I leaned back on the couch and shrugged. “I’m a demon. We like stirring shit. It’d been a while since I had and figured what the hell.”
“Really?” Talon asked while Lucas stared at me with his mouth hanging open.
I nodded. “Yeah. And trust me, after meeting you guys, I don’t have any interest in anyone else.”
“Okay…,” Talon drawled. “So, there’s a lot we need to learn about demons. So, do you have another form?”
“Yeah, what do you look like? Can we see your demon?” Lucas agreed excitedly.
I didn’t speak for a moment and just stared at them. They were excited to know me, but then why? Why did they run from me?
“Why?” I whispered.
“Why what?” Talon asked, confusion etching his face.
“I—I—Why did you run? Why run from me, mate?”
Talon’s eyes widened, and Lucas froze. It was the first time the word had been mentioned, and I didn’t give a shit. Anger surged through my veins. They had hurt me, and I was done with the dance. They were lucky I couldn’t transform; otherwise, they’d be seeing a very angry and terrifying demon prince.
“I mean,” I said, rising to my feet. “If you’re not scared of my demonic nature. Hell, you both seem excited about it. Why the hell did you both run?” I began pacing and stopped. “Is it me? Did I, personally, do something wrong?” I asked, patting my chest. I needed to know.
“I—" Lucas stuttered.
“Because I’m gonna be honest, it sucks when your soul, the people you’ve been waiting for, runs away from you,” I said, inhaling a deep breath and trying to calm my nerves.
The silence that followed was deafening, filled only by the sound of our breathing. It felt like opening Pandora's box; there was no undoing what had been said. I glanced between Lucas and Talon as they seemed to be gathering their thoughts.
I opened my mouth to continue, but Lucas broke the silence first. “I-I was shocked by you. That I had a second mate. I never heard of such a thing before. I panicked and ran…. I tend to run.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “I haven’t had the greatest track record trusting my rabbit. There was this coyote shifter when I was younger, not just one. There was a group of them. I thought they were my friends, and my rabbit trusted them. Turned out they just wanted to use me as a chew toy. Mess with the little bunny and terrorize me—they made my life hell. Since then, my rabbit and I don’t always see eye to eye. It takes a lot for me to trust. I don’t share my shifted form and hell, hardly even shift in front of my family.”
“But you shifted the day I met you,” Talon interrupted.
Lucas offered a sad smile. “I did. I thought I could trust my rabbit. He said you were our mate, and I wanted to share it with you.”
His vulnerability was palpable, pulling at my own reserves of empathy. Instinctively, I moved to sit beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “No one will ever hurt you again. I’ll destroy anyone who tries,” I vowed.
Talon moved to Lucas’s other side, his voice tight with anger. “Those coyote bastards are lucky they were driven out. I’d kill them myself.”
Lucas and I turned to stare at Talon’s outburst. It surprised me; hell, it flabbergasted me that he felt so strongly.
I opened my mouth to ask him why he avoided us then, but Lucas once again beat me to it. “Why? Why do you care? You’ve been avoiding me for weeks, and now I find out you’ve been avoiding Dom. Why?”
Talon hung his head. “I wasn’t…. I didn’t know if you were my mates….. The other mated couples said your lion will know when you meet your mate. And when I met both of you, I felt a connection to you both, but my lion, he didn’t tell me. He was just as confused as me.” He released an exasperated breath before continuing. “Then I had the king tell me to stay away from Dom because he had threatened Mike, and I also had Brian warn me away from you. I didn’t want to hurt you both, so I stayed away, but that hurt you more. I realize I should’ve not been a child and spoken to you.”
“My brother told you what? I’ll kill him. He really told you to stay away from me?” Lucas’s voice was sharp with fury.
Talon nodded sheepishly. “I confronted him about it. That’s why I came here, to make things right with you. And then to find Dom. I thought maybe together we could sort this mess out.” His eyes were pleading. “Are we really mates?”
“Your lion is really confused? He hasn’t told you?” I asked before jerking my gaze to Lucas. “What about your rabbit? Has he said anything?” Lord, help me if he wasn’t sure, too.
“My rabbit’s positive,” Lucas said firmly. “He knows you’re both his. There was shock and surprise at the two of you, but he was still sure.”
Talon looked down, disheartened. “Why is my lion confused, then? Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m the problem.”
Reaching across, I clasped Talon’s hand firmly. “Nothing is wrong with you,” I assured him.
Lucas added his own touch, placing his hand over ours. “Dom’s right. There’s nothing wrong with any of us.”
Talon offered a wry smile, a spark of humor lighting his eyes. “Guess there’s nothing wrong with us then.”
