One thing was certain, they could expect more Fallen to come. They could expect the trespassers to become more brazen in their attempts as well if these types of indiscretions continued to go unpunished. It was like putting out an open invitation.
Dismissed, he’d returned to his nest…his temporary nest. That’s when this feeling of loneliness had crept in. It took him a while to recognize the emotion. Once he realized what it was, he couldn’t shake it. In fact, it got worse with each passing second until he wanted to climb the walls. There was nothing else to it, he needed to go somewhere with other people present. Not that he wanted to mingle or to make friends. He didn’t! He just didn’t want to be alone like a fucking loser.
He found himself at the communal eating area. It wasn’t quite lunchtime yet, so there were only a few tables that were occupied. Males were eating and chatting. A couple of young bucks sitting at a nearby table spotted him and began elbowing each other, their eyes wide. He ignored them, making his way to where the food had been laid out. He helped himself to a couple of items, not really hungry. Might as well get some food down while he was there. He spotted a quiet table in the corner and plonked himself down with his back to the wall.
Magnar took a bite of his food and filled his cup with water from the jug that was already on the table. It had lemon wedges and ice floating inside. How fucking nice was that?
He was in a shitty mood. If he wasn’t so head-over-heels in fucking love with the human, he’d blow this place faster than an eagle in dive-mode.
The sound of female laughter drew his attention to the door.
“What the fuck!” Magnar muttered, dropping his fork on the plate with a clang. He narrowed his eyes at the scene unfolding before him.
A group had entered. They were walking towards one of the tables. He was there. Leukos! What was the fucker doing?
Leukos walked alongside a female, laughing at something she was saying. She tossed her hair back over her shoulder and laughed right back. She was tall with long, sandy-blond hair. Her legs went on for miles. The human was exquisite. She had nothing on Claire. Absolutely fucking nothing. In fact, her laughter was grating. It sounded forced. There were several others in the group, including human females, but Leukos seemed to be fully focused on her. He pulled the chair out for the female, saying something to her.
She smiled and fluttered her lashes at him. It was courting behavior. The blond was giving Leukos ‘fuck me’ eyes. In his defense, he wasn’t giving the same signals back but why was he there? What was going on? Where was Claire?
Leukos pushed her chair in and sat down next to her, listening intently to something she was telling him. It was all too fucking cozy for his liking. Magnar pushed his own chair back and walked over to the male. His feathers rubbed. Everything in him bristled. The human had her hand on Leukos’ arm, she was smiling and flirting. It was irritating the fuck out of him.
“What the hell?” he boomed.
Everyone at the table looked up at him, eyes wide. “Magnar?” Leukos got this look, like he’d been caught red-handed. Then he frowned. “What are you doing here?”
“I didn’t realize I was under house arrest,” he snapped.
“You’re not!” Leukos pushed his chair back and stood up.
“What the fuck is going on?” Magnar couldn’t hold back.
“Watch your language!” Leukos snapped. “There are females in our company.”
“I see that! We need to talk!” Magnar ground out through clenched teeth.
“I’m busy.” Leukos’ jaw looked tense. His eyes blazed. “You can speak to my PA and arrange a meeting. Reece would be—”
“Cut the crap! We’re talking right now. Your only options are whether we talk here or in private.”
“Don’t you dare speak to me like that.” His voice was quiet and even. A vein throbbed on his forehead, giving away his true feelings. “I will have your head.”
Several of the humans gasped.
“Have it your own way. We’ll do this here, then. What about Claire? Where is our female? What the fuck is going on here?” The male was working on his last nerve. King or no king, Magnar was certain he could get at least one punch in before he was taken down by his guards. It might just be worth it.
Leukos turned to the blonde. “Please excuse me for a few minutes.” He looked around the table. “Please excuse me.” There were several males and a couple more human females. Magnar didn’t bother taking too much note. He didn’t give a shit about anyone there.
Magnar stalked outside, he didn’t check to see if Leukos was following. He’d better be if he knew what was good for him.
