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Who Fate had played a cruel trick on.
All three of the men pulled off their sweaters and shoes and socks before joining me. The bed wasn’t really big enough for four, and I wondered which one of them slept here the rest of the time.
“Karelis, you okay?” Casimir, the warrior, spoke in such a kind, soft voice, I wanted to cry. “Can I hold you?”
I nodded, unable to speak past the lump in my throat. His arms came around me, and he pulled me atop him. The other two lay on either side, and I could see all their handsome faces looking at me in the dim light filtering in from the outer room. What did they see in me?
“You know we’re here for you, that we won’t ever let anything happen to you.” Adan stroked my cheek with the back of his hand. “You are our mate.”
Blaze kissed my temple. “But no pressure. We can wait until you’re ready.”
They were all touching me, caressing me in one way or another, but it was all so gentle and kind and loving. I wanted them now, but… I had to tell them.
“I can’t mate you.”
“No.” Adan snuggled closer to me. “Not tonight. As Blaze said, we have a lifetime to give you. True, we are impatient and wish we could mate tonight. Our wolves are demanding we do so, but you are worth the wait. Trust that we are here for you when you are ready for us.”
“You don’t understand.” I was still having a hard time getting words out, but it was so important.
Cas cupped my chin and kissed me, hypnotically slow and thorough. His tongue stroked my lips until I opened them and allowed him inside. This was neither tentative like our first kissor wild like our last but held a whole other kind of intensity. Slow. Warm. All-encompassing. I kissed him back, lost in the magic of all three of them gently touching me over my clothes and just being together. I could easily imagine being like this every night. Without clothes, which would be so much better, having nothing between us. And then I planted my palms on Cas’s chest and reared back. They deserved to know. I couldn’t continue to deceive them.
“I can never mate. It’s not allowed.” Everything stopped, and Blaze actually recoiled.
Cas pulled me back closer again, his big hand stroking my back. “And why is that, female? Who is saying you cannot mate?”
“I just can’t because…because…” I couldn’t tell anyone. I had told June, though, and of course the headmistresses of the academies knew. And those who would see at least one wolf ripped out of me knew.
Our mates must know.It didn’t sound like either wolf. Perhaps it was both.
We have no mates. We cannot have mates,I insisted.
You’re not that big a fool. Tell them of us. Unless you are ashamed.
“I’m not ashamed!” Horror at the idea suffused me.
“Why would you be?” Blaze asked. “If you’re not ready to mate, we promise we will wait for you.”
“It’s not that. I have two wolves, and that means I can never mate anyone. I have to be alone forever and just hope to find some kind of fulfillment on my own, and I shouldn’t even be here tonight. It’s not fair to any of you. So, you shouldn’t wait because I’m never giving up either of my wolves. I can’t do that; I promised them long ago. And that means I need to leave now.” Talk about verbal spewing. But if I’d paused to breathe, I’d have lost my nerve.
Cas’s arms tightened around me, and then Blaze and Adan completed the group hug.
“You can’t go, Karelis,” Adan whispered, his breath warm at my ear. “Or, you can, but we wish you wouldn’t.”
“Whoever told you that you can’t mate was a liar,” Cas put in. “Who are they to deny what Fate has planned?”
“It’s a really long story, and I’m so tired.” My anxiety and tension were melting away in their arms. “Can we just go to sleep and talk about it tomorrow?”
“Whenever you’re ready.” Blaze tipped my face toward him. “But I’d like a good night kiss.”
Tomorrow and the day after were going to be rough. I had a lot to tell the guys, no more huge surprises, but a lot of details, and there was a murderer out there. And one who had tried a second time. Maybe I had even foiled their plan when I touched their victim. I shouldn’t feel so absolutely safe, but with all their arms around me and exhaustion weighing my limbs, I would go with the safety thing. The rest could wait until the morning.
My wolves even eased on their clamor to complete the mating. I wanted it to too, but tonight was not the time. Tonight was pretty special on its own. And terrifying. I hoped Fate knew what she was doing because these were my mates. Could it be true that I could accept them?
All three kissed me as I drifted toward asleep in their arms.
Maybe the Light Kingdom was wrong, and maybe I could learn to trust Fate. At least a little bit. Because now that I’d learned what it felt like to have them hold me, giving it up would be devastating.
Could they truly be my mates?
