow shook her head. “But how is that possible. I’m not fae.”
Julian’s eyes filled with apprehension. “You are. You just weren’t born fae.”
Gavin stepped forward, pulling her away from Julian. “You better start doing a better job of explaining yourself or—”
“Or what?” Julian snapped. “This is my world, lycan, and I could have your head on a plate if I so choose…but I don’
t.” Julian’s gaze met his mother’s. “Shadow is all that matters to me now.”
With a heavy sigh, the queen nodded. “Shadow’s parents gave her to our people as a way of ending the war with the demon fae. Your parents required that we find a way to secure your safety. The only way we could do that was by giving you the power of our people, allowing you another means of defending yourself against Eblis and his minions.” The queen stepped up to Shadow. “You were bathed in the Pool of Magic and the power of our people became a part of you.”
Shadow narrowed her gaze. The energy she’d felt each time she was with Julian, and the way she’d been able to cast Eblis away at the cabin, everything was starting to make sense as she absorbed the queen’s words.
Shadow wished she was dreaming, but the trembling ground beneath her feet and the faint smell of smoke and death told her she wasn’t. Eblis was attacking and their lives were in grave danger.
Shadow swallowed hard. “What about Julian? He said I’m to be his bride.”
The queen nodded. “That was another part of our bargain with your parents to secure your safety.” Her gaze softened as she stared at her son. “Julian is not only a fae prince, but a guardian. His role is to protect you and keep you safe at all costs. His power and skill in our world is unmatched by any other.”
“So my parents requested a marriage union between him and Shadow?” Silence asked, folding her arms across her chest. “No offense Queen, but I don’t buy it. My parents would never do that. They weren’t pimps whoring out their daughters.”
Walker stepped up beside her, placing a tender touch to her shoulder. “Maybe they would,” he said, sweeping their surroundings with a fierce gaze. “What if joining your family with theirs did offer you and Shadow a level of protection that the lycans themselves couldn’t provide?” He shrugged. “Let’s face it, babe, there’s a tremendous amount of power here. My freaking skin won’t stop crawling from it.”
Silence cocked her head in his direction. “So you expect me to believe that my parents would simply offer my sister up to a royal fae family because a demon threatened to kill them all?” She shook her head. “Not a chance. My parents weren’t like that. They’d fight. They’d protect us the only way they could.”
“By offering Shadow a chance to be more powerful than she ever could as a human or werewolf,” Julian told her, his words clipped and to the point.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass what—”
“Silence, please. I need to know what I’m supposed to do now. Regardless of how or why this happened to me, I need to know what I’m supposed to do about it.” She steeled herself and stood directly in front of the queen. “So I’ve got this fae magic…now what?”
The queen’s gaze softened. “You need to learn that your heart’s desires can become real. All you need to do is want something bad enough and it will be done. If you want it to rain, all you need to do is focus hard enough and it will rain.” Queen Miranda cast a quick glance over Shadow, starting at her sneakers and rising up to her eyes. “If you want your outfit to be less hideous, all you must do it envision more suitable attire.”
Shadow ground her teeth together. As nervous as she had been that Gavin and Julian wouldn’t be able to make things work between them, she’d never taken into account what their parents might think of their unique predicament. “Seriously? Do you think you could stop being a—”
“Shadow,” Julian said, dragging out her name in warning.
Her gaze met his and she could feel his need to calm her. A sudden tranquility overcame her as if he was forcing her to think only pleasant thoughts. She swallowed the remainder of her words and thought twice about her next statement.
“I know this must suck for you. I’m sure the marriage union you planned for your son didn’t involve his bride being mated to another.” She smiled at the queen, a gentle calm oozing from her every pore. “But tough shit. I’m in love with both a lycan and a fae prince and from what I gather they’re in love with me too. So you can either suck it up or simply shut up. I’m here to do a job, and I’ll help stop Eblis from destroying your world and crossing back over to Earth. But as far as the relationship I have with your son…that’s none of your damn business.”
Silence giggled. Wiping the smile from her face, she said, “I second that.”
Queen Miranda’s gaze flared with anger. Her lips curled up in disgust, but she said nothing. Shadow’s pulse quickened as the tension between them rose. The queen’s magic bounced off of her like the static electricity created by lightning. The hair stood up all over her body, but still Shadow stood her ground.
A crooked smile tugged at the corner of the queen’s mouth. “Then I guess you need to figure out how to use your magic and use it fast or you’ll be dead before the rest of us.” The queen arched her brow, and turned, leaving them standing in the courtyard of the royal castle.
Shadow stared toward the horizon. In the near distance, she could see plumes of smoke and bright orange balls of fire. Coming up over the once green and lush hills were thousands of black images, most likely Eblis’s army.