Magnar tried to control the anger coursing through him. His chest heaved. Adrenaline flooded his system. He turned as he heard footfalls. “That had better not be what I think it is!” He pointed at the building behind them. “What it fucking looks like!” He didn’t wait for Leukos to answer. “Because it looks like you’re about to fuck that blonde in there.”
“I’m not about to…fuck anyone.” Leukos’ cheeks had reddened. The male had never been a good liar.
“Where is Claire?”
“She’s at the nest.” He put his hands in his pant suit pockets. “She wasn’t feeling well.”
“What?” Magnar spat. “So you left her ‒ alone ‒ to fuck around with a bunch of humans?”
“I’m not fucking around,” Leukos growled.
“That’s not what it looked like. Tell me you weren’t flirting with that female.”
“I wasn’t flirting with that female.” Although Leukos seemed deadpan, there was a tension in him that gave him away. “She was flirting with me,” he added. “I had no intention of mounting her.” The truth. It didn’t make Magnar feel any better.
“Flirting is flirting. You were lapping her attention right up,” Magnar snarled. “You had better start talking.”
“I don’t owe you any kind of explanation.”
“You do! We’re in this together. Claire is our female right now. I need to know what the fuck is going on.”
“I’ve decided to spend time with other females,” Leukos said, narrowing his eyes. He took his hands out of his pockets and stepped forward, almost trying to goad Magnar into a fight. He wasn’t falling for it though.
Magnar wanted answers and he wasn’t going to get them if he started throwing punches. “Oh, really now?” Magnar looked the male straight in the eyes. “Seeing Claire and me together has fucked with your mind, is that it?”
Leukos’ Adam’s apple worked. He shook his head moments later. “Of course not,” he snorted.
“It got to you. I know it did. I can see it,” Magnar countered, quieter this time. “I can see it fucked with your head. I know you. I know you almost better than you know yourself.”
“Wrong! Not even close!” Leukos snapped, closing the distance between them. “We’ve hardly spoken in ten long years. Things change. People change. I’ve changed. I watched you mount Claire…big fucking deal. I want to hedge my bets this time, since it didn’t work out so well for me the last time. I think Lauren is lovely.” He gestured with his head to the table of people in the distance. “I could see myself with her, no problem.”
“Bullshit! You’re in love with Claire. Fucking in over your head. I can see it from a mile away. Make that ten miles. It’s so obvious. You’re freaked out because you enjoyed watching us yesterday. You got off watching me mount our female and it—” Magnar staggered back, his jaw on fire from the right hook Leukos had just delivered.
“Shut your beak!” he screeched. “Say one more word and I’ll beat the feathers off of you.”
Magnar put up both his hands in a gesture of submission. He needed the male to hear him out. “Please listen to me, Leukos, you’re making a mistake. You talked me out of leaving because I was afraid of getting hurt in the end. You were right. I could feel how hard I was falling for Claire and I wanted to run. I was wrong to want to leave, just as you are wrong in trying to sabotage y
our relationship with Claire. It’s my turn to try to talk some sense into you. If you do this, you’ll regret it. Claire is going to choose me, but you’ll force her into doing something she doesn’t want to do. She won’t be able to take it if you fuck another female. I’m telling you now.”
“I spoke to her about it.” He got an arrogant smirk that Magnar wanted so badly to punch. He wanted to break his face. “She was fine with it. It’s only fair. In fact, it was her idea in the first place.”
Magnar snorted. “You’re kidding yourself.”
“I’m not!”
“You say that Claire isn’t feeling well?” He raised his brows.
“Claire has cramps. She started bleeding…as we were taught happens with human females. It is that time of her cycle and she is unwell.”
“I showered with Claire this morning, she wasn’t bleeding and she seemed fine. She told me that she wasn’t going to reach that part of her cycle for at least a week.”
“You showered together?” Leukos got right in his face. “You are not permitted to touch her after—”
“I didn’t. Back the fuck off. We showered. I washed her back and she washed mine. That was all.”
