Unbound

by Emily Dawn

  “We don’t know who he is,” Gloria says, reaching across the table for my hand. “It’s what the fae call a soul bond. His life energy is tied to yours, so if he does not protect you and you die, he dies too. His only purpose is to serve and protect you. As for why you’re special enough to warrant this, I don’t know. You’ll need to ask your mother.”

  “Alek has people in every realm,” Hayes turns to me, “we’ll find the mage and figure everything out. You don’t have to do this alone.”

  Gloria growls, “of course, she doesn’t have to do this alone.

  We’ve been here for her entire life.”

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  “Yeah,” Hayes growls back, “keeping secrets.” There’s grouchy ass scowl we all know and love.

  I squeeze his arm in thanks. “What’s this mage’s name I’m going to have to find?” I look over at my aunts.

  “He always just went by Jimmy. He’s” Zora searches for the right word, “eccentric.” She nods her head at Hayes; “he’ll drive you mad with his antics.”

  “Okay,” I sigh. “I guess we’ll get going. I have story time at the Library tomorrow. I guess I’ll also look for whatever information I can find down in the archives.”

  We hug and exchange goodbyes and then walk out toward Hayes’ Jeep. The sun has set, and the air has a bit of a chill, so he puts the top on. “Do you like pre-war music?” He asks as he hands me his phone. When I answer with an affirmative nod, he continues, “You pick the playlist.” I settle on some old alternative rock and hit play.

  “Good and surprising choice,” he smiles. “Where am I taking you back to tonight?”

  I hadn’t even thought about this. I know they have a room I can use at their house. I’d be close to all of them, and that feels 226

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  right to me. Just being in their presence makes me feel secure, happy, and content. I feel a tug from within to be with them.

  From a logical standpoint, it makes no sense. I should go home tonight, so it’ll be easy to get ready for work in the morning. As mind works through this maze of feelings versus logic, he reaches over and rests his large hand on my leg.

  “Hard decision?” He smirks at me, an understanding look in his eyes. “I think you should come back to the house with us tonight. We can discuss everything we talked about with your aunts. We have a room for you, and then we can all sleep better knowing you’re safe. While you are still recuperating,” he adds swiftly when I open my mouth to disagree with him.

  “What changed? Why are you so,” I bite my lip because what I’m about to say is blunt and borderline rude, “sweet?”

  He huffs a laugh. “I’m an asshole to almost everyone, most of the time. It is definitely a personality fault but watching you lose consciousness shook me. I can’t describe it. I was attracted to you the moment I laid eyes on you but seeing you near death.

  It just hit me like a tidal wave. Alek, Vance, and Ross all knew as soon as that first night that you were ours and that the prophecy was legitimate. I fought it so hard like you still are fighting it. I don’t like the feeling of not being in control, and this feels like 227

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  that. It feels bigger than me. But I, we, feel content and complete when you’re with us.”

  That’s a lot to take in. I don’t want to sort through all that right now, so I decide to go with keeping things light. “Well, I can’t disagree with your assertion that you can be an asshole,” I nudge his arm with my elbow. “I think I should go home tonight, though. I have story time in the morning, and that means I’ll have to go in early to get set up. I have nothing at your guys’ house so it’ll just be easier. Plus, I have Hunter there. I’ll be fine.”

  “Alright,” he agrees reluctantly. “Story time?”

  “Yeah. It’s for preschoolers. They come, and we read a book, sing songs, and do a craft. It’s my favorite part of the job. The book we’re reading tomorrow is The Pout Pout Fish. You’d like it, it’s about a grumpy fish who pouts all the time,” I bite my cheek to hold back the laugh that wants to come out. “You have a lot in common, spreading your dreary wearies all over the place.” I can’t hold the laugh back any longer. It’s clear he doesn’t understand the reference, but it doesn’t stop me from laughing until tears are streaming down my face.

