Leaving Eden

by Kelly A Walker et al.

  I sit back down, unstable on my feet as they both turn to me. Two mates, wow! Twice as much fun. I didn’t think I would end up with two!

  Smiling, I watch as they examine each other’s demon marks. Both have my ring around their own color, but they also now have each other’s too. So many questions flood my mind. Are we all mates? Not just me and them, but them with each other, too? And if so, why hadn’t the mark changed color before now?

  I look beyond the two men and see Carter with the girls, still on the dance floor. He is doing a good job of keeping them distracted, but I can tell by the look of devastation on his face he knows what happened.

  The song ends and the girls run back towards us. Carter turns and leaves in the opposite direction. Nolan and Louis are looking between us, and the indecision on their faces is heartbreaking.

  “Go,” I tell them. “He needs you. I can’t be selfish. He will end up resenting us all.” With that, they turn and hurry after him. The girls watch them go. I stand up and grab their hands. “Let’s go and check out the dessert table. Dessert is my favorite thing.” The girls giggle and we weave our way towards the buffet.

  “Dessert is Louis’ favorite, too. He makes yummy things,” Aria tells me.

  I stop suddenly. I am mated to the man who made all those yummy treats.

  I throw my hand in the air, fist-pump style, and then start doing a little happy dance, twerking on the spot. The girls watch with delight on their faces. Zoe joins in, her little body trying to twerk but looking more like she’s having an epileptic fit. I am so happy right now. I wave at Aria and she joins in too. All three of us a’twerking like sorority girls at a frat party. Serena comes over and joins in. Before we know it, we are surrounded by twerking, drunk, giggling woman. The DJ has changed the music, and it's turning into a dance party.

  Sometime later, I’m hot and my body starts to ache. I realize I need to eat again, so I drag Zoe and Aria out from the crowd, and we continue to the buffet, Serena following behind.

  “What was that all about?” she asks. She has a glow on her face that isn't there from that little bit of dancing. I must get the deets later.

  The girls grab a plate and start to pile on desserts. Typical little greed demons. Even though that won't kick in until puberty, the tendencies are already there. Who am I to say anything?

  “Oh, I just realized that I’m mated to the man who made all the desserts I ate yesterday,” I tell Serena. “So I was celebrating.”

  “What, Nolan made them? I thought it was Louis?” She scratches her head in confusion.

  Putting down my plate, I spin, grabbing her hands, jumping up and down in excitement. “I have two mates. Nolan and Louis.”

  Her eyes widen in surprise, then narrow in suspicion. “Well, where are they, then?”

  “I have so much to tell you. Let’s get these and go find a table, then I’ll fill you in.”

  After loading up on desserts and coffee, we find a table and indulge in the decadence. While we do, I quietly tell Serena what has happened. Not that I need to worry about the girls, they’re engrossed in the sugary goodness in front of them.

  At the end of the story she flops back against her chair. “You lucky bitch. That sounds hot.” I see her look to the sky and mumble a few words under her breath.

  “What was that?” I ask.

  “That was a prayer to the big man above to bless me like he has you.” She wraps her arms around me and gives me a huge hug. “I am so happy for you, Glory.”

  I hug her in return. I'm so happy, too. I just hope the guys can sort everything out with Carter.

  7

  After finishing our delicious desserts, the girls drag Serena back to the dance floor. Watching her teach Zoe and Aria how to do the Macarena is adorable. Aria’s got it, but Zoe is struggling. Serena is patient, however, and eventually the girls get the hang of it.

  I scan the crowd, noticing it has slowly started to thin out. The older guests have left, and only the young ones continue to party into the night. Towards the back, I catch sight of Nolan, Louis, and Carter on the other side of the garden. The threesome appears to be involved in an intense conversation.

  This isn’t what I thought would happen when I first met my mate. I thought we wouldn't be able to keep our hands off each other. It never occurred to me they would already be involved with someone.

  Sighing, I turn back towards the dance floor. The DJ is playing the Macarena one more time and the girls are having a blast. A shadow appears out of the corner of my eye, and Bella collapses into the chair next to me, her dress rustling in complaint.