“I’m telling you that she is cramping, that she is experiencing her monthly bleed. It has obviously come early. It must have happened after you finished showering. She is fine with me meeting other females. You can do the same if you wish.” He pointed to the building. “I’m sure that there are several females you—”
Before he could stop himself, he hit Leukos square in the jaw. Leukos hadn’t been expecting it. The male staggered back, a look of shock in his eyes. “You dare strike me?”
Several males ran for them, intent on tackling Magnar, he could see it in their eyes. “Yes, Leukos, you’re being a dickhead. Claire used to call me that all the time. She used to tell me how sweet you were, how kind. I guess she got us mixed up. You’re the dickhead, not me.”
“Leave him,” Leukos boomed as the males arrived at their side. “Fall back.”
“But, sire…” one of the males tried.
“Fall back!” he snarled.
“I’m disappointed.” Magnar looked down at the ground for a beat. “I was beginning to think that I may have been mistaken about you. That I may not have had all the facts about what really went down between you and Ekon all those years ago. Now I know it was true. You stepped on your twin while he was down, in order to get ahead. You would leave your female at home to find a fuck. You’re a coward and a fool!” Magnar could feel himself beginning to shift.
“Don’t you dare go to her!” Leukos shouted. “Today is my day, not yours.”
“Exactly my point. Today is your day and yet you’re here, fucking around. I am going to check on my female because one of us has to. It is the right thing to do. You wouldn’t know much about doing the right thing, would you?”
“Don’t you dare!”
“She is hurting right now. She needs someone to check in on her, and if that someone isn’t you, it will have to be me.”
Leukos narrowed his eyes. “You don’t lay a hand on her. Not so much as finger…and she’s not yours.”
“If you travel the path you are on right now, she will be mine. Mark my words, it won’t take long for you to push her away either. You’ll force her hand. Push her into choosing something she doesn’t want.”
“Namely, you,” Leukos snorted. “I wouldn’t blame her,” he smirked and yet Magnar could see the pain in his eyes.
“Not me. Our female doesn’t want me. She wants… Forget it!” He waved his hand. “You’re throwing something amazing away. I’m sorry you can’t see that.” Magnar shifted. He was done with the conversation. Done with Leukos.
Chapter 32
Claire’s lip quivered and more tears rolled down her cheeks. She groaned and wiped them away. She was getting really sick of crying. “Stop it! Just stop!” she whispered to herself, trying to get more comfortable in bed. Like a blithering, sobbing baby, she hadn’t been able to force herself to get up yet. What would be the point? Where would she go? What would she do?
It wasn’t going to help her to wallow in self-pity either. She needed to figure something out. What? She had a feeling that there was something else behind Leukos’ abrupt change of attitude. What though? Why was he doing this? He’d mentioned the excuse about saving the crown, but that didn’t seem right, somehow. It made sense and yet… The questions rolled around and around in her head. It wouldn’t stop beating about in there. Driving her crazy. All Claire knew was that she couldn’t prevent him from pursuing this idea he had suddenly come up with…out of the blue. Especially since it seemed like he had set his mind on it. In fact, she didn’t want to stop him. All that Claire wanted was for him to drop it himself. To apologize and let things go back to the way they were. The same situation as he wanted, only reversed. Did that make her a bad person? Maybe not bad, but did it make her a hypocrite? Yes! More tears leaked out of her eyes.
“Can I come in?”
“Magnar,” she cried out, sitting up. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was it really him or was she imagining things?
No, as it turned out, she wasn’t. There he was, stepping across the threshold. Larger than life. Her heart skipped about a million beats. “It’s you,” she croaked, crying in earnest now that he was there.
“If I’d known you were going to cry this hard when you saw me, I would never have come,” he teased as he sat down next to her, taking her in his arms.
“I’m so glad to see you,” she sobbed into his chest.
“You would never say it.” He chuckled.
“I am,” she squeaked. “So glad.” She sniffed, getting herself back under control.
She felt him tense. “I ran into Leukos.”
