Roman
He watched as her face closed off. Her normally expressive face was blank, except for her eyes, they were full of determination and hope. The longer he took to answer, the more she seemed to draw into herself. He could feel the charged-up emotions of his brothers, but he couldn’t do that to her. He wouldn’t allow his magic to corrupt her. For her and her girl’s safety, he had to tell her no. His heart was in his throat, trying to prevent him from saying the words.
Dropping her arm and stepping back, he carefully schooled his face, “Nay, Ari-lass. I dunnae.” He instantly regretted the words, but it was too late to try and grab them back now. Her eyes shattered, the hope in them completely dying out. His heart tore into shreds and fluttered down inside his chest like confetti, the Darkness inside him rising to strangle his throat. He couldn’t breathe. What had he just done?
You fucking idiot! Mateo’s voice lashed inside his head and Roman fought a wince.
Ariana straightened her spine and stood tall. He admired her for that. “Fine. Then kindly stay the fuck away from me.”
His jaw dropped in amazement as ribbons started wrapping around her body. Within seconds she was dressed in a tight-fitting black t-shirt and black skinny jeans. He didn’t think he would ever get tired of seeing her magic. He mourned the loss of seeing her high, taut breasts that gave way to a flat stomach. Her hips flared out slightly, giving her that hourglass figure all women wanted even with the scars that covered her body from what that rat bastard had done to her. She was stunning, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
So why the fuck did he just let her go? Mateo was wrong, he was worse than an idiot.
She turned from him, asking the others, “Where is my room?”
“The entire third floor is for you and your girls.” Roman didn’t need to turn around to know that Aiden was the one who answered her, he had been with the guys so long he knew their voices.
“Thank you.” Her answer was stiff and formal, she seemed to have withdrawn from everyone.
With that statement, she was gone. There one minute, and in the next, a soft breeze was caressing his face.
Ariana’s bedroom faced the back yard, and he stared intensely at the light that had just come on, his mind and body numb. Roman didn’t even feel the hand that grabbed his arm. As he was spun around, he didn’t see the punch thrown his way. Landing flat on his back, Roman just stared up at the sky. He had always loved looking at the millions of stars twinkling in the pitch-black sky. They reminded him that no matter how dark things got, there was always light shining somewhere, ready to lead someone out of the darkness, if they could find it. But he was afraid that he had just shoved the only light he had ever found out into the abyss.
Easton’s face appeared in his vision, blocking out the stars. “You arrogant arsehole! What the fuck is the matter with you?”
Staring Easton in the eyes, Roman realized had never seen him so angry. He closed his eyes to answer him, unable to bear the weight of Easton’s condemnation. “A lot mate.” Taking a deep breath, Roman opened his eyes to finally look at Easton.
Roman knew Easton could see the turmoil in his eyes when Easton reared back saying softly, “Why would you tell her you don’t want her, Ro?”
Fury, hot and ripe, ripped through Roman. Surging to his feet he advanced on Easton, and he vaguely noted the others were watching warily but not interfering just yet. “You know why, East. I will not let what happened to Heather happen to her. I’m no good for her. You know that!” Roman’s breath hissed between his teeth.
“Ro, mate, this is different, your magic won’t…”
“The fuck it willnae! How can you say that?”
“Because, you twat, she is already set to get Dark Magic! Or have you conveniently forgotten that fact? Once she passes the third trial, she will gain it! You are probably the only one who can stop her from losing herself! Yet you just tossed her aside because you’re a fucking coward.”
Roman stumbled back as Easton’s words lashed at him, the truth of them burning into his mind. He had forgotten that. Dammit, he was a coward. Instead of facing his problems and trying to find a better solution, he had made her run. Roman looked around to the rest of the guys. Mateo appeared ready to gut him like a fish. Aiden’s face was set in stone, his eyes twin pools of liquid blue fire. Gray had his hands clenched into fists, ready to swing. Even Jayden, who was normally the goof off, looked like he was having trouble controlling his Tiger.