  “God I’ve had enough! Can I leave yet?” She nudges a shoe off, lifting her foot to rub at the arch, groaning in relief.

  Smiling at her, I nod. “You’re the bride! That makes you the boss, doesn’t it? You don’t need to be here for people to have fun. The manor will kick them out when their time is up.”

  Sitting up straighter, she nods, a look of relief crossing her face. “Yeah, you’re right. I want to go home and bang my husband’s brains out.” She looks around. “Where’s Nolan gone off to? I need to say goodbye; everyone else can suck it.”

  I swivel in my seat to where I know the guys are. The conversation looks like it has escalated, with angry faces and furious gestures.

  Bella follows my gaze and nods in that direction. “What is that about?”

  Oh, god. She’s a wrath demon! Do I really want to tell her I’m mated to more than her brother?

  “Ah, turns out Louis is my mate too.” I wince, expecting the worst.

  Instead, her face lights up and she grabs my hand in excitement. “Oh, oh that’s amazing! I was worried about how they were going to cope.”

  “You know about them?” I ask in surprise.

  “Yes, they’ve been together on and off for a long time. When Nolan was trapped by his ex, he let them go, trying to do the right thing, but they picked up again when she was out of the picture. They’ve all had other partners, and regularly date others, like those bitches. Carter especially needed more since he’s a lust demon, but they all gravitate back to each other eventually.” Her expression falls at the mention of Carter, and her head swivels around to watch them. “Oh no, poor Carter.”

  My heart drops. This is not good. I feel like I’m a homewrecker, breaking up a happy and healthy relationship.

  She turns back, pasting a smile on her face, but when she goes to say something, I hold my hand up, stopping her.

  “No, Bella. It’s a clusterfuck. It seems like the theme of the day.” I pull my card out of my clutch and hand it to her. “Can you watch the girls while Nolan is busy? I’m going to grab Serena and make our way home.” I kiss her cheek. “I’d apologize for crashing your wedding, but I’m really not sorry. Tell Nolan and Louis to give me a call when they sort their shit out.”

  She nods, then grabs my clutch and pulls out my phone. After putting in her number, she sends a text to herself, then returns it to the purse. “We now have each other’s number.” Smiling, she puts her hand over mine. “Call me if you need to. Anytime. We aren’t having a honeymoon right away. A big exhibit Felix organized is showing and, well, he’s too much of a pride demon to give that up. Oh, I’m so happy Nolan found you. You are going to be so good for that family."

  Picking up my clutch and waving goodbye, I head to the dance floor to grab Serena. She and the girls moved on from the Macarena and are now doing some kind of line dance thing.

  I pull the girls to the side. “I’m going home now. Aunty Bella is over there waiting for you,” I tell them, pointing her out.

  Zoe’s bottom lip wobbles and tears build in her eyes. “I thought you were coming home with us. You said you would be my mommy.”

  My heart plummets into my stomach. Crouching down, I pull her in for a hug. “Oh honey. I’m sure at one stage I will, but I live with Serena right now. All my things are at our place. It takes some time for us to be able to move. I need to speak to your daddy, and he's a lit
tle busy at the moment.” I pull back and look at her. “I will see you soon, okay? Aunty Bella has my number; you can call me whenever you want.”

  She nods and Aria grabs her by the hand, pulling her away. Tears build in my eyes, but I don’t want to make any promises I can’t keep. Giving them both kisses, I walk away, the tears flowing down my cheeks once I know they can’t see them.

  So much has happened in such a short period of time. Two mates, two beautiful little girls that have my heart already. A possible new friend in the form of Bella. Two definite enemies in the form of Nicole and Jenny. And very possibly Carter, I realize. My heart is heavy for him, but for me, too. I know it’s selfish, but I really don’t think I can share them with him. The mate possessiveness has kicked in, even though the bond hasn’t been sealed.

  “Don’t be sad, Glowworm.” She hip-bumps me. “Everything will work itself out.”

