I smile, remembering the phone call the three of us got at work the day Soren showed up, having more balls than anyone else to actually touch our sister after a race. She’s right; most of the men in Hadeon have no qualms throwing one another under the bus, more interested in watching the drama unfold since there isn’t shit to do in this town. But there’s a difference between keeping gossip in town among family and friends, and spreading it to outsiders.
There’s only one way to deal with someone like that, and we all know it. Our police force here is small, and they have no problem looking the other way when their hands are tied. It sucks, and it’s rare we’ve had to handle a situation like that, but we don’t keep it quiet.
Everyone here knows, so they have plenty of forewarning before choosing to make stupid decisions.
“Same.” Pulling out my phone, my frown turns into a cringe when I see all of the missed calls and texts, since I must’ve bumped my phone onto silent at some point. “Umm, so good news and bad news. Theydidfeel something was wrong, and it’s likely they’re going to follow my example and glue you to one of them.”
A small smile graces her lips as she heads to the sink, attempting to rinse away the rest of the blood now that the cuts are starting to scab over. “Maybe they can focus some of that obsession on finding a box of condoms. If I’m not going to have any space to breathe, might as well dosomethingto pass the time.”
She cringes, tossing a repentant look at me as she dries her hands. “Sorry. I keep telling myself I’m not going to pressure you three into doing anything you aren’t comfortable with, but my comments keep slipping out. You do know that it comes from the best of intentions, right? And when push comes to shove, no matter how horny I am, I wouldn’t actually do anything if you didn’t want to...right?”
It’s amazingly adorable how adamant she is right now, abusing her bottom lip like she’s afraid I’ll condemn her for declaring she wants to sleep with me.
“Please, feel free to stick your hand down my pants whenever you want. Seriously, you don’t even need to ask.” I tug on the waist of my jeans to make a point, gesturing at the available space.
A laugh bubbles from her throat, taking most of her apprehension with it. “God, I love you,” she chuckles.
“Of course you do, I’m amazing.” Winking, I continue, “And I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have you in my life. Couldn’t picture it without you, angel.”
Her face softens as she bends down to retrieve her jacket off of the floor, hiding the evidence of everything that happened from prying eyes. “Saige Veles, huh? I don’t completely hate it.”
Grinning, I take a few steps closer to finish zipping her up, letting my fingers hover at her collar. “Well I would hope not since you’re stuck with it.”
Snorting, she starts walking towards the door. “I don’t remember agreeing to a name change.”
Taking her hand, I flip the lock. “Tough shit, you’re outvoted.”
Pulling the door open, I leave the gentlemanly behavior on the backburner by stepping out first, ensuring nobody is hanging around that shouldn’t be. Turning to face Saige, I raise an eyebrow in challenge.
“You had to have known he was out here.”
She looks contrite and doesn’t meet my brother’s eye. “No, actually. Everything was all scrambled with the overload. I just attributed calming down to when you bit me and she shut up.”
“You bit her?” Kahl growls, kicking off from the wall and tugging her shirt collar to the side to inspect the teeth marks embedded in her neck, still raw.
He lobs an accusatory glare at me, pursing his lips as he mulls over his response before digging a hole right beside Kaid. His body tenses as his nostrils flare, carefully tugging more of her shirt aside to reveal a glimpse of the damage. It extends over her shoulders and his fingers come away wet, some of the wounds reopening as she started moving around.
“What the hell happened?” he hisses vehemently, trying to subdue his anger, but too keyed up.
We give him the bullet point version, and by the time we’re finished, he’s so cold that evenIcan’t get a read on him. He seems to completely close himself off, internalizing everything rather than risk upsetting Saige with any potential outbursts until he gets himself under control.
The silence drags on and Saige has a brief moment of self-doubt, shrinking into herself in response before she comes to some decision. As quickly as she lessened her presence, she brings it back in full force until Kahl’s eyes become less distant, snapping back to our glaring mate.
“No. We don’t do that, remember? If I’m not allowed to spiral, neither are you. Trying to protect each other from everything does nothing but cause problems, even if it’s with the best of intentions. Sotalkto me. Please.” The ferocity of her glare forces a small smile onto my brother’s face.
Fingers still locked on her collar, he shifts his grip to brush one over the markings, tracing the lightning shaped wounds up to where they stop at my bite. “Just brainstorming ideas for what to do about Nate and Ben,” he answers softly, focusing intently on the path his fingers take. “And a little jealous, to be honest.”
My surprise is mirrored on her face. “You’ve been the biggest advocate for holding off on doing anything,” I remind him, annoyed at the hypocrite.
He sighs, the sound carrying a lifetime of burdens with it. “Becauseoneof us needs to think with the right head. Doesn’t mean it’s any easier on me than you. I’ve reached out to a few people to see if they could get their hands on any old birth control pills, but they warned they likely wouldn’t be effective after this long and it was a pointless risk that would draw too many unwanted questions.
“But I did some more research with Soren’s help. There are a few plants that keep coming up as an old, herbal version to prevent pregnancy. We’re hoping that since they’re mentioned so frequently, there’s some truth to it. But honestly, it’s not like we’d know if it works or not until it’s too late.”
He tilts her face to look at him head on, speaking with conviction. “It’s risky, Saige. I can’t promise it would actually work, but Soren should be back with them later today so we can give it a try if you want. But if you are absolutely sure that you don’t ever want kids, we shouldn’t chance it, since this is a pretty big maybe. We won’t die of blue balls, after all, can keep on like we’ve been. Plenty of ways to get each other off. And seeing as we were already resigned to a life of masturbating before you came along, nothing has to change.”
Her cheeks heat as she closes her eyes since Kahl won’t let her turn away, determined to make sure any decision she makes isn’t driven by lust or her other half. “I don’t hate kids, it’s just hard after being treated as nothing more than a potential incubator to find any excitement at the prospect. But there’s a huge difference between it being forced on me by people I couldn’t even tell you the names of, and mates that go above and beyond to try not to hurt me.”
Finally, she opens her eyes, looking vulnerable and uncomfortable in a way that makes my stomach flip. “I think it’s a safe bet to start taking it just in case. Even if we stick to our guns through the spontaneous heats she throws me into, I can’t imagine that we’re going to actually be able to hold out for the next thirty or so years. Best of intentions, sure, but we’re going to break eventually. So at least if I’m taking it and you guys pull out, there’s a better chance of walking away unscathed.”