“Pull your head out of your arse, and stop being such a wanker and fix it!” Easton stormed back to the house. The other’s, except for Aiden, followed Easton, glaring at him as they went. Roman turned away from Aiden, starting for the forest with his head hung low—he needed time to think.
Roman stopped as Aiden’s soft voice floated over him. “She is everything to us. She is our Mate whether you want to be or not. But she needs you too, Roman, and you need her.”
“I know Capt. I need to think. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Roman continued on into the forest pulling the shadows around him like a cloak and hiding from everything. He had to figure out a way to tell Ariana he was a sorry bastard of a coward.
How the hell am I going to fix this? She will probably never speak to me again.
Twenty-Seven
Ariana
It had been a week since Roman dropped his bombshell on her. Ariana was trying to stay positive, but without him she knew she was going to die. She had a little under eight months before her twenty second birthday. Eight months to spend with her little girls, to show them how much she loved them. Roman had been avoiding her just as she had been avoiding him. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, he had cracked her heart. It wasn’t completely broken, but the crack got wider every day. It hurt to look at him. His sexy long red hair, his perfect lips and all his tattoos. She sighed, watching him splitting wood in the backyard. Ariana was sitting on the back deck drinking coffee out of the mug Jayden had gotten for her. She chuckled every time she read the words “Good morning sunshine! Your sarcastic little ray of sunshine is awake.” She sighed longingly as Roman took off his shirt, his skin gleaming with sweat. He really was devilishly handsome.
Ariana jumped when Mateo slid into the seat next to her, her eyes and mind so focused on Roman that she didn’t hear Mateo come out. She gave him a sideways glance. His gaze was focused on her like a laser, his mouth set in a grim line. Ariana knew Mateo wasn’t happy with her, but she refused to tell the others about the consequences of Roman’s decision. It was his life and she would not force him to be her mate. Now that Ariana had come to terms with the six of them being her mates, it was hard for her to switch gears, to now have to come to terms with her death. Ariana cursed at herself for her morbid thoughts. Those kinds of thoughts would not help her situation, if anything they would only make it worse. She couldn’t allow herself to fall into the deep depression she had nearly drown in years ago. Only the thought of Avery needing her mother brought Ariana out of that one.
Mateo continued to glare at her until she relented. “I’m not telling him or the others Mateo. You can be pissed all you want, but it’s just not going to happen okay?”
“Why not? They need to know!” His low growl sent shivers down her spine. Not ones of fear either, but pleasure. She couldn’t fight it anymore because day by day they had been wearing her down and showing her that not all men were monsters only out for themselves. They truly cared for her and her daughters. They all helped her tuck the girls into bed at night, even Roman. Grayson had taken to reading to them every night and sometimes, as she laid in bed staring up at her ceiling, she could hear someone singing to the girls. Whoever it was had a deep calming voice, smooth with just a little rasp. Ariana had tried to ask the guys if any of them sang, but they all clammed up. even Avery wouldn’t say a word when Ariana asked. She was no closer to finding the voice that had started to invade her dreams than before she asked about it. It was driving her insane not knowing. She had even tried sneaki
ng down the hall to peek in the room, but their door wouldn’t budge.
Turning slightly to face Mateo, yet still keeping an eye on Roman, she said, “It’s their decision to make. I won’t force anyone to be my mate because of a stupid fucking curse. It would only lead to heartache and bitterness.”
Mateo let out a long-suffering sigh and raked his hands through his hair. She couldn’t help but smirk at him. “Careful, you’re starting to act an awful lot like Aiden.”
When all he did was scowl at her, she shrugged her shoulders and went back to her coffee. Roman was almost done with the pile of logs. Why he was splitting logs in the middle of the summer, she didn’t know and didn’t care, she just liked watching him.
“Where are the guys?” She addressed Mateo over her shoulder.