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  By the time I’m regaining my composure he’s pulling up to my apartment building. “I’m going to walk you up,” he states, not asks. He reaches into the back seat and pulls the bouquet of wildflowers out. They’ve wilted, but with one pass of his hand, they’re back to being full of color and fragrance.

  I bury my face in them when he hands them to me, “mmm, thanks again for these.” The smile I get in return is so swoon-worthy I forget to breathe for a second. Is he going to walk me up and kiss me? I’ve kissed all three of the other guys today.

  Surely he will not want to kiss me too. Although, my wolf definitely wants him to kiss me. It feels like she’s pawing at my chest to get out. She has no hang-ups about these four claiming to be my mates and is ready to lay her own claim to them. My brain feels like it’s in a hamster wheel, constantly running and getting nowhere.

  As soon as I turn the key in the lock, I realize there’s something wrong. The wards are down on the apartment. All the lights are off, so I know Hunter isn’t home. I reach into the vase on the entry table and pull out a knife I have hidden there and two stakes from underneath the table. I hand one to Hayes and take a deep inhale through my nose. “Vampire,” I whisper to him. He nods once and steps into the living room.

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  A blur speeds past us, and straight through the window to the patio. We follow it, and by the time I’m out the door, Hayes has jumped over the patio railing like fucking Jason Bourne. I don’t even want to look over the edge and see him splattered eighty feet below. When I gather my courage to look; he’s running off into the dark after the vampire that escaped. I take another deep inhale to smell for more, but it seems like there was only one. I flip on lights in the kitchen and living room, and after a glance, everything looks normal. I head back toward my office and flip the light on. The whole room has been tossed. My desk drawers are all open, papers are everywhere, my ferns are kicked over, and soil has spilled out. My furniture is ripped to shreds. The only place that didn’t get torn up is my weapons closet, thank fuck. I turn to look in my room and run right into a figure in the shadows.

  I bring my knife up and slam it down quickly. It sinks into flesh right as I hear a familiar voice say my name.

  “Lenna,” with a grunt, “it’s me.”

  I flip the light on and see Vance with my knife sticking out of his side. “Oh, fuck! Vance! I’m so sorry!” I yank the knife out and put my hand over the wound. “What are you doing here?” I push him toward my room and grab some towels. The wound 230

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  looks superficial, but I’m not an expert on incubi healing. “How do I fix this? Gods damnit don’t fucking sneak up on me like that,” I smack him.

  “Hayes called me while he was chasing the vamp to get over here for you.” He grabs a towel from me and holds it to his side. “As for how to fix this,” he gets that damn twinkle in his eye, “I’m an incubus, so sex always does the trick.”

  I gape at him and squeak, “are you seriously propositioning me for sex right now?” This fucker. “You are bleeding all over my bed! And your mind goes to sex.”

  “My mind always goes to sex,” he winks, “especially around you. Sex is why I exist, how I survive, everything.” He shrugs, “but I will heal relatively quickly. You hit nothing vital, only the squishy parts.”

  I take the towel from him and press a clean one to the wound. It’s already stopped bleeding. “I’m sorry,” I look up at him, and his golden-brown eyes are staring right back at me. “I was jumpy from everything. My office is torn apart. The-”

  He cuts me off and jumps o
ff the bed and ignores my protests. “I’ll be fine,” to prove it he pulls his shirt off and the flesh on sides is already knitting back together. I’m momentarily 231

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  distracted by his well-muscled torso, his defined pecs, cut abs that narrow down to a sexy v. He turns, and I watch the muscles in back move and bunch as he walks purposefully down the hall.

  I shake my head and pull myself out of my reverie. Focus, Lenna. Ignore the sexy as fuck incubus strolling through your apartment half-naked. When I walk into my office, he’s turning furniture back over the right way and trying to save my ferns.

  Again, I’m having trouble moving my eyes from his back, his smooth, tan, tattooed skin over taut muscles.

