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Chapter One
Karelis
I slept well until just before dawn.
Then my mind began to replay the conversation I’d had with my mates before we fell asleep here in someone’s bed… I had more to discuss with the Three Kings before I could let them take me completely under their wing. If they really wanted me like that. The explanation I gave them the night before had not been nearly enough for them to know what they would be taking on with me.
I hadn’t been into their suite before, or any suite. The only accommodations I had been aware of was the standard dorm room I shared with June, which was nothing exciting but adequate. When I thought of the word “suite,” however, this was not exactly what I was picturing.
As with our room, it was probably the least a person could get away with and call it a suite. The guys each had a room, or at least I saw that many doors, and they shared a bath. But they also had a common room, which I thought was a nice thing. Considering we were in essentially a reform school, not bad.
The bed was large, probably a king-sized, but out of the four of us, I was the only one who did not need to have everything extra-large. What that meant was, I was buried in large men. If asked, I’d have said I’d hate being “suffocated” like that, maybe even felt claustrophobic, yet nothing could be further from the truth. My body was completely comfortable, warm and cozy, and all their mingling scents made me feel at home. If only my mind would let go and let me rest as well…
I kept my eyes closed tight and tried to think peaceful sleepy thoughts, but the three of them smelled incredible, and the ideas taking up residence in my mind were anything but peaceful or sleepy. Especially not with my wolves on full alert and wanting to mate with all three of them. Now.
It’s not fair to them, I pointed out to the wolves.
Mates, they spoke in tandem, creating a chant that vibrated my eardrums. I wasn’t sure how that could work from inside, but I put nothing past the two of them. Remembering what I did tell the Three Kings, it was so inadequate…
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.
They insisted I stay, took me to bed and never took advantage of the situation, although I could tell even with my lack of experience that they wanted me.
“You’re awake,” Blaze whispered and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me in for a quick kiss. “Aren’t you tired? It’s early.”
“No, not tired anymore.” Surprisingly. I rarely woke in the middle of the night, and usually if I did, I went right back to sleep. “Just sleeping in a strange bed, I suppose.”
“It doesn’t have to be strange.” Adan was awake, too. “You’re always welcome here.”
“That’s very kind of you.”
“You can’t think it’s all about kindness.” Casimir, the warrior. Fierce and protective. “We are not going to allow anyone to harm you, and there’s no better way than to have you right here in bed with us.”
I sucked in a breath. “I was going to wait until morning, but I need to explain to you why you shouldn’t waste your time with me.”
“No time with you is wasted, Karelis.” Blaze snuggled me even closer. “You told us you have two wolves, and while I’ve never heard of anyone else in that situation, that just makes you more precious.”
“I’ve been on the run for a long time, living on the streets or whatever it took. Finally, I decided to see if I could have any kind of future, so I went to the Urban Academy and they sent me here.”
“That’s ridiculous.” Adan stroked my back with a gentle hand, but I could hear the outrage in his voice. “But nobody comes here unless they’ve committed some sort of crime or are an outlier in general. Is having a second wolf a violation of an ancient shifter law I’ve never heard of? The Shifter Council has a problem with it and punishing you?”
“Not exactly. The Light Kingdom, where I come from, does not acknowledge the Shifter Council, and they do have a problem with my wolves. They were going to force me to renounce one, maybe strip it from me, and I couldn’t…I wouldn’t survive that.” Nobody had told me that, but they didn’t have to. I knew.
“I’ve never heard of the Light Kingdom.” Casimir reached for his phone. “Are they enemies?”
I stayed his hand. “You won’t find them there. They aren’t enemies, just completely apart from the rest of this world. Some do know of them. I think the headmistress of the Urban Academy did, and so she sent me here to hide. Don’t you see?”
“Who says you can’t mate?”
“My people.” Maybe it was lucky that we were all awake so early. It was going to take a while to explain. I told them about the tragedy of my parents’ loss resulting in the duality that became part of me. And how I’d escaped in order to keep from losing one of my wolves, which the king and his cabinet insisted was necessary. The whole point in sending me here was to keep me from being noticed, but hadn’t that backfired? By the time I stopped for breath, the sun was up and it was nearly time for breakfast.
“So now you see why I can never mate.” I waited for them to agree, to say we could be friends. That would be all right, wouldn’t it? It wouldn’t break my heart…
But none of them said that. They just held me closer and made it so much harder to live without them.
Chapter Two
Adan