“Aiden ran to town, Gray is playing with Zoey, Jayden is playing Life with Avery, and Easton is doing what he does best.”
“Oh. And what’s that?”
“Research. He’s trying to find anything he can about your curse.” Before she could say anything, the door slid open and out bounded a very enthusiastic Avery.
“Mom! I won! I beat Jay three times in a row!” Ariana smiled and ran her hand down Avery’s hair. She loved seeing how happy her girls were here. Avery had stopped sulking and her attitude was better. She was smiling more and looking more relaxed than Ariana had seen her in years. It pained her to think that she had been doing her girls more harm by running all the time.
“That’s wonderful! He needed to be taken down a peg or two!” Ariana winked at her daughter.
“Hey now! I’m not the one who needs to be brought down.” Jayden leaned down to kiss her cheek and threw a pointed look and scowl Roman’s way.
“Oh, wow! Look Mom! He’s as strong as Hercules!” Ariana chuckled as she watched Roman load up his arms with logs.
“You mean hunkules.” Ariana sighed again as Roman started walking towards the side of the cabin where they stored the firewood for winter. Jayden and Mateo roared with laughter and Avery giggled. Ariana tried not to blush as Roman shot a heated glance their way. His muscles rippled with strength, and his many tattoos gleamed in the afternoon light. Just as he disappeared around the side of the house, Gray stepped out.
“What’s everyone laughing at?”
Ariana waved a hand vaguely in his direction. “Oh nothing. Where’s Zoey?”
“She’s laying down for a nap. I think I wore her out chasing her around.”
Grayson flopped down into one of the patio chairs with a heavy sigh. Ariana chuckled. “I think she may have worn you out as well, dear.”
Gray’s eye widened, and a slow smile spread across his face.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?” Ariana squirmed in her chair.
“That’s the first time you called me by a pet name.”
“Well you haven’t called me by one either.”
“I’m still trying to come up with a good one.”
Ariana laughed. Standing up she asked the guys, “Alright. Who’s training me today?” They were all taking turns strengthening her abilities and testing to see what her limits where. Other than not being able to fully shift for very long, though she was able to stay in form longer than she used to, they hadn’t found something she couldn’t do. Ariana could also do a lot of things that the others couldn’t. Easton could heal others but not himself while she could do both. Mateo had some healing abilities as well and could read minds and project his thoughts but only to one or two people at a time, but she could do it with the entire group at one time. She could also project one person’s thoughts to the entire group at will.
Gray and Jay stood up and began taking off their clothes. Ariana quickly covered Avery’s eyes and shot them a glare. If looks could kill they would have been dead, or if not dead, then severely maimed.
“What are you doing? Give us some warning!” she snapped, turning slightly so she could give them privacy but still sneak glances. She heard both men chuckle, and she ground her teeth together.
“We decided that we were going to take you and Avery someplace special. Avery can ride on Jay’s back while you are going to try shifting into a fox and run with me.”
“I can’t just take off! What about Zoey?”
“Roman and I will watch her when she wakes up, though with the way Gray tuckered her out, she may be out for a while.”
Ariana bit her lip, still undecided. While they had been training they had never left the backyard. What if something went wrong? What if the stalker found them and attacked? Then she looked into the pleading eyes of her daughter, and she relented. They had proven repeatedly they loved the girls and would rather die than let anything happen to them.
“Okay,” she sighed, but the truth was, she was excited for the chance to run with Gray and Jay.
Grayson
Gray wasn’t fooled for a second by Ariana’s sigh, he could tell by the gleam in her eye that she was excited. Avery jumped and fist pumped the air making them all laugh. He was amazed at how different Avery was out here with them than she had been in the city. All three of them had his heart, and he didn’t want it back. Playing with Zoey and Avery and hearing their peals of laughter made his heart soar. When Ariana looked at him with lust and hints of love in her eyes, he felt invincible, like he could take on the world, and his fox agreed with him.