  “Keep looking at me like that,” he smirks over his shoulder at me, “it’s helping me heal.” Then he sends out a pulse of his magic that settles right between my legs and has me squeezing my thighs together. “I can get someone over here tomorrow to fix the walls and the patio door.” He turns to me and points to his side, “all healed.”

  Hayes walks in behind me, not even winded. “He got away.

  Are you all right,” he turns me to him and runs his hands down my arms and back up again.

  “I’m fine. I knew he was alone, so I did a walkthrough. It looks like he only trashed my office. I need you never to jump off a balcony like that again though. I couldn’t breathe until I saw 232

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  you running off.” I wrap my arms around his waist and squeeze him tightly. He smells like a bonfire again. He must have used his fire magic.

  “Why was there blood in the hallway?” Hayes asks Vance.

  “Killer stabbed me,” he replies with a grin.

  “You snuck up on me! I didn’t know you were jumping in,”

  I shoot back at him.

  “You alright?” Hayes looks him over for the wound.

  “Yeah,” Vance points where I stabbed him, “I took my shirt off, so she’d have lusty thoughts and heal me.” He wiggles his brows suggestively. “It worked.”

  Hayes rolls his eyes and looks down at me, “pack some bags. You’re staying with us.” His tone brokers no argument. I think about arguing just because I know I need not be protected, but part of me feels so violated by the trashing of my office that I don’t even have it in me.

  I grab a roller bag from the hall closet and toss it on my bed.

  I grab things from the bathroom. Hayes comes and leans against the doorjamb and watches me for a few minutes.

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  “Make sure you grab enough for a few days, maybe a week.” He looks around, “do you need help with anything?”

  “Can you save my ferns? And maybe make sure that the ward on my weapons closet is still secure?” He nods and leaves.

  I pull clothes from my closet, trying to figure out work clothes for the week and whatever else I’ll need. Once I have everything I think I’ll need I go back out into the living room.

  Vance is measuring the door and taping a tarp over the window.

  I shoot a text to Hunter telling him what happened and suggesting he stay with whomever he’s been spending so much time with lately. He and I will also have words about why the wards were down in the first place.

  “I’m ready.” I grab my keys from the front table, “Vance, are you riding with me?”

  “Yep, let’s go, Killer.”

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  Lenna

  We pull up to the guys’ house, and Vance directs me to an empty spot in the garage. Hayes is already pulling my bags out of the trunk, and they lead me into a mudroom off the kitchen.

  “Do you want anything?” Hayes stops before leaving the kitchen.

  “No, I’m still stuffed from dinner,” I rub my now less noticeable food baby. “Plus, it’s late, and I’ll have a longer than a usual day at work tomorrow.”

  “Okay, follow me.” He walks through the living room and toward the stairs. He leads me down the hall and starts pointing out everyone’s rooms. My room is between Aleksandr’s and his.

  Ross is directly across the hall and Vance is across from Hayes.

  I let out a small gasp of surprise when he opens the door for me. The room is decorated with modern white furniture, similar to my office furnishings. The bedding and accent colors are soft

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  lavender and grays. The exterior wall is full of windows with a set of French doors leading to a small balcony with a table and chair. The wall behind the headboard has white and silver geometric patterned wallpaper. The other walls are painted a dove gray.

  “Your bathroom and closet are through there,” he points at a door on the wall opposite the bed. He picks up a tablet from one of the nightstands, “this controls the temperature and the blinds.” He hits a few buttons on the tablet, and blackout shades start coming down from the ceiling. “I’ll let you get some sleep.”

  “Hayes,” I say as he turns to leave. He turns around, and I continue, “thank you for today.”

  He walks back toward me and runs the back of fingers along my cheek. He leans down and brushes the softest kiss across my lips, so quick I almost think I imagined it. “Goodnight, Lenna.” He walks through the door and closes it with a soft click.

  I decide to go check out the bathroom. It’s as gorgeous as the bedroom in blinding white everywhere. The floors are a beautiful marble with an opalescent vein running through them.

