“They were wonderful.” I smiled lazily and leaned back on the bed. My body was buzzing with satisfaction only my mates could achieve. “They’ve basically accepted me as their daughter, and they accepted Rhett as their son’s brother-mate.”
“Brother-mate?” Thorn questioned.
“Let me guess, Damien came up with that?” Rowan asked as they both climbed into the bed and pressed me between them. Their opposite magic played across my skin on each side.
“What happened with you and Rhett?” Thorn asked.
“We could feel the pleasure every time he made you come,” Rowan explained.
“Which was a lot,” Thorn added.
“It was torture not being the ones with you,” Rowan finished.
Guilt gripped my heart, but both of them rested a palm on my shoulders.
“Not like that,” he said.
“We aren’t upset that you were with one of your other mates. We just always want to be with you too. That’s why we decided to take you at the same time.” A blush cascaded over Thorn’s cheeks.
My lips pulled into a smile. “I’m more than happy that you did. I missed you both.”
“We missed you too, fledgling. Now, get some rest.”
They pressed a kiss on my head, and I fell into a blissful sleep.
TWENTY-FOUR
Wren
“Howaren’tyouscared?”Callie’s voice echoed along the sturdy bookshelves lining the walls of the library.
We were curled up in our chairs at the reading nook in the corner on the first floor.
“Iamscared.” I tapped my pen on the paper filled with facts about my known magical abilities. We had to write a paper for our Fundamentals of Magical Abilities class that explained our magical abilities and what we used our magical energy on the most.
The quiet flip of a page sounded as Callie turned the page in her Siren textbook. “You just seem at peace. Ever since you came back from the Demon Capital.”
A smile spread across my lips as I remembered what had happened this past weekend with Damien, Rhett, Rowan, and Thorn, but then my cheeks heated as I rememberedwhyI felt so at peace. I shook the thoughts from my mind as I focused on what we were talking about.
My finger trailed along the rough leather binding of the Arctic Shifter textbook in front of me. “The fact that Norman is experimenting on the human specimens just below us is absolutely terrifying.” My voice cracked as fear rattled my bones. “I am scared. I’ve always been scared of humans. With the war and the increased usage of technology that they’re using on themselves, and with some supernaturals helping them…” My voice raised a few octaves, and hysteria seeped into me as I sucked in a deep breath to fill my lungs, exhaling out slowly.
A warm kiss settled on the back of my neck as Damien’s presence vibrated through our bond for a quick moment. Callie didn’t seem to notice that Damien had come and gone within the matter of seconds, but it was enough to calm my nerves.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I don’t mean to be bringing this up. Again... I know that you had your encounters with them. And I just—”
“It’s okay. I understand,” I assured her. “It’s really hard, and we all cope in different ways.”
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something… a few somethings actually.” She nibbled on her thumb.
“Really? Is everything okay?”
Callie frowned, brushing a few locks of her hair behind her ear. “So… about Samson.” She let out a rattled breath. “He’s actually undercover. He’s already been here before and graduated.” She rushed the words out.
“What do you mean?” My brows knitted together as I stared at her. “Is that even possible? Why would he have to come back? What do you mean, undercover?”
So many questions swarmed my brain.
“I caught Samson out patrolling one evening, and he said he couldn’t come up with any more excuses. I thought it was weird that he kept disappearing all the time, but apparently, he’s part of the supernatural authorities of Kalista, and they implanted him at the academy to help keep the students safe,” she whispered, and her body relaxed as if keeping that secret from me had really bothered her.