Claire pulled back, noticing that there was blood on his chin. It looked like it might have dripped down from his mouth. “Oh my god! What happened? You’re bleeding.”
He frowned. “I am?” He touched his lip. “It’s nothing. It’s healed, I’m sure.” He shrugged.
“Why were you bleeding? What happened?” She wiped her eyes.
“Like I said, I saw Leukos and we had some words.”
“That looks like more than just words.” She glanced down at the blood before locking eyes with him again.
Magnar shrugged, managing to look casual. “He might have punched me, but then I punched him as well, so we’re even in the end.”
“I take it that you know what’s going on?” The waterworks switched on again and her eyes began to fill, making everything blurry. “Dammit!” She blinked a few times trying to stop the tears. “I’m such a baby.”
“No, you’re not.” He cupped her jaw, using his thumb to wipe away the moisture. “You’re justified in feeling this way.”
“No, I’m not. You guys share me.” Her face crumpled, so she tried to turn away, but he wouldn’t let her. “I’m selfish. I’m a horrible person. I don’t want him to date other women. I don’t want him to have sex with anyone else. I don’t want to share either of you. It’s wrong of me, it…” She dropped the sentence, trying all over again to stop with the stupid crying.
He let her go, taking her hand. “It’s not selfish. It’s normal. You are a human, you have been raised differently to us. You can’t help the way you feel. Ferals were raised with different customs.” He shrugged. “We are more used to sharing. Leukos and I…” He suddenly looked sheepish.
Then it clicked. “You’ve done this before?” Her voice was filled with shock and she could feel that her eyes were wide.
“Yeah.” He made a face. “We have, although it wasn’t the same at all.” He shook his head. Looking like he was deep in thought.
“How was it different?”
Magnar swallowed thickly. “We weren’t really serious about the female. We thought we were but…” He shrugged. “That wasn’t the case.”
“What happened?”
“I won her in the end.” Magn
ar shifted in his seat, suddenly looking uncomfortable.
“And then?” she urged.
“I told you I enjoy the chase and the win more than the prize. Once it was over, I broke it off with her. Leukos was pissed at me for a while.” He pushed out a breath. “And I couldn’t blame him. I’d acted like a dick. He was my friend. I told myself that I knew she was all wrong for him, that’s why I pursued her, but that wasn’t completely true. I was having fun. Being a dickhead.” He smiled. “You were right to call me those names.”
“No, I wasn’t. You’re not a dickhead at all.” She licked her lips. “I take it you were vying for the same mate? It was serious then?”
“No, sweets.” He cupped her chin again. “There was nothing serious about it.”
“It sounds like you both…that Leukos…had real feelings for this lady.”
He glanced at her, his eyes glinting. “We were young and stupid. Leukos as well. He wouldn’t admit it until recently but mating Adora would have been a mistake on all levels. It took him a couple of weeks to forgive me, and for us to become best friends again.” His eyes were misty. “I was lucky he forgave me. I should never have done what I did.”
“Do you feel guilty this time around?”
His eyes hardened and narrowed. “No,” he growled. “It’s not the same. Also, we are no longer friends.” He shook his head, his eyes clouded in thought.
“I think you might still be…deep down.”
“No,” he snorted. “You have it all wrong there, Claire.”
“I’m not so sure.” She smiled through her tears. “You should speak to him about what happened. I know you keep saying that there is no point, but what if there is? And you don’t know it. He forgave you for stealing his girlfriend…that’s a biggie, by the way. Maybe you could—”
“If he takes his head out of his ass long enough, I might, but otherwise…not on your life. Besides, the situations are not comparable. What happened with that female was nowhere near the same. We weren’t in love with her at all.” Magnar put his arms around her, tilting his head and looking her in the eyes. “I love you so much, Claire. I know things have moved quickly in human terms and I am probably scaring you off right now, but I do, I love you. There is no doubt in my mind. It’s nothing like back then.”
Hate Awakened: Book 3: The Feral Page 25