  There is a sink and vanity on one wall, a huge steam shower on 236

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  another wall, and a deep stand-alone tub by the large window.

  Over the tub is a beautiful crystal chandelier. The closet is three times as large as my closet at home. I pull my suitcase into the closet and start hanging up my clothes. What I currently own wouldn’t even fill half this closet. I grab my favorite shirt to sleep in, an old one from college that I stole from Hunter.

  I hear a knock at the door as I’m finishing brushing my teeth, “just a sec,” I yell. I finish and wipe my face before padding out to open the bedroom door.

  Aleksandr is standing there when I open the door. “I just wanted to check and make sure the room is okay.” He must have been working out because he’s only wearing athletic shorts and sweat is trickling down his chest. He must check me out at the same time that I’m checking him out because his eyes trail down my body to my bare legs and he smiles like the apex predator he is. It should scare me, but it just turns me on.

  “It’s great. Who’s was it before?” I ask. “They had great taste.”

  He tilts his head to the side and looks at me, “no one’s.

  Vance designed it with you in mind.”

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  “That’s super creepy,” I furrow my brow. “Because of the mate thing?”

  “Yes,” he steps into the room. “I know you are uncomfortable with it and I understand. It’s a lot.” He grabs my hand and brings the palm to his lips, “While we want to spend time with you and are drawn to you, we also recognize your need for space and privacy. If you're going to stay here, this room is yours. If you want to keep living at your apartment,” he takes a deep breath, “we’ll respect that, but I do hope you’ll give us a chance.”

  I feel driven, to be honest, with all of them about how I’m feeling. Being with them feels natural and right but having grown up in the human realm with shifters having multiple mates wasn’t ever a thing. It goes against every societal norm I’ve ever been exposed to.

  “Will you sit?” I close the door and pull him down to the bed. “I won’t lie and say that I’m not attracted to each of you, that much is quite obvious. I’m also not going to pretend that I don’t feel a tug to each of you at a deep level. If I'm super scary honest, I’ll even admit to never feeling like this before.” I put a hand up before he can start talking. “But, I am having trouble coming to terms with the thought of a predestined mate, let 238

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/>   alone four. Then again, I’ve kissed every single one of you today.” I bite my lip as think about how to phrase this next part.

  “To be blunt, it makes me feel like a bit of a whore but also so right. I’m just confused.”

  “What do you want us to do to make this easier for you, amica mea?” He whispers as he brushes a kiss across my cheek.

  One of his hands cups my neck, and his hand tangles in my hair.

  “Should we slow down with a physical aspect of the relationship?” His other hand is running up and down my thigh, getting closer to my center with each pass. “What about spending time with all us, both together and individually?”

  “Th-that would be good,” I stutter as his thumb lightly rubs over my entrance. My hips arch off the bed and into his touch.

  “What would be good, amica mea, I need to hear what you want.” He’s rubbing light circles over my clit now, and I’m wantonly pressing against his hand.

  I’m about to climb him like a tree, but a little voice in the back of my mind reminds me that maybe slowing down physically would be a good idea. Take a step back from the intensity of my feelings. Until I met these guys, I hadn’t been with anyone since Liam, and now I’ve slept with three out of the 239

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  four of them. I take a deep breath and pull away. “Maybe we should slow down,” another deep breath, “physically.”

  “We’re all perfectly okay with that. You set the pace. We’ve known about this for so much longer than you. It’ll take you time, and I understand that. I know I’m not going anywhere neither are the guys.” He leans over and kisses my forehead.

  “Sleep well, and if you need anything, just say my name, I’ll be able to hear you.”

  “Thanks,” I smile as he stands up and adjusts himself discretely. “Goodnight, Alek.”

  I crawl under the covers and try to figure out how to turn the temperature down and the lights off. It takes me a few minutes, but I finally get everything figured out. I check to see if there’s a text from Hunter about what happened earlier, but he still hasn’t even read the text I sent. I fall asleep worrying about him and wondering what is going on with him lately.