  Shaking my head at her, we wander off in search of a taxi. “I really don’t want to talk about it or think about it. Distract me,” I demand. “Tell me about your booty call. You were gone for a while.”

  She looks at me with a wicked grin on her face. “Bella’s bridesmaid Lizzie and her husband are both lust demons. It’s only them in their mating, and so they agreed to add others to their sex life to feed. Strange how that worked out and very unusual.” She muses. I nudge her to get her attention, and she shakes her head and continues. “Anyway, the rules are, they must agree on who and it has to be together. No going off on their own. Let’s just say the three of us fed very well this evening.” She gets a dreamy look in her eyes. “They both have some mad sex skills. The things Lizzie could do with her tongue made my toes curl, and her hubby’s cock… If I was dancing funny, he was the reason why.” She burst out into peals of laughter, and I join in. This is just the distraction I need.

  “Seriously though, I wouldn’t mind if they asked me to join them again. I fed better than I did yesterday with Mr. Big ... uh, I mean Carter,” she finishes awkwardly, looking at me and mouthing sorry.

  I roll my eyes. “Don’t! I just can’t.” Walking quickly ahead, I flag down a taxi that’s just pulled up in front of the manor before anyone else can. Climbing in, I give the driver our address and wait for Serena to climb in too.

  Pulling the door shut, she turns to me and pats my leg. “Things will seem better in the morning.”

  We sit silently for the entire trip home, both lost in our own thoughts, although I’m sure hers are a lot more exciting than mine.

  Arriving home, Serena takes off to her bedroom to change, but I can’t find the energy to do the same. Instead, I throw myself on the couch and turn the TV to some random program for background noise. My mind is in turmoil with so many scenarios running around in it.

  What if they decide they don't want to be with me? What if they want to continue having a relationship with Carter as well as me? My anger rises at this thought.

  What if they want me to have a relationship with Carter as well?

  The rising anger rapidly turns to lust at this thought, and I roll my eyes at my slutty inner demon. The thought of one more man added to the mix drives the gluttonous bitch wild. Can’t be happy with two when we could have one more.

  Rolling onto my stomach, I bury my face into the cushion and scream in frustration.

  “You know, there are easier ways to do yourself in.” Serena says from somewhere. Flipping her off, I stay where I am, happy to pretend I’m in a safe cocoon, where nothing can go wrong.

  “Grow up, Glory, you have to face this,” she says, reaching down and unlacing the ribbons on my shoes and removing them from my feet. She then smacks my legs, wanting me to give her room, and shoves her body into the space.

  “Not tonight, I don’t,” I mumble around the cushion.

  “Come on. I got you something to eat.”

  “What?” Curiosity gets the better of me.

  “You’re going to have to sit up to find out.”

  Damn it! Sneaky bitch knows I won't turn down food.

  Sitting up, to my delight there is a loaded pizza on the table. Looking up in surprise I ask her, “Where did that come from?”

  She smiles affectionately at me. “Honey, I know what you're like. I ordered it in the taxi on the way home from my phone. The driver just delivered it.”

  Looking in the direction of the door, I realize I was so lost in my own little world, I didn't even hear the doorbell ring. Shrugging, I reach for a piece, shoveling it into my mouth. The cheesy, meaty goodness explodes on my tongue, and I practically purr with delight.

  This is getting ridiculous. I need to get the feeding issue sorted, pronto.

  I put the slice down. “Serena, although I appreciate the pizza, food isn’t going to fix this cluster fuck of a situation I’m in. I don’t understand. I thought the mating thing was a done deal, that they wouldn’t feel the need for anyone else. But that clearly isn’t right. I could tell Louis and Nolan both feel something for each other and Carter.”

  She frowns at me. “I thought the same thing, but Lizzie and Jake were like that, too, this evening. They said they regularly have to have others in their bed. It’s like something or someone is missing. Both commented afterward that it was the fullest they'd felt in a long time. Six years they have been together, and they have sex with other people almost every day. I gave them my card. Told them to come in and we could set them up an account. It must be exhausting having to pick up singles and strangers all the time.”

