Page 56 of A Siren of Beasts

“Zyrmus, I thought you died,” Hisceas stated, his tone cold as he regarded me. “Why the gods felt you needed to be saved after what you did is beyond me. I felt your power signature but it was so different I thought I must be wrong. Seems I need to trust myself more, if I had, none of this would have happened since I would have killed you before you could ever lay eyes on her.”

I let out a heavy sigh. Yeah, I deserved that and he had every right to be pissed that I was now sharing a mate with him. Hisceas had always been one to follow the letter of the law, guarding against those who dared to disrupt the land he protected. Not only had I broken all our laws, I had allowed the biggest betrayal to happen, cursing our whole world to madness.

“Before I laid eyes on her, I would have welcomed true death from someone I once called friend. Yet it seems the gods have a bigger plan that demands my life be spared to pay penance,” I responded, knowing nothing I said would make a difference. It would take time and I was going to make damn sure we had that time.

“Enough of this,” the hell-wolf snapped. “Zia needs to be tended to first then we can deal with whatever else is going on here.”

He moved as if to take her from me but I let out a warning growl that rumbled through my body. In return, he bared his teeth and flexed his claws, trying to stare me down. Too bad for him I wasn’t planning on letting her go any time soon. I didn’t know how long they’d been with her but it was longer than me. That and the irrational fear that she might disappear on me rode me hard.

“Rhun, let it be,” Milin’s calming voice spoke up. “He won’t harm Kezia and you can’t do anything other than rough him up.”

“Yeah, well, roughing him up would make me happier that’s for damn sure. This asshole shows up, tries to attack us, and then turns out to be one of her soul mates? I call bullshit on that. He did something to her, there’s no way my Zia would bond with someone she doesn’t even know,” Rhun grumbled as he stepped aside.

Kezia… finally I got to know the name of this enchanting mate of mine. A good name, a strong name that seemed to fit her perfectly. Milin led the way into the castle, waving me to follow him. I saw the recognition in his eyes when he glanced at me, but he refrained from commenting. There was no way for me to hide who I was and what I’d done, not with the rigid old guardian around to hold me accountable. Not that I wanted to keep it a secret, my mate deserved to know the truth, but I wouldn’t be saying anything to the others until she awoke. The one who I owed that explanation to was her and her alone, no matter what those entitled bastards thought.

Just before I started up the steps, I faltered as someone ripped the knife out of my back that had been left there. I’d all but forgotten about it, but the fire of pain that licked along my nerves had me pausing and taking a deep breath.

“Sorry, forgot where I’d left that,” the raven taunted, then shifted into his animal form and flew ahead of us.

“You’ll learn to keep an eye on Grieth, he’s always up to mischief. Typically, he prefers to pick on Rhun but seems you might be his new toy to torment,” Milin shared as I joined him on the stairs. “He hasn’t been thrilled with there being more than him as her mate, he just knows he can’t play the same games with Hisceas. The guardian would squash him like a bug if he had the mind to.”

“Death ravens have always been a pain in the ass to deal with,” I muttered. “Tell me, Milin, how did you end up with an alter?”

Never one to be tactful, I watched the ent flinch at my question. My philosophy was—say it like it was—the truth hurts but it’s over quickly. Lies seep into your skin and can burn at you for a lifetime. Better to just say your peace than have it bite you in the ass later.

“For a long time, I believed it was a side effect of Queen Lixera saving me from the madness, but I’ve more recently been told otherwise. It would seem that Moreth has always lived inside me and he was to appear when I needed him. Now, I must find a way to bridge our two beings instead of keeping us separate if I’m to reach our full potential,” Milin informed me.

Honestly, I was shocked he shared that much with me. We’d never been that close and the times he’d been around he’d irritated the shit out of me. He was too gentle and kind to be a monster, but now I understood that was only one half of him it made sense. Of course, the other half would be ruthless and harsh, the perfect balance to each other.

Reaching the top floor, we fell into silence as he opened the doors to her room. It was massive and told me much about my new mate. There were so many hints of human comforts I took a wild guess that she’d spent a fair amount of time with them. Everything was lush, comfortable, and yet practical, nothing too fancy or gaudy. Bringing her over to the chaise, I laid her out on it then walked over to the pitcher and wash bowl. The others entered so I tossed the pitcher to His, who caught it easily giving me a questioning look.

“Fill that with hot water, I’m going to clean her up before putting her to bed,” I instructed as I knelt, brushing the hair off her face.

Her breathing was light and even, which proved just how deep in slumber she was. Using that much power would have burned out any other magic user to the point they might not be able to cast anymore. Not Kezia, she was merely exhausted having stretched herself too far. The pitcher was set next to me by Milin who took up position on her other side. Placing a hand on her shoulder he closed his eyes and I felt his magic surge. There was a faint green glow under his hand as he poured his healing magic into her. Before my eyes, her wounds knit together leaving her skin unblemished. Even some older scars I’d noticed were now wiped from her body returning her to a state of absolute perfection. Milin had even managed to heal my knife wound because my hand was resting on her leg, unable to remove all contact.

“There, she’s fully healed of any and all physical damage,” Milin announced.

“Why didn’t they heal right away?” Grieth asked. “I’ve seen in the heat of passion my talons cut her and they healed almost instantly.”

I tried not to react to the fact he’d just admitted to harming our mate as they had sex. Monsters were kinky fuckers who could take some damage, but I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to inflict any harm to my new mate. Of course, I’m sure my past had something to do with it, but just the idea of hurting her made me sick.

“I don’t know for sure, but my instincts tell me that because she inflicted these wounds as she was casting a spell they wouldn’t heal quickly. If she needed the blood to perform said spell, having it seal up right away would only mean her causing more damage to herself,” Milin reasoned as he stood.

“She’s a monster, why use blood at all?” Rhun asked, making me roll my eyes.

Could they really be that stupid?

“Because she’s not just a monster, is she?” I cut in, looking over my shoulder at them. “Let me guess, half wizard? That bastard Azedor talked about making it happen, but I thought he was crazy. How can she be here?” I turned back to Kezia and stroked her cheek. “There’s no way he would let her out of his sight, it would be too risky.”

Talons buried themselves into the back of my neck and I was yanked away from my mate and slammed into the stone wall of her room. Grieth crouched in front of me, hand now pressing on my windpipe as he pinned me to the wall. “Why does it sound like you know so much, cud muncher?”

Cud muncher? Who the fuck was this raven? Had he lost his mind somewhere along the way?

“I don’t owe you an explanation. The only person who deserves the answers is Kezia, and she’ll get them once she’s awake, not a moment sooner,” I informed the mad raven. “Touch me like that again and I will stomp you into the ground with the pleasure of knowing you’ll live for me to do it again later.”

Grieth hissed at me and made to slice his talons at my throat but I ducked, blocked him with my horn and kicked out. My hoof connected with his chest and sent him flying into the ceiling. He managed to shift and save himself from landing on his face, which I would have enjoyed more but he left me alone so that was a win.

Turning my gaze back to my mate, I found His had taken my spot and was finishing cleaning her up. Getting to my feet I looked at the hell-wolf who seemed ready to attack me at any moment and squared up to him. “You got something to say?”