Smiling, he took off his pants and underwear in one smooth motion. He grinned harder when he saw Ariana’s eyes widen a fraction, even though she was halfway turned from him. She was warming up to them as well. No longer did she flinch from their touch or kiss, which they did often, except Roman. Gray bit back a growl at the thought of his hot headed and stubborn as a damn mule brother. He knew Roman didn’t mean the shit he said that night. The man had been sulking and punishing himself with manual labor all week. Gray was only giving him three more days to work his shit out, then it was going to be time for Roman to get his ass handed to him again, only this time it would be him doing it instead of Easton.
Gray straightened and winked in Ariana’s direction before he let his fox out to play. Shifting was like breathing for him. One second he was human, and the next he was looking up at Ariana from the porch. His fox was a hell of a lot smaller than either Jayden’s tiger or Aiden’s wolf, but while he was small, he was at least twice the size of a normal fox. His fox was a mix of grey, white and browns, and his tail was full and bushy. Gray was often their scout and spy because his fox could get into places the others couldn’t.
He yipped and growled playfully at Ariana, swishing his tail. He didn’t know if she would hear him in this form, but he bet with her powers it wouldn’t be any trouble for her if she wanted to.
Hurry up, slowpoke! Let’s run!
Gray was momentarily distracted by Jayden shifting into his tiger; Gray had always been just the tiniest bit jealous of Jay’s coloring. White stripes intermixed with browns and his ice blue eyes made him a very impressive sight to behold. Looking back at Ariana, he waited for her to take off her clothes and shift. Avery squealed when her mother uncovered her eyes and she could see their animals. It was the first time Avery had seen any of them in their alternate form. Gray smiled at her as she rushed over and scratched him behind his ears, and he sat down and nuzzled into Avery’s small hand licking her face playfully when she bent down to kiss the top of his head.
“EWWW!!! Not cool dude!” Avery yelled, wiping off her face. He yipped back at her as she smiled. He watched her as she ran to Jayden’s side and stroked his back, causing the big cat to purr. Gray shook his head and once again looked expectantly at Ariana.
Ariana was watching Avery with Jay; a worried frown marred her beautiful face. He wished he had Mateo’s ability to read her mind in that moment. Was she worried about Jayden’s size? His tiger was easily the size of a small horse.
“How is she going to ride on his back?” Ariana nibbled on her lip. “I don’t want her falling off and getting hurt, Jay.”
Ja
yden shook his head at her and glanced at Mateo, as he reemerged from the house. When the hell did he slip away? In his hands he carried the newly made saddle for Avery. Jayden had made the saddle himself, working with the leather and shaping it just right for Avery. Gray wasn’t sure if Ariana knew that Jayden liked to work with his hands and build things. Hell, most of the wood furniture in the house was made by Jayden—he was very skilled in his craft.
“Where did you get that?”
“Jayden made it for Avery,” Mateo answered.
Ariana gave a small gasp and looked at Jay as Mateo fit the saddle to Jayden and helped Avery get on. Once she was settled, she glanced at her mom and frowned.
“What are you waiting for, Mom? Let’s go! Oh! And thank you very much, Jay! I love it!” Avery leaned down to give Jayden a hug around his neck. Jayden ducked his massive tigers head. If he could blush in that form, Gray was certain he would be.
Ariana smiled and nodded her head. “On it, Munchkin.” With that she shifted without taking off her clothes. To Gray’s surprise, her clothes didn’t rip or slide off her as she got smaller—they just vanished, Gray didn’t see them anywhere as she transformed into her fox. His mouth hung open as he saw her fox for the first time. She is stunning! Pure white fur all over her sleek body except for her ears are tail—they had red at the tips. Her smokey grey eyes held his as she let out a yip and bounded down the steps. He must have looked like an idiot because Mateo started laughing hard.
Ariana stopped at the base of the stairs and glanced back at them, swishing her tail enticingly. Are you coming? She spoke the words into his mind, snapping him out of his stupor.
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