“What am I going to do?” she mumbled.
Gavin’s gruff voice dipped into her ear. “You’re going to get your ass moving, that’s what you’re going to do. Start learning that damn magic.” Gavin’s gaze darted to Julian. “Can you help her?” Gavin asked aloud.
Julian nodded.
“The rest of us need to find the armory. We need weapons. We can fight as lycans, but we might need a little more than that.”
“Good idea,” Julian replied and then proceeded to give Gavin directions.
Gavin cupped Shadow’s face, drawing her chin up to look at him. His mouth came down on hers before she could take a breath. Instinctively she wrapped her arms around him. His fierce kiss had her fingers digging into the firm muscles of his shoulders and back. He gently bit her bottom lip before breaking the kiss.
“I believe in you, Shadow,” Gavin breathed against her lips. “I know you can do this.”
She nodded, her chest rising and falling with each ragged breath she took.
Gavin and the others ran in the direction of the armory. She felt the teasing of power flicker throughout her veins. Being in Julian’s world felt as though she was finally waking up inside.
“Ready?” Julian asked with a heavy sigh.
“Why didn’t I know I had power sooner? Why is this happening now?”
“You were never fully ready. It wasn’t until death was knocking on Gavin’s door that you found the hidden strength of my people buried inside you. That’s why you were able to send Eblis away before he could hurt us and that’s why you’ll defeat him now. Your love for those you care about gives you the strength you need.” Julian caressed the side of her face. “Your fear of losing those you care most about awakened the magic.”
“Is this why I need you both in my life?” She felt a wave of emotions charge through her. Her body trembled as she fought for understanding. “I’m a lycan, Julian. I belong with Gavin.”
He brushed his thumb over her cheek. “You are also fae,” Julian whispered, capturing her in a fierce hold. His comfort was soothing. He was the tranquility that forced calmness inside her, leveled off the shaking ground that threatened to swallow her whole.
Her eyes watered. “I belong with you, too?”
He nodded. “You’re no longer one or the other. You are both lycan and fae.”
“I think I’ve always known that,” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. “Let’s get started.”
Chapter 13
The castle walls shook and dust fell from the ceiling as if a bomb had exploded just outside. Gavin grabbed all the weapons he could, stuffing his pants with knives and batons. He watched as the others did the same.
“What I wouldn’t give to a have a normal day in Silent Falls,” he said with a chuckle.
“You know I was thinking that maybe there was no such thing as a normal day,” Lance chimed in. “Since
the day I arrived, nothing has been what I thought it should be.”
Walker grabbed a battle axe that was mounted on the wall. “For crying out loud, would you two stop your bellyaching?” He hid more weapons on him, tucking a knife into each of his boots. “Lance, there are no normal days in Silent Falls. If there had been, you never would’ve known Silence.”
Lance glanced at Silence as she put her hair up in a tight bun. “I guess you’re right. She did need me after all.” Lance winked at her.
“Whatever,” Walker said with a huff of his breath. “She had all the man she needed with me.”
Lance arched a brow. “Obviously not since I was able to—”
“Guys!” Silence barked. “Are you really having this discussion now?”
Both Walker and Lance nodded. Silence shook her head.
Leaning toward Silence, Gavin asked, “Do they do that often?”
“Yep,” she said. “I’m still waiting for one of them to mark me with urine.” She shook her head, and narrowed her brow. “It can sometimes drive me crazy.” Her scowl softened. “But they love me and I love them…and the sex is—”
“Whoa! How the hell did that happen?” Gavin’s brow furrowed. “I don’t want to hear anything about your sex life, especially since I’m sleeping with your twin.”
“Oh, but Gavin,” Silence purred playfully. “The way they touch my—”
“Seriously, Silence, don’t make me cut off my ears.” He fought the grin that tugged at his lips. He’d missed his best friend and was glad she was here with him now.
Silence didn’t hide her devilish smirk. “You were always meant to be with Shadow, Gavin.”
He pressed his lips together and smiled softly. “Let’s just hope I continue to be. I’d hate for all this to be for nothing.”
Once again a loud boom sounded and the walls surrounding them rattled and shook violently. “We better get moving,” Gavin told them, and led the way down the dust-filled corridor.
As they headed back toward the courtyard, swarms of people rushed past them, some bloodied and wounded. Then Gavin’s ears perked up at the whimpering sound of the queen and instinctively he charged in that direction. Sweeping past dozens of people, he found himself standing inside the throne room. Queen Miranda knelt on the floor draped over the body of a young man. Her heavy sobs rocked her body. The shocked king stood beside her, his eyes fixed on his wife and the person who lay beneath her.