  She picks up her phone and taps a couple of things, then lays it on the table. “Let’s ask Mom.”

  The phone rings a couple of times. Then my mom’s husky voice comes out of the speaker. “Reni, I was just talking to your fathers about you girls.”

  “Hi mom, Glory’s here, too.”

  Grunting, I continue to shovel pizza onto my mouth.

  “Goodness, I can hear her eating over the phone. What has she been doing to cause such a feeding frenzy?”

  “Oh, Mom,” Serena says, “I have so much to tell you.” While I continue stuffing my face, Serena tells her all about our last two days. She shares a few ‘too many’ details of her encounter with Lizzie and Jake, if you ask me, but lust demons are a different kind of breed. So I just ignore it and polish off a few more slices of pizza.

  “We were just wondering if you know what's going on, Mom.”

  Mom sighs loudly. “Girls, I knew you weren’t listening to half of what I told you. Yes, the mating bond should overwrite any other attraction but only once it has been sealed by all parties involved in the mating. Sometimes it fails to show unless all people in the mating are in contact. So now that they've found Glory, the mate marks are free to form.” She takes a deep breath. “Glory, honey, you’re going to have to suck it up and talk it out with your fellows. Especially with two little girls being involved.”

  She squeals suddenly. “Grand children! We have grand babies.” She must have put the phone down, because all we can hear is her muffled shouting to the dads that “they have grandbabies.”

  “You hang that thing up and you do it now,” I hiss at Serena as I point at the phone. “I do not need to deal with all that tonight.”

  She does as I ask and hangs up the phone, leaning back in the chair and giving me the look.

  Again, I shake my head. “Just give me tonight, please!”

  She smiles sadly and watches as I pick up my shoes and wander off to my room.

  Washing the makeup from my face, I tie my hair into a bun, pull off my dress, leave it where it lands on the floor, and then crawl into my cold, empty bed. Wrapping my arms around my body, I pray for a dreamless sleep. It comes, but not before I spend hours tossing and turning.

  Only as the light starts to peak over the horizon do I fall into a restless sleep.

  8

  My phone, obnoxiously blaring out Taylors Swift’s Shake It Off, wakes me abruptly the next morning. I hit decline. Five seconds later, it’s ringing. Again, I decline it. When it rin
gs a third time, I pick it up, get out of bed, and toss it down the hall. A crash and a screech from Serena reaches my ears, but I have no fucks left to give as I shut the door. Going back to my bed, I climb in, pulling up the quilt, and shoving my head under the pillow. Taylor can kiss my ass this morning. So can whoever the hell it is trying to call me.

  Sometime later, I’m floating somewhere in that space between awake and asleep, happily drifting. It’s not until my bedroom door opens, bouncing back off the bedroom wall, that I realize the voice isn’t that bitch Taylor telling me to shake it off again. Hearing a grunt followed by a “fuck” in a voice much deeper than my sister’s, I roll over to see who it is.

  Standing there is Nolan, his face like a thundercloud, and he’s on fire. Orange and blue flames, licking up and down his body.

  Rubbing at my eyes, wondering if I am still dreaming, I give myself a pinch. Nope, definitely awake. I stare at him in surprise. “How did you find me? What are you doing here?” My tired brain is having trouble understanding what is happening.

  “You left!” he growls. “I have been on fire since I realized you left without me. Without talking to us. You just left.”

  Anger rises inside my chest. “Fuck you, Nolan. You and Louis seemed to be awfully busy trying to talk Carter down to give a fuck about me. So I left. I don’t answer to you or him or anyone.”

  “You told us to go.”

  I throw my hands up in frustration. “I didn’t expect you to stay gone!”

  His eyes widen through the flames, and they start to glow yellow. Looking down at where his gaze is, I realize that when I threw my hands up, I also lost my blanket, and my girls are saying good morning to Nolan. Apparently, his morning is starting to look up. Huffing, I get up and grab a robe from behind my bathroom door.